300 
THE KILIMANJARO EXPEDITION. 
tony. We saw a troop of young ostriches walking 
quietly about like well-behaved children, unaccom¬ 
panied by any parental guardian, while herds of 
buffaloes and many beautiful antelopes were grazing 
on the sweet short turf in this brief hour of waning 
sunlight. Towards nightfall it began to rain, and the 
rising moon was hidden. I had to leave my hammock 
and struggle along on foot, wading desperately through 
slush and water, falling into ant-bear burrows, and 
weighed down with my heavy, rain-soaked greatcoat, 
which I wisely wore to avoid a wetting nearer the 
skin. We could not stop to rest until the rain should 
cease, for the drenching was best undergone in 
motion; nevertheless, it was dreary work pounding 
along up to our ankles in liquid mud, unable to see 
more than a few yards ahead, and only knowing the 
path from what was not path by its having become 
the bed of a torrent. The rain descended in a terrific 
downpour, which nearly beat us to the earth, but 
amid all my dreariness I felt thankful at reflecting 
that my baggage was safely packed in air-tight cases 
which water could not penetrate. About eight o’clock 
the worst of the storm seemed over, and though it 
drizzled a little while longer, the clouds were rapidly 
dispersing and giving way to the brilliant moon. We 
sought refuge under a low tree and camped out. The 
men, although soaked and wearied, behaved very well, 
and tried to cheer each other with small witticisms. 
All crowded anxiously round Cephas, our clever 
second cook, who could make a fire when no one else 
could, and who now had obtained a little dry wood 
by breaking in pieces the various dead branches lying 
about and extracting the dry pith from the centre. 
With this as a commencement he soon lit a fire, and 
