from our camp, to wash some of the donkey saddles,
suddenly appeared, breathless from running, and said
that a, large war party of Rendile was approaching the
camp. With all despatch, Lieutenant von Hohnel and
I attired ourselves, and ran forward with twenty men.
Upon reaching the brow of a low hill, we saw before
us three horsemen armed with long spears, and almost
concealed in a thick growth of dhum palms. In their
rear we could discern more horsemen, many camels,
and a large body of foot warriors. We halted.
Between our position and the palms, which served
to conceal the Rendile force, there stretched a little
plain, and over that plain the three horsemen cantered
slowly to and fro. Upon seeing us, they shouted
to their companions behind, amidst the trees, and
then cried to u s : “ Serian! ” (Peace). Knowing that
Lieutenant von Hohnel and the men with him, who
were the best shots in the caravan, would be perfectly
able to cover my advance, I went forward, accompanied
by two of the Somali and a Masai interpreter,
to talk to the three mounted Rendile.
They permitted me to approach to within fifty
yards, but at first no nearer. When I reached that
distance, they waved their hands for me to keep off,
and when I advanced, they would retreat. Finally,
after shouting, “ Serian ! ” I inquired their purpose in
coming. They replied that they were a hunting-party
of the Rendile in search of giraffe, and said that the
camels they had brought with them were for the purpose
of carrying back the meat of such animals as they slew.
They did not attempt, however, to explain the presence
of the large body of foot warriors, some 200 in number.
The men who had been washing the donkey saddles
said they had not noticed the approach of the Rendile,
until they were almost upon them; and that
from the movements of these people they did not for
a moment think they had come on a peaceful mission.
I shared their opinion. The two Somali who were
with me grinned with excitement and glee, and said:
“ Now, master, Allah has delivered these people with
horses and camels into our hands. Now let us seize
them. They are enemies, and they belong to us. We
know that the white man does not wage war for the
sake of plunder; but let us, the Somali, go with a
few men we will select, and in a few moments you
will have horses to ride, and camels to carry your
goods”
The temptation to yield was, I must admit, next to
irresistible; but as the people concealed among the
trees made no overt attack upon us, and as the horsemen
continued to shout in the most eager manner,
“ Serian!' Serian! ” I could not permit myself to indulge
in the pleasure of an attack.
The three horsemen were men whom we had
noticed as followers of Lokomogul. They said that
their chief very much regretted we had left his country
without permitting him to say farewell to u s ; and
that they had come out of their way while on the
giraffe hunt to bear us this message. One of them
eagerly pointed over his shoulder, and said rapidly,
“ Rhinoceros ! Rhinoceros! ” This at first conveyed
nothing to our minds; but upon following them to
a distance, we found stretched on the ground the
rhinoceros I had wounded. The sight of this animal