standing exactly behind the one he had first seen, and
hence was invisible to him, run forward a few paces,
and then fall to the ground dead. Incredible though
it may seem, one Mannlicher bullet passed through the
body of one animal, and penetrated sufficiently into the
body of the other to kill it also.
Owing to our ignorance of the duration of our journey,
it became necessary for us to hoard our little store of
grain food; so that at such times as the camp was
plentifully supplied with meat we fed the men on that
alone. Although the Soudanese had upon first tasting
meat expressed their love of it, and their preference for
that form of diet above all others, a week of nothing but
animal food forced them to turn from it in disgust, and
longingly to eye our sacks of beans and corn. On the
day of my recovery they came to me in a body, and
frankly told me that they could no longer eat meat, but
wished to indulge, for a short time at least, in a purely
grain diet. I did not yield to their solicitations, however,
and they, like the children they had on many previous
occasions proved themselves to be, refused to eat
anything. They swore they would starve themselves
to death; but the next day they were found cheerfully
accepting with evident pleasure large hunks of rhinoceros
meat.
Motio told us that the journey from this point to the
Guaso Nyiro led through an almost waterless desert;
that perhaps we should find one small water-hole, and
that he also knew of one pool of alkali water, which
at some periods of the year was drinkable. While in
Europe w'e had purchased a tin water-bottle, capable of
holding three litres, for every member of our caravan;
and as an extra precaution had procured, while at Aden,
thirty goat-skin water-bags, each capable of holding two
gallons. We had on the present trip but twelve of
these goat-skin water-bags, as our means of transport
would not permit taking a greater number. These
water-bags do very well if carefully handled, but after
being carried for a few days the water they contain
assumes a most disagreeable flavour.
B a o b a b T r e e
We filled these water-bags, and an December 22
set out upon our journey. We made our camp two
miles to the northwest of Kora crater, beneath a giant
baobab, the girth of which was forty-eight feet. We
were fortunate enough to find near this a little pool of
stagnant water left by the rains. The mountain range
proper ends at Kora, but for some miles to the north
there are a number of craters of different sizes, mostly