At night a bed of banana leaves was made up for me on the ground in El Hakim’s tent, which, with the addition of a couple of blankets, made me as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. My well-earned rest, however, was soon disturbed by the field-rats, which used me as a playground, and continually skipped and jumped over my body and face, to their own infinite amusement and my extreme discomfort. Two or three times during the night I woke up and found a large rat curled up fast asleep in the hollow of my neck or under my arm. El Hakim awoke at my frequent and somewhat profane exclamations, and gently inquired what was the matter. When I held forth on the drawbacks of slumber in the savage wilds, he feigned polite incredulity, and remarked, “Shocking, shocking! Most unfortunate delusions! Very regrettable, Hardwick, _very_;” and turning over in his blankets, he added insult to injury by chuckling audibly at intervals for an hour afterwards, in a most aggravating manner. At four o’clock next morning we roused our fourteen men, and set out for G’nainu, some twenty or thirty of Bei-Munithu’s men accompanying us. It was rather a rough tramp, the country being very hilly and much cut up by ravines and streams. We crossed the river Kazeta (which flows in a south-easterly direction through Zura at an average altitude of 5000 feet) by a tree-trunk bridge, and at seven o’clock reached the first village of the Wa’G’nainu and halted outside. Our men waved green branches as a sign that we came in peace, but got no answer, the village, which was very strongly fortified, seeming to be entirely deserted. It was situated on the crest of a forest-covered hill, and was surrounded by a very massive outer stockade of roughly hewn tree-trunks with pointed tops. Inside there were two additional stockades of pointed logs, and the huts within were also stockaded one from the other, the whole forming a position almost impregnable to an enemy without firearms. We waited for a while, but were unable to get any answer to our signals, and held a consultation to decide on our next move, but in the middle of the discussion a shower of poisoned arrows from the surrounding bush winged their destructive way into our midst, killing three of Bei-Munithu’s men outright; at the same time the now familiar war-cry rose on all sides, and resounded from hilltop to hilltop in a manner which showed us that we were fully expected. The natives, we found afterwards, had driven off most of the stock, which, with all their women and children, was safely out of the way on the hills, while their husbands and fathers contentedly settled down to a comfortable day’s fighting with the Wasungu, with the prospect of a nice little massacre afterwards as a fitting conclusion to a most enjoyable day.