Ill 



TRAVELS m EASTERN AFRICA 



85 



climb. Consequently our progress was very slow. In 

 the thick bush we lost our donkey on this day. That 

 night we camped at a sandy stretch on the river bank. 

 The men were actually afraid to go for water, owing to 

 the number of hippopotamuses heard snorting near the 

 camp ; yet we were unable to get a shot. During the 

 night rain fell, and the next day it poured in torrents. 

 Late in the afternoon of this day we reached the Mac- 

 kenzie River, about 500 yards from its junction with the 

 Tana. At this point the Mackenzie River is forty yards 

 wide, and not more than three and one-half feet deep. 

 Fortunately, the rain ceased before sunset, and we made 

 our camp on a pebble-covered rise. 



On African expeditions the porters usually have but 

 little protection against the weather, unless the country 

 is sufficiently grassy to permit them to make their huts. 

 If camp is pitched in a desert, on sandy or stony soil, 

 they cover themselves with about four yards of Amer- 

 ican sheeting, rigged in the shape of a little A tent. 

 This affords some protection against the weather, and 

 in fact seems sufficient for these hardy people. 



The next day, Sunday, December 11, I recalled that 

 it was six months since I left London, and I was filled 

 with satisfaction by the thought that at last, after some 

 trouble and difficulty, we were on the border of a hith- 

 erto unexplored country. 



While encamped on the banks of the Mackenzie we 

 had some excellent hippopotamus shooting. At one 

 point along the bank of the river the bank rose to the 

 height of forty feet above the stream, and formed a pre- 

 cipitous cliff. On looking over into the stream from 

 the top of this cliff, I discovered a pool formed by a 



