212 
THE NEW AFRICA 
up a calabash, full of wet mud that he had dug up at the bottom 
of the ant-bear pit. This moist earth was duly shared by the 
crowd, who filled their mouths and sucked such fluid out of the 
stuff* as it contained, and then spat out the remaining sand. 
While the first lot were enjoying the moisture thus obtained, 
another cycle of boys took up the job, and so the night was 
spent by most of the boys successively in getting up the mud 
to wet their parched throats with. As for ourselves, although 
supplied with a calabash full of the moist earth, we preferred not 
to touch it, as it was. accompanied by an unholy smell that 
savoured of decaying material like sulphuretted hydrogen, which 
we could not stomach. 
The first march we made on the following morning, starting 
at daybreak, brought us to 'a large pan of water, where we 
halted to hunt for game, as we were out of food. But although 
we scoured the country in every direction, nothing was found, 
and the absence of spoor also showed that we were in a country 
free of anything worth shooting for food. The next day we 
marched thirteen miles on end in a south-west direction without 
seeing a single game track, and camped at night near a muddy 
little pan, that just supplied sufficient water for our wants. We 
were obliged to kill two of our few remaining goats, which served 
just to give a. bite all round to the hungry boys. 
Again we were off with sunrise, determined to march on until 
we came upon some kind of game spoor, and there to camp 
until something was killed. Things were getting desperate; the 
quagga meat had long been exhausted, and the only food the 
boys and ourselves had to eat during the last two days were two 
small goats and a few mabulas—poor stuff to march on. In fact, 
the boys were so hungry that they cast their spare sandals of 
buffalo hide into a pot of water and boiled them all night, and in 
the morning, before starting, hastily browned the flabby-looking 
product over the coals and devoured it with gusto. We also 
had our share of this meal, and, probably owing to hunger, found 
it quite palatable. 
After going ten miles south-west we came upon a troop of 
