Page:First Footsteps in East Africa, 1894 - Volume 1.djvu/179

 Even so!" "At last I came upon cattle tracks." "Hoo! hoo!! hoo!!!" (an ominous pause follows this exclamation of astonishment.) "They were fresh." "Even so!" "So were the earths." "Even so!" "I distinguished the feet of women." "Even so!" "But there were no camels." "Even so!" "At last I saw sticks"-- "Even so!" "Stones"-- "Even so!" "Water"-- "Even so!" "A well!!!" Then follows the palaver, wherein, as occasionally happens further West, he distinguishes himself who can rivet the attention of the audience for at least an hour without saying anything in particular. The advantage of their circumlocution, however, is that by considering a subject in every possible light and phase as regards its cause and effect, antecedents, actualities, and consequences, they are prepared for any emergency which, without the palaver, might come upon them unawares. Although the thermometer showed summer heat, the air was cloudy and raw blasts poured down from the mountains. At half past 3 P.M. our camels were lazily loaded, and we followed the course of the Fiumara, which runs to the W. and S. W. After half an hour's progress, we arrived at the gully in which are the wells, and the guides halted because they descried half-a- dozen youths and boys bathing and washing their Tobes. All,