258 
THE NEW AFRICA 
thirst would make this almost impossible, for it seemed as if 
he could not sit still even a moment. Fortune favoured him, 
for he recognised the tree by its contour in the dark when he 
was almost in despair of succeeding. 
With his cartridges again in his possession, the misery of his 
position seemed much lightened, and he became almost joyous 
at this apparently trifling success. At a pinch he felt quite able 
now to travel to the lake alone. 
Now he started in the dark, for the moon had not. yet 
risen, and hurried off campwards, waiting at the preconcerted 
time to distinguish the signal shots which kept him on the 
course. As he proceeded in this manner, falling over tree- 
trunks and into holes, for no obstacle would induce him to leave 
the line, for fear of wandering, towards nine o’clock he became 
so exhausted that, falling severely over a log, he simply lay, 
wishing that something would happen to end the torturing 
thirst, now amounting to a severe pain and a cruel dizziness 
in the head. The 9.30 o’clock shot, however, boomed louder 
than before, inviting him to struggle on and on, staggering 
through the trees that seemed to his dizzy senses to swim 
around him in the vague moonlight—for the moon had now 
risen—until he thought he was also wandering from the line that 
should take him to us. Yet, as he desperately forced his steps 
on, he now clearly recognised the boom of the big gun growing 
more distinct each shot, like a voice encouraging him to further 
exertion. He would now have fired and lain down, but for 
the fear that the sound of his shot would not reach us; and, 
held up by the expectation of reaching the camp, which could 
not possibly be so far off now, he struggled on till eleven 
o’clock, and then dropped sheer down, unable to move another 
step. Luckily where he fell there were plenty of leaves and dry 
wood, so, scraping an armful together, he stuck a lighted match 
into the tinder-like substance, and then firing the signal shots 
which we had heard, he lay down with closed eyes, hardly know¬ 
ing or caring what was going on around him, and perfectly indif¬ 
ferent to the possibility of a lion attacking him. The sound of 
