Untrodden Paths 
31 
started off, and came up with him shortly before six o’clock in the 
evening, tired out and hungry, whilst my fagged-out carriers did 
not straggle in before eleven o’clock the same night.” 
As the time I could allow for the surveying of the “White 
Spot territory of nearly 2,000 square kilometres—was 
a comparatively short one, the two lieutenants had to work at a 
fairly quick rate. In consequence of this, and particularly whilst 
they were in the deeply fissured mountain country of the Kagera 
district, the commissariat caravans were at times unable to dis¬ 
cover their camp. Thus they were compelled every now and then 
to put themselves, as well as their people, on half or one-third 
rations. 
At Mount Ndama the position was a particularly critical 
one. The following is a report that I received at that time 
from Weiss: 
“Eight days earlier we had sent off express messengers beg¬ 
ging for fresh stores, but no answer had been vouchsafed. Our 
people’s stock of vegetable food had been entirely consumed, and 
we had already subsisted for two days solely on meat. As far 
as the eye could see no habitation could be descried. Night after 
night we lighted blazing piles of wood and fired off the last of 
our stock of fire-balls to indicate the position of our camp to any 
commissariat caravan which might possibly be searching for us. 
But we never got an answer. As it was simply impossible to hold 
out any longer under such conditions, we decided, with the 
greatest reluctance, to abandon our interesting labours and to 
proceed to the next village. 
“After journeying for about one and a half hours we suddenly 
became aware of the head of an Askari gazing down from a 
height. A moment later his whole body was visible. He was 
followed by twenty carriers bearing the welcome provision loads. 
We greeted them with wild cheers, our men setting up an ear¬ 
deafening Babel of joyful cries. Our immediate troubles were 
over, and we were enabled to carry on our work buoyed up with 
fresh courage and strength. This commissariat caravan had 
been wandering about the district for five days looking for us. 
