XV 
WHERE A MAN CAN RAISE A THIRST 
i55 
hand, and diluting it with water, I emptied it into 
Hyiah’s mouth as he lay, and, immediately after¬ 
wards, treated myself to a similar dose. After the 
lapse of a brief interval, I gave him a few sips of 
water from one of the calabashes, taking particular 
care that he should not, in his extremity, greedily 
swallow a considerable quantity of the liquid. In 
another ten minutes, I handed him the calabash to 
drink his fill, while I myself did ample justice to the 
other. No gods ever brewed a nectar half so 
delicious as that long draught of water! I have 
often thought since that occurrence how fortunate it 
is that the reason can control the pressing demands 
of the physical being, for had we in our eagerness 
gulped down the water without restraint, the results 
would, in all probability, have proved disastrous. 
As Konyaki and the three carriers had brought 
no food with them and barely enough water to 
satisfy Hyiah and myself, I had to dispatch them 
back to camp and await their return with further 
supplies before we could set out to succour the men 
whom we had left behind. After about an hour’s 
rest, during which we disposed of large quantities of 
tea, supplemented with plenty of sugar—we were 
too exhausted to eat—we started off. Fortunately, 
the moon was in its third quarter and illumined the 
forest sufficiently to enable us to track our way by 
the blazed trees, yet, owing to the uncertain light and 
