Through the Wilderness, 
31! 
was too late to go back to that which we had left, so 
we were obliged to content ourselves without supper. 
When we rose the next morning, our first concern * 
was — water. We could not think of going forward 
without a supply, and four or five men were sent 
back to the ungurunga we passed yesterday to fetch 
some. This caused delay, but the water was indis- 
pensable. Our object was, if possible, to reach 
Kithima to-day, and we might have attained it had 
we made an early start, but having to wait rendered it 
impossible. 
It was nine o'clock before our men returned. In 
the meantime the rest of us had taken a little food. 
We gave the water-bearers a little time to rest and 
eat ; but at 9.30 a.m. the command was given to march. 
The Taru hills were on our right at starting, 
but were soon left in the rear. I obtained a better 
view of these hills to-day than I had been able to get 
yesterday. They are two conical elevations, of 
perhaps from three to four hundred feet in height. 
They are rocky and to a large extent bare. They 
are a very useful landmark to the traveller, but be- 
yond this there is nothing interesting about them, 
I do not know what a geologist might find in them. 
The country passed over was similar to that of 
yesterday, but the undulations were more regular, 
gentle, and far-reaching. It was also less woody. 
The trees were of the same stunted kind, but were 
more universally bare, and the grass was more spare 
and more withered. Where any greenness appeared, I 
found almost invariably that it was the obe and its 
congeners ; for this singular plant is seldom found 
alone, as it either seeks the neighbourhood of other 
