70 



THE DISCOVERY OF LAKE RUDOLF 



hill. He did not, however, return, and they sought and shouted 

 for him in vain. 



On the morning of the second day after our arrival at 

 Barasaloy we transferred our camp to the water-holes, and 

 Count Teleki went off himself to examine the district more 

 closely, and try to hit on some plan of further progress. He 

 had scarcely left the camp with his men, when with loud cries 

 of the ' Suk are coming ! ' from the herd boys, our cattle were 

 driven helter-skelter into the camp. So far we only knew the 

 Suk by report, and for that reason we dreaded them like 

 the plague, as we once had the Masai. I therefore ordered 

 the men to take their weapons and sent to recall the Count. 

 But it soon turned out to be a false alarm, the result of a 

 misunderstanding ; some of our men had noticed footprints, 

 and the shape of the sandals marked on the sand reminded 

 them of the Suk, so they told the boys in charge of the 

 cattle not to go too far from the camp. They had not 

 properly understood what they heard and raised an alarm 

 at once. 



Count Teleki came back from the survey the same morning 

 and reported that he believed we could get to Mount Nyiro in 

 from twenty-two to twenty-four hours, which would be a severe 

 strain upon the men with some eighty to one hundred pounds 

 each to carry. It would have to be done, however, and to 

 hearten the poor fellows up for the arduous struggle before 

 them, we allowed them another day's rest and gave them two 

 oxen as extra rations. 



At half-past two in the morning of February 26 we began 

 the forced march. By the faint light of the crescent moon and 

 that of a huge fire we quickly completed our preparations for 

 the start, the quarrelling over the water and the watering of 

 the cattle going on till the very last moment, when the men of 

 the caravan had already disappeared in the shadows of the night 



