288 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



had expected to find at Seran : and he repHed that 

 they had probably gone to the Guaso Nyiro. It was 

 useless to think of going in search of them ; one 

 might as well look for a needle in a haystack. 

 Moreover, our caravan was then unable to proceed 

 without throwing away many loads; for we had but 

 ten donkeys out of the thirty-seven with which we 

 started from Daitcho. What ailed these animals we 

 could not conclude ; unless it was that in some way 

 they had become infected with the disease which car- 

 ried off our donkeys at Hameye. Our Masai inter- 

 preters told us that they had often taken donkeys 

 from the coast on journeys lasting two years, and 

 brought them back, although used constantly for the 

 two years. They said there were times when a 

 plague seemed to destroy them ; but that that seemed 

 to occur at intervals of four or five years. Evidently 

 we had had the misfortune to undertake our journey 

 in a bad year. 



With Mayolo I climbed one of the dhum palms at 

 Seran, and asked him the names of the small hills we 

 could see from that slight elevation. He persisted in 

 asserting his ignorance of the country, but thought- 

 lessly admitted that he knew the name of one hill 

 lying nearly twenty miles to the eastward, which he 

 said was sometimes inhabited by Wanderobbo. From 

 what I saw while up the tree I promptly concluded 

 to set out for this hill. 



Both Lieutenant von Hohnel and I had decided 

 that we should not turn back, no matter how great 

 the difificulties which beset our path, before we 

 reached the Rendile. I decided to take with me 



