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TRAVELS m EASTERN AFRICA 



463 



tion to return to the coast. The authorities gave as 

 a reason for this, that they feared ill might befall Mr. 

 James and his party, and that the British Government 

 might in some way be held responsible. 



On Christmas Eve I sent Hassan and three of the 

 traders to the food station at Sayer. Hassan was to 

 bring back the six men I had left there. All the 

 goods I had stored at Sayer I gave to the traders. 

 As these men went without loads, I knew they could 

 accomplish the distance to and from Sayer in ten 

 days ; but to allow for accidents, I told Hassan that 

 I should expect him in fourteen at the latest. Christ- 

 mas Day found us in surprisingly good spirits, consid- 

 ering our position. I killed a bullock and feasted our 

 men. George and I had for dinner two pints of 

 champagne, a tinned plum pudding, a good steak, and 

 a pilau made of rice and chicken. 



We now^ had nothing to do but await the return 

 of the men from Sayer. I decided to set out after 

 their arrival for the coast via Ukambani. The rains 

 were still falling, and, had it not been for the canoe 

 which I had built for George's assistance, my men 

 would never have been able to cross the Tana, and 

 so to desert. This rainy season had been a phenom- 

 enal one. It had rained with but slight intermission 

 for six weeks; but at that time of the year the rains 

 w^ere supposed never to last more than three. 



The day after Christmas, Gilo, my Galla inter- 

 preter, came to me with one of the Somali, and after 

 craving forgiveness for so long concealing what he 

 had to say, recited the following. For a month before 

 the desertion of the men he had slept in the same 



