journey, even when he was traversing the “ dark forest,”
he was unable to prevent these ignorant people from
throwing away their lives by desertion. The Zanzibari
is ever ready to retrace his steps, no matter how
difficult the road. It is the facing of the unknown
that seems to fill him with dread.
On the afternoon of the seventh day from Hameye
we reached the food station established by George,
distant from Hameye only thirty-five miles. It was terrible
work getting the men to cover even this short distance
in the seven days. A t this food station two of
the cows were killed (just in time to prevent natural
deaths on their part), which the men ate with avidity.
My horse also died at this place.
George, through his skill in arranging the loads, had
prevented the loss of many of them; and there always
seemed to be carrying power for just one more, even
when apparently every man and beast was staggering
under a burden. Even the headmen, Somali and Soudanese,
were laden down. We rested at the food station
two days, then set out for the Mackenzie River, which
we reached after one day’s march, and having crossed
this river we camped near the Tana.
The small distances we were accomplishing in our
daily marches convinced me that we should be unable
to reach the Jombeni range before exhausting our food
supply; so we halted at the Tana for two days, which
were spent in hippopotamus-shooting. A t this point
the Tana is 150 yards wide, and its current is obstructed
by a mass of gneiss rocks, over which the water brawls
and rushes. We saw several groups of hippopotamuses
sleeping in the river, and set to work to get as many
of them as possible. In a short time we killed five.
Knowing the courageous nature of Felix, the fox-
terrier, we had tied him to a tree while engaged in
shooting; but in some manner he managed to escape
from his bonds, and plunged into the river in the mids(
of the wounded hippopotamuses. He swam from one
to the other, barking all the time. Now and again the
S c e n e o n t h e T a n a
swift current dashed him against the rocks, and his barks
were drowned by the roar of the stream; but he invariably
reappeared and continued as before. On one
occasion Felix pursued a wounded bull hippopotamus
until near the shore where the water was shallower, and
the beast stood at bay. Felix leaped upon his back,
and barked ■ paeans of victory, much to the discomfort
of the wounded animal. Another shot laid the bull low.