Clearly, Then, The Only Thing
To Do Was To Return To The River; And In Order To
Accomplish This Before Dark It Was Necessary That
No Time Should Be Lost.
But we had been winding
in and out so much through the animal paths that
it was no easy matter to say in which direction the
Sabaki lay.
First I consulted my Wa Kamba
followers as to the route back, they simply shook
their heads. Then I asked Mahina, who pointed
out a direction exactly opposite to that which I
felt confident was the right one. Mabruki, of
course, knew nothing, but volunteered the helpful
and cheering information that we were lost
and would all be killed by lions. In these
circumstances, I confirmed my own idea as to
our way by comparing my watch and the sun,
and gave the order to start at once. For two
solid hours, however, we trudged along in the
fearful heat without striking a single familiar
object or landmark. Mabruki murmured loudly;
even Mahina expressed grave doubts as to whether
the "Sahib" had taken the right direction; only
the Wa Kamba stalked along in reassuring
silence. For some time we had been following
a broad white rhino path, and the great footmarks,
of one of these beasts were fresh and plainly
visible in the dust. He had been travelling in
the opposite direction to us, and I felt sure that
he must have been returning from drinking in
the river. I accordingly insisted on our keeping
to this path, and very soon, to my great relief,
we found that we were at the edge of the
escarpment, a couple of miles away from the
place where we had made the ascent. Here a
halt was called; a sheet was spread over some of
the stunted trees, and under its shade we rested
for half an hour, had some food, and drank the last
of our water. After this we pushed on with
renewed vigour, and arrived at the Sabaki in
good time before sundown, having bagged a
couple of guinea-fowl and a paa on the way to
serve for dinner. After the long and fatiguing
day my bathe in a clear shady pool was a real
delight, but I might not have enjoyed it quite
so much if I had known then of the terrible
fate which awaited one of my followers in the
same river the next day. By the time I got
back to camp supper was ready and fully
appreciated. The tireless Mahina had also
collected some dry grass for my bed, and I turned
in at once, with my rifle handy, and slept the sleep
of the just, regardless of all the wild beasts in
Africa.
At dawn Mabruki roused me with a cup of
steaming hot coffee and some biscuits, and a start
was at once made on our return journey to Tsavo.
The place where we had struck the Sabaki the
previous evening was some miles further down
the stream than I had ever been before, so I
decided to take advantage of the Masai trail
along its bank until the Tsavo River was reached.
I did not think we should meet with any further
adventure on our way home, but in the wilds
the unexpected is always happening.
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