1 LOSE MY WAY 



17 



felt pretty sure we liad got wrong, and when at about one 

 o'clock we came to the fresh spoor of a hyena and to a group of 

 zebras resting quietly under some trees by the way, we knew we 

 were off the track, and it suddenly dawned upon us that the foot- 

 prints which had misled us were those of Qualla and his party. 

 I took the opportunity of shooting one of the zebras, as it 

 might be some time before we came up with the Count now, 

 and my men would want meat. Then I climbed up a ridge,, 

 first on one side then on the other, to get a good look round, 

 but not a sign could I see of any caravan. A system of low 

 hills, varying in height from about 650 to 1,000 feet, the 

 western slopes of which are steep, often almost perpendicular,, 

 entirely shuts in the plain of Nyemps on the south from the base 

 of the Leikipia plateau to the Kamasia chain. It was evident that 

 the Count had turned off into another valley before he reached 

 the spring, and that the cattle and their drivers had gone 

 astray as well as ourselves. I searched the neighbourhood for 

 a whole hour in vain, and then decided to go on in the same 

 direction as before, hoping, as Qualla had followed it, that we 

 should come to water. It was well I did so, as it led to our 

 finding the Count, though not till the next day. 



We pushed on till sunset, and then camped beneath a 

 solitary tree at the edge of a little precipice, in a barren and 

 dreary district. Chuma set to work at once to make a little 

 fence ; Jomari, who acted as cook, to collect fuel ; whilst 

 Baraka went off to seek water, finding it, to my surprise, at 

 once, though only in small quantities. We were just cosily 

 settled by a good fire within our fence, when we were startled 

 by the sound of a gun. I hastened off at once to see what it 

 meant, and met the Askar Bakuri, who had charge of the cattle 

 and had told Count Teleki that I had followed the course of 

 the warm brook. The Count had now sent him to look for 

 us, and from him I learnt that the main body of the caravan had 



VOL. II. c 



