384 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



The next day we reached our camp at Sayer. There 

 we were forced to wait several days, as Lieutenant von 

 Hohnel suffered too much from his wound to be moved. 

 During our stay at this place I sent Karscho and some 

 Soudanese daily in search of game, and their skill with 

 the rifle kept us supplied with fresh meat. 



My feelings of grief at Lieutenant von Hohnel's 

 accident were accentuated by the fact that I was per- 

 fectly aware that from that time the expedition would 

 be unable to profit from his skilled assistance; also, by 

 the further fact, that it would require months to trans- 

 port him to the coast. Notwithstanding this immense 

 drawback, I decided not to forego my plans of con- 

 tinuing the expedition ; and with that purpose in view 

 when we set out from Daitcho, I left six of my men 

 behind in charge of a store of flour and trading- 

 goods. These men received instructions to wait five 

 months, unless otherwise ordered. By the end of that 

 time I hoped to be able to profit by the presence of 

 this food station in that wilderness. A few light 

 showers of rain had fallen, and the Wanderobbo had 

 assured us that in this high country the Guaso Nyiro 

 was apt to rise at very short notice ; so we decided 

 to cross it at once, while it was shallow, lest we 

 should be delayed by a rise in the river. 



We left our camp on September i, and reached 

 Daitcho on September i8. Reviewing in my mind 

 this march from Sayer to Daitcho, I can conjure up 

 nothing but a nightmare of continuous horror and 

 anxiety. The anxiety was occasioned by the suffer- 

 ings of my friend ; the horror was caused by the fact 

 that during this entire march, from Sayer until we 



