They certainly made me work for what little I captured. They disputed every plantation and every village till I began to run short of ammunition. Two or three of my Munithu contingent were killed, so when I reached the next village I burnt it, just to show the enemy that they had in no way intimidated us by their opposition; a proceeding which heartened my men wonderfully. It was very hard work. Every village was perched on an eminence, and in most cases reached by only one, or at the most two, almost inaccessible paths. I proceeded all the time at the double, so that my men should not have time to think about the danger, and after racing up and down several hills as steep as the roof of a house, I was fairly pumped and streaming with perspiration, in spite of the comparatively low temperature. I captured a few head of cattle and a hundred or so sheep and goats in the course of an hour or two, and burnt four villages in the process; which proceeding greatly facilitated my safe retirement to the base held by El Hakim, when I was forced both by lack of breath and ammunition to turn my footsteps thither. During my retirement the enemy concentrated in force along my route, but a few well-directed shots from my ·303 persuaded them that it was safer to scatter and take cover. I rejoined El Hakim, and found that he had also gathered a couple of dozen or so additional goats and sheep, and three or four head of cattle. It was then nine o’clock in the morning. There was no sign of the five missing men. The war-cries and howls of the enemy were increasing rapidly in volume, and it became more and more evident that a determined effort was to be made by them to prevent our return. Our Munithu contingent showed unmistakable signs of wavering, so we concluded that in the interests of our own lives and those of our remaining men we had better put on a determined front, and fight our way back to Munithu. We therefore burnt our temporary headquarters, and retired in good order, trusting that the misguided Sadi ben Heri and his equally misguided companions had already safely retired by another route. After leaving the village the path abruptly descended into a narrow valley and ascended the opposite slope, winding amid thick bush, in which large numbers of the enemy had congregated. Our first view of them was by no means encouraging. The bush seemed alive with them. We were at once greeted with a shower of poisoned arrows at long range, which, though they did no bodily harm, badly shook the nerves of the men; but El Hakim and I put in a little fancy shooting at 200 yards, and order was soon restored. We got safely through that particular part, but several times in the next mile or so we were greeted with showers of arrows from concealed natives. A few shots, however, generally persuaded them that discretion was the better part of valour.