The following day we bought a large quantity of food from N’Dominuki’s people, and packed it in loads in preparation for our march to the Waso Nyiro. In the afternoon Koromo, the man who met us with the honey when we were returning from Embe, came into camp with N’Dominuki and requested the honour of blood-brotherhood with El Hakim, and that interesting though disgusting ceremony was accordingly performed. That night George and I had a very disagreeable experience. We and the puppy had gone to our tent for a good night’s sleep after the worry and trouble of the last three days. The pup was very restless, and ran whining about the tent in a most annoying manner. At first we thought it was only his “cussedness,” and scolded him well; but he got worse instead of better, and finally rolled frantically on the ground, yelping most dismally. Suddenly George said “D——n!” in a loud voice, and sprang up from his bed, which was on the ground, and after a little searching pulled a black insect from some part of his anatomy. He at once examined his blankets, and found that they were literally covered with tiny black ants, which, in spite of their small size, bit most ferociously. I also turned out and found the ground under my bed was a seething black mass of ants, which instantly attacked the unprotected portions of my person with an earnestness and attention to business which, under other circumstances, would have commanded my highest admiration. Mine was a camp-bed standing a foot off the ground, and consequently there were comparatively few on my blankets. We turned our attention to the agonized puppy, and found that the poor little brute was black underneath with the tiny pests, who had bitten into his flesh and held on like limpets. We brushed him free and put him out of harm’s way, swept out the floor of the tent, getting innumerable bites on our naked feet and legs in the process, and sent for some ashes, with which we liberally sprinkled the ground, and also spread them in a circle round the tent, which to some extent mitigated the nuisance. I did not suffer so much, as my bed, as already explained, was some inches above the ground, and consequently George, who slept on a heap of rushes, bore the brunt of the attack. I was aroused several times during the night by a muttered exclamation from the darkness on his side of the tent, followed by the slap which signalled the hurried exit of another of our tiny enemies from this world of woe. We found in the morning that we had not been the only sufferers. Round all the men’s tents a broad band of ashes testified to the defensive measures they had been compelled to adopt. The cry of “siafu” (ants) in camp is at all times a signal for instant action. Red-hot ashes are hastily gathered and sprinkled in the path of the advancing horde, and the greatest excitement prevails till the foe is finally vanquished. I was compelled to shift our tent during the day to another spot some distance away. By