CHAPTER XVIII 
A JOUST WITH A BULL ORYX 
On a sudden one hath wounded me. 
That’s by me wounded 
Romeo and Juliet 
Truly, pleasure will be paid, one time or another 
Twelfth Night 
The following day we made our way to some adjacent 
wells, and spent the whole of the hours in filling up 
everything we could lay hands on with water. All 
old bottles were utilised, and I arranged that the 
precious fluid should be allowanced, and any man 
found helping himself would find the promised bonus 
at the end of the trip a myth. The camels and ponies 
were watered, and we had baths ! Then, in the dawn 
of a day of intense heat, with the early sun a-shimmer 
on all the glory of green that surrounded us again, the 
air yet heavy with dew, and drowsy with the hum of 
myriad insects, we marched, heading for the Haud. 
We might not again have any opportunity of securing 
any water before we negotiated the great tract, which 
we were to cross in a different part to our previous 
journey over. 
The jungle was very dense, and the caravan simply 
crawled. I rode ahead, and about eight o’clock 
walked into, almost over, a lioness sound asleep with 
R 
