VII 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



285 



water-bottle containing three litres, it was quite suf- 

 ficient for one day's march ; but often these thought- 

 less people would drink every drop from their bottles 

 before they had been marching two hours. On this 

 occasion but one-half of my men had sufficient intelli- 

 gence to control their thirst, so the remainder of the 

 march was unpleasant in the extreme. The porters 

 shouted to one another with hoarse voices : " Master 

 is leading us into the desert ! " " Maji hapana hapa ! " 

 (There is no water here!) " Takufa yote ! " (We shall 

 all die!) 



By six in the evening we reached a high gneiss 

 hill called Kamanga, where our guide had promised 

 we should find water ; but the hole which once held 

 the precious liquid was dry. He then wished to turn 

 back, saying that it was useless to go farther; if there 

 was no water at Kamanga, there would be no water 

 elsewhere en route. The moon was almost full ; so, 

 notwithstanding the gloomy view of our guide, we de- 

 cided to push on during the night. At 9 p.m. we again 

 set out. 



In the cool air of the night my men marched much 

 better. The moonlight threw weird shadows across 

 the sandy waste. Occasionally a herd of antelope or 

 zebra would thunder past us, and from amid some 

 low clump of mimosa or thorn bush the snort of a 

 rhinoceros would be sent forth. Once or twice during 

 the night my guide leaped suddenly from the path ; 

 the action was occasioned by the hiss of some serpent 

 in the path, which his sharp ears had been able to 

 note. Every hour we would halt to allow the caravan 

 to close up ; and at each halt I would learn that another 



