UGOQO AND IRAMBA TO NG'URU. 73 negroes can look when they have to endure, what is to them the acme of discomfort, a thorough wetting.

It was useless to think of proceeding any farther that day ; so tents were pitched, and, after many vain attempts, a fire was at length lighted, and we were able to partially dry our saturated clothes.

The next morning rose fair and bright, and we were off at an early hour, the only trace of yesterday's storm being the muddiness of the plain for a short distance (for our camp was near the edge of the track of the storm) and the freshness in the air. The greater part of this day's journey was over a flat, almost treeless tract, covered with short fresh green grass and with large masses of a bulbous plant with a spike of white blossoms (Chlorophytum affine). Large herds of buffaloes, zebra, wild donkeys and various species of antelopes were seen at intervals during the day, but the march was much too long a one to allow us to go after any of them.

Early in the day we crossed the channel of a considerable stream, and in the evening came to open swampy jungle, where many wading birds were seen, and we camped in a grove of baobab trees, which had a strange, weird look at night when their giant forms were lighted up with the ruddy glow of the camp fires. The next day (December 9th) we had a very long march. About two hours brought us to a low range of hills, and crossing these, we found ourselves in hilly wooded country