2IO 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



journey, even when he was traversing the " dark forest," 

 he was unable to prevent these ignorant people from 

 throwing away their lives by desertion. The Zanzi- 

 bari is ever ready to retrace his steps, no matter how 

 difficult the road. It is the facing of the unknown 

 that seems to fill him with dread. 



On the afternoon of the seventh day from Hameye 

 we reached the food station established by George, 

 distant from Hameye only thirty-five miles. It was ter- 

 rible work getting the men to cover even this short dis- 

 tance in the seven days. At this food station two of 

 the cows were killed (just in time to prevent natural 

 deaths on their part), which the men ate with avidity. 

 My horse also died at this place. 



George, through his skill in arranging the loads, had 

 prevented the loss of many of them ; and there always 

 seemed to be carrying power for just one more, even 

 when apparently every man and beast was staggering 

 under a burden. Even the headmen, Somali and Sou- 

 danese, were laden down. We rested at the food station 

 two days, then set out for the Mackenzie River, which 

 we reached after one day's march, and having crossed 

 this river we camped near the Tana. 



The small distances we were accomplishing in our 

 daily marches convinced me that we should be unable 

 to reach the Jombeni range before exhausting our food 

 supply ; so we halted at the Tana for two days, which 

 were spent in hippopotamus-shooting. At this point 

 the Tana is 150 yards wide, and its current is obstructed 

 by a mass of gneiss rocks, over which the water brawls 

 and rushes. We saw several groups of hippopotamuses 

 sleeping in the river, and set to work to get as many 



