I felt confident that by brisk marching I would be
able to fulfil my promise. There was a marked difference
in the marching ability of the men who had
been with us to the Rendile, and of those who had
remained at Daitcho. The latter suffered excessively
from thirst, although, for the first day and a half, we
were never more than one hour without crossing a
stream of some sort. Their feet were sore, and they
evinced signs of fatigue after a short march.
On the morning of July 26, two days from Daitcho,
we set out early, knowing that we had a long,
waterless march between us and the Ngombe crater.
I cautioned my men to be sparing in the use of the
water in their bottles; and, not contenting myself with
this, I halted at the end of each hour, and examined
the quantity in the bottle of each man. I ' offered
rewards for the men who would arrive at camp with
a drop or two in their bottles, and promised punishment
to those who should exhaust the three litres
before reaching camp. These deterrents proved of
no avail. Two hours after we had set out, the new
recruits from Daitcho had exhausted every drop in
their bottles; while those who had been with me to
the Rendile had, by that time, not touched their water
at all. It was pitiful to hear the foolish creatures who
had exhausted their supply, not only begging, but offering
to purchase a draught from the bottles of their
wiser companions.
By 2 p .m . two of my men were nearly dead with
thirst; they were quite out of their minds, and raved
continually. Their loads were taken away, and given
to two- men I had brought with me and permitted to go
unladen in anticipation of such an emergency. Curiously
enough, although they had, for the moment,
become mad by reason of their thirst, their ravings
bore no reference to water. They shouted, laughed,
cracked jokes, and staggered along with pleasant faces;
but their wild and staring eyes, their uncertain steps,
and the rambling manner of their talk gave positive
evidence of their condition. To these two men I
served out all the water I carried for myself, as I had
by this time become accustomed to march for many
hours without liquid refreshment. I also distributed
among the people a few sticks of sugar-cane, which I
was conveying to Lieutenant von Hohnel as a present
from the Daitcho. Although the men seemed perfectly
aware that I was denying myself, to a certain
extent, in giving them these things, they evinced no
sign of gratitude; but, after the nature of their kind,
accepted what I giv e them in a greedy manner, and
meanwhile commented on the small quantity each
received.
We continued the march, and by 6 p .m . reached the
native trail leading from the Jombeni range to the
Ngombe crater, when I halted to allow the caravan to
close up. To induce them to move in more vigorous
fashion, I had pressed on with all speed, accompanied
by my two tent-boys. As soon as I was able to discern
the figures of my men approaching me along the
side of the hill, I again set out, knowing that, after they
reached the native trail, they would have no difficulty
in arriving at the Ngombe crater.
Shortly after sunset I had a rather disagreeable
experience. I was striding along in the centre of the