first beating down the earth into a hard concrete-like floor and then strewing it with ashes, we hoped to prevent a recurrence of the attack of the previous night, an arrangement we found to answer admirably. [Illustration: ELDERS OF M’THARA.] [Illustration: DIRITO AND VISELI (on the right) AND TWO FOLLOWERS. (See page 132.)] The same day the Somalis left M’thara for Chanjai, where they desired to purchase food. They promised that on their return in four days’ time they would accompany us on another expedition into Embe—a result I should have attributed to my eloquence of the night before had we not been perfectly aware of the unreliability of their promises. El Hakim, however, decided to wait on the off-chance of their returning, and resolved to fill in a day or two by a journey back to Munithu to collect food, and also to try to get news as to how far our Embe reverse had affected native feeling towards us in those districts. He took eight men with rifles with him. I amused myself all the morning trying to make toffee from native honey and butter. The resulting compound, though palatable enough, could not be induced to harden, so we were compelled to devour it with a spoon. George gave in at midday to a nasty touch of fever. I administered a couple of phenacetin tabloids, and sweated him well, which towards evening reduced his temperature. Next morning he was decidedly better, and together we made a tour of inspection round the camp. We saw a peculiar striped rat in the boma, which we nicknamed the zebra rat. It was mouse-coloured with black stripes, but as we had not a trap we could not secure a specimen. At midday George was down again with the fever, and I dosed him once more. At 12.30 two men came back from El Hakim with a note for me. He asked for some fresh bread and a bottle of milk, also for six more men with rifles. It seemed that the Wa’G’nainu, the people of a district west of Munithu, on hearing of our Embe reverse, had come down and looted some of the trade goods which El Hakim had left in Bei-Munithu’s charge, and that he intended to try to recover them. He also asked for my company if I could leave camp. As George was so queer I did not feel justified in leaving him, but on his assurance that he was quite able to look after himself while I was away, I decided to go.