We did not pity Ismail in the least, as neither he nor any of his men had a right to threaten Barri or in any way to control his movements, and, in addition, I had ocular evidence that Barri had acted purely in self-defence. Nevertheless, knowing that Ismail’s safari was now numerically very weak, and the Wa’Embe, as already stated, were in communication with the Burkeneji, we were strongly disinclined to abandon his safari to perhaps further misfortune. This feeling, I must admit, did not extend to Ismail personally, as he had shown himself to be a vacillating bully, and a man of evil passions, which at times entirely mastered him. But he had still some forty or fifty porters who deserved a better fate, and in addition, a mishap to one safari naturally mischievously affected any other which happened to be in the district at or near the same time. During the night we were much troubled by lions round the camp. They were not roaring, or we should have had no apprehensions, as Leo does not roar till he has killed. It was the peculiar low whining grunt, which is so modulated that it is extremely difficult to estimate the brute’s distance, or even locate his direction. The sheep were very uneasy, and it required the utmost exertions of our men to prevent them from stampeding. The fires were stirred up and fresh wood piled upon them, but all night we were kept constantly on the alert, though fortunately nothing untoward happened. Next morning we struck camp, and wandered up the river, camping again before the sun was well above the horizon. This programme was repeated for the following six days. During this time we received almost daily reports from Ismail by the hands of special messengers. These reports were couched in his usual vacillating terms. One day he would send word that he was coming on the following day with his safari for the purpose of accompanying us back to Kenia, while the next message would state that he had determined to buy more camels and go north to Marsabit. We did not alter our six-day programme, but marched slowly on. For one thing, we had great difficulty in feeding the men, game being scarce. We were naturally unwilling to kill sheep for food except as a last resource, but turned our attention instead to shooting. On the afternoon of the third day I was lucky enough to hear from a party of Burkeneji that a few giraffe were in the neighbourhood. I saddled up the big mule, and, taking the Martini, sallied forth, accompanied by a couple of men.