It will be seen that under these conditions it was a very difficult matter to successfully raid a tribe like the Rendili, to reach whom they had to cross uninhabited and desolate country for ten days or more, and generally to arrive at their prospective victims’ camping-ground starved and emaciated with their rapid and difficult march, to find that the Rendili had withdrawn with all their flocks and herds still further into the depths of the wilderness. Weakened by want of food, and fatigued almost beyond endurance, there would be nothing for the war-party but to retrace their steps, it being quite hopeless to attempt to find the Rendili in the desert, in which they were quite at home. So, sadder and wiser, the crestfallen elmoran would return, many dropping by the way from hunger and exhaustion, till a pitiful remnant of the once proud and arrogant war-party would totter home, to rest and recuperate before starting on another raid on the A’kikuyu, where the prizes, if few in number, did not entail so much inconvenience in the collection. CHAPTER XIV. _THE SEARCH FOR LORIAN._ Exchanging presents with the Rendili—El Hakim bitten by a scorpion—We start for Lorian without guides—Zebra—Desolate character of the country—Difficulties with rhinoceros—Unwillingness of our men to proceed—We reach the limit of Mr. Chanler’s journey—No signs of Lorian. The climate was still all that could be desired. The heat in the daytime was terrific, but the air was so dry that it was quite bearable. No dew fell at night, and sleeping in the open was, in consequence, an unmixed pleasure. Our camp was about 1200 feet above sea-level, and the temperature during the day could not have been much less than 120° Fahr., which dropped at night to from 85° to 90° Fahr. I made several short trips into the surrounding country in search of fresh meat, but except a solitary grantei or wallerei at intervals, the country was devoid of game. The flocks and herds of the Rendili roamed so far afield in search of pasture that all the game within a day’s march had been driven away. The guinea-fowl were very wild, and I found my 20-bore was unable to deal with them, as it would not kill far enough. Also we considered it unwise to do any shooting in the near vicinity of the Rendili or Burkeneji villages, as the women and children, being unaccustomed to firearms, were very much frightened by the explosions, and it might possibly have proved a cause of friction, which we of course wished to avoid.