Ritts

Sy ty

2

At

© fn

Se

os

-“

*

ibe Gib Ad Reh WATE

|

Y
aid

J

at

FIG. 3

FIG. 1

A. Gregory, delt.

A CLUSTER OF INSECTS GROUPED TO RESEMBLE A FLOWER SPIKE.

For description see pp. 273-275.

SreAl RIFE VALLEY

BEING THE NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO
MOUNT KENYA AND LAKE BARINGO

WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GEOLOGY, NATURAL
HISTORY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND FUTURE
PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA

By J’ W. GREGORY,

D.SC. (LOND.)
F.G.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S.
OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY)

‘Or join the caravan in quest of scenes
New to the eye and changing every hour.’
JOHN ARMSTRONG, Zhe Art of Preserving Health, 1744.

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS HE RR Tes
ION
<i
ZA Ae as
LONDON

JOLIN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET
1896

LA Tee Ne
' eee vee

rig
ea

ate
a ;

Ae eS
atk itty | Ni
i i ue mi

pe oor)
i
q
| 4
(an . |
; ; vi a eM
‘i |
wy hy iM Co a L
7 ie |
i
| : 1 y
as ee ts)
oa is, Wt a:
| i
i) yet! : | |
| | y i
: ‘ ‘ l ij {Fy La
ii ij + j ' f
ye
1 ay’ | |
tT qT ; ‘ | |
| : iv
| ip t 1
t : 7 |
| | i ; At
iy i, 4 . |
eo 1 tr : ry i
a2 it ; | |
"1 | i |
. | : ned e{
’ < . |
Me aay | ; | 7
Ph ait: Ws ay}, Pa , | . :
bh |
i
ql
‘ ’ iP
A)
r
i
1
f
Af
®
; r
. ia DY | ; : |
T ; A |
i 1 m, i tt .
Ji , e : 7 :
we |
' 5 iy af .
: Al fi
@ ’ |
i y m = : ; | .
if 4 (vie ; vip
| . :* in
i]
= nl
} ; U . ,
\ aa
Rote ei |
4 : | |
none
/ ane
t : | |
ald rig,
| 1
=o) 7 oh
| . Hy
9 |
| i
; | | yh :
t | ; |
; v
i a - ii Fy aren |
; i
| J ui ‘
iia |
; Da ke

Pies —

AO iM Aan rh

iiss

ae
we Abe :
a Yih

At wit

To the fHlemory of

MY MOTHER

Jel eC

In the Presidential Address to the British Association at its
last meeting, Mr. Thiselton-Dyer quoted a letter from Sir
John Kirk, deploring the neglect of opportunities for scientific
usefulness by British residents in West Africa. “Such
chances,” he said, “never will occur again, for roads are
now being made and ways cut in the jungle and forest,
and you have at hand all sorts of trees level on the ground
ready for study. These bring down with them orchids, ferns,
and climbers of many kinds, including rattan palms, etc.
But, excellent as are the officers who devote their energy to
thus opening up this country, there is not one man who knows
a palm from a dragon-tree, so the chance is lost. Strange to
say, the medical men of the Government service know less and
care less for Natural History than the military men, who at
least regret they have no training or study to enable them to
take an intelligent interest in what they see around them.”
Having felt the same regret on the other side of the
continent, I had already divided this book into two parts—one
‘devoted to a narrative of a journey in Eastern British East
Africa, and the other to a general account of the natural history
of the country visited. I have tried to make the latter suf-

ficiently simple to be intelligible to most readers, and yet of

b

vill PREFACE

use to travellers and residents in East Africa, by indicating the
nature of the problems on which information is desired, and by
suggesting lines of observation and research.

This part of the book is entitled “ Hastern British East
Africa,” as attention is almost entirely confined to the part of
the protectorate along, and to the east of, the Great Rift
Valley. This area has been greatly neglected in comparison
with the country to the west, which has been repeatedly
described since it was first reached by Speke and’Grant from
the south, and by Baker from the north. ‘The literature of the
Victoria Nyanza basin (including Uganda) is voluminous, while
that of the plateau region between it and the sea is scanty.
References to most of the works upon it will be found in the
text,| but it may be as well here to mention a few of the
most generally accessible authorities. The principal accounts of
exploration in this district are Krapf’s Zravels im East Africa
(1860), Thomson’s Through Masai Land (1885), and von
Hohnel’s Discovery of Lakes Rudolf and Stephanie (1892,
English ed. 1894). Lugard’s Azse of our East African Empire
(1893), though dealing mainly with Nyasaland and Uganda, is
indispensable to all students of this country, and gives the best
account of its actual politics; while M‘Dermott’s Bretesh East
Africa, and the Blue-books on the Uganda Railway, give its
documentary politics. Ravenstein’s twelve-sheet map is a
complete compilation of all information available at the date of
its publication (1889). The history of the growth of British
influence in this region is told with masterly clearness and
terseness in Keltie’s Partition of Africa (1893 and 1895). For
comparison of Kenya with Kilima Njaro, the other snow-clad
peak of East Africa, reference may be made to Hans Meyer’s

Across East African Glaciers (English translation, 1891).

1 See especially pp. 7-9, 214, 280, 316.

PREFACE 1X

Of scientific literature on British East Africa there is
unfortunately little to record. There is nothing which can
compare with the magnificent series of works issued in descrip-
tion of German East Africa, such as Stuhlmann’s J/zt Emin
Pascha itm Herg von Afrika, Oscar Baumann’s Zur Nil-Quellen,
and the elaborate monographs in the volumes of Pflanzenwelt
Ost-Afrikas, and Die Thierwelt Ost-Afrikas. The anthropo-
logical chapters in Stuhlmann and Baumann, and the botanical
papers of Volkens, show that these authors unite the learning of
the scientific specialist with the courage of the pioneer. The
only work on Tropical Africa in English that can compare
with these in scientific accuracy is The Flora of Tropical Africa,
the last part of which was published in 1877; but this barely
mentions British East Africa. Whe last 100 pages (vol. iii.
pp. 425-525) include abundant references to Abyssinia, Somali-
land, Monbuttu, Karagwe, Kilima Njaro, etc.; but of the 214
species therein described, British East Africa only contributed
four.

Dr. H. R. Mill has remarked (Knowledge, Jan. 1896, p. 2)
that in pioneer exploration England has led the way, but that
in scientific geography we have always been beaten by our
German rivals. The history of the exploration of Equatorial
Africa is one to which Englishmen can look back with feelings
of such just pride, that we may ungrudgingly admit the
superiority of German scientific work in this region.

The Expedition of which the narrative is given in this
volume was undertaken in 1892 and 1893. The delay in
writing the account of it is due partly to my having returned
—thanks to African fever—with lessened powers of work, and
partly to arrears of work which had accumulated during my
absence. Hence the book has had to be written in scraps at

odd hours, generally at the end of days devoted to work on

x PREFACE

quite different subjects. This must be my excuse for the lack
of uniformity and errors in style, of which I am sadly conscious.
This delay explains that most of the book was written before
the administration of the British East African Company had
been superseded by a direct protectorate. The references to
the Masai in the last chapter were printed before their recent
massacre of a thousand men on the Uganda road showed that
their capacity for mischief is not yet destroyed.

It may be explained, in reference to the spelling of native
words and place-names, that the ordinary geographical rule
has been followed as far as practicable—vowels being pro-
nounced as in Italian, and consonants as in English. The
vowels, therefore, are used as follows :—

@ as a in father
Zid, Pea Ne WAM co WAGNER ONE

ao ,, ow ,, how
Cf oe (Cee tate
Ze eee

QO ~ @D ~, Woman
Ue ee ute

An apparent discrepancy occurs in the spelling of personal
specific names, these being sometimes spelt with small letters
and sometimes with capitals (thus Hlemzdactylus brookt and
Senecio Johnustont). In deference to the wishes of my botanical
colleagues, I have accepted capital letters in the case of
plants.

In conclusion, there remains the pleasant task of expressing
my sincere thanks for the helpful encouragement of friends
at home, and for the unstinted and ever ready assistance of
European residents in East Africa. I feel grateful to so many,
that it is invidious to make selections; but I will not deny
myself the pleasure of thanking some because I cannot name
all. To Sir William Flower, K.C.B., and Dr. Henry Wood-

PREFACE xl

ward, F.R.S., I owe, amongst other things, the recommendation
upon which the Trustees of the British Museum gave me the
necessary leave of absence. To Sir Henry Tichborne, Captain
W. H. Harris, and Mr. J. Benett-Stanford, I am grateful for
many acts of kindness when with them in East Africa, and
for a generous present of stores from those of the abortive
expedition: Io must express my best thanks to Mr J. RaW.
Piggott and Dr. Macdonald for hospitality during my two
stays at Mombasa, and to Captain Rogers, Mr. C. W. Hobley,
Mr. George Wilson, Mr. Ainsworth of Machakos, Mr. Watson
of Kibwezi, Mr. Hall of Fort Smith, for help which removed
many difficulties from my path. I must also thank those of
my colleagues who have worked out the collections brought
home, viz. Dr. A. Giinther and Mr. G. A. Boulenger, Dr. A.
G. Butler, Mr. E. A. Smith, Dr. R. Bowdler Sharpe, Professor
F. Jeffrey Bell, and Mr. Oldfield Thomas, who have described
respectively the fish and reptiles, the lepidoptera, mollusca,
birds, land crustacea, and mammalia. New species of plants
have been described by Miss A. L. Smith, Mr. Spencer Moore,
Mr. E. G. Baker, Mr. A. B. Rendle, and Dr. Rudolf Schlechter,
and lists have been contributed by Mr. J. Britten and Mr. A.
Gepp. I must also thank Mr. G. R. M. Murray and Mr. C.
E. Fagan for their interest in the Expedition, and Mr. C. J.
Gahan for his help in connection with the questions concerning
Flata nigrocincta (pp. 273-275), and Mr. E. G. Baker, who has
read through the proof of Chapter XV.

I have also received much valuable assistance in the prepara-
tion of this book, which I gratefully acknowledge. Mr. J. Benett-
Stanford has kindly lent me the negatives from which Plates
Nos. II.-VII. and XVIIJ.-XX. have been prepared. Mr. Hallam
Murray has taken great trouble in making from my rough sketches
the admirable drawings of the Kedong and Hohnel Valleys, and

xl PREACH

the scenes by the snout of the Lewis Glacier (Nos. VIII. XIII.
XV. and XVI.) He has also redrawn, and thus rendered avail-
able for process reproduction, the view of Kenya from the Kapte
Plains,’ sketched by Mr. Ainsworth. For permission to use
the photograph of the southern end of the Victoria Nyanza, I
have to thank Mr. Gedge. For the /rontzspiece, and Plates
Nossal. oa eX XIV, and XVII 1 “ampindebted Stormy,
wife, who has taken great pains accurately to interpret my
rough sketches; I also owe her much assistance in the
revision of proofs and compilation of indexes. For per-
mission to reprint Map No. II. and Figs. 3, 6, 11, and 13
from the Geographical Journal, and Fig. 4 from the Quarterly
Journal of the Geological Society, 1 have to thank the Councils
of the Geographical and Geological Societies. The conditions
under which the book has been written are partly responsible
for the defects in its style; that these are not more serious
than they are I owe to Dr. W. R. Gowers, F.R.S., who has
kindly read through nearly the whole of the manuscript, and
given me the benefit of many most useful criticisms and
suggestions. I must also thank Mr. Murray for his kind
interest and advice.

The pleasure of looking back to these many acts of kind-
ness is, however, lessened by the fact that the mortality in
British East Africa has sadly shortened the list of those to
whom I can express thanks. Bird Thompson and Rae of
Witu, J. Bell Smith of Melindi, Edmonds of Borabini, the two
brothers Dick of Mombasa, Charters of Kibwezi, and Purkiss of
Fort Smith—a terribly high proportion of the few men who held
British East Africa in 1892-93—have all since passed away.
In such countries, as Carlyle said, “how much European
heroism has to spend itself in obscure battle, to sink in mortal

agony, before the jungles, the putrescences, and waste savageries

PREFACE xlll

can become arable, and the devils be in some measure chained
there.” Such sacrifices ought only to confirm British interest
in the country and deepen our sense of responsibility. For we
owe it to those who have perished, “worn-down swiftly in
frightful travail, chaining the devils which are manifold,’ to
make sure that their labours be not wasted nor their lives laid
down in vain.
Te VWEnG RE GORY:

3 AUBREY ROAD, CAMPDEN HILL, W.
January 1896.

‘
©
ew |

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

BART. 1

AN ABORTIVE EXPEDITION

CHAP.

IT.

N

Oo

Io.

IT.

PREPARING FOR THE START
WITH THE ADVANCE GUARD TO THE TANA

COLLAPSE AND RETURN

JOUER es EI

To BARINGO AND MOUNT KENYA

AT MomBasaA—A SECOND START

ON THE UGANDA ROAD

ACROSS. THE LANDS OF THE KIKUYU AND MASAI

ALONG THE RIFT VALLEY TO BARINGO

THE STAY AT NJEMPS AND EXCURSIONS AROUND BARINGO
ACROSS LAIKIPIA

ON THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA

THE RETURN MARCH

PAGE

xV1 CONTENTS

Pees) etl

EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA

CHAP.

12, THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST

AFRICA

13. PROBLEMS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE East AFRICAN FLORA AND

FAUNA
14. NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF BRITISH East AFRICA
15. THE FLORA OF BRITISH East AFRICA
16. THE ZANZIBARI

17. THE NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA
Secrion A. THE STONE AGE IN East AFRICA
iy B. THE NEGRILLO OR PyGMy TRIBES
The Doko of Latkipia
5 C. THE NEGRO RACES

(2) THE Bantu oF BritisH East AFRICA
1. The Suahili
2. The Wa-pokomo

The Wa-kamba

io)

(4) THE NEGROID RACES
1. The Kikuyu
2. The Masat
3. The Njyempsians (Wa-kwaf.)

AS D. THE HAMITIC RACES
(a) The Galla
(2) The Somali

33 E. THE SEMITIC RACES

The Abyssinians

18. THE NATIONAL MOVEMENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH

East AFRICA

PAGE

334

362

CONTENTS

XV

APPENDICES—

A. LisT OF LITERATURE ON EXPEDITION AND ITS COLLECTIONS

B. CATALOGUE OF PLANTS COLLECTED—

PART

Me
Il.

POLYPETALA, BY E. G. BAKER, F.L.S.

MONOPETALAE, BY JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S.

. APETAL#, BY JAMES BRITTEN, F.L.S., and A. B.

RENDLE, M.A., F.L.S.

. MONOCOTYLEDONS, BY A. B. RENDLE, M.A., F.L.S.

. MossEs, HEPATICS, AND LICHENS, BY A. GEPP,

Whidelon, IRS beter

. FUNGI, BY ANNIE L. SMITH AND J. B. CAr-

RUTHERS, F.L.S.

pe CYiPERACKE mmeBY? ©) Gu abs GEAR KE me MalaSae

12k Ib siso5 1uNeh

C. List oF MAMMALIA COLLECTED, BY OLDFIELD THOMAS, F.L.S. .

GLOSSARY OF NATIVE WORDS AND TECHNICAL TERMS

INDEX OF AUTHORS AND PERSONS

INDEX OF LOCALITIES

SupjecT INDEX

418

isl vOrMsreeWStTRATIONS

Cluster of insects (/Vata nigrocincta, Walker) grouped to resemble an inflores-
cence. Fig. 1, the colony including green bud-like forms, pink flower-
like forms, and lichen-like larve, = natural size. Fig. 2, the pink
forms with wings expanded, #4 natural size; Fig. 2a, female; Fig. 20,
male. Fig. 3a, a green female form, # natural size, with wings

expanded ; Fig. 34 and 3c, the same form with wings closed . /yontispiece
PLATE
1. Two Types of African Lake Shores. (By A. Gregory) . To face page 3
The Southern Shores of the Victoria Nyanza. (From a photograph
by E. Gedge)

The Western Wall of Tanganyika. (After Giraud)

2. The Old Fort at Lamu. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford)
To face page 14

3. The Ruins of the Sultan’s Palace at Witu. (From a photograph by J.
Benett-Stanford) ; : 3 : To face page 18

4. The Garrison of Witu. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford)
To face page 26

5. The Zanzibari Camp at Ngatana. (From a ca by J. Benett-

Stanford) : ‘ : : To face page 338
6. The Doctor ‘‘ At Home,” a Scene in Camp at Ngatana. (From a photo-

graph by J. Benett-Stanford) . : : To face page ql
7. The Abyssinian Camp at Ngatana. (From a photograph by J. Benett-

Stanford) : ; ; : To face page 42
8. The Eastern Wall of the Rift Valley, with the Terraces of Lake Suess.

(By A. Hallam Murray) : 6 : To face page 94

9. Longonot from the Summit of Doenyo Nyuki. (By A. Gregory from a
sketch by the Author) . . : : To face page 97
10. The Crater and Steam Vent of Longonot. (By A. Gregory from a sketch

by the Author) ‘ 5 5 ‘ To face page 98
11. The Southern End of Lake Baringo. ee A. Gregory from a sketch by
the Author). : ; : To face page 128

LIST OF TLEGS TRATIONS

ROK
PLATE
12. Kenya from the Kapte Plains west of Machakos. (By A. Hallam Murray
from a sketch by J. Ainsworth) : 5 To face page 162
13. View in the Hohnel Valley. (By A. Hallam Murray) ‘ 33 171
14. The Central Summit of Kenya from the Summit of Mount Hohnel. (By
A. Gregory from a sketch by the Author) c To face page 174
15. Fundi’s Prayer. (By A. Hallam Murray) . : 5 is 176
16. The Lewis Glacier. (By A. Hallam Murray) j ; 5 178
17. The Western Aréte of Mount Kenya, with Point Piggott and the Tyndal
Glacier. (By A. Gregory from a sketch by the Author) Zo face page 180
18. Two Wa-pokomo of the Tana. (From a photograph by J. Benett-
Stanford) : : é 0 : To face page 343
1g. A Somali in National Dress. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford)
To face page 357
20. Two Somali Headmen. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford)
To face page 358
ish OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN GEXE
FIG PAGE
1. Map of East African Lake-Chain. (After Suess) 4
2. Rift Valleys of the Moon. Part of the Moon, including Mercator, etc.
(From Nasmyth) 6
3. Diagrammatic Comparison of Maps of Settima 154
4. The South-Western Quadrant of the Central Part of Kenya 172
5. Terminal Moraines of the Lewis Glacier 177
6. Diagrams showing Relations of Head Streams of the Tana and Athi 200
7. Geological Sketch-Map of British East Africa 217
8. Three Types of Volcanic Eruptions 219
g. Section across Rift Valley 220
10. Section across a “ Block Mountain” 221
11. Section across British East Africa 222
12. Maps of Zoological Distribution. (According to Giinther) 239
13. Map of Present and Former Range of Alpine Flora 246
14. Diagrams illustrating the Beheading of River Valleys 254
15. The Neighbourhood of the Esdraelon Gap 255
16. Diagram of possible former Source of the Nile 259
17. A Bushman Rock-Painting of Burchell’s Rhinoceros 267
18. Ethnographical Map of Africa 321
19. Neolithic Stone Implements from Masailand 324

MAPS xxl

FIG.
20.

21.

22.

228

PAGE
Ornamented Doko Arrow : ; ; : : 380
The Head of a Galla. (After Paulitschke) : : 5 SS
Map of British East Africa, showing Masai War-Paths . : . 366
Map showing the Southward Advance of the Somali : . 368

MAPS

Map of Eastern Central Africa, showing Route of Expedition, 1 : 5,700,000.
Map of the Region round Mount Kenya and Lake Baringo, 1 : 1,000,000.
Inset Map—1. The Central Peak of Kenya, I : 125,000.!
2. The Ridges of the Iveti Mountains, I : 2,000,000.
3. Lake Baringo, I : 500,000.

1 Not 1 : 250,000 as stated on map.

INGRODUCTITON

IN the early days of African exploration the interest of the
geographical problems was so absorbing that but little attention
was paid to those of other branches of natural science. This
restricted range of interest was originally due to the fascination
of the problems of the sources of the Nile and the course
of the Congo, the exploration of the great lakes, and the
discovery of the equatorial snow-capped mountains. It sur-
vived, however, owing to the once prevalent belief that Tropical
Africa would never yield its fair share of help in the ad-
vancement of science. It was thought that all we had to
expect from the exploration of this region was the record of
new topographical facts and the removal of the blank spaces
from our maps. Some of the problems its natural history
presented to us were regarded as too complex to be solved
with the available methods of inquiry. For example, the
extent to which the tribes have intermarried and intermingled,
have acquired new languages and lost all knowledge of their
own, has so confused the race characteristics, that many
authorities have sadly confessed it to be absolutely impossible
to place African anthropology on a scientific basis. The
evidence of this region on the remaining subjects was, on the
other hand, regarded as too simple and monotonous to affect
the development of scientific principles. Thus, when it was
reported that from whatever side approached, in whatever
direction traversed, the whole interior of the continent consisted
of one vast expanse of gneiss and schist, geologists were ready,
with Sir Roderick Murchison, to dismiss Africa south of the
Sahara as a continent without a history.
B

WN

INTRODUCTION

So long has this view lasted, that even as late as 1891 we
find Professor Henry Drummond saying: “ Finally, the thing
about the geology of Africa that strikes one as especially
significant is, that throughout this vast area just opening up
to science there is nothing new—no unknown force at work ;
no rock strange to the petrographer ; no pause in denudation ;
no formation, texture, or structure to put the law of continuity
to confusion.”

No doubt it is true that in Equatorial Africa the study of
ethnography is attended with special difficulties, the flora of
vast areas is poor in species, the rocks are monotonous in
character, and the paleontological record is a blank. Never-
theless the old view has been abandoned. African exploration
is now not undertaken only for the sake of obtaining fresh
topographical details, of undergoing adventures with cannibals,
and of “potting” big game. Instead of these we look to it to
supply us with information on some of the doubtful chapters
in the geological history of Europe, to give us insight into
unknown or unfamiliar methods in the earth’s great workshop,
and to exert an important influence on the development of
scientific principles.

Moreover, when studied from the modern point of view, the
topographical details themselves acquire a fresh value. The
investigation of the East African lake system has been the
branch of exploration in which the widest general interest has
been taken, ever since the native reports of the existence of the
great inland seas were verified by Burton and Speke’s discovery
of Tanganyika (1857) and Livingstone’s discovery of Nyasa
(1859).

Probably the most interesting series of journeys in the
records of African travel were those made to the lakes of the
great eastern plateau, including as it does the many efforts
to settle the long controversy as to the position of Tanganyika
in the African river system: Speke’s two journeys to the
Nyanza; the circumnavigation of this lake by which Stanley
proved its unity; Baker’s visit to the Albert Nyanza; the
expeditions in which Fischer discovered Lakes Natron and
Naivasha, and Thomson demonstrated the isolation of Baringo ;
Teleki and von Hohnel’s exploration of Basso Narok and

1H. Drummond, 7vofical Africa, 4th edition (1891), p. 199.

THE EAST AFRICAN LAKE-CHAIN 3

Basso Ebor (Lakes Rudolf and Stephanie); and Baumann’s
recent march past Manyara and Eiassi.

The determination of the principal features in the topo-
graphy of these lakes has, however, done more to stimulate
than to satisfy our desire for knowledge about them. Mr. F.
Galton, in the discussion on Mr. Thomson’s paper on_ his
journey through Masailand, pointed out that the great de-
pression or trough in which Naivasha and Baringo lie, is part
of one “which begins with the Dead Sea, extends down the
Red Sea, and ends at Tanganyika.” This view has often been
repeated, but it remained as a hazy speculation until Professor
Suess of Vienna recently gave it scientific expression. To
understand this let us examine a map of the lake system (Fig.
1) of East Africa. One of the first points shown by it is that
the lakes are developed according to two absolutely different
types. Some are rounded in shape, as the Nyanza, and others
are long and narrow, as Tanganyika and the Nyasa. If we
examine views of these lakes we find that the round lakes have
low shelving shores, and that the long ones lie, like fiords,
between high precipitous cliffs. The illustrations on the first
plate show this contrast: the upper shows the southern shore
of the Nyanza, and the lower, one of the bounding walls of
Tanganyika. If we read descriptions of the lakes we learn the
same facts. Thus Thomson? remarks that, “unlike most other
African lakes, the Nyanza is not bounded by ranges of moun-
tains. The ground descends gradually to its shores, and peace-
fully the water laps the muddy and marshy beach.”

The map, moreover, shows us that these two types of lakes
are not distributed haphazard, but on a definite plan. The
long fiord-like lakes occur on two lines, which pass one on
either side of the Nyanza and meet at Basso Narok (Lake
Rudolf). Thence the line continues northward as a long strip
of low land, dotted with lakes and old lake basins, and sinking
ins placesuibelow the’ level of the sea. This extends’ to the
southern end of the Red Sea, which repeats the structure of
these fiord-like lakes on a larger scale: it is long and narrow
and, excluding some strips of coast deposits, has high pre-
cipitous shores. From its northern end the Gulf of Akaba
leads to another valley with similar characteristics, and from

1 Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. new ser. vol. vi. (1884), p. 711. 2 [bid. p. 707.

Danie A
Palmyra Ie
yd a
Sea of Galilee

a \ ee Dead Sea

LY } G. of Akaba

L.Tanganjika
fTlindi

®& Leopold

Noose S

.

(QL. Bangweolo

Fic. 1.—Map of East African Lake-Chain. (After Suess. )

LAKES AND LEGENDS 5

this the Dead Sea and Jordan valley continue the same type of
geographical structure, till it ends on the plains of northern
Syria. :

From the Lebanons, therefore, almost to the Cape there
runs a valley, unique both on account of the persistence with
which it maintains its trough-like form, throughout the whole
of its course of 4000 miles, and also on account of the fact
that scattered along its floor is a series of over thirty lakes, of
which only one has an outlet to the sea.

This valley and its lake-chain are so different from any-
thing else on the surface of the earth, that it is natural to ask
whether different portions of it have been formed independently,
or whether it was all formed at the same time and by the same
process. The final answer to this question must be given by
geology, but history affords us some useful hints. All along
the line the natives have traditions of great changes in the
structure of the country. The Arabs tell us that the Red Sea
is simply water that did not dry up after Noah’s deluge. The
Somali say that when their ancestors crossed from Arabia to
Africa there was a land connection between the two, across the
straits of Babel Mandeb. The natives of Ujiji, at the southern
end of the line, have a folklore that goes back to the time
when Lake Tanganyika was formed by the flooding of a
fertile plain, rich in cattle and plantations. And at the
northern end of the valley we have the accounts of the
destruction of the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah.

There is geological evidence to show that great earth-
movements have happened along this Rift Valley, as it may be
termed, at a recent date, which makes it distinctly probable
that these traditions are recollections of the geographical
changes.

The structure of the Rift Valley has, therefore, very varied
interests—geological and geographical, on account of its con-
nection with the history of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean,
and ethnographical, on account of its explanation of some of
the best-known stories in our folklore. But it comes in con-
tact with the problems of science on yet another side. Fig.
2 illustrates the structure of part of the surface of the moon,
showing, in addition to the well-known “ ring-systems ” (usually
called volcanoes), a series of long narrow clefts known as

6 INTRODUCTION

“rills.’ If all the air and water were removed from the earth,
then the Rift Valley would present much the same aspect to
an inhabitatit of the moon as some of the larger of the lunar
rills present to us. So the exploration of the Rift Valley has
the additional attraction of offering the possibility of explaining
the nature of some features in the surface of the moon.

We are now fairly acquainted with the rough outlines of
the geography of most of the line of the great African “ rill.”
Our knowledge, however, of the geological structure of its

Fic. 2.—Rift Valleys of the Moon. Part of the Moon, including Mercator, etc.
(From Nasmyth. )

African course is very imperfect, while one part of it in 1892
had not even been reached by Europeans. This was greatly
to be regretted, because its study might be expected to
yield much important evidence. The desire to obtain more
precise geological information as to the structure of this
Rift Valley was, therefore, the main reason for the journey
described in this volume. Before proceeding to the narrative,
however, it is advisable briefly to refer to the history of the
exploration of the region of British East Africa, in which the
route of the expedition lay.

NATIVE EXPLORERS 7,

The list of travellers who have worked in this area is a
fairly long one, but the names of six men stand out pre-
eminent,—Dr. Ludwig Krapf, Baron Carl Claus von der
Decken, Dr. Gustav Fischer, Mr. Joseph Thomson, Count
Samuel Teleki, and Lieut. Ludwig von Hohnel.

The Rift Valley was not first reached in British East
Africa, but far to the south, toward the end of its two main
branches. Of these, the western was entered by Burton and
Speke on Tanganyika in 1857, and the eastern by Livingstone
on the Nyasa in 1859. These pioneers were soon followed by
others, and that district became familiar owing to the explora-
tions and descriptions of many travellers and traders. Our
knowledge of the equatorial regions of East Africa was, how-
ever, for long allowed to flag. Considerable attention had been
previously attracted to them by the discovery there of two
snow-capped mountains, Kilima Njaro and Kenya. The first
was discovered by Rebmann in 1848; the second by Krapf in
1849. But little work of much scientific value was done till the
journeys of Baron von der Decken in 1862-65. After his
murder at Barderah on the Juba in 1865, scientific explora-
tion stopped, and the next important additions to our know-
ledge of the region were based on native information. From
time immemorial Arab and Suahili traders have sent caravans
into the interior, and they discovered the main facts in its
geography. Their information was collected by T. Wakefield
of Mombasa and Clemens Denhardt of Lamu, and maps con-
structed therefrom. The map issued by the latter was
based on thirty-three carefully recorded itineraries. It marked
every important lake, river, and mountain in Masailand before
a single European had set foot in that country. The outlines
of the lakes and the courses of the rivers are often very in-
correct, but the amount of information this map gave was
enormous, and the facts are often remarkably accurate. In
many points the structure of the country and the relations of
the rivers are more fully and correctly represented than on the
maps of later authors who have actually traversed the country.
Thus in 1881 we find Lake Losuguta (Lake Hannington) in-
serted, whereas it was omitted from all other maps until that of
von Hohnel in 1892. Settima is correctly mapped ; and the
separation of Lake Lorian from the Tana, proved by Chanler

8 INTRODUCTION

and Hohnel in 1893, was then shown, though it was not
accepted by geographers.

The two most fundamental errors in Denhardt’s map were
the omission of the Rift Valley and the exaggeration of the
size of Lake Baringo. These were serious, and most of the
minor mistakes in the map result from them. They were
corrected by Fischer and Thomson, with whom rests the credit
of having first broken down the barrier of mystery and fear
that for so long kept Europeans out of the Masai country. To
Fischer belongs the honour of having first entered Masailand
and demonstrated the occurrence of the Rift Valley in Equa-
torial Africa. He entered this valley in 1883, west of Mount
Meru, near Kilima Njaro, and tracked it northward, past the
still steaming volcano of Doenyo Ngai, and along the shores
of Lake Natron, until he was stopped by the exhaustion of his
food supply, on the steppes to the north of Lake Naivasha.
His valuable ethnographical observations and collections, and
his vocabulary of the language of the Masai, were the first
reliable contributions to our knowledge of this tribe. His
botanical and geological collections, moreover, gave important
evidence as to the structure and natural history of this region.

Later in the same year Thomson continued the exploration
of the Rift Valley still farther to the north. He determined
the real size and position of Lake Baringo, discovered the
temperate affinities of the flora of the high plateau of Laikipia,
and was the first European to see Kenya from the west. He
proved, moreover, the occurrence of a double series of volcanic
rocks in the district, and gave a geological sketch map of the
region.

In 1887-88 followed the most important of all the
expeditions undertaken in British East Africa. Count Teleki,
the famous Hungarian sportsman, then marched along the Rift
Valley for three hundred miles farther to the north than had pre-
viously been reached. He discovered the two lakes, Basso Narok
and Basso Ebor, which he named Lakes Rudolf and Stephanie.
His discoveries were recorded by his accomplished companion
Lieut. von Hohnel, on a map which is probably the best
ever prepared by an African traveller. The map is so precise
and instructive that, with the aid of the author’s descriptions
and sketches, and a small collection of rocks, it has enabled a

A TEMPTING OFFER 9

very satisfactory account to be given of the geology of the
area.

Numerous other expeditions have also added to our know-
ledge of the country. Piggott ascended the Tana (1889), and
Lugard the Sabaki and the Athi (1890); Peters, with the
German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, fought his way across
Laikipia (1889-90); F. J. Jackson and E. Gedge explored
Mount Elgon (1890); Major Smith and James Martin opened
new roads across the western edge of the Rift Valley to the
Nyanza; Ainsworth mapped the region of Western Ukamba ;
the Railway Survey, under Captains Macdonald and Pringle,
surveyed a line from Mombasa to the Nyanza (1892); and
Hobley described the Taita Mountains and the Upper Tana
(1894). :

The materials thus collected by many different workers in
Africa have been studied by Professor Eduard Suess of Vienna,
who has shown that the facts reported have a greater significance
than their discoverers knew, In a very remarkable memoir,
entitled Dze Briicke des Ost-Afrika, he has summarised our
knowledge of the geology and structural geography of the
whole line of country from the Nyasa on the south to Syria
on the north, and proved the truth of the suggestion that the
lakes along this line are due to a connected series of earth-
movements. He has discussed the date of these movements, and
indicated the important collateral problems upon which their
study may be expected to throw light. With his usual insight
into geographical problems, he has read more of the lessons of
the country, from descriptions, than the travellers who wrote
them, did from the country itself.

Suess’s monograph pointed out that the part of the Rift
Valley between the southern end of the Red Sea and the northern
end of Basso Narok (Lake Rudolf) promises to be of especial
interest. This had never been visited : new geographical as well
as geological results were therefore promised by its exploration.
I had always been keenly interested in the problems of African
geology, and had watched the gradual opening of the Somali
country, and longed to have a share in the work. When,
therefore, in October 1892, the chance presented itself, I was
of course eager to seize it. I was then asked to accompany, as
naturalist, an expedition about to cross the Somali country to

10 INTRODUCTION

this one unexplored part of the Rift Valley. The expedition
was ready to start before I had been asked to go. The
members left London four days after I had received the invita-
tion, and before my application for leave of absence could be
submitted to the Trustees. At first I feared that the prolonged
leave of absence required would be fatal to my chance of going.
But, on the kind recommendation of Sir William Flower and
Dr. H. Woodward, the Trustees gave me permission to accom-
pany the expedition, on the understanding that the Museum
should have its pick of the collections. A week later my
hurried preparations were finished, and on 4th November 1892
I started overland for Brindisi, to join the others at Aden.
Nine days later I arrived at Aden in the early hours of the
morning. The J/alda was due to leave at 3 AM., so I tran-
shipped at once. I then made my first acquaintance with the
Somali; and this was ominous of my future relations with them,
for I had to knock down two at the start. In their eagerness
to secure me as passenger, rival crews tried to wrest the
chronometers from my grasp. I had nursed these precious
instruments throughout the journey with the tenderest care, I
had never allowed any one else to carry them, and it was not
to be expected that I should entrust them to the rough Aden
boat-boys. As language was not strong enough to persuade
them to keep their hands off the case, the instruments had to
be protected in ways that the natives better understood.

A few hours later the J/alda steamed to the south-east,
towards the limestone cliffs of Cape Guardafui (Ras Alula).
Having rounded these, the course was altered, and we went
southward along the Somali coast towards the roadstead of
Kismayu, where arrangements had been made for the expedition
to land.

Rene hediesl

AN ABORTIVE EXPEDITION

“ Kulekeza si kufuma”
(To aim is not to hit).
Suahtli Proverb.

7

:
'
+
:
.
ie

on

,

{
‘
2
i
+

CEPA ER

PREPARING FOR THE START

‘**Tn the reproof of chance lies the true proof of men.”
Trotlus and Cressida, i. 3.

THE voyage from Aden round the “ Horn of Africa” and along
the eastern coast was the pleasantest part of the journey towards
“Lake Rudolf.’ The officers of the British India steamer, the
Matda, did everything they could to make the passage com-
fortable both to us and to our noisy crowd of Somali. We
had, moreover, the good fortune to number among our fellow-
passengers Mr. J. R. W. Piggott, the present Administrator of
British East Africa. He had himself led the way into the
basin of the Upper Tana, and his wide experience of the
country and its people was placed most generously at our
service ; but unfortunately most of his wise advice came too late.
The plan of the expedition was altered, and it was decided to
land at Lamu instead of at Kismayu, and ascend the Tana
instead of the Juba. There were many advantages in this
route, but some of us much objected to the change. It meant
that, for the first two months at least, we should be in known
country, instead of plunging at once into the unknown. More-
over, as far as we could learn, the climate was wholly unsuited
to camels. The expedition had been planned on the basis of
using these animals for transport, and if they failed us, we
should fail. I felt disappointed, as I have a rooted distrust of
change of plan at the last minute. The Tana valley is notoriously
unhealthy, and we missed the march across the Borana country,
west of the Juba. The steamer did not call at Kismayu, but
kept southward until, on the morning of 21st November, we

14 PREPARING FOR THE START PART I

sighted the sandhills of Shella at the entrance to the harbour
of Lamu. The JZ/a/da anchored a couple of miles from the
shore to wait for the turn of the tide. The mails were sent ashore
at once, and our chief went ashore with them to arrange for
the disembarkation of the stores. He asked me to accompany
him, and Mr. Piggott came with us and introduced us to
Mr. Rogers, the superintendent of the district, his assistant, Mr.
Macquarie, and Mr. Bird Thompson, the officer in command of
the Indian troops at Witu, who was then staying at Lamu.
The J/alda entered the port in the evening, as the captain
thought it prudent to wait till high tide before he threaded the
channels between the reefs which constitute the harbour bar.

First thing next morning we set to work to unload the 300
tons of stores. The Somali worked well, with great energy
and much noise; but their muscles proved weaker than their
will or their voice. The Turks, on the other hand, were quiet
and sluggish but immensely strong, and most of the heavy
work had to be left to them. The Somali, however, made up
in numbers and enthusiasm for their individual weakness, so
between the two contingents of men the transhipment of the
goods into dhows was finished early in the afternoon. We said
farewell to our kind friends on board the J/a/da, and followed
the men ashore. We landed close by the custom-house ; the
men paraded in the square in front of the old Portuguese fort
(see Pl. II.), and then, under the guidance of one of Mr.
Rogers’s Askari, marched to a cocoa-nut grove about a mile
to the west of the town. There camp was pitched around a
bungalow in a hollow in the sandhills, near some brackish wells
upon the shore. During the morning the /uda, a small steamer
belonging to the Sultan of Zanzibar, called in on its way’ to
Kismayu. So our chief seized the opportunity, and hastily
made an agreement with one of the leading Hindu traders of
Lamu for the supply of 110 camels and 40 donkeys. The
trader’s agent left at once in the /wba to purchase them. The
price agreed on was a very high one. But the contract stipu-
lated that they were all to be delivered in Lamu in a month’s
time, and it was verbally promised that they should be landed
in three weeks.

As we could not move from the coast until the camels came,
we settled in camp to prepare the equipment, drill the men, and

No. Il. THE OLD FORT AT LAMU. Page 14.

(Witnh Sirk-CorTron TREE.)

CHAP, I ON LAMU ISLAND 15

repack the loads. In the intervals we made excursions through
the plantations inland, or across the harbour to the island of
Manda. During the heat of the day we rambled about the
cool, narrow, tortuous streets and tunnel-like passages of the
historic old town of Lamu.

The island consists of a series of sandhills overlying raised
coral reefs. The dunes are covered with groves of cocoa-nut
palms, with here and there a date-palm. In the hollows be-
tween the hills are massive, shady mango-trees and orchards of
cashew-nut, surrounded by hedges of prickly Euphorbias, full of
acrid juice. Beside the backwaters from the harbour stand
clumps of screw-pine (Pandanus), and on the headlands wave
the graceful feathery she-oaks (Caswarina), while the muddy
shores are lined with dense thickets of mangrove. Whatever
time I could spare from camp work was devoted to excursions
in the woods and plantations, chasing shore crabs on the beach,
dragging for algae in the estuary, and revelling in the delight
of a first experience of Nature in the tropics. In addition to
the other charms of the place, the climate seemed salubrious :
the air was dry, and a cool bracing breeze blew daily from the
sea. A week thus passed very pleasantly. Then our chief
suddenly decided that some of us had better move to the main-
land, so on 30th November Benett-Stanford and Tichborne,
with most of the men, started in dhows to form a camp at the
head of the creek of Mkonumbi. The chief and I remained a
few days later to ship the rest of the stores and men. This
was accomplished by the aid of the “chain gang,” a very useful
local institution, the services of which were lent to us by our
kind friend Mr. Rogers. The sturdy Suahili easily carried off
heavy boxes of ammunition which several of the Somali could
barely lift. When the last of the loads and men were on the
dhows, we returned to Lamu. We said good-bye to Mr. Rogers,
to whose hospitality and help we were so much indebted, and
then followed the others in the Company’s launch to Mkonumbi.
We found a comfortable camp had been pitched around some
mango-trees, surrounded by a strong thorn zeriba or “ boma.”
Here the organisation of the caravan and preparations for the
march inland were busily pushed forward.

It may be advisable here to state the composition and objects
of the expedition. It had been organised in order to explore

16 PREPARING FOR THE START PART I

in the less-known regions of British East Africa, by four English
sportsmen, namely, by our chief, together with Sir Henry Tich-
borne, Mr. W. H. Harris, and Mr. J. Benett-Stanford, late of the
Royal Dragoons. Dr. A. D. Mackinnon, who had seen much
experience in British East Africa, and who had accompanied
Mr. Jackson’s caravan to Uganda, was the doctor ; a better man
for the post could not have been found. Count Lovatelli (who
subsequently distinguished himself by his courageous rescue of
Mr. Tod in the fighting with the Somali at Kismayu) went
with us by an arrangement between our chief and the Italian
authorities ; and my services, as a naturalist, had been lent to
the chief of the expedition by the Trustees of the British Museum.
Sir Henry Tichborne was accompanied by his valet Gleave.

As a private expedition its scale was very extensive. It
comprised 8 Europeans and over 300 natives, while a power-
ful baggage train had been arranged for. It had been hoped
that the Egyptian Government would have lent 70 of its
Soudanese troops to the expedition, but as the negotiations for
this fell through, the chief defence of the caravan was entrusted
to 150 Aden Somali. It was not thought advisable to rely
entirely on these very excitable people, so ten stolid, imperturb-
able Turks had been engaged to act as crew of the Maxim gun.
In case this jammed, we knew we could rely on them to stand
their ground, while it was being again prepared for action. We
were to pass near some of the so-called “sacred cities” of the
Somali country, where it was thought possible that a “holy
war” might be preached against us, and the Somali escort
refuse to fight. So to prevent the expedition being dependent
on any one set of men, an Abyssinian contingent was also
engaged. As these were nearly all Christians, their nominal
Christianity would, we hoped, ensure their constancy in case
of any quarrel with the Somali. They were also engaged to
act as porters as well as soldiers ; and further to supplement the
camel transport, 80 Zanzibari had been enlisted by the British
East Africa Company at Mombasa.

The goal of the expedition was Basso Narok or Lake
Rudolf, which had previously been visited by one expedi-
tion only, that of Count Teleki in 1888-89. It was hoped
to explore the western shore of the lake and follow up the two
rivers that flow into its northern end. It was intended also to

CHAP. I DIVIDED FORCES 17

traverse the country of the Borana Galla and return by a long
march across the head waters of the Juba to the coast opposite
Aden. We thus hoped to run two lines across the biggest
blank still left in the map of Africa. The caravan had been
armed and equipped regardless of expense. We had with us
a Maxim gun, 250 Sniders, 30,000 cartridges for the former,
and 100,000 for the latter. We therefore felt on landing that,
whether we succeeded in the accomplishment of all our plans or
not, we were not likely to turn back without a long and deter-
mined struggle.

At this time our forces were divided. The Abyssinians
were not ready when we left Aden; Harris and Mackinnon
therefore stayed behind to take them on to Zanzibar in the
French mail. Thence they were to cross to Mombasa, collect
the Zanzibari, and march north to join us wherever our chief
directed.

Thus at the beginning of December there were 6 Euro-
peans, 150 Somali, 10 Turks, and all the stores in camp at
Mkonumbi. Harris and Mackinnon were coming up from the
south with 70 Abyssinians and 80 Zanzibari. A telegram was
sent to them to land at Melindi on the south side of the Sabaki,
and thence march overland to join the rest of us on the banks of
the Tana. The camels were due to arrive by the 22nd December,
and we continued the work of packing and overhauling stores,
drilling the men, and preparing equipment, so as to be ready
to march as soon as the transport animals should arrive. It
was not long before the minor troubles of African travel began
to worry us. Stores had been badly packed, and a great mis-
take had been made in buying the rice and dates in London
instead of in Aden. We soon learnt to appreciate the wisdom
of the Suahili proverb—

‘Fulani amerudisha tende Manga”
(He has sent back dates to Arabia),

Our men would not take the rice, so 20 tons of it were sold,

and the rest exchanged at a heavy loss. The cooking-pots

proved useless and a source of danger to the men. The tents

were unsuitable for the work ; and two of them were missing,

as well as other indispensable articles. Our men, moreover,

proved incapable, lazy, and troublesome. We had to show
(eC

18 PREPARING FOR THE START PART I

them everything; all they seemed able to do on their own
initiative was to loot in the neighbourhood and quarrel among
themselves. Soon we had complaints from the chiefs of the
neighbouring villages about the misdeeds of the Somali. When,
a'few days after we had landed, the rains began, we made the
still more alarming discovery that the men had very frail con-
stitutions, After every storm of rain, twenty or thirty of the
Somali would be prostrated with fever. The condition of several
of the men soon became so serious, that it was only owing to
the unremitting care of Benett-Stanford that they were kept alive.
Gleave was also taken ill, and caused us great anxiety. It was
decided that, as thirty-three camels and several donkeys had been
landed, and as a number of local Suahili porters had been hired,
Sir Henry Tichborne and I should make a night march to Witu
to try and persuade Dr. Rae to go to the rescue. I packed up
my collections, my reserve luggage, and some manuscripts at
which I had been at work during the voyage out, and left them
to be returned to Aden. This, however,:was the last I ever
saw of them.

The night, however, was so cloudy that at first it appeared
doubtful whether we could go, but at ten o’clock the moon
broke through the clouds, and the order was given to the men
to get ready. The Somali at first refused to go, and before
they were persuaded to do so the clouds had again hidden the
moon. In darkness, broken only by the fire-flies, on the night
of the 14th December, we stumbled across the plain and
through the swamps of Mkonumbi, in what we fondly imagined
was the first march to “ Lake Rudolf.” After daybreak I
hurried forward to Witu to arrange accommodation for the men,
and as the late Dr. Rae kindly ordered the chain-gang to clean
an empty hut, it was ready for them when they arrived,
exhausted by the long night march.

The late Bird Thompson soon came in from the morning
drill of the Indian troops, and received us with his usual
kindness ; Tichborne described the sorry plight of our men,
and Dr. Rae, though very unwell, started off for Mkonumbi
in the evening.

In the afternoon Thompson took me for a walk through
the town, showed me the ruins of the Sultan’s palace (PI. III.)
and some of the wells, and told me its history. Witu was

3 NI MOVLILY HSVIONY ONINAG aaAOuLsaq)

S

"BI 2sVq “OLIM LV FOVIVd SNVLITOAS HHL JO SNINY AHL ‘III ON

ites ba eS
Tikit bik

CHAP. I A REBEL STRONGHOLD 19

at one time the “Cave of Adullam” of Eastern Equatorial
Africa, and thither flocked the worst of the runaway slaves, the
debtors, and the scum of the mongrel populations of the coast
towns. Under that leading scoundrel, the “Sultan of Witu,’
they defied authority and tyrannised over the surrounding
country. The suppression of this nest of thieves was absolutely
essential to any peace or stability in the district. But Witu
was a strong town; the approaches to it were unhealthy, and
the Sultan could bring 1000 guns into the field. It might
therefore have been long allowed to harbour its gang of ruffians
and freebooters, but for the massacre of a party of nine Germans
who visited the town in 1890, soon after the cession of the
Witu district by Germany to England in exchange for Heligo-
land. Being thus responsible for the good order of the country,
our government sent out a naval brigade, which easily defeated
the attack made on it by the Witu army, commanded by my
friend the Omari Mahdi. The town was shelled, and was set
on fire by a war rocket, which knocked a hole through a
great tree that stands beside the present entrance to the town.
The rebels withdrew into the forests inland, where they have
kept up a guerilla warfare ever since. Supplementary expedi-
tions have driven them from their settlements at Pumwani
and Jongeni, while Witu has been held by a garrison of Sepoys
and connected with the coast by a road and telephone.

The latter had temporarily broken down, but communication
by it was resumed the day after our arrival, and the late Mr.
Bell Smith, the superintendent of the Melindi district, told us
that Harris and Mackinnon had landed with 145 men, and
would be at Ngatana on Christmas Eve. The plan at this
time was for all the reserve food of the expedition and most of
the heavy stores to be sent by sea in dhows to Kau, a town at
the head of the estuary of the Ozi; they were there to be
transhipped into canoes, which were to carry them through the
Belezoni Canal (p. 31) to the Tana, and up this river to
Ngatana. The whole expedition was to assemble at this point,
and from it the real start was to be made. The Abyssinians
and Zanzibari were to reach Ngatana by marching up the right
or western bank of the Tana, and they were due there on
24th December. The baggage animals, the Somali, and the
Turks were to proceed vza Witu and the left bank of the river.

20 PREPARING FOR THE START PART I

If the camels were landed by the date fixed in the contract,
there was no reason why New Year’s Day should not find us
all in camp at Ngatana, ready to begin the march up the Tana
valley by the end of the first week in January.

Unfortunately no reliable calculation had been made of the
relation between weight of stores and means of transport at
each point. All our food and loads were stacked at two
different places, while our porters were foodless and idle at a
third.

It was necessary that food should be taken to our Southern
division, because the men had only sufficient to last till they
reached the Tana at a station called Borabini, two days’ march
from the coast.

Tichborne and I accordingly started to Kau with some
porters and donkeys laden with rice. On arriving there,
however, we found that the dhow had not come from Lamu,
and the canoes had not been collected to carry our goods up
the Tana. With this not very pleasant news Tichborne
returned to Witu, while I stayed at Kau to get canoes and
take the food on to Harris.

As I could not start next day, I went down the estuary
to the port of Kipini at the mouth of the river, to see if the
dhow was there. There was no news of it, but the excursion
was repaid by my shooting two hippopotami, seeing my first
crocodiles, examining some coral reefs, and visiting some ex-
tensive cotton plantations and the tomb of the giant Fumo
Liongwe, one of the best known characters in Suahili folklore.

The Somali left at Kau had a less pleasant day, and on
my return demanded permission to go back at once to Witu,
as the mosquitoes rendered their lives unbearable. These
insects were certainly troublesome, though by sitting in the
smoke of a fire one could keep them off; but the Somali said
this remedy was as bad as the disease.

Sufficient canoes came to Kau next morning, and I pre-
pared at once to start for the Tana. But just as they were
being loaded, a letter arrived giving me a startling change of
orders. The letter said that other arrangements had been
made for the transport of food to Harris’s party, and that I
was to return at once to Witu. There I was to meet an
advance guard that was being hastened up from a camp that

CHAP. I IGEDPE, IRSIB IOI 2S WENA 21

<

had been formed at Fungozambo. I was to go on with them
to Ngatana, at once and by forced marches, select the best site
I could find for a camp beside the river, build a “ boma,” or thorn
stockade, 50 yards square, and open up communications with
Harris’s force. My party would be lightly loaded, but it would
be followed in two days by another under Count Lovatelli, who
would bring me a tent, food, and medical stores.

At ten o’clock I was back in Witu, ready to march for
Ngatana; but the men from Fungozambo were not there.
I therefore went to sleep, to be ready, if necessary, for a night
march. Thompson woke me about mid-day to complain of
the behaviour of our men, who were seriously disturbing the
peace of the town. A stormy interview between Tichborne
and myself on one side, and the men on the other, seemed to
quiet matters, and they promised to behave better.

At two o’clock next morning I was roused by a messenger
from the coast, who brought word that more deaths had
occurred and that our chief was ill. Dr. Rae was earnestly
requested to return. The doctor was himself suffering from
fever, but so urgent was the summons that he went. I was
concerned about him, and accompanied him the first seven
miles. On the way I made an annoying discovery. There
were no preparations for firing the belt of forest at Pangani
through which the road passes, and which is the haunt of the
tsetse-fly (Glossina morsitans, Westw.) On the journey through
it on our way up,I had found this dreaded fly. To expose our
camels to an attack from it was to risk the whole safety of
the caravan ; I had therefore sent back a note to say that before
the baggage animals entered this belt of forest, fires ought to be
lighted in it and the animals driven through the smoke. This is
the method commonly used to protect animals when passing
through a fly-haunted district. I found out afterwards that
the Galla in the Tana valley know all the fly-infested patches,
and always adopt this precaution when driving their cattle
through them.

As Dr. Rae seemed better, he went on with two men and
I stopped there to prepare the fires, sending on a note urging
that these should be lighted half an hour before the camels were
allowed to enter the forest. The rest of the day was spent in
building up stacks of wood and dead leaves; these were

22 PREPARING FOR THE START PART I

arranged as far as possible on the model of the “ smudge-fires ”
used in Manitoba to protect the wheat from the early frosts of
August, by raising a cloud of smoke above the fields.

For some time our men had been growing more and more
discontented and disrespectful, and next day this broke out
into open mutiny. To stop their depredations in the town, they
had been ordered not to leave their hut without permission.
Nevertheless, during the morning Thompson’s Pokomo boy
came rushing in to say that the Somali had gone into the town
and that they were fighting the Sepoys. I seized my revolver
and a stick, and ran as quickly as I could to the scene of
action. The Somali had no chance against the Sikhs; one of
them had been taken prisoner and the others were trying to
rescue him. Failing to do so, they rushed back to their hut
shouting “ bundook ” (guns).

I told the Sepoys to take their prisoner into the canton-
ments and then ran back after the Somali, arriving at their hut
just as one of them was coming out rifle in hand, pushing a
cartridge into the breech. I ran against him and bumped
him back into the hut and mounted guard over the door. The
Sepoys stood to arms and the Jemadar sent a messenger for
Thompson, while an armed patrol of twenty men marched
ostentatiously past the hut. The Somali declared that the
Sepoys were killing their brother and that they must go and
rescue him, but I refused to let them out. When Thompson
arrived things had quieted down a little, and the Somali gave
up their ammunition when ordered to do so.

Tichborne and I then had a “shauri” or conference with
our men, who said that unless their brother was immediately
released, they would return at once to the coast. They
demanded that their ammunition should be given back to
them, which was of course refused. Tichborne hurled at them
all the Hindustani bad language that he had acquired during
his various Indian shooting expeditions, and the men reiterated
their demand for the release of their comrade and the return of
their ammunition. Tichborne and the Somali kept this up till
their throats were sore and we were tired of standing in the
sun. The shauri ultimately broke up without any agreement
being arrived at, so a Sepoy guard was kept on duty in an
adjoining hut.

CHAP. I THE SOMALI IN MISCHIEF 23

Later in the same day an explanation of our men’s action
was furnished by the arrival of the headman and some of the
elders of the village of Fungozambo. They complained that
they were being robbed and murdered by our men, over whom
they said the European in command had no control; the
Somali had looted the village, stolen all the “ kuku ” (fowls) and
bed-cushions from the houses, and flogged the natives, who had
now fled to the woods. We found out afterwards that these
charges were substantially correct. For as soon as Benett-
Stanford had left Fungozambo, the men informed Count
Lovatelli that they were not going to obey him, as they had
been told by the chief at the coast they were to take orders
from no one but himself; so they were doing what was right in
their own eyes. Thompson was very angry, and told us that
he had ordered his men to parade at four o’clock next morning ;
he was then going to serve out eighty rounds of ammunition
and march down to our camp. He was determined to put a
stop to these lawless proceedings by whatever means he found
necessary. He said, however, that if I could get to the camp
before him and restore peace, so much the better for everybody.
I had my dinner, mounted a donkey, and rode off for Fungo-
zambo. About ten o’clock my donkey suddenly pricked up its
ears and sprang from the path, and then, as I held it in, stood
trembling in every limb. My boy said “Libah” (lion), so I
fired several shots from my revolver into the air, the boy fired
the Snider, and we stood waiting for something to happen.
The donkey gradually recovered from its fright and we led it
along the path, but it was so terrified that I could not ride it
for some time. I heard afterwards from Thompson that the
natives say there are lions at this place, and they will never pass
it alone in the dark ; it is probable that the donkey detected a
lion, although neither I nor the boy heard anything.

A little after midnight we reached the camp. Benett-
Stanford, Dr. Rae, and Gleave had arrived from the coast just
before us, and our headman, Wasama, came in a few minutes
later. They had been recalled to suppress the mutiny. We
slanged the Somali vigorously. Wasama’s language was
moving. For some years he had been an interpreter on a man-
of-war; his knowledge of our language was extensive and
peculiar; his fo’castle English now rang through the camp

24 PREPARING FOR THE START PART I

like a recitation froma slang dictionary. For variety of epithet,
power of expletive, and range of religions whose deities were
invoked, I doubt whether his speech could have been strengthened
by a committee of Colorado cowboys. Benett-Stanford let his
corner of the camp know how the Royal Dragoons drill an
awkward squad. Seeing the admirable effect of this powerful
English, I tried a mild imitation of it on the group of men to
which I directed my attention. Feeble though my efforts were,
I fear my language on that occasion would have done more
credit to a connection with Billingsgate than with the British
Museum. The men were startled by our midnight arrival, and
seeing that we meant business they became very respectful and
promised implicit obedience. They swore that they had not in
any way interfered with the villagers, but as some of them were
wrapped in Suahili “mikeka” (sleeping- mats), and some were
using the native wooden head-rests or “misamilo,” we had no
trouble in demonstrating the falseness of this statement.

Benett-Stanford and I had a long chat over the position of
affairs, which was now rather serious. It was clear that if
Harris reached Ngatana, as arranged, on Christmas Eve and
found no food there, he would have trouble with his men.
Everybody had warned us that if the Zanzibari did not get
their rations they would desert. We knew he had left Melindi
on the 17th December, and that he was determined to push on
quickly. It was only six marches to Ngatana, so he could
easily arrive there by the date appointed. This was now the
morning of the 22nd; Negatana was four days distant, but by
hard marching it could be reached in three. So it was decided
that I should get together a few camels and hurry on at once,
and thus carry out the orders sent by our leader. Benett-
Stanford kindly set about the preparation of the stores; while
I, having dispossessed one of the thieves of a stolen sleeping-
mat, snatched a couple of hours of welcome sleep.

At four o’clock Gleave woke me for breakfast :_ seven camels
and twelve men under Sergeant Yussuf were ready. I was to
leave most of these men at Witu and replace them by the most
troublesome of the Somali there, as we were anxious that they
should inflict no further annoyance on our kind hosts.

After a hurried meal we marched out of camp and stumbled
along the track in the dark. We reached the forest shortly

CHAP. 1 . FIRE-WORSHIP 25

after daybreak, lighted the smudge-fires, and drove the camels
through the smoke. The Somali could not quite understand
this proceeding ; they regarded it as a religious rite, and told
me afterwards that they did not know that Christians worshipped
fire. When I explained that it was to keep off the flies, they
were delighted and said we English were “herribleh” (wise).
We reached Witu early in the afternoon, but did not stay there,
for as it is surrounded by forest we feared the dreaded tsetse-fly
might occur there. So the camels were driven a mile to the
south, and camp was pitched beside a deserted Galla village, on
the hill from which the English guns shelled the town in 18go.
The Somali were told to be ready to start at daybreak, and from
the manner in which some of them received the order, we all
went to bed expecting another row in the morning.

GEA PAE Ri

WITH THE ADVANCE GUARD TO THE TANA

‘* We eat our proper rations
In spite of inundations,
Malarial exhalations,
And casual starvations.”
KIPLING.

WITU is the farthest outpost of civilisation in the Tana valley,
and here we expected to begin regular “safari” or caravan life,
and to say farewell to Europeans for the last time until we
reached the Somali coast opposite Aden. My pleasure at
getting away from the coast lands and starting for the “ barra ”
was, however, lessened by my regret at parting from Bird
Thompson.’ He took a keener interest in the natives, he
understood their point of view better, he knew more about their
habits and beliefs, and was more popular amongst them, than
any other man I met in Africa. To his advice I owe more than
can easily be expressed. With his usual readiness to help us,
he came over to camp to superintend our start. The Somali
stood in awe of him, and so the camels were promptly loaded
and we got away without a word of complaint.

We marched for four hours and then rested beside a small
brackish lake, which must be the source of the Magogoni, the
river which joins the Ozi at Kau. The acacias here were often
pink, owing to the growth upon them of a species of Loranthus,
a parasitic plant allied to the mistletoe.

At three in the afternoon we resumed our march, and left
the woods of Hyphaene palms and entered the “barra” or
open grassy plains beside the Tana. We crossed a dry channel

1 He died_off Teneriffe during the voyage home in February 1895.

‘oz 980-7 ‘ALIM AO NOSINNVD WHHL ‘AI “ON

‘avy AC ‘uosdwoy yy, pal “IY

=>. ws
Peg HA Se

4
+

7 eh a

i r i 7 — — 4 : aa -
: : ; g A F hy Canty a er Byte, fs

¥ 4 4
i, a

¥
’

-

—

> i a a

CHAP, II THE SHORT RAINS BEGIN 27

through which the river flowed a couple of generations ago, and
camped upon the plain beside a water-hole in this channel.
A lion came roaring round the camp at night, but it was too
dark to hope for a shot; and knowing that roaring lions de not
fight, it did not disturb my rest. A more serious annoyance
was the loss of a young wild cat or Serval, which I had
purchased in Witu and was trying to tame. It was a most
ferocious little brute, only twice the size of a kitten of the same
age, but with temper enough for fifty. It bit and scratched like
a fury. This did not hurt me, for my leggings were thick ; but
the men’s legs were bare, and they did not like the animal.
They declared it would grow into a tiger, and begged me to
kill it. As I would not do so, I believe they let it escape on
purpose.

At daybreak next morning we resumed our march across
the plain. There was a good deal of game, but we could not
stop to shoot. I almost tumbled on to three black buffalo,
which fled before I could snatch a rifle from the men. I gave
chase at their request, but fortunately did not come up with
the animals. Life is too good to be thrown away by shooting
at buffalo with a Snider. During the heat of midday we
rested for a couple of hours by some Borassus or Palmyra
palms (Lorassus flabelliformis). Our rest was cut short by a
threatening storm, which caught us on the march; the rain
was heavier than I had ever experienced, and fell on us like a
waterspout. To face it was impossible, so we crouched behind
the camels to get what little shelter these gave. When the rain
was at its worst we could not see five yards along the line.
The storm travelled from north to south, down the valley,
extending for about two miles in width, and turning the whole
of the belt it traversed into a swamp. The men said the
camels could not go through it and we must camp where we
were. However, we were due at Ngatana that night, so I could
not consent to this delay, and we pushed ahead through the
swamp and slush.

As we approached the Tana the grass became higher and
denser, and we had hard work in forcing a way through it.
At length we reached the banks of the river and struck a native
track, which we followed through the woods until we emerged
into a clearing opposite the village of Vuju. It was dark when

28 WITH THE ADVANCE GUARD TO THE TANA Parti

we arrived there, so it was hopeless to try and find Harris’s
party that day; but we had reached the trysting-place in
time.

The ground was so swampy that we could not light a
fire or cook any food. As the expedition only provided three
tents for eight Europeans, I had had to start without one. It
poured with rain all night, so we all, men, camels, and donkeys,
huddled together as closely as we could. I fixed my ground
sheet like an umbrella on a pole above me, to keep off the
rain, but it was not much of a success. Even the camels
seemed to despise it, for they twice deliberately kicked it
over.

Thus supperless and sleepless we spent Christmas Eve.
The rain stopped for a while towards morning, but a dense
mist hung over the country and buried everything in its cold
malarial pall. At ten o’clock the mist lifted sufficiently to show
us the opposite bank of the river, where we descried two natives
hiding in the reeds. We shouted “ Yambo” to them, and told
them that a friend of Bwana Kilemba (ze. Bird Thompson)
wanted to see their chief.

They went away with the message, and returning some
hours later took me across the river in a dug-out canoe, to have
a conference with a large party of Wa-pokomo on the opposite
bank. They were very much afraid of the Somali, so I went
alone. We could not talk, but I smiled and nodded, and this
seemed to allay their suspicions. They allowed me then to
send back for an interpreter, and when he came I asked where
were the two white men and their large party of Zanzibari?
The chief told me that they had not come anywhere near this
district ; so he gave me a couple of guides to accompany a
Somali whom I sent off at once with a letter to Harris and
Mackinnon, in the hope that he would meet them on the road.
The Wa-pokomo again landed me on the other side, and after
giving me some unripe bananas, went away. It soon began to
rain again, but we had got some dry wood from the natives and
were able to light a fire. I had my Christmas dinner of Indian
corn, tinned beef, and baked bananas. The rain increased in
strength until it put out our fire, and this night was even less
pleasant than the last, for anxiety about the non-arrival of
Harris’s force was added to the discomfort of the wet and cold.

CHAP, II “YOU CANNOT FLOG A SOMALI!” 29

<

Next day I sent some of the men with the camels and
donkeys back to Witu and crossed with the remainder to the
other side of the river, so as to be able to keep a better watch
for Harris’s force. But the men did not start without a row.
When I told Jarma that he was to be one of those to return
with the camels, he refused to do so. He said that he had
been told by the chief to obey the orders of no one but him-
self, and that he had only told him to come to Ngatana. He
was therefore going to stay where he was, until he had orders
from the chief to go elsewhere. Before he knew what I was
doing I had seized his rifle and ammunition. I had him
arrested and tied to a tree. The other Somali asked what I
was going to do with him. “Flog him, of course,” I replied.
At once there was a hubbub in camp. The men threw down
their guns and danced about in the wild, noisy, excitable way

to which I had now become accustomed. ‘“ Kowadku, labadku,
sadehadku” (By the first, by the second, by the third), they
shouted. “You cannot flog a Somali. You may flog a

Pokomo; you may flog a Zanzibari; you may flog an
Habeshi (Abyssinian); but you cannot flog a free Somali.”
They were simply told to wait for a few minutes and see. There
were some Wa-pokomo at the other end of the village, watch-
ing us and wondering what the excitement was all about. I
called one of them and told him he was to flog the Somali.
This was adding insult to injury, for the Somali hold the
Wa-pokomo as their slaves. There was therefore another
outburst of “ Kowadku, labadku, etc.,” but it made no impres-
sion. I was resolved that the man should be flogged. It was
not till Jarma, seeing I was in earnest, began to whine and
promise to do anything I told him, if I would only let him off,
and when I reflected that striking a Somali meant starting
a blood feud, that I decided it was useless proceeding to
extremities, as the man was thoroughly cowed. I had him
untied, returned him his rifle but not his ammunition, and he
started back with the others without a murmur. Our head-
man subsequently told me that this Jarma was a hopelessly
bad character, and that he had tried in Aden to persuade our
chief not to take him, as he would be sure to give us trouble.
However, I had no more bother with him after this.

The camels and the other men returned, leaving me with

30 WITH THE ADVANCE GUARD TO THE TANA Parti

only eight men; they were so exhausted by exposure that it
would not have been fair to set them to work at once on the
erection of a boma. So we waited, keeping watch on one side
of the river for the reinforcements and stores which it had been
promised should follow at once, and on the other side for the
Southern division of the expedition.

On the 27th my messenger returned with a letter from
Harris, stating that his men were all at Borabini, a mission-
station some miles down the river, where they were blocked by
floods. He was in urgent need of food for his men, as the
stores sent by our chief had been wrongly addressed and had
failed to reach him. It was obvious from this that they
were not coming up the river at present. This placed me in
rather a difficulty. We were being watched by the spies of the
rebel chief, Fumo Omari, who was anxious to capture our
cartridges, sixty thousand of which were being sent up the
Tana in canoes. It appeared to me highly probable that if
this bait were offered to the rebels they would strike for it,
and I could not hope to resist their attack with my present
force; I therefore engaged a mau, loaded it with sacks of
rice for Harris’s men, and rushed down the river to meet the
ammunition.

A long day’s canoe journey took me to the German
Lutheran mission-station at Ngao, then under the charge of
Herr Beking, who told me a pathetic story of its past history.

After much trouble the missionaries had succeeded in gain-
ing leave to settle there. A house was then erected on a spur
on the left bank of the river, to be destroyed in one night by a
flood which simply swept away the whole site of the station.
A better locality was chosen on the right bank, and the
missionaries set to work to rebuild the house. Then Frau
Beking died. The station was finished; and shortly after-
wards the Witu rebellion broke out, when the missionaries had
to fly to the coast to save their lives. The buildings were
burnt down and the plantations devastated. With splendid
patience the station had been rebuilt for the third time, but
Herr Beking said he did not know how long it would last.
He told me the people were then all anxious to turn Christians,
but from purely political motives. They said they were now
European subjects and they must learn the European religion.

CHAP. II THE METHODIST MISSION 31

The missionaries were striving to take advantage of this open-
ing, and were teaching the natives blacksmith’s work, carpentry,
reading, writing, and better methods of agriculture.

After leaving Ngao I reached Borabini or Golbanti, where
I found Dr. Mackinnon staying in the mission - house as
the guest of the Rev. Mr. Edmonds. Harris had left that
morning for Witu, while the flotilla of maus, bringing up
the ammunition, arrived in the evening. At my request the
cartridges were landed and stored in the mission-house, and
the canoes sent back for goods which would be a less tempting
bait to the rebels. The mission-station was a strong stone
building surrounded by a powerful stockade; the house was
provided with an iron roof so that it could not be set on fire,
the windows were protected by iron shutters, and the walls were
loopholed. A stand of arms also showed that the Methodist
Missionary Society does not belong to the peace-at-any-price
party. These precautions, however, are necessary, for the founder
of the station and his wife were both massacred by Masai.’
The mission-station is now so well fortified that our 61,000
cartridges were quite safe, the more so as the garrison was
reinforced by 150 of our own men.

I spent a most interesting evening with Dr. Mackinnon and
Mr. Edmonds, neither of whom had I previously seen, and next
day continued the journey down the Tana. The country became
one vast swamp, and sank below the level of the river. The
water was pouring through the banks by numerous gaps, natural
and artificial, and was thus irrigating the rice-fields on either
side. Some of these had been already sufficiently flooded ; so
the water had been cut off, and the ground was green with the
young rice shoots. At two o’clock we reached Charra, a group
of huts beside a grove of cocoa-nut palms, the farthest point
from the sea at which they occur in this district. Here we left
the Tana and entered the Belezoni Canal. This is a narrow
ditch connecting the Tana and the Ozi. The mouth of the
former river is closed by a bar, so that dhows cannot enter it
except with great difficulty and at certain states of the tide.
The Tana runs actually parallel to the sea, which is at a dis-
tance of only a few hundred yards ; yet the river flows on for
some miles before it succeeds in bursting through the sand-

1 This incident is referred to in Rider Haggard’s Allan Quatermain.

32 WITH THE ADVANCE GUARD TO THE TANA Parr!

dunes which separate it from the ocean. Its mouth, moreover,
is continually being silted up by the tide, and reopened on new
lines by freshets. The sandbanks, therefore, constantly shift
their position in the struggle between the waters of the river
and of the sea.

All this renders the mouth of the Tana very difficult of
navigation. The Ozi, on the other hand, has a fine broad open
estuary, and the water over the bar at its mouth is usually deep
enough to be crossed by the shallow draught dhows that do
most of the coasting trade. In order that the Ozi might
become the port of the Tana, the rivers were connected by
a canal; this was cut by forced Pokomo labour under the
direction of Sultan Hamad, the great-grandfather of the present
chief of the Witu rebels. The channel was originally 10 feet
wide and 6 feet deep, but it is now much less.

Owing to the high level of the Tana a powerful torrent poured
along the canal from that river to the Ozi; the two canoemen had
only to push aside the stems of the water plants and the current
carried us along. As we swept through the rushes we raised
crowds of mosquitoes, which had their revenge for being dis-
turbed in their afternoon nap. So we were not sorry when,
after a passage of three-quarters of an hour, the canoe shot out
into the quiet waters of the Ozi. At six o'clock I reached
Kau, where my old friend Suleiman the Akida, or headman of
the town, urged me to stay the night. We had a chat, but, as
usual, neither of us understood what the other was saying. He
showed me a paper which he said was a testimonial or “ chit ”
given him by the superintendent of the district. It was, however,
a letter from Mr. Rogers to one of the members of the Borabini
Mission ; but as it referred to matters then of ancient history,
I did not destroy the Arab’s faith in the value of his treasure.

The Akida provided me with a man to ferry me across the
Kirimanda, a river that had to be crossed on the way, and also
with two Arab soldiers or “ Kiroboto” as an escort against
lions. One of them was armed with a picturesque sword, and the
other with a rusty muzzle-loader. They scornfully refused to
carry my mackintosh or satchel, so that they were useless ; and
as the gunner would occasionally point his gun at me, I was
more afraid of him than of all the lions in the district.

Tichborne, Harris, Lovatelli and Gleave were all in Witu.

CHAP. II A SUAHILI GUIDE 33

From their accounts the whole expedition seemed to have
drifted into confusion and disorder. The next morning news
came up from Lamu that a dhow, which was bringing forty-six
of our camels from the Somali coast, had been wrecked on a
coral reef; this seemed for a moment the deathblow to the
expedition. On thinking the matter over, however, it was
quite clear that the story was untrue, for no dhow on the coast
could carry so many camels. A general consultation was held,
and it was decided that a determined effort should be made to
get all the stores and men to Ngatana as quickly as possible.

I accordingly started back to Borabini to hurry the porters
up to Witu, and to arrange for the flotilla of maus to continue
carrying the goods to Ngatana. A native guide was engaged
at the preposterously high price of eight rupees, from whom |
learnt that among the Suahili the only essential in a guide is
ability to ask the way. As we met no one, this power was not
very useful, and we lost our way. We spent from eleven till
half-past three wading through a dismal swamp with the water
always up to our waists, and frequently to our shoulders. We
left the swamp less than three hundred yards from where we
had entered it, and then plunged into a jungle of grass and
rushes, 12 feet in height, in which the guide again lost himself,
and I took the lead. We found the Galla village of Dibbe at
sunset, but the natives would not enter the Pokomo district in
the dark, so we tried to find our way by ourselves. We lost
the path, found an unrecorded lake known as Somite, and
finally, by accident, stumbled on another Galla village.

I was now dead tired, and, though the guide begged
me not to stop the night in this village, declined to go any
farther. A Galla lent me some skins in which I wrapped
myself. The Galla, however, have rather a bad character,
so I slept with one eye watching my sullen host. He could
not give me anything to eat, so I started off at dawn and soon
reached the river. Some Pokomo fishermen ferried me across,
and pointed out the smoke of the fires of Ngao. I arrived
there just in time for breakfast, and was very glad to get it, as
my one frugal meal of the day before had been my only food
for thirty-six hours.

I had intended to go on to Borabini at once, but Herr
Wiirtz, a colleague of Herr Beking’s, who had just returned

D

34 VAT THE ADVANCE ‘GOARD LO THE TANA (Pani

from Lamu, offered to show me his manuscript Ki-Pokomo
dictionary, and to tell me some of the legends of the people
about the geographical changes of the Tana valley. This was
a temptation I could not resist. I spent a most interesting day
with these hard-working and intelligent missionaries, and then
went on to Borabini to see Mackinnon.

Mr. Edmonds, the missionary in charge of the station,
kindly sent for a Galla elder from the adjoining village, and he
gave me the Galla version of the stories, which the German
missionaries had told me according to the Pokomo traditions.
From this man’s information it is clear that great changes in
the course of the Tana have happened during the last two
generations.

That night we had a scare. We were called up after mid-
night by the statement that an attack was impending. The
Galla flocked into the stockade, the Pokomo fled to the swamp,
and our men stood to arms. The rumour was very precise.
Twelve shots had been heard up the river. “ Was it at Ngao?”
we asked. “Very likely.” “ About an hour ago?” “ Prob-
ably.” Then it was the German Mission welcoming the New
Year, we concluded, and so went back to bed again. It turned
out that this was the cause of all the excitement. But that
innocent little celebration gave several hundred people a miser-
able night in the rain.

The next morning I started up stream again for Ngatana.
The river, however, was in full flood, and progress was very
slow. <A series of heavy rain-storms fell upon us and further
delayed our journey. We reached Dsundsa, a large Pokomo
village on the right bank of the river, just after sunset, but thick
clouds made it so dark that it was impossible to proceed. The
elder of the village gave me a hut, where I sheltered while
my garments were being dried by the fire. I had been sitting
half the day in a pool of water, which the storms had left in
our canoe. By three in the morning the rain had ceased, the
clouds had dispersed, and the moonlight was sufficient to enable
us to continue our voyage. We therefore started up stream
again, only to be caught, an hour later, in another deluge of
rain.

Shortly after daybreak we lost some time by an incident
that nearly became an accident. One of the canoemen went

CHAP. II A POKOMO DAINTY 35

ashore to try to spear a bifd. The bowman happened to drop
his paddle into the river, and while trying to recover it he lost
his hold of the bank. The rapid current at once swung the
canoe out into the stream, and swept us broadside on towards
some “snags” in a rapid. Fortunately a galvanised iron
washing basin with which I had been baling was ready to
hand, and using this as a paddle I managed to steer the canoe
down the rapids, and then to the bank in the quiet water below
them.

At the next village I went ashore for some food. A native
had killed a crocodile the day before, and it was now being
cooked. The man who killed it was the hero of the village ;
he looked very happy, for the feat conferred on him the rights
of manhood, and he could now be married. I made the usual
sign of hunger, and the kind-hearted natives pressed on me the
best they could offer. Crocodile intestine cut open and baked
in the ashes of a wood fire is esteemed the greatest delicacy in
the Pokomo bill of fare, and a supply of this was at once
offered me. I pointed to some old Indian corn cobs beside the
fire, and signed to them that I should prefer some of these.
The natives appeared a little hurt at my low tastes, and pressed
the crocodile’s guts so warmly upon me that I felt bound to
accept them, and grin with gratitude, if not with pleasure.

I gave the people some strings of beads, and returned to
the mau with my treasure. -My canoemen both smacked their
lips at the prospect of a share in such a feast, and though I
chewed the cartilage till my jaws ached, the men had a far
larger share of the spoil than they had expected.

Late the same afternoon (2nd of January 1893) we reached
our camp at Vuju in Ngatana, where I found that all was well.
There was no news from Witu, so I settled down to rest and
wait, hoping that the tax on my patience would not be a long
one. We had now spent six dreary weeks on the low coast-
lands, and I was yearning for the mountains and high plateaux
of the interior.

CEVA PA ERs Lil

COLLAPSE AND RETURN

** Wot makes the soldier’s ’eart to penk, wot makes ’im to perspire ?
It isn’t standin’ up to charge, nor lyin’ down to fire.
But it’s everlastin’ waitin’ on a everlastin’ road
For the commissariat camel, an’ ’is commissariat load.”
KIPLING.

ASSTARTLED cry. of “Webbi! asan! dio!” ~(Kiver )red
blood !) roused the camp at dawn next morning. I knew the
first word meant river, and the last meant blood. I seized my
revolver and cartridges, crawled through the low doorway of
the hut, and ran across the village clearing to the river bank.
I quite thought that Fumo Omari’s men were already crossing
the river, and that our sentry’s cry of “Blood” meant that he
was wounded. The mist hid the opposite shore, and in vain
I scanned the river for any sign of a foe. The man then
pointed to the water, and said it had turned to blood. During
the night an extraordinary change had occurred in it; instead
of the usual muddy brown its colour was now a dark blood-red.
The floods in the upper part of the river must have washed
into it some material coloured by red oxide of iron, and effected
this startling change in its hue. “This is a bad river ; we shall
never go up it; this is a sign,” said my old cook. I said it
was only the result of “rain-wash,’ and joked about it, to try
to prevent the men attaching any importance to the incident.
But nothing I could say would shake its significance to
them.

The cook, Hirsi, was by far the oldest man in camp, and
as such his opinion was always received with respect. My
assertion that rivers often changed their colour, and that it

CHAP. III IAS MS I IOS (ey es) Ey NOL OM Oe 37

was as natural for them to do so as for mosquitoes to bite,
was received with incredulity, and with the remark “ Hirsi
knows.”

The water was now useless either for washing or for cooking,
and we had to draw our supply from the swamp beside the village.
This event made a deep impression on the men, who were
gloomy and depressed for the rest of the day. Many times
afterwards they reminded me of the incident, and warned me
of the folly of trying to ascend a river that occasionally changed
to blood. The last request made to me by the Somali, when
I parted from them at Mombasa, was to admit that after all
Hirsi had been right when he interpreted the “fal” or omen
of the stream.

The day was not a lucky one, and it was only the
first of a series which furnished the most unpleasant ex-
periences I can remember. For things at the coast, in
spite of the splendid efforts of Harris and Benett-Stanford,
had gone amiss from the first. The Somali were out of
hand, and the transport had completely collapsed. Up at
Ngatana we knew nothing of this, and day by day we expected
the reinforcements, medicines, and stores which the chief
had promised should leave Fungozambo the day after we
did.

We soon learnt by bitter experience the playful little ways
of the camel. We were waiting for the “commissariat camel
and his commissariat load,’ and we had several unpleasant
illustrations of that animal’s viciousness while doing so. One
of the camels, which we had to keep with us, as it was too ill
to march back to Witu, stupidly fell into the Tana. By two
hours’ hard work we cut a slope down to the river and hauled
it ashore. As soon as it reached the top of the bank it shook
itself, and then, as if to demonstrate the truth of Kipling’s
accusation,

“‘ And when we saves ’is bloomin’ life, he chaws our bloomin’ arm,”

it calmly and deliberately walked up to a Somali and proceeded
to munch his shoulder. I was fortunately standing by with
a spade, and at once opened a flank attack, which made the ~
camel leave the man, but not before his shoulder had been
seriously injured.

35) 0 COLLAPSE AND RETURN PART I

The drawbacks of our life here were increased by illness.
My legs gave me a good deal of trouble; they had been sun-
blistered during the canoe voyage down the river, and the over-
exertion of the march from Witu to Borabini had produced
a crop of ulcers. For more than a week I could not walk.
Fever broke out in camp, and my two best men both had it
in a serious form. Twice a day scouts went out to look for
Count Lovatelli’s party, which I expected to bring the medicine
and stores we now urgently needed. Day followed day without
any news, and we became very anxious. At length the wel-
come tidings came in of the approach of the party, which was
nearly three weeks overdue.

Wasama marched into camp with ten camels, sixty porters,
and fourteen Somali, but no medicines. He told me that
there had been a good deal of illness and many deaths at
Mkonumbi, and some at Fungozambo ; that thirty-five Somali
and the few survivors of the Turkish contingent had been sent
back invalided, and that both our leader and Count Lovatelli
had gone away. He added that the former had told one of
the Somali that he was only taking the invalids to Mombasa
in order to send them to Aden, and that he would then come
back to us. Only twenty more camels had been landed, and
five of these were useless. Wasama was very disheartened
about the whole expedition, and very bitter in his complaints
about mismanagement. We sent the men back the same day
to bring up another batch of stores, and then set to work
strengthening the camp. This, however, was interrupted by
the outbreak of an epidemic of malarial fever combined with
gastritis.

A day or two afterwards a canoe came up from Mackinnon,
stating that he had just received a telegram from a friend in
Mombasa to say that our leader had passed through that town
on his way into the interior, and to ask if I knew anything
about the matter.

As my services had been lent to our chief and not to the
expedition, and I had been instructed before leaving London
that in case of any disagreement or breaking-up of the expedi-
tion I was to keep with him, I felt very awkwardly situated.
The last communication I had had from him was the letter at
Kau, ordering me to take the advance guard at Ngatana. At

VNVLVON LV dNVO INVSIZNVZ AHL

CHAP. III ATE O See eA DEER. 39

first I thought it hardly credible that he had gone off into
the interior on an altogether different errand, without one word
of explanation to Mackinnon or myself.

One of the many inconveniences of not knowing what con-
tracts our late chief had signed happened next day. Greatly
to our surprise a dhow was seen coming up the river; the
Suahili in charge brought me a letter from Macquarie, stating
that he had found the boat on the beach at Lamu. By
an accident he had discovered that it had been bought and
paid for by the expedition, and so sent it on. He asked me to
count the oars, sails, etc., and then keep it till the others came
up to decide what was to be done with this useless encumbrance.
I thanked the man, and told him, as well as I could, to tie our
boat to a tree. He refused, as it was his boat, and he was going
up stream. Pointing to the paper, “Chombo changu” (My
dhow), I said. ‘“ Hapana! chombo changu” (No! my dhow),
he indignantly repeated, as he sprang into the boat and pushed
off before I could follow. He merrily waved his hand and pro-
ceeded up stream. Two miles farther up the river the boat had
to come close in to our bank in order to pass a snag. Having
served out extra cartridges to twenty Somali, we marched
thither and waited, hiding in the rushes. The boat came up,
the crew suspecting nothing. A sudden rush and the dhow
was ours, the Suahili and his men were prisoners. We pulled
down the sail, and the current quickly carried us back to camp,
the Suahili owner raging and cursing like a madman. Neither
oaths nor entreaties had any effect on us, for the simple reason
that not one of us understood a word that the poor man was
saying. He gave it up at last, and sat in the bottom of the
boat, an amusing picture of rage and bewilderment, alternating
with despair. I was myself beginning, however, to feel very
unhappy about this business. The man’s indignation seemed
so genuine that I was sure there was a hitch somewhere. Any-
how my orders were clear: I was to take possession of the
boat that would be brought up the Tana by the bearer of the
letter. This I had done, and I intended to stick to it till some
solution of the mystery was forthcoming. On our arrival at
Vuju we soon discovered the mistake, for there we had a man
who knew both Somali and Kisuahili. This dhow had passed
ours on the way, and as the men despaired of ever getting our

40 COLLAPSE AND RETURN PART I

clumsy boat to Ngatana, they had sent the letter on by the
owner of the captured vessel, who was going up the river
elephant-shooting, for which he had a permit from the British
East Africa Company. I apologised, and gave him some
coffee. We laughed over the matter; he gave me a fine pair
of horns of the waterbuck, and then went on his way. It was
lucky we caught him by surprise, for his party was well armed,
and would probably have resisted capture. If his men had
had time to get their weapons loaded, accidents might easily
have happened.

On the 14th seventy more porters came up under Omari,
our head Zanzibari; most of them returned the same day
for another batch of stores. So many of the camp garrison
were down with fever and dysentery that I had to retain
a number of the newcomers in order to keep the camp work
going. Most of my small stock of medicines had long since
been exhausted, and the condition of the men was very serious.
One great difficulty in treating the sick was that, owing to their
fanatical prejudices, they could not be persuaded to take proper
nourishment. Half of the available food was barred by the
condition of their stomachs, the other half by the articles of
their creed.

The Somali, as Islamites of the Islamites, would not take
any meat that had not been killed by one of themselves. As
the Abyssinians were Christians I thought I should be spared
this trouble with them. One evening, therefore, I sent them
my soup, though I could ill afford to spare it. As the sick
men were no better when I went round to see them a couple of
hours afterwards I made inquiries, and found that they had
thrown the soup into the Tana ; they explained that though it
had been prepared by Christians, it had been made by such
very different Christians from themselves that they could not
drink it.

The result was the men sickened, weakened, and died. We
had started for Ngatana with a stock of medicine calculated to
last twelve men for four days. It had to last for a month, and
during part of this time to supply ninety men, of whom on an
average fifty were ill.

On the 17th I was taken ill myself; (I tried to. so) my
rounds as usual, but had to be carried back to the tent. Next

(VNVLVON LV dvd NI aNaoS y)

ih as0g “HINOH LV;, YOLOOd AHL ‘TA “ON

CHAP, III ALL IN CAMP AT NGATANA 4I

morning I was still weaker, and it was with the greatest difficulty
I could write a brief note to Witu asking that Mackinnon
should be sent up, as I could do no more. In the afternoon |
was still weaker, and completely lost the power of focusing my
sight. Wasama came to me for medicine. There were still
a few tabloids left in some envelopes fastened together by a
paper clip. But my eyes were so useless that I could not
read the names on any of them; I could only find the quinine
by licking a tabloid out of each envelope until I came to it.
But other medicines could not be distinguished by taste, and
the men accordingly had to go without. Several times they
came and begged for medicine, but I was powerless to help
them.

Next day the men were worse, but intensely to my relief
Harris, Tichborne, and Benett-Stanford arrived from Witu.
They found the whole camp in charge of a Somali corporal, as
the headman and all the sergeants were ill. A message was at
once despatched to Borabini by canoe, to tell Mackinnon to
come up immediately. Two more Abyssinians, however, died
before he arrived, in spite of Benett-Stanford’s unremitting care
and the fact that proper medicines were now available. Under
Mackinnon’s able treatment the men soon improved, but several
of them were for some time in a very critical state of health.
Mackinnon said he was called up at night more times during
his first week at Ngatana, than he had been during his two
years with Jackson’s great caravan in Uganda.

After the arrival of the others I had a very easy time.
They made me drop all camp work, and nursed me with the
greatest tenderness and care. They did a good deal of shooting,
and thus kept the camp supplied with fresh meat. Harris was
especially successful in this, and when he went out rarely
returned without a waterbuck or topi. The expedition stores
furnished us with all sorts of European dainties. Under these
conditions I soon recovered strength, though I suffered from
a complete loss of memory. I could remember what had
happened during the past few weeks, but everything else was
in a fog. I could not recollect the simplest scientific terms,
and any effort to read led to such violent headaches that I
resolved on perfect mental rest.

My old friend, the son of the Pokomo chief, taught me

42 COLLAPSE AND RETURN PART I

)

how to “mau,” and together we had some delightful canoeing
trips on the river, punting up stream in the morning by a
pole against the bank, and paddling down again in the
evening.

About this time our strength was further diminished, as Sir
Henry Tichborne was recalled to England to fulfil his functions
as High Sheriff of Hampshire. Benett-Stanford accompanied
him to Mkonumbi, and returned with the news that 600
men from the island of Siyu had joined the rebels of Jongeni,
and that the allies were marching to attack us. We strengthened
our outposts, and prepared camp for defence. For some time
after this we lived in a succession of alarms. The outposts
would fire at one another, or mistake a herd of antelope for the
enemy and give the signal. The Somali on these occasions
would rush about the camp in a wild fury of excitement. I
always felt very glad that my duty then was with the Zanzibari,
who used to take up their stations in a very quiet business-like
way. The promised attack never came off, though the natives
were watching us closely, and several times guns were fired at
night some distance from our camp, and certainly not by any
of our own men.

After Stanford’s return future plans were discussed. The
remnant of the Abyssinian contingent was in a state of utter
collapse ; many of the men could not even carry their own food
for a week, and some of them would not have lived through a
hard day’s march. It was decided, therefore, to send them back,
to reduce our kit and repack it in suitable form, and then go
up the Tana and possibly strike north for Basso Narok. As
soon, however, as we began work on this plan, the hopeless
nature of the task became apparent. There were tons of stuff
that was absolutely useless, and indispensable articles were
wanting. Our geographical equipment, in particular, was
hopelessly inadequate. I had been told in London that no
African expedition ever started with such a perfect scientific
outfit, but it had neither barometer, thermometer, nor theodolite.
It was also stated that a good library had been provided, but
the only books we had on the district were the few scientific
memoirs that I had taken with me and acopy of Hohnel’s map.
We were preparing to further explore the regions visited by
Peters, Thomson, Piggott, Dundas, James, Fischer, and others,

(satp ysurese uo19930.1d ve Sv OOT[vO Ul peddvam st aynur ayy)

‘th adn ‘VNVLVON LV dNVO NVINISSAGVY AHL ‘IITA “ON

CHAP. III A GENEROUS OFFER 43

but we had none of the maps or reports of any of these expedi-
tions. Our camp equipment was less imperfect, but it was
miserably unfitted for the work. The tents were rotten, and
one of the three had been blown to pieces. After a week’s
work we were all in despair, though Harris and Stanford were
still resolved to go on.

On 8th February a letter came from Witu, saying that the
Administrator officially warned us against attempting to go
near the Juba, as hostilities had broken out there and severe
fighting had taken place between the Somali and a naval
brigade. The day previously it had been decided that all the
Abyssinians must be sent back, and that one of us must go with
them to Aden, to arrange for their payment and transhipment
back to Massowah. This decision, which was a necessary one,
coupled with Mr. Piggott’s warning, was the last blow that
settled the fate of the expedition.

It was resolved that we should all return to Mombasa.
There we could discuss plans, and either arrange for a short
shooting trip to Kilima Njaro, or abandon the expedition
altogether. I said that I, at any rate, should make another
attempt to get inland. Harris and Benett-Stanford gener-
ously offered to set me free at once, and to let me take
whatever men and stores I wanted. The offer was tempting,
for it would have saved a couple of months’ time. But
in spite of the tons of material in the camp, it was impossible
to equip a caravan of even thirty porters properly out of it.
So I declined this kind offer, and thought it best to return to
the coast with the others, and there make an entirely fresh
start.

We all gave up the expedition very reluctantly, but it was
the only thing that could be done. When the trouble came
and our leader left us, Harris and Benett-Stanford did all that
men could do to carry the expedition on. But our caravan
fell, and all their efforts could not raise it. They worked with
judgment, pluck, and perseverance, and did not give in till the
absolutely hopeless nature of the task was apparent to every
one of us.

Mackinnon’s African experience was an extensive one. His
verdict was that the only thing that could be done was to
return to Mombasa, dismiss all the Abyssinians and all the

44 COLLAPSE AND RETURN PART I

Somali but about six, engage another lot of the latter, and
practically start the whole thing anew.

On the 12th of February Harris and I crossed the Tana
with a few Somali and all the Zanzibari, to commence the
march back to Mombasa ; Mackinnon and Benett-Stanford left
next day with the camels and Somali to return to Lamu vza
Witu.

In spite of the regrets with which I said farewell to Benett-
Stanford and Mackinnon, I was very glad to leave that
camp. I had spent seven weary weeks in it. The memory
of the first four was so nauseous that I never left a place with
such pleasure as I did that fever-haunted camp in the swamps
and forest of Vuju. Both Harris and I were glad, moreover, to
escape from the crowd of Somali, and to have to do with
Zanzibari instead. We found these so much more useful,
reliable, and obedient.

We resolved to cross the deserts to the south of the Tana
and to strike a tributary of the Sabaki marked on the maps
as the Ndeo. We met some Galla, and tried to persuade
them to go as guides. They refused, for they said there was
no such river. This information I proved to be correct
during my return march from the later expedition. The
Ndeo is lost in the deserts long before it approaches the
Sabaki; it was, therefore, very lucky that we gave up the
attempt to reach it.

We did not do so, however, without another try, and I
went to Borabini to engage guides at the Galla settlement
there. I started overland, but was taken ill and had to hire
a canoe. I reached Borabini prostrated by another attack
of malarial dysentery. The two missionaries were away, but
fortunately for me Mr. W. W. A. Fitzgerald, a specialist on
tropical agriculture, on the staff of the British East Africa
Company, had arrived there just before me. He nursed me
through a rather serious illness, delaying his departure for
Witu till Harris could come down. Thanks to their careful
nursing I shook off the attack. We rested at Borabini, until
I was strong enough to sit on a donkey, when we continued
our march to the coast. We reached this at Marareni, a
village occupied during only part of the year by the collec-
tors of the “orchilla-weed,’ which abounds there. Thence we

CHAP, III A DHOW VOYAGE 45

marched along the coast to Mambrui, where we were kindly
received by the Lewali or Arab Governor. We made a
branch excursion to the Magarini Hills, where the British
East Africa Company had some extensive plantations. The
work was carried on, under the supervision of Mr. Weaver, by
freed slaves and some of Emin Pasha’s old Soudanese soldiers,
who had been brought to the coast by Stanley.

The next march took us to Melindi, where we had the
pleasure of meeting the late Mr. Bell Smith. Harris con-
tinued overland to Mombasa with the Zanzibari, but as several
of the Somali were too ill to march, and we were anxious that
they should get to Mombasa in time for the German steamer,
I went south with them on a dhow.

We ought to have done the passage in a day. But we
made a late start, the winds were contrary, and at nightfall
we had only reached Takaaungu, about half way. The
captain would not sail in the dark, so we ran into the har-
‘bour and anchored. I insisted on being landed and sleeping
on shore, for the stench of the dhow, and the quarrels of the
Somali with the other passengers and the crew, were not
conducive to slumber. We started again at daybreak, and
drifted slowly southward. About eleven o'clock the breeze
freshened, and we had to take down the awning. After this
we had to sit huddled up on the poop in the full glare of the
midday sun, which made the deck so hot that it could not be
touched without discomfort.

We arrived off Mombasa late in the afternoon, and stood
in at once through the narrow channel that leads to the
harbour. To the south rose a dazzlingly white cliff of raised
coral rock, worn into hollows and caves by the waves that splashed
its face with clouds of spray; to the north stretched a wide
sheet of surf over the Leven Reefs, on which Vasco da Gama
tells us that the native pilots tried to wreck his ships. We
passed the new hospital and the famous old fort which guards
the town, and threaded our way through a crowd of ship-
_ping, which included a British cruiser, a German merchant
vessel, and native craft of all sorts and sizes. There were
“batili” from Muscat, vessels with:a long projecting prow
like the “counter” of a racing yacht, massive “ bagalas” from
Bombay, with square sterns and high poops, reminding one

46 COLLAPSE AND RETURN PART I

of old Spanish galleons, and graceful light “mtepes” from
Lamu, with lines not unlike those of an English racing
cutter. With shortened sail and wind abeam, we worked
slowly up the harbour against the falling tide, and anchored
beyond the quay. I went ashore at once, expecting to
arrange for the transference of the Somali to the German
steamer which was to leave the same night. I therefore told
the men to stop on board until my return. As there was no
news from Benett-Stanford, the men could not be sent on, so
I hired a house for them in the town and went back to the
dhow. Here I found that, with characteristic disobedience,
all the Somali, except my cook Hirsi, had gone ashore the
moment I was out of sight. I had all the baggage trans-
ferred to a Customs shed or “go-down,” and while I was
watching its removal the Somali came up for their “ posho”
or food money. The usual rate is sixteen picet for a Somali
and eight for a Zanzibari. I gave Hirsi twenty pice as a
reward for his obedience, and refused to give the others more
than seven as a punishment, for | said they were worth less
than Zanzibari. They regarded the insult as worse than the
injury, and in a fit of passion declared that rather than accept
seven pice they would take nothing. I took away their
rifles, belts, and ammunition, and told them to wait for Harris,
for they would get nothing more out of me. They stormed
and raged for their sixteen pice posho—of course without
avail.

While this was going on, the last of the luggage was
brought ashore and stowed in the go-down. When it was all
safely landed, and the Customs were responsible for the safety
of the luggage, and the Mombasa police for the future behaviour
of the men, I was free.

The clerk gave me a receipt for the baggage, and I took
my place on Mr. Piggott’s trolly. The Somali redoubled ~
their protests, and in an appropriate sense of clamorous hurly-
burly, my connection with the great Lake Rudolf Expedition
came to an end.

The trolly soon carried me out of the hubbub, and I could
quietly think over plans for another try. I had learnt one
lesson from my late leader, who had at least taught me that

1 A pice is a sixty-fourth of a rupee, so sixteen pice are worth about fourpence.

CHAP. III LIP ROSPECICAND PROSPECT 47

the best way to conduct an African expedition is not to throw
it up as soon as difficulties occur, and to leave one’s own
responsibilities to others. So I looked back to the past with
gratitude for the one lesson, and to the future with hope.
For I felt that if the Zanzibari proverb be true—

‘** Kupotea njia, njiko kujue njia”
(To lose the way, that is the way to know the way)—

then, having lost the way under the guidance of another, I had
learnt the first lesson in the art of finding the way for myself.

legecl Ie ail

TO BARINGO AND MOUNT KENYA

** Let it be virtuous to be obstinate.”
Coriolanus, Vv. 3.

os Wy FH , '
oe ¥ 7
: . ' r >
“ LF ; : . ; |
ann at ’ q 7 2 ;
1 i : 7 : :
. - .
* ; -
mS key :
7 ma os " : :
;
7 By al : :
r - ' .
;
{ is , ¥
, Lat | "
os em rs
re -
| . in
¥ a 7 |
om a
‘ .
: ad
i
; : 1 J]
'
| ’
y- fh : ’
i
, f
7 : M
at ‘
an
| ;
ee 7
. -
[
i -
r
| ; ih
.
q
a i»
a 7 -
nN of
‘ A
a
‘ . |
. e
| ;
iby |
7 r
| 7 :
q it :
mA
< a
; ‘
4
PS
i
| ry
,
7
h
, a : .
1 t al j
. a
| . a
| “a
| _
. i
, ; |
4 a? - ;
UP
Pa ’ had |
‘ yh
, y a . : ;
? ; ae
’ m0 ‘ : 5
, yy 7 a ;
; Pa ¥ -
" i r; + : . ry ;
: Sh 2 y :
' ;
er
v', is
my, . ug ‘
i -
ow va
a 7 “, ‘ ’ |
i r ~~ 7 io . 7
i" a7 ;
. X
s
ie :
'
it
a
at : 7
,
‘ : : 7
4 S i
: . :
i te» *

(Clalgavle IE el eae vA

AT MOMBASA—A SECOND START

‘* Kongowea ya mvumo, maangavu maji male
Haitoi lililomo, Gongwa isingenyemele
Msiotambua ndumo na utambaji wa kale.”
Verses of Muyaka on Mombasa, collected by Rev. W. E. Taylor.

(Mombasa roars like the wind through the fan-palm,
Surf breaks o’er its reefs in calm as at spring tide ;

It ever is sending forth, yet ne’er has it fail’d,

Think not ’twill be peaceful as you hear not its seething,
For you know not its war-cries, nor its story of old.)

THE town of Mombasa is situated on an island, which, owing
to the healthiness of its climate, the fertility of the neigh-
bouring country, the convenience of its harbours, and the
strength of its position, has exercised an influence on East
African history out of all proportion to its size. The town
stands on the edge of a cliff on the northern shore; to the
east stretches a plateau of coral rock, healthy and dry, and
open to the bracing breezes from the sea. To the west the
country is richly wooded and fertile, but in places swampy
and malarious, for the red sands of which it is composed yield
a soil very different from that formed from the coral rock.
To the north and south of the island are the harbours of
Mombasa and Kilindini, which, with the exception only of
Delagoa Bay, are admittedly the finest on the eastern coast of
Africa. A shallow creek, which can be forded at low tide,
separates the island from a wide tract of rich food-bearing
country, which now, as at the visit of Ibn Batuta in the four-
teenth century, forms the granary for the inhabitants of the
island. With all these advantages, it is not surprising that

52 AT MOMBASA—A SECOND START PART II

Mombasa has long been recognised as occupying one of the
most important situations on the coast of Tropical Africa,
and that, when it is first mentioned in history, it was already
an important town.

Of the foundation and early history of Mombasa we know
nothing. It is said that there are some old manuscripts at
Lamu, in the possession of the great Mazrui clan, which could
tell the story of the Arab settlements on this coast. These
precious documents, however, are so jealously guarded that no
European has been allowed to see them. Until their evidence
is forthcoming, the history of Mombasa begins with the visit to
it in 1331 of the famous Arabian traveller, Muhammad Ibn ’Abd
Allah, or, as he is generally known, in order to distinguish him
from the six other authors of the same name, Sheik Ibn Batuta.’
He spent one night in the town during the course of his 75,000
miles of wanderings. His account of the place seems to be as
accurate as most of his records are. His experience of the
people was very different from that of his successor Vasco da
Gama, who called in April 1498 on his first voyage to India.
The Arabian found the people “ generally religious, chaste, and
honest.” Da Gama describes them as hostile and treacherous.
According to his own account, the king sent on board a present
of fowls and fruit, and begged him to bring his ships into the
harbour: pilots were lent for this purpose, who had been really
ordered to run the ships on the reefs. The Portuguese records
do not agree among themselves, and it appears probable that
no such treachery was intended. Da Gama went north to
Melindi without personally landing on the island, though the
two men whom he had sent ashore had been kindly treated by
the natives.

From this time onward the history of Mombasa fully
justifies its native name of “ Mvita” or “battle.” Two years
later, after Da Gama’s return to Lisbon, the town had to pay
the penalty of having aroused the Portuguese suspicions. A
fleet was sent to India to annex and proselytise; its com-
mander, Cabral, was ordered “to begin with preaching, and if
that failed, to proceed to the sharp determination of the sword.”

1 The standard edition of his voyages is Voyages d'lbn Batoutah, 4 vols., Soc.
Asiat. Paris, 1853-59. For most of the later history I am indebted to Burton's
Zanzibar.

CHAP. IV THE PORTUGUESE AT MOMBASA 53

Cabral apparently preferred the latter method of persuasion.
In 1500 he avenged the supposed treachery to Da Gama by
looting Mombasa. ‘Three years later another expedition passed
along the coast, and made the town pay tribute ; and in August
1505 a fleet of twenty ships, under the command of Francisco
Almeyda, attacked and destroyed it. In 1508 the Portuguese
formally took possession of the island, and appointed a resident
governor. But they had by this time annexed more of the
world than they could conveniently manage; to help in doing
this they proceeded to classify their possessions. They divided
Arabia and Ethiopia into three provinces, in the first of which
they placed Mombasa. These proceedings resulted in a par
Lusttanica, the value of which we may estimate from the fact
that as the Mombasa people were said to have treated the
natives of Melindi and Zanzibar badly, it was necessary in
1528 to send a powerful force under Don Zuna da Cunha to
raze the city to the ground. This, however, was not so easily
effected ; the town was so well defended that it was not taken
till after a siege of four months. The next opportunity for
mischief that presented itself was on the occasion of a visit
from a Turkish fleet under Ali Bey in 1586. A genera-
tion had by this time grown up which knew not Da Cunha,
and so could not restrain its innate passion for intrigue. The
natives placed the island under the suzerainty of the Porte,
but neither of the high contracting parties gained much by
this arrangement. The Portuguese Viceroy of India sent
Alfonso de Melo Bombeyro with a fleet of eighteen ships to
punish this act of rebellion, and Mombasa was promptly
reduced to ashes. The town soon grew up again, but only
to be looted by a tribe of barbarians named Zimbas, who came
from the south. Their occupation of the island was, however,
a very short one. The Portuguese seem then to have grown
tired of this constant series of evictions, and built the fort
which is now the most picturesque building in East Africa.
This secured peace on the island until 1630, when the fortress
was captured by stratagem. The members of the garrison
were shot by arrows, although they had surrendered on con-
dition that their lives should be spared. A force from India
was at once despatched to recapture the citadel and punish the
apostate mission boy, who planned both the revolt and the

54 AT MOMBASA—A SECOND START PART II

massacre. For three months the rebel leader, Yusuf bin
Ahmed, or, to give him his baptismal name, Don Jeronymo
Chingoulia, held his own; then he dismantled the fortress
and fled to Arabia, in a ship that he had captured from his
foes.

In 1660 trouble came from a fresh quarter. The Iman ,
of Oman, more generally known as the Sultan of Muscat, laid
siege to Mombasa and, after a struggle of five years, captured
the fort. The town, however, held its own, and it was not till
1698 that the Portuguese were for the last time expelled from
the island. The victory had been gained by the united forces
of the Iman and of the Mazrui, the leading clan of Arab
settlers on the coast. The latter gained most of the fruits of
success ; for though Mombasa was nominally subject to the
state of Oman, the Mazrui were practically undisputed masters
of the town. This lasted till 1822, when Sayyid Said, the
greatest of the long line of Imans, resolved to exercise the
powers that he had nominally inherited from his ancestors.
His designs were discovered, and the Mazrui appealed to
England for protection. This was provisionally granted,
but almost immediately withdrawn. A fierce struggle then
ensued and lasted for five years, ending only with the capture
of the fort by treachery. Mombasa then finally lost its inde-
pendence. It was at first ruled by an Arab governor or
“ Lewali,” in the name of the Iman of Oman. After the death
of Sayyid Said at sea in 1856, his sons quarrelled. The
question was referred to England for arbitration, and the award
of Lord Canning made Zanzibar independent of Muscat. The
African possessions of the Iman were assigned to Zanzibar, to
which town Mombasa has ever since been subject. In 1875
the people struck another blow for freedom, and their revolt
was only suppressed by British interference. It was probably
the strength of the revolutionary party that led Sayyid
Barghash, who was then Sultan of Zanzibar, to offer the late
Sir William Mackinnon in 1877 a lease of all his possessions
on the mainland. The offer was then refused owing to the
timidity of the English Foreign Office, and it was not till
German competition had roused English fears, that the British
East African Association was able, in 1887, to accept a lease of
the country. Next year this Association became the Imperial

CHAP. IV MOMBASA ISLAND 55

British East Africa Company, with Mombasa as its head-
quarters; and though the Arab Lewali is still nominally
Governor, and the blood-red flag of the Sultan of Zanzibar
still waves over the fort, the Company’s Administrator became
the real ruler of the town.!

The Administrator’s residence is on the south side of the
island, on a cliff commanding a fine view over the broad
harbour of Kilindini and up the long estuary of Port Reitz to
the distant summits of the mountains of Shimba. This fine
sheet of water was named after J. J. Reitz, who surveyed it for
the Admiralty in 1824, and died at the completion of his task.
The house is connected with the town by a narrow gauge
railway, along which garrys are pushed by native runners. Mr.
Piggott kindly invited me to stay with him, and to his home
I followed him after I had settled up affairs with the men.

The ride across the island was delightful ; the narrow line
“ switchbacked ” up and down hill through park-like scenery, of
which the beauty was the more fascinating by contrast with
that of the monotonous scrub-covered plains I had previously
seen. We dashed through groves of lofty cocoa-nut palms,
past rugged baobabs and massive shady mangoes, between
which were glades radiant with meadow-flowers and orchids.
and festooned by creepers and vines of the india-rubber plant
(Landolphia). Rushing down hill in a sharp curve, we startled
a pack of monkeys who were playing on the line: they fled
barking to the woods as the garry rattled past them. Mr.
Piggott met me in his garden, and took me for a ramble along
the shore to examine some beds of coral limestone, so crowded
with garnets and fragments of emerald and beryl, as to resemble
an ancient metamorphic rock or “calciphyr,” rather than a
recent coral rock.

It did not need any contrast with camp life on the Tana
to make my stay in Mombasa enjoyable. The scenery of
the island is most fair, the air from the ocean is fresh and
bracing, and the members of the European colony were most

1 The ‘efforts of the Company were not fortunate in Africa, and therefore were
not appreciated in England, and in 1895 the country became a British Protectorate.
Had the Company cared less for the natives and more for itself, had it been more selfish
and less patriotic, had it endeavoured rather to secure dividends for its shareholders than
the freedom of the slaves in its dominions, its efforts would probably have been estimated
with approximate justice, and the judgment passed upon it by public opinion might have
been approximately fair.

56 AT MOMBASA—A SECOND START PART II

entertaining and hospitable, and soon made me forget that
the only clothes I had fit for Mombasa were, or rather were
supposed to be, coming on a dhow.

I went into Mombasa on the day after my arrival to
discuss my plans with the different members of the European
colony. The result was not encouraging. I was too limited
both in time and money. I had only six months’ leave of
absence from England still left, so I must be back at the coast
in time to catch the mail at the end of August ; and I felt that
I could not afford the expense of a caravan of more than thirty
men. My friends in Mombasa declared that both the time
and force were insufficient for an expedition to Baringo and
across the plateau of Laikipia to Kenya. The two most
experienced men then in Mombasa were James Martin and C.
W. Hobley. The former had accompanied Joseph Thomson
in his expedition to the Masai country in 1883, and had been
employed in caravan work in East Africa ever since that date.
He had managed Sir John Willoughby’s shooting party to
Kilima Njaro and Sir Robert Hunter’s up the Tana, and had
been to Uganda seven times. His experience of the country
is therefore unrivalled, and I was naturally much depressed
when he told me that he thought seventy men the minimum
with which I ought to try to reach Baringo, and that even that
number would be insufficient on Laikipia. Both Martin and
Hobley told me a good deal about the trade goods required on
the journey, and I returned to Kilindini feeling more grateful
for their information than for their advice.

Harris arrived next day, and Benett- Stanford the day
after that. The former had marched overland from Melindi,
and the latter had come down by dhow from Kipini, at the
mouth of the Ozi. They left immediately for Zanzibar to take
the Somali back to Aden. They both very kindly warned me
not to forget my recent illness before deciding to go inland
again. When I told them I had quite made up my mind to
do so, unless recalled by the mail due in a few days’ time, they
most generously invited me to take whatever I wanted out
of the stores of the expedition. I parted with Harris and
Benett-Stanford with deep regret. The three months we had
spent together had been a time of worry and disappointment
and bitter vexation of spirit, but I had never had a single

CHAP. IV WAITING FOR ORDERS 57

unpleasant word from either of them. They had treated me
throughout with the greatest kindness and consideration. When
I was ill they nursed me with womanly tenderness, and during
my convalescence they insisted on my dropping my share of the
camp work until my strength was quite restored. Whatever
help I wanted in my natural history studies they were always
most ready to give. It was no fault of theirs that the expedi-
tion was then being disbanded at Mombasa instead of in camp
on the shores of Basso Narok.

Until the arrival of the English mail I could do nothing.
My services had been lent to our former leader to help him in
exploration. It seemed to me quite possible that the authori-
ties might take the view that as soon as I| found he did not
want me, it was my duty to return home. I did not, therefore,
feel justified in beginning to enlist my men till the mail arrived.
I could, however, have done nothing in the interval, as I was
prostrated by an attack of fever. As a result of this I went
into Mombasa to get my letters, feeling more inclined to attach
value to the warnings of my Mombasa friends. I looked again
through a list showing the cost of different expeditions, ranging
from Count Teleki’s at £30,000, Mr. Jackson’s at £25,000,
down to more moderate ones such as Mr. Joseph Thomson’s at
£3000. Even over our expedition about £7000 had been
expended. When I contrasted my limited resources with such
figures as these, and thought of the history of previous efforts
to explore Laikipia and reach Kenya, I began to feel that
perhaps after all it would be as well if I were recalled home.

The letters came. They showed that the news of our
leader’s departure for Uganda was known in London before |
knew it at Ngatana. There were, however, no instructions, so
I felt at liberty to decide for myself. I rechecked my estimates
of time and cost. I could find nothing wrong with them,
so I sent off a message to Omari to say that if he were
ready to go with me to Baringo and Kenya with a caravan of
forty men, he was to meet me at the Transport Office at eight
o'clock next morning.

He was there at the appointed time and was quite ready
to go, so I engaged him at once as headman or “ munipara.”
We talked things over, Hobley kindly acting as interpreter, for
Omari could not speak a word of English.

58 AT MOMBASA—A SECOND START PART II

The selection of my headman was a very important step.
The success of the expedition and the harmony of its elements
depended to a large extent on his nerve and trustworthiness,
and also on his interest in the work. Several men were recom-
-mended to me on the ground of their knowledge of the country
I wished to explore, but, for one reason or another, I did not
take to any of them. One looked lazy, another sly, a third
promptly destroyed his chances by expressing doubts as to the
safety of the journey with so small a caravan. A famous old
headman, named Wadi Bunduki, was the best of those recom-
mended. His knowledge of the country around Baringo was
unrivalled, and would have been most valuable. He seemed a
most charming man, and thoroughly to deserve the estimate
conveyed in the designation of “dear old fellow” which every-
body gave him. I did not, however, regard the two features
of dearness and age as the leading qualifications for the post.
itresolyed, therefore; to take Omari ben’ Hammadi. Hethad
been the headman of the Zanzibari contingent in the previous
expedition, and I had then some experience of his personal
qualities. His conduct had won my respect. He seemed just
the sort of man I wanted. He was young and ambitious, of
immense physical strength and inexhaustible energy. He. had
a splendid record, having served under Stanley on the Emin
Pasha Relief Expedition, and had been headman to the British
East Africa Company’s expeditions up the Tana and Juba
rivers, besides having taken part in several less important
journeys. The fact that the last expedition on which he had
been engaged had failed was distinctly a point in his favour.
The failure was due to no fault of Omari’s. Nevertheless he
had been so much chaffed about it by jealous rivals on the coast
that he might be trusted to do his very best to prevent return-
ing after a second breakdown. The chief objection to him was
that he did not know the country: beyond Machakos, in
Masailand, on Laikipia and at Njemps, he was as complete a
stranger as I was. This, however, did not seem to me alto-
gether a disadvantage. I thought it would make him all the
more anxious to see the country, because the experience there
would be of great value to him in the future. Moreover, his
ignorance would give me some power over him ; in districts
that had been mapped I knew more of the country ahead than

CHAP. IV PREPARATIONS 59

he did. This doctrine was regarded in Mombasa as altogether
unsound. It was impressed on me that the first requisite in
a headman is knowledge of the country through which the
caravan is going to pass, and of the people dwelling there. I
was very reluctant to act in contravention of local advice, but
after pondering the matter carefully I resolved to take Omari,
and well indeed did he justify the choice.

I went through the list of the men of our abortive expedi-
tion with Omari. I had watched them carefully, and so could
tell him the names of those I wanted and of those whom I did
not want. I said that I would not take a Somali at any price,
though all of those of our former expedition then in Mombasa
begged to be allowed to come. I was sick and tired of the very
sight of the people. I gave Omari also a list of the languages
for which I wanted interpreters, and told him that, if possible,
he was to engage two or three of the men who had been with
Count Teleki. If none could be found in Mombasa, they must
be obtained from Bagamoyo or Zanzibar. As I wished to leave
in a week, there was no time to lose. We set to work at once
—he to hunt up recruits and I to collect stores. Mr. Piggott
kindly lent me thirty-five Snider carbines, and I also took five
of our old long Sniders for the headman and the four Askaris.

After a week spent in purchasing and packing, everything
was ready. I was grieved to have to start with so incomplete
a geographical equipment, but the necessary instruments could
not be obtained. At first the porters came in very slowly.
This was partly because they did not like Omari’s manner
—prompt and business-like, but unsympathetic—and partly
because the great Mohammedan festival of Ramathan was at
hand, and the men did not like to lose the fun. It was not till
the 22nd of March that the last man was enlisted and the last
load packed. I originally intended to start on that date, but
as the mail from Zanzibar was a day later than was expected,
I had to postpone our departure until the 23rd.

After a revision of my list of trade goods, my “ ways and
means,” by Mr. Martin, who had returned with the mail, we
read out the roll-call. Three men were missing, and we had
to send out some of the Company’s police to bring them in.
Another porter, whom I knew and did not want, had given
himself a new name, and signed under it. I refused to have

60 AT MOMBASA—A SECOND START PART II

him, but by the kindness of Hobley one of the Company’s men
took his place. These delays made it eleven o’clock before the
last load was tied up and Omari was able to report that all
were present. The men then formed line outside the Transport
Office ; each had a load assigned to him; arms and cooking
pots were distributed. At last all was ready, and I was able
to give the much-desired order to start. The “kiringozi,” or
suide, decked in a gorgeous Busoga goatskin, took his place at
the head of the line and unfurled the flag of the expedition.
A couple of drummers hired for the occasion began to beat
their noisy tomtoms. Then the men struck up a marching
song, and amid the cheers of a crowd of natives the caravan
started on the journey. Shortly afterwards we despatched
some men with ten loads of food and two of ammunition, which
I preferred not to distribute until we were on the mainland.
To have given them out before would have increased the
temptation to desert, or at least to sell the cartridges. I still
had to settle some accounts, and, in accordance with the
Brussels Convention, to sign a guarantee not to part with arms
or ammunition, and receive a license to carry them. Not until
four o’clock could I get away, by which time the porters were
already in camp on the mainland. My own pleasure in the
start was lessened by an attack of fever, and I could not get
up an adequate appreciation of the kind efforts of two of the
Company’s officials to cheer me by a parting song continued
as long as I was in sight. The refrain of the song—and it
seemed all refrain—was the question, “ Will he nae come back
again?” I walked across the island to the old fort of Makupe,
which was built to guard the ford to the mainland in the days
of the long struggle between the Suahili and the Portuguese.
I crossed in a dug-out canoe, and at once began the ascent of
the slope that leads to the great inland plateau.

On the way I picked up a few fragments of some
ammonites, which occur in the clay that forms the lower
part of the slope. These were the only fossils I expected
to find throughout the expedition. So in spite of their
fragmentary condition I stowed them away in one of my
capacious pockets. I strolled on to camp feeling grateful
to these, for they brought pleasantly to my mind, for a few
minutes, memories of the charming valleys in the Cotteswolds

CHAP, IV WESTWARD AGAIN 61

where I had first collected specimens of them. But thoughts
of the past soon gave way to the needs of the present—one of
which was rest.

At daybreak next morning Omari served out nine days’
rations of food and ten rounds of cartridges to each man. We
read over the roll-call once again and I counted the men. Happily
of the forty-one there was no absentee. There was the head-
man, four Askaris, two of whom had previously been headmen
and had had considerable experience, thirty-three porters, a
cook, and a tent-boy. These were the forty, and to them I
added myself. I had endeavoured to get a European to
accompany me. Especially I wanted to find a sailor from a
man-of-war, who could shoot game, skin animals, mend the
guns, drill the men, take his turn as sentry on the sentries
every other night. But no European could be obtained of any
kind or on any terms, so I had to start alone.

The caravan was certainly small for the work before it ; but
it looked as if it meant business. For its size it was very
complete. We had interpreters for the languages spoken in
the Taita Mountains, in Ukamba, on Kamasia and at Njemps,
and several for the languages of the Masai and the Kikuyu.
We had men who had served in most of the caravans whose
routes I wanted to connect with mine; we had one of the two
men who had been with Count Teleki to his highest point on
Kenya, and one who had been with the British East Africa
Company’s expedition as far as it went on the same mountain.
Some of the men were almost new to caravan life, and two or
three I would not have taken could I have made up the list
without them. But most of the men were reliable, and we had
a good proportion of veterans, including several of Stanley’s Emin
Pasha Relief Expedition.

Allowing myself but one last look back over the island of
Mombasa, I followed the men out of camp on to the path, and
commenced for the second time, but now with feelings of
greater confidence, the march toward that remarkable feature
of East African geography—the Rift Valley.

‘* Whither, with what haste

The weight we must convey with us will permit.”
Ant. and Ci. iii. 1.

_

CHA PaieRan Vv

ON THE. UGANDA ROAD

‘* At half-past five’s Revelly, an’ our tents they down must come,
Like a lot of button mushrooms when you pick ’em up at ’ome,
But it’s over in a minute, an’ at six the column starts,

With its best foot first
And the road a-slidin’ past,
An’ every bloomin’ campin’-ground exactly like the last.”
KIPLING.

THE east coast of Africa has a notorious reputation for
unhealthiness. This it has acquired mainly from the reports
of the earlier expeditions into the interior, which entered the
country by routes to the south of the British possessions.
There, an inland plateau is separated from the sea by a broad
belt of marshy and malarious lowland, where fever and dysen-
tery are rife. Explorers, therefore, had to encounter the most
unhealthy part of their journey when they were least prepared
for it, and at that date the exact nature of the diseases and
the most efficacious remedies were unknown. West of Mombasa,
however, the hills come so close to the sea that the worst of
the fever belt is absent, and the first day’s march ends on the
edge of a high plateau. Asa matter of fact, the difficulty of
the Mombasa road is usually lack of water. In the dry season
it is sometimes necessary to make marches of thirty-five, or even
fifty-four miles, from one water-hole to the next. This difficulty,
encountered at the beginning of the journey, when the loads are
at their heaviest, and the men are fresh from the idle life and
relaxing climate of the coast, is a severe trial to a caravan.

But I anticipated that we were more likely to be troubled
with an excess than with a scarcity of water, for the great

No. IX LONGONOT FROM THE SUMMIT OF DOENYO NYUKI.

CHAP. V AGhOSS iil FOOT-HIGES 63

rains were due. That we should not have long to wait for
them was indicated by the dense clouds that hung in the west,
and the weather-wise on the coast predicted a “masika” or
rainy season of exceptional severity. I had, therefore, made
no special arrangements for carrying water, and felt a distinct
satisfaction when, the day after we had left Mombasa, the
rains began.

We struck camp very leisurely, as I had promised that we
would that day go no farther than Maseras or, as it is other-
wise known, Gonjeni. This place the men assured me was
five hours’ march inland ; but I knew it ought to be reached in
three. I consented to so short a march ostensibly as a favour
to the men, though I felt it would be quite as much as I could
manage, for my fever was worse and had entailed a breakfast-
less start. The path almost immediately joined a narrow gauge
railway, which was laid as the beginning of the projected
Uganda railway. It now ends, however, at the foot of the hill
of Mazeras, only seven miles from the coast. Even for this
short length it is not intact ; in places the line is overgrown by
shrubs; here and there the white ants have removed the
foundations of the sleepers, rain has breached the embank-
ment, and the natives have at intervals stolen a few lengths of
the rails. The track passed over undulating, richly-wooded
country, with clearings in which were groves of cocoa-nut
palms and papaws, orchards of mangoes and cashew apples,
plantations of banana, maize, and millet, and fields of cassava
(manioc or arrowroot), and of the plant the seeds of which yield
simpsin oil. This district is the granary and market-garden of
Mombasa, as it was in the days of old Ibn Batuta. The
ground rises gradually to the foot of the steep hill of Mazeras,
the summit of which, 600 feet in height, we reached just before
a heavy storm of rain burst upon us. I at once took up my
quarters in a comfortable iron hut, that had been erected for
the manager of a mine once opened here. The workings show
a thin vein of galena or sulphide of lead, which was prospected
by the British East Africa Company; the ore is, however, in
thin strings, and the specimens I saw appeared to be very poor
in silver. An hour after my arrival, while I was taking my
frugal dinner of a cup of arrowroot, I was startled by a visit
from Mr.-Edmonds, the missionary who was stationed at

64 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

Golbanti at the time of my first visit there. His residence
on the Tana had shattered his health, and -he had been
dangerously ill since I met him ; he had, therefore, been trans-
ferred to this station, as it was supposed to be healthy. Both
he and his colleague, however, still suffered a good deal from
fever. He took my temperature and said it was 106° F., and
therefore kindly tried to persuade me to rest for a day or two.
The fear of my men deserting if allowed to stop so near
Mombasa weighed far more heavily on my mind than did my
temperature ; so I felt compelled to go on. I tried in vain to
buy a donkey, but the missionaries kindly lent me one for a
couple of days.

Early next morning, after a sleepless night, I was lifted on
to the donkey, and followed the caravan, which had already
started. The road ran for some distance along a turf-clad
ridge which commanded splendid views to the south and west.
The prospect to the south was especially fine, as it included the
broad estuary of Port Reitz, with the rounded hills of Shimba
at its head. Thanks to the rain, the grass was green and the
whole country looked fresh and luxuriant. The rocks in this
district are much older than those lower at the shore, in which
occur the ammonites. They here consist of coarse-bedded sand-
stone and grits with layers of pebbles; the series appears to
have been formed as a shore deposit on the slopes of the old
eneiss plateau that extends inland. I did not see any fossils,
but I could not hunt properly for them; there were some
promising-looking shaley layers, which it was hard indeed to
pass unsearched.

After leaving Mazeras we saw no more villages or signs of
cultivation, and entered the great barren “ Nyika” (see chap.
xii, p. 223), inhabited hereabout only by some few families of
Wa-duruma. After a march of six miles we reached a small
stream bed, a series of holes filled with yellowish-green and
filthy stagnant water. I was too ill to go farther, so we
camped. Half an hour later Edmonds arrived to go on with
us for a couple of days and bring back the donkey. It was a
good thing he came, for I was delirious all the afternoon, and
even in the lucid intervals could not read the labels on my
medicine bottles. Next day we made a better march of ten
miles through a drenching downpour of rain. The fever had

CHAP. V ON TO THE PLAINS 65

subsided, but it had left me very weak, and for the last two
miles I had to be held on the donkey. We camped on a hill-
top amid some flat slabs of carboniferous sandstone, beside
some pools of water. From these the place derives its name
of “ Maji Chumvi” or “ Salt-water” ; they are usually brackish,
though after the heavy rain of the last few days they then
tasted quite fresh. Next morning the weather was finer, and
camp was struck by daybreak. Edmonds then had to return ;
he gave me on parting a good deal of somewhat startling
medical advice, which I simply noted as not to be used, but
which I fear he practised on himself. He then jumped on to
the donkey and rode off, shouting back to me the promise of a
hearty welcome on my return. The welcome was never given:
the next news I had of my poor friend was of his death.

This day’s march took us well out on to the Taro Plains ;
these are part of the barren plateau that, throughout Equatorial
Africa, separates the edge of the coastal slope from the foot of
the volcanic mountains of the interior. Before us lay a vast
expanse of uninteresting-looking country, rising slowly to the
west. It was covered by a dense scrub of flat-topped, umbrella-
shaped acacia trees; the turf of the coast zone was replaced
by tufts of dry grass; huge aristolochias, spiny sansevieras, and
aloes formed the most striking features in the undergrowth.
The only things that broke the monotony were the massive
trunks and knobbed branches of huge baobabs that rose through
the scrub, and rugged peaks of gneiss that towered above the
plain on the western horizon. The country did not promise
much of interest to the naturalist, and even if it had done so I
was not well enough to collect. The fever had left me, and
my temperature had even fallen two degrees below normal ;
but I was terribly weak. This was not surprising, as for three
days I had taken only a little arrowroot. I stepped out as
vigorously as possible for the first two hours, and then suddenly
collapsed. The caravan had gone far ahead, and I had to
follow it; I could, however, only drag on for a few hundred
yards at a time, and then lie down to rest. It was the most
dismal experience throughout the expedition. At last I could
go no farther until Omari sent on to the camp, had a kettle of
tea made and brought back to me. It was in this district that
many of Thomson’s men broke down for want of water; he,

Li

66 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

with some of the stronger porters, had to go on to get water
and return with it to the rest. While lying on the ground
waiting for the tea, I could not help contrasting my feeble
condition with Thomson’s rescue of his men, and thinking that
African explorers should be made of tougher stuff.

In the evening a party of Wa-kamba passed with some
donkeys, which they were driving to Mombasa to sell. I sent
Omari to try to buy one, but the natives demanded the pre-
posterous price of half a load of cloth, a load of iron wire,
and twenty shaddas (or 2000 strings) of beads. We declined
the offer, and charitably wished they might get their price in
Mombasa.

Next morning I was sufficiently better to achieve the march
of nine miles in a little over four hours. Camp was pitched
before my arrival beside the famous “ Ngurunga,” or water-holes
of Taro. These Ngurunga are a series of holes in sandstone,
and they are often the only source of water in this part of the
Duruma country. They resemble in form the “ pot-holes”
formed in boulders and in the rocky beds of mountain streams
by the swirling round of a stone resting in a hollow. The
Negurunga have certainly not been formed in this way, and the
exact method of their origin has often been discussed. They
appear to be due simply to the gradual deepening of slight
depressions in the surface of a rock; water collects in these,
and its solvent power is increased by the organic acids derived
from the decay of vegetable matter; the cement between the
sand grains is dissolved, and the grains thus loosened are
removed by the wind when next the water has evaporated
from the hollow. A continual repetition of the process results
in the formation of a deep hole. Mr. Joseph Thomson suggests
that man aids in their formation by scraping away the sand
from the bottom when drawing the water. This, no doubt, has
often happened ; but Ngurunga as large and deep as those of
Taro occur in districts and in positions where human agency
cannot have aided in their erosion.

At Taro begins the worst march in this stage of the
journey. From this point there is often no more water to be
had until a pool is reached on the summit of Maungu, thirty-
five miles away. The water-hole there is sometimes dry, and
then a caravan has to drag on for twelve more weary miles to

CHAP. V ALOSH OPPORTUNITY 67

Ndara. Fortunately I was so much better that it did not seem
necessary to delay the commencement of this march. I was
cheered by the capture of a lizard about two and a half feet
long (Monztor albogularis, Daud.), and began to take sufficient
interest in things in general, to record the few meteorological
observations which my imperfect outfit allowed. In order to
lessen the fatigues of the journey, however, it was decided to
start at midnight and make three short marches next day. It
poured with rain all night, and the clouds made it so dark that
we had to postpone our departure till the morning. As soon
as the first streak of dawn appeared, we filed out of camp on
to the muddy track. Anxious to avoid exposure to the mid-
day sun, I went on ahead as quickly as I could. Just after
daybreak, on turning a sharp corner, I surprised a herd of five
sable antelope (/7/zppotragus niger, Harr.), which dashed off at
once through the jungle. Had I known that this was the only
time that I should have seen this, the noblest as well as one
of the rarest of African antelopes, the temptation to follow them
would have been irresistible. A few paces farther on was the
fresh “spoor” or track of a lion, which appeared to have only
just crossed the path. Probably it was stalking the herd when
I came up, and had occupied the attention of the antelopes, so
that I was allowed to approach close to them before they
noticed me.

A sharp march of ten miles brought us to Butchuma, where
we rested till two in the afternoon. Then we started off again,
to try to reach a camping-place at the end of the road cut
through the jungle. At six o’clock, however, we found a pool,
and, as Omari was far behind with a sick Askari, I decided to
camp there. We started again before dawn for a march, which
the men said would take nine hours, to the camp at Maungu.
Soon, to our great regret, we reached the end of the road; we
had then to follow a native path, which twisted and twined in
every direction through the scrub. This is here so dense that
it is impossible to go straight ahead without cutting a way.
When, therefore, the natives began to traverse the district, they
had to follow the game tracks; and the path thus made has
since been rigidly adhered to. We could often see our goal,
the peak of Maungu, rising through the scrub, apparently near
at hand. Sometimes it was on our right, and as often on our

68 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

left ; occasionally we were walking directly away from it. But
we had to follow the trail in all its twining, for every attempt
at a short cut ended by an entanglement in thorns and creepers.

Shortly after eight o’clock we reached three pools, known
as “Mawiza Matattu.” We halted there for a short rest, and
then plunged again into the maze. This was unwise. The
midday heat was too much for me, and brought on an attack
of bilious fever. I had to rest till the afternoon under the
shade of some trees. When I started again I could only go
slowly, and the path through the scrub seemed interminable.
At length, however, we began to ascend the hill. Great
candelabra-shaped euphorbias and rock exposures became
numerous. The path rose to a depression in the ridge, and
then descended to the camping-ground. This is situated on a
terrace at the height of 2200 feet, about 500 feet above the
plain, across which it commands a glorious view. Forty miles
to the north, on the other side of the river Sabaki, is the long
low line of the lava-capped plateau of Yatta; sixty-five miles
to the east-north-east the rounded dome of Mangea can be
discerned upon the skyline. A few miles to the west the
“Nyika” ends abruptly at the foot of the Taita Mountains,
whose rugged crests and precipitous slopes form a pleasant
contrast to the monotonous uniformity of the plain. But the
sun was setting, and I could not afford to waste the few minutes
of daylight even on sucha view. I went on to camp as quickly
as I could to read a round of angles with a roughly improvised
plane table.

The view at sunrise next morning was weird and grand ;
the whole plain was covered in mist, through which rose the
ridges of Taita, tinted for a few minutes with a ruddy glow.
The wind whipped the upper surface of the mist into wave-like
undulations, and tore the crests of the billows into shreds, or
cut them off, and carried them away as streaks of cloud. We
waited till the sun had dispersed the mist, and then, in a
steamy atmosphere, crossed the last twelve miles of the plain,
and pitched our camp beside a mountain stream at Ndara.

In the afternoon I scrambled up the hillside, and collected
some specimens of liverworts from the rocks below a waterfall.
Among other products of this excursion were some specimens
of a wild banana. In the evening, on the plain, I got a

CHAP. V THE VOI IN FLOOD 69

puff-adder of the same species (Clotho ardetans, Merr.) as that
met with at the Cape, but which here attains a much larger
size. Next day I added to my collection a Zanzibari, who had
deserted from some previous expedition. I caught him quite
by accident. He was watching the caravan from a_ hiding-
place in some bushes about a quarter of a mile from our path.
I came up behind him after a branch excursion to some rocks.
I took him prisoner, and placed him in charge of my boy
Philip and an Askari, to whom I promised the reward paid for
a captured deserter when the man was handed over to the
Company’s officials at Tzavo. Later on, however, he succeeded
in making his escape.

During this day’s march we had to ford the Voi, which, as
it was in full flood, was rather exhausting to the porters. The
river is but a small one, but it flows through a swamp so
choked by vegetation as to be impenetrable, except along the
courses of the various branches of the stream. We worked our
way along the channels, on both sides of which rushes, papyrus,
and sedges rose as a wall ten feet in height. In places the
plants met overhead, and then we had to creep along the
tunnel thus formed, cutting away the lower stems so as to raise
the roof and allow the porters to carry the loads through. In
some places the floods had piled a barricade of vegetation
across the channel, and this we had to clear away. As most
of this time we were standing up to our shoulders in rapidly
flowing water, we were very glad when we reached the northern
margin of the swamp.

The men wanted to camp here, and as it was almost one
o'clock I was quite prepared to do so. But Omari said it was
unnecessary, and suggested that we should rest here for a mid-
day meal and then go to a camping-place three hours farther
on, at the foot of the mountain of Ndi. I thought this unwise ;
but, wishing to hasten, and not to check, the pace of the
caravan, I did not like to discourage any excess of energy on the
part of my headman. I was hesitating as to the decision when
two. of the porters insolently refused to go any farther, and
began to “cheek” Omari. That settled it at once. Orders
were given to the men to be ready to start for Ndi in an hour
and a half’s time. The decision proved to be a mistake. The
passage of the Voi had been so fatiguing that an extra march

70 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

ought not to have been attempted. The result was that some
of the men did not get into camp till after nine o’clock, and
they were all thoroughly tired out. It would not have done,
however, to have confessed the mistake to the porters; so
when some of the sulky ones came up to me to say that they
were going back to Mombasa if they were to be marched like
that, I merely remarked that they knew what they might expect
when they arrived there. I advised them to go if they were
very anxious to qualify for two years’ hard labour in the chain-
gang on the Uganda road. _ It was obvious, however, that some
of the weaker men were too exhausted to proceed next day, and
I decided to give the caravan a day’s rest. This I did with the
less reluctance, as I was very anxious to ascend the peak of
Ndi, the highest mountain of this group, in order to compare
the flora of its higher slopes with that of its base and of the
adjacent plains.

At daybreak next morning I started from camp with a
couple of the Askari; we followed the course of a small stream,
which came plunging down the mountain side in a series of
picturesque cascades. To force a way straight up the slope was
impossible, owing to the denseness of the vegetation. We tried
to do so, but were soon glad to take advantage of a path which
wound up the face of the mountain to some Taita villages on
the upper slopes. The path was well planned for security ; it
was arranged to lead occasionally across the face of an almost
vertical cliff, where the foothold was reduced to a few knobs, or
to a narrow ledge of rock. Many of the tracks in the Alps
which are dignified with the name of “mauvais pas” are safe
in comparison with these. That the natives can pass along
them with heavy loads of food on their heads is a great testi-
mony to their sureness of foot and steadiness of nerve. At
first I thought that these rock-traverses were only short cuts,
and that the main path ran elsewhere. But it was not so; the
arrangement has been planned to enable the natives to keep
their mountain fastnesses safe from the marauding Masai, who
could not force them if defended from above by the natives with
boulders, and with bows and poisoned arrows.

After a gentle ramble for two hours up the hillside, stop-
ping here and there on the way to collect, we reached the
meadows and valleys, in which are situated the villages and

CHAP. V TO THE SUMMIT OF MOUNT NDI 71

shambas of the Wa-taita. Only a few months previously the
natives had quarrelled with a European caravan; they had
dammed up the stream, and so cut off the water supply from
the camp below. For this they had been so severely punished
that I felt doubtful as to my reception. I found them, how-
ever, in a most friendly mood. They loaded my two men with
presents of cobs of green maize, pumpkins, and sugar cane, and
gave me a few eggs. The terrace beside the village com-
manded a good view of the upper part of the ridge, and I was
thus able to decide on the best route to the summit. The
headman of the village lent me two men as guides. A sharp
walk soon brought us to the ridge, and we went southward
along it, until at half-past eleven we reached the margin of the
clump of trees upon the summit. The guides and my own
men refused to go farther, as they said the wood was the abode
of evil spirits and they dared not enter. I left them to light a
fire, while I pushed on through the shrubs alone. This, how-
ever, was a waste of time, except in as far as it satisfied my
climbing conscience. There was no view from the summit, and
I had to make my sketches and observations from the edge of
the wood. We boiled the water for the thermometers, and
obtained data from which I subsequently calculated the altitude
at 5640 feet.

I was interested to find a dense growth of the common
English bracken on the higher part of the ridge. I did not
like to accept it as the same species without a close examina-
tion, and tore up some feet of the long underground stem (or
rhizome) to see if I could detect any difference in this part of
the plant. While doing so I came upon a striking case of
mimicry ; an insect that lives among the dead leaves below the
bracken so exactly resembled them in colour and in form that
I should not have noticed it, had it not moved when I began
to scrape away the soil.

During the descent we kept farther along the ridge to the
north until we reached a col, which appeared white when seen
from a distance. We found that both the depression and the
colour were due to a reef of quartz which cropped out there.
This was so brittle that it wore away more rapidly than the
tougher rocks on either side. We were then compelled to beat
a hasty retreat owing to the threatening aspect of the weather.

72 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

We reached our guides’ village, and picked up our burden of
provisions. I invited the natives to come with us for some
return presents, and then rushed down the path to camp. But
the storm broke upon us before we reached shelter; two
minutes after the rain commenced we were wet to the skin.
Shortly after my return to camp I had the unexpected
pleasure of a visit from Mr. George Wilson, a man well known
to all readers of Captain Lugard’s Azse of our East African
Empire. He was then cutting a road to Kibwezi at the
expense of the late Sir William Mackinnon, and had struck
camp at Butchuma only the day before I arrived there. He
had wisely travelled by a route to the west of the mountain
group of Ndara, as he knew how troublesome the ford of the
Voi would be after the recent rains. I had thus passed him
on the road, and was afraid I should not meet him. I was
delighted to see him, for I hoped to be greatly reassured by him
as to the practicability of my plans. He was reported—and
with truth—to be a man of such patience, tact, and good
temper, that he is extremely successful in making friends with
the natives. In this his facility for languages stands him in
good stead, for it enables him to dispense with interpreters, and
to communicate with the natives directly. He had had, more-
over, great experience of the two tribes with which I was most
likely to come into conflict, the Kikuyu and the Masai. He
had lived for some time among the former at Dagoreti, and
was a great friend of Tereri, the head of the Naivasha Masai.
Unlike most men who have had much intercourse with the
Masai, he has great faith in their intelligence and faithfulness,
in addition to sharing the general admiration of their pluck and
social organisation. So enthusiastic is he about the Masai that
he is known in Mombasa as the “ Masai faddist ”—although a
raiding party of this tribe had once attacked and routed a
caravan of which Mr. Wilson was in command, and he only
escaped after keeping the enemy at bay for a few minutes, by
peppering them with buckshot from an eight-bore elephant
rifle. I therefore hoped to receive from Mr. Wilson valuable
advice from his knowledge of the people; and also encourage-
ment as to the prospects of success, both on account of his friend-
ship with the natives, and because, as a rule, the nearer danger
is approached, the less it is reported to be. The advice I received,

CHAP. V AN EAST AFRICAN VETERAN 73

the encouragement he could not give. He told me, to my dis-
appointment, that though he should not himself refuse to under-
take such a journey with such a force as mine, he should regard
it as a risky experiment, and that it was far more dangerous for
a raw recruit, ignorant alike of the languages, the country, and
the people. He said that in the present condition of the Kikuyu
country, I should certainly have to fight my way through it.
However, I consoled myself by the thought that Mr. Wilson’s
last recollections of the Kikuyu were most unpleasant. He had
been in command of the station at Dagoreti in the Kikuyu
country during a very stormy period.. He had been besieged by
the natives, and his communications cut off. He held the
fort till his ammunition was exhausted, for the supplies sent
him from the coast failed to reach him. MHis position was
then absolutely untenable; so he sallied forth, and cut his
way through his besiegers to the fort at Machakos. Having
there obtained the ammunition that had been sent for him,
he returned to Dagoreti, recaptured the position, and rebuilt
the station, which had been burnt by the natives. Later on,
however, he was persuaded to retire by the leaders of a
caravan returning from Uganda.

But I obtained a great deal of most useful advice, and we
sat up chatting in his cosy, artistically-upholstered tent till the
early hours of the morning. Then I tore myself away from
this mine of information, and went back to write out notes and
press plants until, at dawn, we left our camp and marched again
into the “ barra.”

Two further marches brought us to the station of Tzavo,
a fort erected in 1890 by the British East Africa Company in
order to stop Masai raids down the valley of the Sabaki. For
this purpose its garrison of twelve Beluchi “ Kiroboto” under a
Goanese clerk was quite inadequate, even if the men had been
trustworthy. These “ Kiroboto ” were part of a force of Asiatic
mercenaries raised by the Sultan of Zanzibar. Their name was
derived from that of the soldiers of the Sultan of Hyderabad,
from whose army the nucleus of the force was obtained. Of
the reliance that can be placed upon these men I had an illustra-
tion on the return journey, when the commander of the fort had
gone away for a few days. Before his departure he had locked
up all the ammunition, as the men were not to be trusted with

74 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

such dangerous material. There was nothing, therefore, to
prevent any Masai who might be raiding in the district from
capturing the stores and spearing the defenceless garrison !

The fort consists of a group of huts, surrounded by a three-
pile stockade and a thorn “boma” or hedge. It is prettily
situated beside the ford across the Tzavo river, in a grove of
Hyphene palms (Hyphene thebaica, Mart.), which were the first
palms we had seen since leaving the coast.

In company with the Goanese commandant I spent a
pleasant afternoon catching lizards and scorpions, and digging
up the skulls of some Wa-kamba who had been killed by the
Masai.

I had, however, the disappointment of losing my first man.
I had beén exceptionally fortunate in not having had a single
deserter, and was now beginning to feel safe from this anxiety.
The men had, however, suffered a good deal from illness, and a
porter was found to be too ill to proceed: he was one of the
two men in my force who had been with Count Teleki in his
great expedition to Kenya and Basso Narok. I was therefore
especially reluctant to spare him. He was, however, suffering
from a disease that was incurable on the march, and it would
have been sheer murder to have made him continue the journey
in the rainy season. I had therefore to give him his discharge,
and arrange for him to be kept at Tzavo till he was well
enough to return to the coast with some passing caravan.

After leaving the station at Tzavo we had to proceed with
greater care. Our road intersected those used by the Masai of
the districts of Nyiri and Matumbato, to the north of Kilima
Njaro, when marching to raid in the districts of Ukamba, on
the Tana or near the coast ; we had therefore to keep close
together on the march, ready at any moment to repel attack.
The Askari, Ramathan Aperti, and I led the van, keeping a
sharp lookout ahead for any sign of Masai. I had thus to keep
to the path, and my opportunities for collecting were much
restricted. More precious time was also occupied in teaching
the men a simple drill. JI had seen too much when with the
former expedition, of the results of the attempt to train excit-
able natives as if they were British troops, to be inclined to
repeat the process. It appeared probable that if we had to
fight, that we should have to do so in forest or scrub, where

CHAP. V PRECAUTIONS AGAINST MASAI 75

formal operations would be impossible. So I made no attempt
to teach the men how to wheel like a company of guards in a
barrack square, or march in column like a girls’ school; but
simply trained them in skirmishing drill, outpost duty, forming
square, and volley firing. As there was no ammunition to
spare in practice, we had to check the men’s smartness in the
last exercise by the click of the hammers of the rifles. The
men did not seem very courageous, and had an ingrained terror
of Masai; but I was consoled by seeing that they had a good
idea of bush fighting, and chose their positions with judgment.

In the evening Ramathan mounted the pile of goods and
harangued the camp. He told the men that they must keep
their guns ready beside them and their fires burning all night ;
and that any one who moved out of camp after dark, without
a burning brand from the fires, would be shot. A party of
Wa-kamba traders, returning to their homes, joined us here, and
begged permission to accompany us as a protection from the
Masai; to them we gave even stricter orders as to their
behaviour during the night. Here I had to begin the practice
of going round camp several times during the night to see that
the sentries were awake. As breakfast was at five, I generally
felt sleepy when I went to bed, usually about eleven. I there-
fore always drank a cup of strong cold tea just before turning
in. This rendered my sleep so light that any movement in
camp disturbed me. I soon acquired the habit of waking at
regular intervals through the night.

That our precautions were not needless we saw next day,
when we found some fresh footprints crossing our path in a
north-easterly direction. Some deep square punctures made by
spear points, and occasional marks where a heavy shield had
rubbed along the ground, showed that the track was that of a
party of Masai. But for the day’s delay at Ndi we should have
spent the previous night at the pools of Kinani, and should
probably have seen something of this party. Double guard was
kept next night. At three in the morning we were roused by
a shot. We all sprang at once to our places, ready to repel
attack. The sentry had seen a dark object sneaking up to
camp, and had fired at it; it fled at once, and from its howl I
concluded that it was only a hyena. Some of the porters,
however, maintained that it probably was a Masai scout, and

76 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART IT

that he had imitated a hyena’s cry to throw us off our guard.
This was just possible, so we kept a sharp lookout till morning.

Our next camp was beside a dry river-bed, at a place of
which the name has two different forms according to the two
different hypotheses as toits meaning. One etymology makes it
Mto wa Undei, meaning the country of hawks, while the other
derives the name from that of the son of a great chief of the
Wa-kamba, who was killed here by the Masai; according to
this, the more probable theory, the name should be spelt Mtoto
wa Ande.

We were here near the borders of the district of Kikumbuliu,
the first inhabited by the Wa-kamba. Early next day we came
to their plantations or shambas. We passed through these,
and camped beside some wells dug by the Suahili traders, in a
valley known as Masongaleni. As our food supply was again
nearly exhausted, Omari proposed that we should rest here for
a day to buy a fresh stock, instead of at Kibwezi, where it was
said to be very expensive. We therefore fired a couple of
shots as a signal that food was wanted, and as an invitation to
the natives to come in and open a market or “soko.” Women
soon appeared with calabashes of flour and plaited baskets with
grain. After a long discussion the price was fixed at fifteen
strings of small pink beads for six kibaba, or about nine pounds,
of beans. As each woman brought only two or three kibaba,
the purchase of as much food as we wanted proceeded very
slowly. We could not get enough that day, so I left Omari to
continue the market, and went on with a few men to Kibwezi.
I was anxious to get a day’s rest there in order to see the
experimental plantation of the East African Scottish Mission,
and have a chat with the missionaries. The station is situated
in some woods on an old lava sheet around the sources of the
river Kibwezi.

The rain fell in torrents as we crossed a swamp and entered
the Mission grounds. But this had become too familiar to
diminish the pleasure which the sight of the fine timber trees of
this oasis gave me. Any one who has experienced the delight
of suddenly entering one of the chestnut groves of the Italian
slopes of the Alps, after weeks among the monotonous fir-woods
of the Swiss highlands, will understand the joy with which,
after weeks in miserable scrub, I entered the forest of Kibwezi.

CHAP. V AN INDUSTRIAL MISSION 77

The Mission was founded in 1891 by a party of Scotch
philanthropists, who were dissatisfied with the results of the work
of existing missions. They therefore resolved to start a fresh one
on a purely industrial and non-sectarian basis. Dr. Stewart, the
head of the well-known Lovedale Mission in Bechuanaland, was
sent into the country to find a suitable site. He selected
Kibwezi, from its apparent healthiness, the excellence of its
water, and its convenience as a place of call, it being about
half-way from Mombasa to Machakos. No doubt the beauty
of the situation was partly responsible for the choice.

The two principal objections to the site are that, owing to
the luxuriance of the surrounding vegetation, it appears to be
very unhealthy, and that an Industrial Mission ought to have
been settled-in a well-populated district. At Kibwezi the
natives only number some two or three hundred, and they are
not a promising set of pupils. For years they have been
demoralised by Masai oppression and by intercourse with
Suahili caravans. They appear to do nothing except for
payment, and the children require higher wages for attendance
at school than their parents do for work in the plantations.

At the time of my visit the staff consisted of three Euro-
peans, of whom Mr. Watson was the only member of the
original party of missionaries. The superintendent of the
station, Dr. Charters, had arrived a few weeks previously. He
will be known to readers of Ju Darkest Africa, for he was
in charge of the mission-steamer, the Peace, which carried Mr.
Stanley up the Congo from the Pool to the mouth of the
Aruwhimi.’

The British East Africa Company had given the Mission a
grant of 100 square miles of land around the station. This is
being cleared, and an experimental farm has been established
upon it. Mr. Pattison, a gardener, who came out with Dr.
Charters, was then trying to rear the vine and various fruit
trees, as well as testing the suitability of many different kinds
of grain.

As Mr. Watson had been rather unwell, at Dr. Charters’
suggestion he took a holiday next day, and we went off together
for a day’s fishing and collecting along the Kibwezi river. This

1 Dr. Charters disappeared when out shooting near Kibwezi in the autumn of 1894;
there is now practically no doubt that he was murdered by Masai.

78 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

first rises on the Mission grounds, and then plunges into the lava
and flows through a subterranean channel for a couple of miles.
It rises again in some pools. In these we caught some fish
of two new species: one, a Barbel (Barbus tanensis, Gthr.),
occurred also in the Tana and in the Guaso el Narua, south of
Lake Baringo; the other, Oveochromzs nzger (Gthr.), I did not
find elsewhere. In the woods we found some fungi, the
remarkable case of insect mimicry, illustrated by the frontis-
piece and described on p. 71, and a black variety of a small
mammal (Macroscelides rufescens, Pet.).

It was by far the most successful day’s collecting I had
had. More can be obtained here in a week than in a year in
the open barra. In the forest clearings butterflies of most
gorgeous colours occurred in great profusion. But as I had
hurt my leg a few days before, I could not run after them. The
porters sent out to collect them brought back a good number,
but they were all terribly damaged owing to the men’s clumsy
methods of capture. As Mr. F. J. Jackson had made a large
collection during his residence at Kibwezi, I threw all mine
away in disgust.

Next morning the men started ahead of me for the march
to the Mkindu river. I followed later with Mr. Watson. Just
as we were starting I caught my only glimpse of the snowy
dome of Kibo, the higher of the two summits of Kilima Njaro.
I was within range of view of this mountain for several weeks,
during the journey up and on the return march. This, how-
ever, was the only occasion on which I saw it. All the rest of
the time the mists and clouds obscured it. It was then visible
only for a few moments; the clouds closed round it again,
before I could draw my prismatic compass from its case, though
it was slung ready by my side.

The gravel path across the Mission grounds ended at the
edge of a rough tract of lava, which showed the irregular ropy
structure that forms only on the actual surface of a flow. It
was, therefore, clearly more recent in date than any lava we
had previously seen. Sir Gerald Portal’ has graphically described
the uncomfortable nature of the track across it. The rock was so
rough and the edges so sharp that his boots were cut to ribbons,
and it is therefore easy to imagine how severe a trial it was to the

1 Mission to Uganda (1894), p. 64.

CHAP. V TTESPORTERS. SOLEK 79

porters with their bare feet and heavy loads. The men went
so slowly across this that I soon came up with them, and we
marched on together over the gap at the southern end of the
ridge of Bwinzau. The porters wanted to camp here beside
some pools, though it was only half-way to the Mkindu river.
Mr. Watson assured me that the latter was the regulation camp-
ing-place, so I hardened my heart against the men’s entreaties,
and told them they must follow me to the Mkindu. Mr. Watson
returned, and I went on with an Askari and a boy, in the hope
of getting some shooting on the way. I reached the camping-
ground shortly before dark, and Omari came in soon after with
the “ fly,” or outer sheet, of the tent. The river-bed was lined by
a species of date-palm (P/a@nzx), after the native name of which
(Mkindu) the river is called. The bed was quite dry, but this
did not cause us anxiety, as a heavy storm was threatening,
and began very soon after our arrival. The locality has a bad
reputation, as a Masai warpath follows the course of the river.
We examined this, and found that a party of Masai had passed
along it that day. We therefore did not dare to light a fire.
Omari and I had to take up stations at the opposite ends of
the path that ran through the belt of thorn scrub in which the
camp was situated. The Askari and the boy Philip, who were
the two prize cowards of the caravan, were in such a fright that
they were useless. It poured with rain, and the hours during
which I stood in the narrow path were the reverse of pleasant.
At eight o’clock the cook came up with the news that the
porters, at the instigation of the Kiringozi, Wadi Hamis, had
resolved to throw down their loads and desert. As I knew,
however, that Omari would never have come on had there been
any chance of this, I dismissed it as “ bluff,’ and continued my
sentry duty. At nine o'clock, however, I became seriously
alarmed, for I thought the porters might have met Masai, and
prepared to start back with Omari. We were just drinking
some cocoa, stirred up in rain water, to fortify ourselves for the
march, when we heard a rustle in the palms on the opposite
bank of the stream. We stood to arms. To our intense relief
we found it was a porter, Fundi Mabruk, who was hastening to
tell us that the rest of the men were close at hand.

They soon arrived™cold, wet, miserable, and most of them
ashamed of their fit of sulks. It was too dark to arrange

80 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

camp properly, and we could not light a fire, so we put up
the fly of the tent and huddled together beneath it. To cheer
the men I told them stories, my boy helping out my limited
stock of the native language; the ever merry Mwini Mharo
sang us hunting songs, while Omari described the miseries of
the march through the forests of “ Darkest Africa.”

At daybreak I paraded the men, and scolded them for their
misconduct. Then through a raw cold mist we left our dismal
resting-place, and struck out again into the*barra. When near
the next camping-ground, beside the Mto Kiboko or Hippo-
potamus river, I let the men go on and stopped to collect.
I found some chameleons, and was bottling them, when my
attendant pointed out a snake who was eyeing us viciously.
Its head was just thrust out of a hole in the side of one of the
mounds made by white ants. I fired at it with my shot-gun,
and the snake glided swiftly on to the ground, and I thought
it was coming for me.’ But it stopped, writhed its body into
knots in agony, and then darted again for its hole. Anxious
to secure it, 1 sprang forward and seized its tail. I held on till
I could place the butt end of my gun on it. I got my hand
free none too soon, for it came up again as soon as it found
that it could not escape. I broke its back by a blow with
the cleaning-rod of the gun, and its powers of mischief were
destroyed. The two men with me refused to touch the snake.
They said it was “ Uchungu, wchungu sana” (Poisonous, very,
very poisonous). As it was still wriggling, I had to empty
the collecting gear out of my satchel, put the snake into
it, and carry it on to camp myself. Dr. Giinther tells me
that the snake (Dendraspis polylepis, Gthr.) is one of the most
poisonous of known reptiles, and is worse than the Indian
cobra. It usually lives on trees, and has not been met with
before in this region of Africa, or known to live in holes. It
has probably acquired this habit, owing to the absence of trees
from the plains in which it lives in this district.

The camp that night was an especially dangerous one.
Readers of Sir Gerald Portal’s Messzon to Uganda may remember
that he describes the massacre of a Suahili caravan at this place

1 Mr. C. W. Hobley tells me that a snake, which, from his description, is probably
the same species, charged him in the Mumoni district some roo miles to the north: he
only stopped it by blowing off its head with his rifle.

CHAP. V THE MARAUDING MASAI 81

only six months previously. We kept an especially vigilant
watch ; but as it rained continuously from four in the afternoon
till eleven o’clock the next morning, I felt that we were safe,
for Masai are reported to lose most of their energy when cold
and wet.

After the “Kiboko” we had to cross the “Salt River,” and then
make the last two days’ journey over the “ Nyika.” The country
began to rise more rapidly. We had fine views to the west across
a lava plain to the craters of the Kyulu chain, and before us rose
the sharp ridges of the Iveti Mountains. The first of these was
a conical peak named Neu. Owing to its position far out on
the plains it forms a splendid watch-tower, and on it Wa-kamba
scouts are always stationed, so as to give timely warning of the
approach of any raiding parties of Masai. We soon found
further proof of the activity of these ‘‘eebooters. Scattered
over the path were broken boxes and bottles, which were
being sent to Sir Gerald Portal’s party in Uganda. We heard
at the next station that a caravan, laden with reserve stores for
the Commissioner, had been attacked here a few weeks before
and all the loads destroyed. Thrice during the past three
months the Masai had routed caravans along this section of
the road.

Two days later we reached the ridge of Nzaoi,and camped
on a platform at its base. Nzaoi is a narrow ridge of gneiss,
sloping gradually to the north, but facing the south with a
precipitous cliff nearly 2000 feet in height.’ Lugard well
describes it as “the massive sentinel that guards the gate to
the heart of Africa.” We were all delighted to pass through
the gate from the barren wastes of the Nyika into the fertile
valleys of Ukamba. Magile, the “ Mzee” or chief of the district,
called to see me and ask for a present. This I promised him
if his people would bring us food for sale. He said they had
none, as Sir Gerald Portal’s caravan and one that had recently |
returned from Uganda had eaten the district bare. He told
us, however, that neither of these caravans had purchased any
food at Kilungu, a long day’s march farther to the north,
and there I could buy as much as I wanted. He said he
would do his best to get us a little, but his efforts were not

1 The camping-ground is at the height of 3700 feet; the summit of the peak at
about 6000 feet.

G

82 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

sufficiently successful to gain the present he coveted. Some
eggs only were brought. I was away at the time, vainly trying
to boil the thermometers in a hurricane of wind and rain on
the summit of the peak. When I returned, wet and weary, I
was cheered by the promise of omelette. With the promise I
had to be content. The natives seem to regard it a sinful waste
to eat eggs, as there is so much more meat on a chicken. So
they try to hatch all that are laid, and no egg’s chance is
spoiled by lack of patience. If nothing happens to it in three
weeks, it is allowed three months. . Eggs which remain obdurate
are at length removed and stored up to await the arrival of a
caravan. My cook had accepted the guarantee that the “nest”
eggs offered had been laid yesterday, and bought the lot. Their
contents, however, were more solid than savoury, and no addition
to our food supply.

Unable to refill our empty sacks at Nzaoi, we rushed on
next day to Kilungu. After our arrival in the land of plenty
the chief came to see me, and showed me a copy of a treaty
he had made with the British East Africa Company, by
which he was pledged to supply food to passing caravans.
Though it was then but little after noon, for we had made a very
early start, the native potentate said it was impossible for his
people to bring us anything that day. He left us, promising
that we should have as much as we wanted on the morrow.
After this not a single native came near us. Early the next
afternoon, as the people still held aloof, I resolved to go and
interview them. It was now obvious that the wily chief had
beguiled us into stopping there, so as to prevent our going to
some more friendly villages farther on. My men were very
angry, and clamoured to be allowed to go and seize food. I
should, under the circumstances, have been quite justified in
doing this; but I was anxious to avoid fighting anywhere, and
it seemed to me that the people at Mombasa would not think
much of my leadership, if I could not carry a caravan up to
Machakos, without quarrelling with the natives on the road.
But I considered I ought to go and protest. So I took twenty
men, crossed the river, and marched to the nearest village. On
the way we captured an old man, who was too infirm to run
away. He told us that the natives had plenty of food, but
would not sell it to white men; he informed us that they had

CHAP. V ASCENT OF MOUNT ETWA 83

used the last twenty-four hours’ delay to remove all supplies
from the villages into hiding-places in the hills. We let him
go, and then resumed our march to the largest village. The
natives beat their war-drums ; the women and children fled to
hide in the dense scrub; the men, armed with bows and
poisoned arrows, took their places beside the loop-holes through
the walls of the village. As we passed beside it we could see
the warriors with their arrows ready strung, and it was only
by threatening to shoot the first of my men who fired, that
I managed to prevent a fight. The natives made no effort
to stop us as we entered their shambas; these we crossed to
the foot of the highest peak in this group of mountains,
which was occupied by a crowd of natives. I was very anxious
to get into communication with the people, and as a sign of
friendliness, left my men behind and climbed up to a shoulder,
accompanied only by an interpreter and my boy. Two elders
came to meet us; we told them that we wanted to be friends,
and scolded them for the behaviour of the chief. We were soon
surrounded by a crowd of natives, armed with knives, clubs, and
the primitive hoes, which are their only agricultural implements.
The three of us kept back to back, and thus we held our
“shauri.” As my gun and the two men’s rifles were loaded
with buckshot we were perfectly safe; a single discharge
would have knocked over a sufficient number of the natives to
have frightened off the remainder. So I jeered at them, told
them we were going to the top of their biggest hill, to show
that we did not care a jot for the lot of them, and assured
them that if we wished, we could help ourselves to all the food
in the district. I asked two of the elders to come up with us
in order to tell me the names of the neighbouring hills. We
then continued the ascent, accompanied by a crowd of about
a hundred men, who were not allowed, however, to approach
within twenty yards. We rested for half an hour on the summit,
while I boiled the thermometers and made a sketch map of the
surrounding country. The former observations gave results
which fix the height of this peak of Etwa at 6120 feet.

The elders offered me a goat as a present, and begged me
to wait till one could be brought. For this generous offer I
was not as grateful as they expected. I explained I had no
intention of being caught on their hills in the dark, and was

84 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

therefore going back at once. I promised, however, that if
they brought their present down to camp, they should be
suitably rewarded. Of course it never came. The idea was
simply to delay our return till dark, when we should have
been at their mercy.

As we had ascended by the south-east ridge, the return
was made down the south face. We rejoined the porters
and marched back to camp. On the way I let the porters
help themselves to some sugar-cane, as a protest against the
behaviour of the natives. The men grumbled at not being
allowed to loot a village, for they said sugar-cane was “ water
and not food.” Had I then known the whole story of the past
treatment of European caravans by these Wa-kilungu, I
might not have been contented with the mere seizure of a few
sugar-canes. I only knew that the people here had quarrelled
with a caravan, and been severely chastised in consequence by
Mr. Ainsworth and Captain Nelson. I therefore thought that
the natives were indulging in a not unnatural fit of the sulks,
and hoped, by leaving them alone, to help them to a happier frame
of mind. So we fasted once again, and next day, with belts
drawn one hole tighter, marched on to a more friendly clan.

We obtained abundance of food at Zuni, where the natives
told us the people of Kilungu were not Wa-kamba. Mr.
Ainsworth subsequently informed me that they were reported
to be Kikuyu who had been driven from their own country
and had settled at Kilungu. They now speak a Kikamba
patois, but their features are far more of the Kikuyu than of
the Kikamba type.

At this camp an incident occurred which very literally
clouded my prestige among the men. It was their Christ-
mas Day, and they were all eager to get the first glimpse of
the new moon. An eclipse of the sun was due the same day,
as predicted by the Greenwich Almanac. . On the west coast
it was a total eclipse, but in this region it was only partial, as
the sun set half an hour after the moon’s shadow began to
creep across the solar disc. I had said nothing about it, as
the weather was so bad that I expected we should not be able
to see it. The afternoon of the eclipse, however, was so bright
and cloudless that I was tempted to prophesy. So when the
men told me about their new moon, I said a piece of the sun

CHAP. V ON THE PASS OF KWAZOME 85

would be bitten out of its edge a little before sunset. Just
before the time of the eclipse, a great bank of cloud rose
from the western plains and completely hid the sun from view.
I did my best to explain that the piece had been bitten out
all the same, but that the cloud had prevented our seeing it.
But the men thought this a very lame excuse. I overheard
one man say to another: “If Mpokwa' could bite a piece out
of the sun, he could have kept those clouds out of the way.”
For some days after this, whenever the sun went behind a cloud,
the porters would ask if I were not going to bite a piece out of it.
Our next camp was on the site of one occupied by Count
Teleki on his return march to the coast in 1889, on the
summit of the pass of Kwazome (4750 feet), which is named
after Kwathome, the chief of the district. We had had a
long march, and I therefore made my usual afternoon excur-
sion alone. I climbed to the summit of Tututha (6050
feet), the ridge that forms the eastern boundary of the pass.
From this I had a glorious view to the north-east, over the
plain which here runs up to the foot of the Iveti Mountains.
Next day I explored the ridge of Givoni, which forms the
western side of the pass, and had a pleasant climb to the
summit (6780 feet) over some rather difficult rocks. I joined
my Askari again at a col upon the ridge, which he reached
by a path, as he did not care to follow me up the rocks. We
then struck straight across country toward the hill of Machakos,
swimming two flooded rivers on the way. At one of these, a
party of Wa-kamba women was waiting beside the ford for the
flood to subside. I modestly went up stream to find a more
secluded point at which to cross; but as they did not every
day have the chance of seeing a white man swim a river, they
resolved not to lose their opportunity, and so followed up the
opposite bank. So there was nothing for it but to waive
prejudice and cross in front of them. It was lucky that they
came, for one of my boots fell into the river as I was throwing
it across, and had not one of the shameless damsels rescued it,
the priceless treasure would have been lost. I almost lost my
best interpreter, for my attendant at first refused to cross, as
he said the river was full of crocodiles, and that the current
was too swift. As he could swim quite as well as I could, I

1 7z.e. ‘loaded pockets,”’ my native name.

86 ON THE UGANDA ROAD PART II

advised him to stick to one excuse in the future, and con-
tinued my way to Machakos. Afraid of being left alone, the
Askari at length plunged in; but he swallowed some water,
lost his head, and was swept down stream, until he was
rescued by a young Mkamba warrior.

Late the same evening, in a tremendous downpour of rain,
we reached the British East Africa. Company’s station at
Machakos. The porters had arrived there several hours pre-
viously, and had given Mr. Ainsworth, the officer in charge,
such a remarkable account of my habits that he was puzzled
as to who was coming. He invited me to stay with him, and
at once gave me some hot tea, which was very welcome. |
was wet to the skin, and as I had forgotten to take any beads
with me in the morning, all the food I had been able to get
during the day was some arrowroot (“mhogo”) cooked in “ghee”
(a kind of native butter), which a Mkamba had given to me
in exchange for my pocket-handkerchief.

The fort of Machakos was originally founded in 1889. In
the following year Captain Lugard recognised the value of the
position, and greatly enlarged and strengthened the station. It
is situated in a rich food country, and the meteorological returns
show that it is better adapted for European colonisation than
any other part of British East Africa. On the neighbouring
hills there is a dense population, and the people are enter-
prising and industrious. In the early days of the fort they
were hostile, and twice attempted to storm it. At the present
time, however, their attitude is most friendly, thanks to the
tact and skill Mr. Ainsworth displays in his administration of
the district. Most of the work of the station is now done by
Wa-kamba, who, under Ainsworth’s influence, show that they
are willing to work and able to learn. The mail is carried to
Tzavo more expeditiously and economically than when Zanzi-
bari runners were employed. The fort is garrisoned by a
company of Wa-kamba, whose fidelity and fighting capacity
have recently been tested. In 1894 the Masai made a
sudden attack upon the fort, but were defeated with heavy
loss. Mr. Ainsworth is enthusiastic about the Wa-kamba and
the possibilities of their country; and this is not due to an
indiscriminate love of aborigines, for he dislikes the Somali
more than I do, which is saying a good deal.

CHAP. V AFRICAN PLACE-NAMES 87

My host at Machakos is a keen topographer and a good
draughtsman. He has prepared an admirable map of western
Ukamba, a reduced copy of part of which he kindly gave me
on my return. I was glad to find that the names on his map
agreed with those which I had obtained. African place-names
are very confusing, though they probably do not vary as much as
one would expect. It is true that the people on the opposite
sides of a range of mountains often have different names for the
peaks, as is also the case in the Alps. This has frequently
led to confusion, for a traveller hearing two different names for
a mountain or a river has concluded that there are two moun-
tains or rivers, and marked them accordingly on his map. In
many cases, therefore, the native names have been ignored, and
the places called after eminent people at home. As these
names are unknown in the district they are useless, and
merely burden geography with a set of synonyms. In unin-
habited regions, where there are no names, it is necessary to
introduce them, and it is open to the first traveller who visits
a country to propose what terms he likes. But where there
are native names, the advantages of using them are so great
that geographers now condemn the old practice. The Euro-
pean names are falling into disuse and disappearing from maps,
where those of the natives are being substituted in their stead.

CHCA i ERs Wal

ACROSS THE LANDS OF THE KIKUYU AND MASAI

‘* Maneno madzo gausa ndzovu m’ndani’”’
(Fair speeches turn elephants out of the garden patch).
Giriama Proverb (W. E. TAYLOR).

I SHOULD have been glad to accept Mr. Ainsworth’s prof-
fered hospitality for a few days’ rest; but I was now at the
entrance to the country I had especially come to explore, and
nothing could tempt me to linger on the threshold. Up to
this point the work had not been of special interest. The
geology was monotonous and dull, and the geography was
fairly well known. But a change in the geological structure
of the country was at hand. In the best existing sketch map
of the geology of East Africa, a large tract of country to the
west of Machakos is coloured as recent alluvium. I expected
this would prove to be an old lake basin or a desert of wind-
borne drift. From the hills crossed on the way to Machakos,
I had caught through the clouds occasional glimpses of a vast
level plain, and these had strengthened this expectation. Great
therefore was my surprise, on reaching the summit of the last
ridge of the Iveti Mountains, to see to the west an undulating
prairie instead of a level plain, and that this was composed not
of alluvium or sand, but of a hard, dark-coloured rock. Its
extent also was greater than I had expected. Here and there
in the foreground, bosses and ridges of gneiss, such as Lokenya
and Koma, rose above the surface; a few dark lines of trees
marked the courses of the rivers. Except for these, we could
see only a vast expanse of rolling grass-land, extending west-
ward and southward as far as the eye could follow it. The

CHAP. VI A ZANZIBARI SENTRY 89

rock of this prairie ended abruptly at the foot of the old gneiss
ridge on which I stood, but it followed its outline, running
up the valleys, round the spurs, and into the hollows of the
mountains, just as the water of a lake adapts itself to the
irregularities of its shore. In this, as well as in other ways,
the view reminded me so much of that of the Snake River
lava plains of Idaho, as seen from the western flanks of the
Rocky Mountains, that I felt sure that this was a plain of lava
and not of alluvium. I walked quickly down the slope to the
nearest point where the rock could be seen, and found, as I
expected, a lava, a coarse trachyte with very large porphyritic
crystals of sanidine.

The impression that the whole plain was of lava was con-
firmed during our march across it, and I was mentally braced
up by a crowd of new and perplexing problems. But the
work of the caravan was a terrible tax upon my time. The
day after leaving Machakos the box containing most of my
sporting cartridges, and all the plants collected on the way
from the coast, was dropped into a stream. I spent four hours
in the effort to dry them; but as they had been soaking in
water for several hours before I reached camp and the acci-
dent was reported to me, nearly all the plants were ruined.
I was consoled for the loss at the time by the vain hope that I
could collect another set on the return march.

Our camp that night was a rather risky one. Major Eric
Smith of the rst Life Guards had had an encounter with
the Masai here, and its name was marked with a double
asterisk on the list of dangerous camps that had _ been
given me. Moreover, it was here that Mr. Jackson and Dr.
Mackinnon had seen a “herd” of twenty-three lions, and the
place was reported to swarm with them. Hence the sentries
had been ordered to keep a specially careful watch. Never-
theless, when I went round camp at a quarter past three in
the morning, the sentry was sound asleep in his tent. I
called out “Askari” twice without rousing him, so I woke
Omari and showed him the sleeping sentry ; we knocked over
the man’s tent, and I kicked the culprit round the camp. The
noise roused the porters. When they heard the cause of the
disturbance, they created a tremendous uproar. The poor
sentry had a very bad time of it. One porter declared he

go ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

saw some lions just sneaking away from camp, and some
others that they had seen some Masai. So I knew camp was
safe for the rest of that night, and leaving the porters to
hold an indignation meeting and abuse the culprit, I turned in
and slept soundly until daybreak.

I had hoped to get some antelope shooting in this district,
for it is one of the richest game fields in Africa; but the
Athi river was in flood, and it was obvious at once that all
my energies must be devoted to getting the caravan across it.
Mr. Ainsworth had warned me that we should probably be
delayed here, as a small caravan that had just gone on to
Fort Smith had been obliged to stop beside the river for a
week. The ordinary ford was quite impassable. Omari and I
managed all but the last channel, which was only fifteen yards
wide; but through this the stream was rushing with such
force that we were obliged to give it up. Omari went off in
one direction, and I in the other, to try to find a practicable
ford. My search was unsuccessful, but Omari found a place
a couple of miles down stream, where the river widened out
into a shallow. Here we crossed next day. The passage,
however, was troublesome, especially over the flooded land on
either bank; for amid the sharp angular rocks were shrubs,
whose still sharper thorns broke off in our bare feet.

Later on the same day we had to cross the second branch
of the Athi, which was not so broad as the first, but deeper and
swifter. The men said we could not possibly cross, as this
branch of the river was always worse than the other. When |
joined them on the bank, after an ineffectual attempt to stalk
some giraffe, the porters seemed determined not to try the
ford that day. Omari, however, said it must be possible to
cross, so we plunged in and raced to the other side. The
current was more powerful than it looked, and twice knocked me
off my feet. Omari went back for the rope while I sat on a
rock and exhorted the porters. Fundi Mabruk and the Askari,
Ramathan Jumma, next tried the passage, but as the latter was
carried off his feet and dragged ashore half choked with water,
the others preferred to wait till a rope could be fitted up across
the river. A length (80 ft.) of Buckingham’s Alpine rope went
about half-way across ; we fastened other ropes to this and tied
them round trees on the banks. Ramathan Jumma and I then

CHAP. VI FORT SMITH gI

took up stations in shallows, equi-distant from the bank, and
held on to the rope to relieve the strain. Omari and two or
three of the strongest porters then carried across all the loads,
and the rest scrambled over along the rope. By great good
fortune we crossed without accident, but the four of us on whom
the brunt of the struggle fell were too tired to go farther that
day. I had been in the water for an hour and a half, during
which my feet and legs were numbed with cold, while my
shoulders were being sun-blistered.

Next morning we continued our march across the lava
plains. During the day we were joined by a caravan of ninety
men, under a famous old headman, Wadi Bunduki (“ The
Son of the Gun”). They were going to reinforce and carry
mails and stores to the garrison at Fort Smith, and had been
hastened forward so that we might traverse together the country
inhabited by the Kikuyu. We camped a little distance from
the forests, keeping double guard all night. Next morning we
met twenty of the Company’s soldiers, who had been sent by a
night march to guide us. Our united forces therefore amounted
to 150 men. The forest paths were flooded, so while wading
along these we were safe from attack ; but when we reached the
plantations there was more danger, and crowds of natives
appeared and watched us. We marched in a compact body,
with skirmishers thrown out ahead to examine the clumps of
bush before we approached them; and we kept ready at any
moment to repel attack from the natives who hung upon our
flanks. But they made no attempt to interfere with us, not
even at midday when we rested for a few minutes in a yam-
field and helped ourselves to the potatoes.

In the afternoon we reached Fort Smith, the British East
Africa Company’s station in the Kikuyu country. I found that
Mr. Purkiss (who has since died) was then in command, for
Captain Nelson, one of the officers of the Emin Pasha Relief Ex-
pedition, had died two months previously. The history of this
station is short but eventful. The Company’s first settlement was
about four miles away at Dagoreti, which was built by Captain
Lugard and Mr. George Wilsonin 1890. That station, however,
was twice destroyed by the natives, and the existing fort was
built by Major Smith. The defences are so strong that there is
no fear of its capture except by surprise. Of this, however, there

92 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAT PART II

is some danger, as the Zanzibari are such unreliable sentries
that Mr. Purkiss told me that his last thought every night when
going to bed was that if a well-planned attack were made, no
one would know of it till the enemy was in the fort. The whole
country was in an extremely unsettled condition, and no one
could go half a mile from the fort except under escort. One
of the first things Mr. Purkiss told me was that, according to
regulations, no one was allowed to go anywhere in this district
with less than twenty armed men; and he requested me while
his guest to obey that regulation. In the November of the
previous year there had been a big fight with the Kikuyu; but
as at that time the garrison was reinforced by the caravan of
the Railway Survey, by one under Major Smith, then on its way
to Uganda, and by another under Mr. Martin, then returning to
the coast, the natives were easily defeated and severely punished.
This had not, however, prevented them from attacking the fort
early in 1893, when they had besieged the station for a week
and killed ten of the garrison.

The farm attached to the station has a splendid kitchen garden,
and most of the best English vegetables, including potatoes,
tomatoes, turnips, carrots, radishes, cauliflower, lettuce, water-
cress, and spinach, and all of excellent quality, were growing
there. The altitude of the station is estimated by the Railway
Survey at 6350 feet; but as Mr. Purkiss told me that they had
a mercurial barometer in the fort, I hoped to get a more exact
determination. The instrument, however, was an ordinary ship’s
barometer, of use only at sea-level. The mercury was several
inches out of sight down the iron tube.

Mr. Purkiss invited me to stay with him for a couple of
nights, and I did so, to rest the men and make my final
preparations. For, after leaving Fort Smith, I did not expect
to see another European until my return to Machakos or the
coast. I had also to buy enough food to last as far as Baringo,
and for this needed nearly a ton. To help to carry the addi-
tional load I bought three donkeys. The food supply was
further increased by the purchase of a small flock of sheep,
and by a sackful of vegetables, a welcome present from Mr.
Purkiss.

The day after my arrival one of the new recruits for the
garrison “ran amuck” through the fort, and tried to brain

CHAP, VI THE EDGE OF THE RIFT VALLEY 93

Purkiss with a beam of timber. He was soon disarmed, tied to
the flag-staff and flogged. He was one of the Somali who had
given me a good deal of trouble at Ngatana.

After leaving this hospitable fort we struck away to the
north-west over forest land, intersected by numerous deep
valleys. We were watched by a crowd of Kikuyu, who
howled and jeered at us, but did nothing more alarming. On
arrival at our camping-place I found that two boxes had been
left behind by mistake, and so had to return next day with
thirteen men, while Omari held the camp with the rest. Our
reappearance created temporary consternation, for the rumour
had come in the night before that a powerful force of Masai
was marching northward, in order to join the Kikuyu in an
attack upon the fort. Some friendly Kikuyu had had a fight
with the Masai outposts and killed five of them on the previous
day. Purkiss therefore thought that I had come across the
Masai and been driven back by them. I was glad of the
warning, and so, having got the boxes, started back at once for
camp. We moved this on a little farther, and then built our thorn
boma in a steady downpour of rain. As some Kikuyu were
sneaking about watching us, we prepared to resist an attack.
In addition to the ordinary sentries, Omari and I both kept
cuard all night.

We were off betimes next morning, anxious to leave the
Kikuyu forests and to reach the Rift Valley. We crossed a
swamp, which must be one of the head springs of the Tana, and
then entered a valley, the character of which is different, both
in structure and scenery, from any that we had previously seen.
Its eastern wall was a straight precipitous cliff, due to a dis-
location of the type known to geologists as “faults.” At the
northern end of the valley we should be on the edge of the Rift
Valley, so we hastened along it. For five weeks J had been
looking forward to the view that I expected to get from this
point. My disappointment may therefore be imagined when,
just before we reached the summit of the pass, a dense cloud
settled down upon us and completely blotted out the view. We
descended a few hundred feet, and then a wonderful prospect
burst upon us. We were on the face of a cliff 1400 feet in
height, broken only by a platform 500 feet above the floor of
the valley. From the foot of the cliffa level plain extends thirty

94 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

miles to the west, to the foot of the scarp of “Mau.” Most
Zanzibari have an eye for beauty in landscape, and to many of
the men, including Omari, this view was new. So we sat along
the path and enjoyed it. Now and again the cloud-banks
that floated up the valley settled round us and blotted out the
prospect ; but a friendly gust of wind would cleave a passage
through them, and give us a glimpse to the north of the great
cone of the volcano Longonot, or to the south of the breached
crater Doenyo Suswa, and the newer cone rising within it.
Sometimes the clouds would lift for a few minutes and reveal
the plain, with its patches of green swamp and glittering sand,
and the dark sinuous line of flat-topped acacias that mark
the course of the Guaso Kedong; while far to the west we
could see the long, dull gray scarp of the plateau, which
forms the western boundary of the valley. We stopped
there, lost in admiration of the beauty and in wonder at the
character of this valley, until the donkeys threw their loads
and bolted down the path. We soon caught them and started
again down the steep slope, intending to go on to a place
known as “ Martin’s Camp.” But I noticed on the cliff face, a
little farther to the north, what appeared to be some old shore
lines. This was'a point that had to be settled ; so we camped
on the platform already mentioned, 500 feet above the floor of
the valley, and I devoted the rest of that day, and most of the
next, to an examination of these terraces. The dense vegetation,
sodden with moisture, was a great hindrance, but sufficient
evidence was obtained to show that these strange straight lines
along the hill-sides were old lake terraces. I at once named
the lake that had made them after Prof. Ed. Suess, whose
work has thrown so much light on the geological structure of
this region.

Late on the following day we moved down to the floor of
the Rift Valley, and in the dark, during a deluge of rain,
pitched camp in a deserted Masai kraal.

We had now left the Kikuyu behind us, and as there
seemed no natives in the immediate neighbourhood, I thought
it was no longer necessary for me to spend the whole day
with the caravan. The men were so overladen with food
that no one could be spared to go with me, except my boy,
who was so slow a walker as to be an encumbrance. But the

‘SSHNS AAVT AO SHOVUAAL AHL HLIM ‘AUTIVA LAIN AHL JO TIVM NUALSVA AHL ‘IITA “ON

“bh Ss
$6 asvq

CHAP, VI LOST 95

geology was so tempting that I went off alone. By this time
the men were accustomed to my going by myself, for I did
so whenever the country was safe and the next camping-place
easy to find. These solitary rambles were to me the most
delightful incidents in the expedition. Free from the bother of
the caravan, I could climb a mountain, track a river, visit a
neighbouring lake, chase butterflies, and collect plants as careless
as a schoolboy. But that day I nearly had to pay a high price
for my pleasure.

The Kiringozi, who alone knew the way, told me that the
next camp was at the foot of “yonder hill.” This seemed very
simple, so I said Kzwahere (Good-bye), and struck westward
through the scrub to examine a mountain—Doenyo Nyuki—
which appeared very different from the others in the Rift Valley.
I found that it was the denuded remnant of an old volcano, traced
the bands of ash and tuff that encircle it, examined the sections
cut by ravines through the parasitic cones on its lower slopes,
and climbed its four highest pinnacles. From the summit of
one of these I thought I could see the camp in the place where
ievexcpected: it to. be; 1 therefore finished my study of the
mountain at leisure. Afterwards I struck off to the supposed
camping-ground, but could find no one. I shouted, but only
an echo from the cliff answered. I climbed a tree, but could
see no smoke. I madea circle round the point at a distance
of about half a mile, but could find no track that answered to
the men’s. So I went back to Doenyo Nyuki, and after some
trouble picked up the trail of the caravan. I ran along it for
three miles as quickly as I could go, but then the sun set and
I had to slacken my pace. It was soon dark and I lost the
trail ; it began to rain, and before long I was wet through. As
I floundered on, hopelessly lost in the thorn scrub, I remembered
that it was here that one of Thomson’s men, who had straggled
behind, was killed by a lion. I thought I could see a lion
under every bush, and regretted that I had not stopped at the
point where it first became so dark that I could not recognise
the trail. I ought to have done this, made a “lean-to bivouac,”
and waited till the men came to look for me. But I was too
proud then to admit that I was lost, and it was now impossible
to find my way back. I thought, however, that the camp must
be near the river, so I struck off due east until I reached it and

96 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

then followed up its course. The river forked, and fortunately
I took the wrong branch. Before I had discovered that this
was only an insignificant tributary, I came across a trail in the
mud. I went on my knees to examine it, and found the foot-
prints of men, sheep, and donkeys ; so it was probably that of
our caravan. By going very slowly, often on hands and knees,
I managed to track it for about half a mile when I saw the
flicker of a fire. I crept cautiously towards it, fearing it might
be that of a Masai kraal; but as I approached I ‘could see a
tent, and I knew I was “home.” I called out to inquire, as I
approached, “ Mpokwa rudisha?” (Has “ Loaded pockets” come
back ?). But in spite of my effort to disguise my voice it was
recognised, and the men came rushing out to greet me, shake
my hands, and lead me into camp. I found that Omari and
some of the men were out on the search, and that since four
o'clock there had been great anxiety owing to my non-appear-
ance. I ridiculed the fear of my losing the way, and told
them what a charming day I had had; but I did not think it
necessary to add that the feelings of self-reproach and fright
that had possessed my soul, from the time when I realised that
I was thoroughly lost, until I picked up the trail half a mile
from camp, had more than outbalanced the charm of the
scramble over the peaks of Doenyo Nyuki.

The next day I climbed the cliff above the camp to con-
clude the examination of the lake terraces, but it rained all
day, and the jungle was so sodden with moisture that I could
not do as much as I wished. At noon I found a deserted
Masai kraal, and crept for shelter into the only hut that still
retained a roof; but it was already occupied—by the bodies
of two Masai in an advanced stage of decomposition ; so I ate
my frugal meal in the rain. This was my first experience of
the Masai, and it was not a pleasant introduction. A short
time before reaching camp I saw some more members of the
tribe, and this second meeting at one time promised to be
livelier than the first. Unexpectedly I came across a number
of them tending a herd of cattle. Some of them drove the
animals away, and the rest walked towards the path as if to
intercept me from camp. They waited about fifty yards from
the path, and we tried to talk; but as neither side knew a
word of the others language, the conversation was not in-

CHAP, VI THE ASCENT OF LONGONOT 97

structive. The Masai knew, however, that holding up a tuft of
crass was the sign of friendship ; they appeared also to under-
stand the powers of a revolver, for they watched mine nervously.
They followed at a distance of about a hundred yards for over
a mile, and then as I approached camp they withdrew to their
cattle.

The camp was situated on some open moorland, on the
summit of the “Longonot Pass,” on the ridge that separates
the basins of the Kedong and of Naivasha. The pass is at
the height of 7200 feet. It is bounded on the east by a rock
mass named Kajabe, while to the west rises the great crater of
Longonot. This was ascended by Mr. Joseph Thomson in
1883 as far as the crater rim, but the actual summit of the
mountain on the western wall of the crater had not been
climbed ; this I resolved to attempt. It was very cold in the
morning, and so wet and cloudy that it was eight o’clock before
we were able to start. The lower part of the mountain con-
sists of a series of platforms or terraces of lava. The rock is
a black trachytic pumice, containing a good deal of obsidian.
The mountain is very uniform in character, and lava forms a
large proportion of its mass. The cone is in the main composed
of lava, instead of fragmentary materials, such as ash and tuff,
as is the case with most volcanoes. A sharp scramble of an
hour and a half brought us to the rim of the crater, which at
the point where we reached it has been worn by zebras into a
broad cinder track. The floor of the crater is a large and fairly
level plain, covered with acacia scrub; the walls are usually
precipitous, but a descent could easily be made on the southern
side. The great surprise was the discovery of a large steam
vent on the inner face of the north wall of the crater.

The actual summit of the mountain is on the western side,
and is 1800 feet higher than the rim of the crater at the point
where we reached it. We started for it along the northern wall.
At first the way was easy, but, as the edge of the crater rose, it
became jagged and densely covered with scrub. To avoid some
of the teeth, we worked across the inner face of the crater.
After a weary scramble of an hour and three-quarters we reached
the foot of the final pinnacle. A narrow sharp ridge of volcanic
ash led up to it. This was very slippery, and it sloped rapidly
down on either side to cliffs of such height, that the two Zanzi-

H

98 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

baris refused to traverse it. I cut steps across it and reached
the dense bush that covered the summit. For a moment I
doubted whether after all I should be able to force a way through
the bush, for the foothold was precarious, and a slip would
have been easy and disastrous. To return, however, when so
near the summit was not to be thought of, so I hewed a way
through the scrub with a sword bayonet. After sketching the
surrounding country from the summit I returned to the men,
and we boiled the thermometers, thus obtaining data which
indicate for the highest pinnacle a height of 9350 feet. We
then raced back to camp. Civilisation proved its superiority
to nature, for thanks to boots and an alpenstock I arrived there
at 2.15, an hour before the men.

Camp was struck at once, so that we might reach the
shore of Naivasha that evening. We started at three o’clock, as
soon as the two men who had been with me on Longonot came
in sight. Our route lay over rich turf, on which roamed many
antelope and enormous herds of cattle guarded by Masai. I
had been told that the terrible havoc wrought by cattle disease
had annihilated the vast herds once possessed by this tribe ; I
was therefore surprised tosee so many. I was also rather sorry,
for the abundance of cattle showed that there would be a
large force of Masai near the lake. But my men assured me
that they would be quite friendly, and not interfere with my
plans. I was very anxious to examine the structure of the
Mau scarp to the west of Naivasha, in order to discover if
its structure corresponded with that of the eastern wall of the
Rift Valley ; and also to make a collection to illustrate the
flora and fauna of the lake. I had brought with me presents
for the Masai chiefs ; for I intended to make friends with them,
to leave most of the porters on the lake shore, while with fifteen
others I made a branch excursion to the west.

Great, therefore, was my disappointment when, on our
arrival at the camping - ground, a band of insolent young
warriors came crowding round us and forbade my men erecting
the tents. We had unwisely divided into two parties ; Omari,
the Askari, and eight porters were with the donkeys, while I
had hastened on with the other men to get the camp into order
before dark; so for a while I was bound to temporise. The
attitude of the El-Moran was insolent in the extreme; they

96 aay

“LONOONOT 4O INGA WVALS GNV YALVYO AHL

ON

CHAP. VI TAX-GATHERERS 99

bullied the porters, who were in a cringing state of terror, but
fortunately they were rather in awe of me. One of them stepped
up to the door of my tent and wanted to enter it. I asked in
a polite tone “El Moru?” (Are you an elder?), and when he
cheekily replied “El Moran” (Warrior), I kicked him away
from the tent and told him at once to leave the camp, an order
which the other Masai made him obey. At last, to our intense
relief, Omari and the men with the donkeys came in, and a
temporising policy was no longer necessary. I ordered two
El-Moran to go and fetch some of the elders, as I wanted a
“shauri.” Two elders came at the head of a powerful body of
El-Moran, and the shauri began. I could see that the idea of
stopping at Naivasha for a week was absolutely impracticable ;
I therefore simply stated that I wanted to go through the
country on my way to Baringo. I asked for permission to rest
there for that night, to buy some firewood and water from the
women, and next morning to continue my march to the north.
The reply was short and emphatic. I was not to go through
their country; I had no right to pitch my camp in it without
permission ; and I was to pack up at once and return by the
way I had come. Omari and the interpreter Ramathan both
looked as distressed as I was disappointed at this reply.
They begged for a peaceful answer, but I had been advised on
the coast that the right way to manage Masai was by “ bluff” ;
so I replied that we were not going back, that we intended to stay
_ where we were for that night, and next morning march on to
Baringo ; and that we should leave it to them to decide whether
we were to be friends or foes. They then altered their tone,
and said I might go on if I paid them “hongo”—a kind of
toll for passage through their country. Hongo seems to me a
very fair tax, at least when a caravan uses the paths and wells
made by the natives; I had therefore no a przorz objection to
paying it. But the amount demanded exceeded my whole
stock of goods; I therefore pointed to the stack of loads
and then to the men, who with rifles ready were standing
round the camp, and told the Masai that whatever hongo they
wanted, they had better come and take. They did not seem
to like the tone of the invitation, and left with threats as to
what would happen next day. .

As soon as the Masai had withdrawn we devoted all our

100 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

energies to strengthening the camp, cutting down any thorn
bushes that would have afforded shelter to the enemy, and add-
ing them to our thorn zeriba. Omari then came into my tent
to discuss matters. He said the Masai were certainly present in
great force, and for some reason or other were determined not
to allow us to proceed. The interpreter Ramathan said he
had passed Naivasha several times before, and had never seen
so many kraals, such great herds of cattle, nor experienced
such a hostile reception. With his usual cowardice he begged
me to return. Omari was also very ill at ease, but with his
usual pluck said that whatever I decided on should be done.
Everybody on the coast had told me that if we met Masai
parties on the war-path, we should have to fight them ; but that,
except on Laikipia, the people of the villages would be friendly.
The porters only the day before had said that we should find
the Masai here most amiable; they would come up to camp,
we should shake hands and spit on one another ; they would
sell us food and trinkets, and we should go in and out of their
kraals like brothers. We were therefore all of us much dis-
concerted by our reception. The Masai never offered to shake
hands, much less did they spit on us ; and until these two expres-
sions of peace and goodwill had been made, we knew we could
not trust the people. We could not quite understand it, so we
made every preparation to repel attack, and stood to arms all
night. It poured with rain, and this added to the discomfort
of our situation. We kept the fires burning, and piles of wet
srass beside them, so as to smother them in case of an attack.

Rain was still falling heavily at dawn, and it was useless to
think of continuing our march until it left off. To encourage
the men, we served out an extra ration of food and let them
prepare breakfast. Some Masai children were sent out to
watch us, but we saw no one else till about eight o’clock. The
elders and the El-Moran then visited us, and once again the
game of brag and bluster was resumed. They repeated their
taunts as to the weakness of our numbers, and boasted that
they had massacred caravans of twenty times our strength.
They said they had done this with much smaller forces than
they could now bring into the field, for they claimed to have
gooo warriors on the shores of Naivasha. Any hesitation or
offer of hongo would have been mistaken for weakness, and

CHAP, VI 59 OS Wim IOI

probably have completely ruined the whole expedition. There
was nothing for it but to put ona bold front and answer defiance
with defiance. So, as soon as they repeated their refusal of
permission to proceed, and again ordered us to return to the
coast, I told them that we were going on, even though we had
to fight our way through the lot of them. I warned them
that if any harm befell us it would be the worse for them, for
a great caravan of brave soldiers was even then approaching
their country from Uganda. I said that the men in this
caravan were more in number than there were papyrus stems
around Lake Naivasha, that they would sweep upon their
country, kill all the El-Moran, eat up all the cattle, and drive
the elders and women and children out into the deserts, where
not even their slaves, the Wanderobbo, could manage to live.
This little speech had been translated by Ramathan during the
night, and I had learnt it by heart. The Masai replied by
driving their women and cattle back to the kraals, and it looked
most uncomfortably like a fight. At about a quarter to ten
the rain stopped, and a few minutes later we started north
across the plain. When the elders saw that we were deter-
mined to go, they became more friendly. As the first man
moved out of camp the chief came up and for the first time
held out a “ knobkerry,” cut from a rhinoceros horn, for me to
shake. I of course shook it, glad of this expression of friendli-
ness, though quite aware that if it stopped at this it meant
nothing. But as I walked down the slope from the camp after
the men, he came up again, and this time not only held out his
knobkerry, but as I shook one end, he shook the other. After
walking a few yards he repeated this more vigorously. Then
at last he held out his hand ; we shook hands, at first coldly,
and then more cordially. Finally, after we had walked a couple
of hundred yards, we repeated the process and the chief spat
upon me, a salutation which I returned with perhaps unnecessary
vigour. I had been warned that whenever Masai retire from a
conference without spitting the spit of peace, squalls may be
expected. I was therefore much relieved when this friendly
rite had been performed.

We marched northwards over the plain beside the lake.
We were followed by a crowd of El-Moran, who seemed at first
disposed to be fairly friendly. But as soon as they had passed

102 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

out of sight of the first kraal, their love of mischief became too
much for them. They drove up some donkeys towards us ;
these brayed to ours, which tried to dash off to join the others.
One broke through our line, threw its load, and succeeded in
reaching the herd. The El-Moran tried to pillage the load,
but Omari and I reached it as soon as they did, and by striking
the butt end of our rifles on their naked feet, sent a few of them
limping away. As it was obvious that there was nothing like
bluff for impressing the Masai, I ordered the El-Moran to go
and catch the donkey. I said they were trying to steal it, and
that if they did not bring it back I would seize three other
donkeys and burn the kraal. They soon brought back our pack
animal, and after this behaved much better. They made, how-
ever, another attempt to seize a load while we were crossing a
stream. As wehad to march in ‘square, and were much annoyed
by the Masai, we only made four miles that day. We had to
pitch our tents amid some rocks about a mile from the north-
eastern corner of the lake. There was no thorn scrub with
which to make a zeriba, so we arranged the tents in a small
circle and filled up the interspaces with boulders and baggage.
Late in the afternoon a powerful force of Masai in full war
costume marched up to camp and said they had been sent to
dance to us. I put some marks on the ground at a little
distance from the camp, and said they were not to come nearer
to us than these. I insisted on a Masai elder taking a seat on
a box before me, and saw that all the men were at their posts
with their rifles ready and the reserve ammunition boxes in a
convenient place. Then I gave permission for the dance to
begin. It was certainly extremely picturesque ; the men were
all armed with great shovel-headed spears, with heads varying
from 30 inches to 3 feet in length, and spikes a little longer ;
they carried thick oval shields 4 feet in height, which were
coloured in various patterns. They had rattles on their ankles
and their arms; their fingers were protected by bright iron
knuckle-dusters ; their heads were adorned with aureoles of
feathers. At first they simply leapt into the air, throwing
their heads violently backwards and forwards, and making a
series of guttural grunts. Then they marked time with their
feet while they hurled their spears upward, giving them a twist
which made them flash in the sunlight. Meanwhile they

CHAP. VI A WILD EAST SHOW 103

shouted a kind of song without words, to the accompaniment
of the music of their rattles. Next they marched and ran in
Indian file, twining in and out in a series of complex evolutions,
and finally arranging themselves so that the designs on their
leather shields were symmetrically disposed. Then they
executed the last dance performed before starting on a war
raid; they followed this by a series of sham rushes at the
camp. As they came on roaring and shouting, their bodies
covered by their shields, and their long spears raised over their
heads, they presented a weird spectacle. We watched them
with breathless anxiety, expecting every moment that a sham
rush would become a real one. My revolver covered the head
of the Masai elder, while the men prepared to close the breeches
of their rifles, which were kept not quite closed, so that if a
trigger were pulled accidentally no harm would be done. After
this, the Masai gave us the dance with which they celebrate
victory; I told them I wanted to see that, but that they need
not trouble to perform their dance after a defeat, as, if they did
not behave better than they had done the day before, they
would soon dance it in earnest. At the close of this “ Wild
East Show” I distributed among the dancers a couple of
shillings’ worth of beads, with which they went away apparently
contented.

The Masai elder offered to stay with us in camp, as a sign
of friendship and to protect us from interference by any of
the El-Moran. I said I should be most happy to entertain
him for a night, but that our guns were our protectors, and to
them alone did we trust. I had a long chat with our guest in
the evening, and found out from him what I imagined to be
the explanation of the hostile attitude of the usually friendly
Masai of Naivasha. He said they were preparing for a great
war raid, but would not tell us against whom. They appeared
to think that the garrison of Fort Smith had heard of this,
and that I was being sent on to hasten the caravan returning
from Uganda, in order to stop the raid. Major Smith, how-
ever, who knows the Naivasha Masai very well, afterwards told
me that they are sometimes very bumptious and troublesome ;
that they planned an attack on the Railway Survey, and tried
at night to surprise the camp of Mr. Newman, the famous
rifle shot, when on his way back from Uganda. It is therefore

104 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

probable that it was the small size of my caravan that tempted
them to display their innate love of bullying and thieving.

Although after my conversation with the elder I felt more
at ease, I still did not deem it safe to go to sleep. I sat
wrapped up in a blanket, with my revolver, shot-gun, and rifle
ready loaded on a table beside me. Every half-hour I went
round the camp to see that the sentries were awake, and that
the fires were burning. We had fortunately lighted fires at
a little distance from the camp, and these illuminated a con-
siderable space around us. Shortly after midnight, just after
returning to my seat beside the fire, I saw the cook spring to
his feet in such haste that I guessed there was something
wrong; I threw off my rug, seized my rifle from the table,
and looked round. By the light of the outer circle of fire,
we could see a party of about twenty Masai creeping up to
camp. They were carrying their spears, but not their shields,
apparently lest these should make noise that might betray
them. The cook and I shouted “ Masai,” and this, with my
order of “ Bunduki tiari” (Guns ready), roused the camp.

The men took their places quietly and quickly, and looked
as though they meant fight. Even my tent-boy Philip, whose
cowardice was the joke of the camp, went to his station inside
my tent and stood ready to serve out ammunition. Several of
the men under the Kiringozi, Wadi Hamis, had been told off
to climb the small cliff above the camp, to guard that approach,
and to be able to fire down at a foe upon the plain. I forgave
that surly old grumbler many of his sins, for the pluck with
which he led his men to that important post. He found
another party of Masai approaching from that side, and at
once opened fire, while I discharged four shots over the heads
of the men on the plain. As the Masai now saw that there
was no chance of a surprise, they turned and fled. I sprang
at once to the shelter tent where the Masai elder was supposed
to be. But the savage had escaped unnoticed, leaving his
goods behind him. He certainly left before the attempted
attack, as I had set two men to guard him at the first alarm.
His behaviour thus lends some support to the idea that the
attack had been planned, and that it was not a mere attempt
by a batch of thieves to rush through the camp and seize any
objects that they could lay their hands on in the confusion.

CHAP. VI WATCH AND WAIT 105

We stood on guard, expecting at any moment an attack in
force by the main body. But as this was not delivered, and I
knew there would be no lack of sentries for the rest of that
night, I turned into the tent and enjoyed my first three hours
of continuous sleep since I had left the protection of Fort
Smith.

At four in the morning I had breakfast, and the men
packed up the loads. We waited anxiously for dawn, for we
dared not start in the dark, lest we should walk into an ambush.
The moment the light was strong enough to enable us to
guard against surprise, we marched northward across the plain.
Unnoticed by the Masai we waded the swamps beside the
streams that enter the north-eastern corner of the lake; but
as soon as we lost the shelter of the papyrus in the swamps
and the scrub on its borders, we were discovered by some
shepherds. They took the news to the nearest kraal, and a
party of El-Moran came out to watch us. On the open grass-
land they dared not attack, so they followed at a respectful
distance. A few miles farther on we were stopped by the
river Malewa or Murendat. To avoid passing near some kraals
we had bent our course far to the west, and thus, instead of
striking the river at the ford, we reached it where it flowed
through a deep sinuous cafion. We marched along this to
find a place where we could descend to the river, so as to be
able to get water even if we could not cross. We found a
track which led down to a ford, but the river was impassable.
The flood, however, was subsiding rapidly, for the bank was
still wet for more than a foot above the level of the water. We
placed some notched sticks in the river to mark its rate of
decline, and camped. For twenty long hours we sat beside
the ford, watching successively the river, the Masai, and the
clouds on the hills to the east, and feeling probably much like
the Israelites, when they had the Red Sea in front of them and
Pharaoh’s hosts behind.

In the evening, as the river had fallen several inches, I
tried again to cross; I reached a shoal in the middle, but the
last channel was too much for me. A school of hippopotami was
playing in the pool below the ford ; as I had been carried down
into it in the morning, I did not think it worth the risk of
adding to their sport, and swam back to the southern shore.

106 ACROSS LANDS OF KIKUYU AND MASAI PART II

Twice during the night we had false alarms of the Masai; our
rest was also disturbed by the attempt of a pair of hyenas to
get at our donkeys. Fortunately the night was rainless, and
by the morning the river had fallen sufficiently to permit us to
cross. We did so, though with difficulty. Omari and two or
three of the stronger porters carried over the loads, while the
feebler members of the party pulled themselves across, hand
over hand, along a rope. Some Masai watched us, but made
no attempt to interfere. A short march farther brought us to
the Gilgil river, the waters of which were unusually low. There
were no Masai in the district, and nothing to lessen the luxury
of a feeling of safety and peace. The porters were delighted
to get into an uninhabited country, and I was glad to turn
again to the subjects of geology and botany, after my experi-
ence of the over-exciting occupation often presented by African
anthropology.

CAC AER SVT

ALONG THE RIFT VALLEY TO BARINGO

** Upaci, upaci,
Hatta Baringo.
Mbali kidogo
Tukafika Uganda.”

(Hasten, hasten,
As far as Baringo.
But a little farther
Then we’re at Uganda.)
Zanzibari Marching Song.

DURING the march from Naivasha to the Gilgil we had risen
slightly in elevation. The lake stands at the level of 6200
feet, and in the two marches we had only ascended 200
feet. After crossing the river the ascent became more marked ;
and, at the height of 6710 feet, we reached the summit of the
ridge that separates the basin of Naivasha from that of Lakes
Elmetaita and Nakuro. To the south was a long slope, covered
with turf and loose “lelesha ” scrub ( Zarchonanthes camphoratus),
and in the far distance the crater of Longonot. To the north, a
cliff descended abruptly to a plain on which lay Lakes Nakuro
and Elmetaita, leaden-gray in contrast to the intervening tracts
of glistening sand and salty desert. We scrambled down the
cliff, leaving to our left a group of extinct volcanic cones, and
made our way towards the southern end of Elmetaita, where
we camped. There, on the banks of the Kariandusi river, we
found a powerful caravan under Major Eric Smith and Captain
(now Major) Williams, R.A., who were returning to the coast
after the evacuation of Uganda by the British East Africa
Company. They gave me a great deal of most valuable advice

108 ALONG THE RIFT VALLEY TO BARINGO PART II

and information. This included, as a matter of course, the
usual warnings against the attempt to cross Laikipia with so
small a force. Captain Williams advised me to strike westward
from Njemps to the Victoria Nyanza, and along its northern
shore to Kampala; there I could get whatever trade goods
were necessary, and thence proceed to Ruwenzori. Food was
abundant, and the natives friendly all along the line. The
scheme looked attractive when compared with the risks of the
march across Laikipia, and for a while my resolution of “ Kenya
at any price” was shaken.

Next morning the Company’s caravan proceeded on its
homeward journey. I spent the day in an excursion eastward
to climb one of the Dondole Mountains, and in walking west-
ward across the plains to a group of broken-down volcanic
craters. The morning climb was rewarded by a view of
exceptional beauty from a peak of 7650 feet in height, which,
owing to the form of its flat, lava-capped summit, I named
Kilima Meza (ze. Table Mountain)... Of more practical value
than the view was the collection of some interesting plants,
including a handsome G/adzolus and a new species of Lagaro-
siphon (L. hydrillotdes, Rdle.)

The lake itself I visited next day. It receives two rivers,
the Kariandusi and the Guaso Nagut, but has no outlet. Its
level is being lowered by evaporation, and it is now much
smaller than it once was. The water is bitter, and the only
signs of animal life in it were some insect larve and small
crustaceans (amphipods), though the empty shells of a new
water-snail (L. e/metaztensis, E. A. Sm.) were abundant on the
shore. Huge flocks of pink flamingoes (Phaenzcopterus roseus,
Pall.) waded in the shallows or swam on the surface, browsing
on masses of alga, which in places imparted a deep green colour
to the water. The simultaneous discharge of both barrels of my
shot-gun secured six flamingoes, and yielded for some days
afterwards a pleasant addition to our bill of fare.

After leaving Elmetaita the journey, for a few days, was
as easy and restful as a picnic. The route lay over smooth
turf steppes ; water and firewood were abundant ; there were no
natives to worry us, and the rain did not begin till late in the
afternoon. But this did not last long. After crossing the

1 See Alpine Journal, vol. xvii. (1894), p. 91.

CHAP, VII AN UNNAMED LAKE 109

ridge (6730 feet) which separates the Elmetaita and Baringo
basins, the valley descended rapidly to the north. We entered
some old lake basins, in which the grass was so rank that
marching became slow and wearisome. We left the ordinary
track, which was well known, in order to try and find a new
route to Njemps along the eastern side of the Rift Valley.

The next week was a succession of misadyentures. In
order to reconnoitre the country ahead I climbed a mountain,
which, as it lies exactly on the equator, I called “ Equator
Peak.” From the summit (6150 feet) I could see a lake to
the north-east which I resolved to visit. I sent the Askari in
one direction while I went in another to find the best track by
which to lead the caravan next day. We were caught some
miles from camp in a storm that was simply terrific. We were
used to heavy storms, but this was a hurricane. Even before
sunset it became so dark that it was impossible to see the way
or even to read a compass ; only the wind gave any clue to
direction. We both spent some hours stumbling about in the
darkness in the thorn scrub, and it was not till late at night
that we regained the welcome shelter of the camp.

This was only the first of a trying series of accidents. The
men at first objected to going by the route I proposed, as they
said they had no Kiringozi who knew it. I replied that I
would be Kiringozi, and they would have to follow me. We
marched north across the plain to the foot of Equator Peak,
and then along the eastern base of the ridge, of which it is
the highest summit. After a fatiguing march through dense
jungle, we reached the shore of the lake. One of my men said
he had previously visited it with a Suahili trader, and that it
was known as Zewi (or Lake) Kibibi. This is apparently only
a Kisuahili name and means “ Little Ladies,’ which may be a
playful allusion to the swarms of mosquitoes that are said to
infest it. As it poured with rain throughout the whole of the
fourteen hours during which we camped beside the lake, we
were not troubled with these pests. We fished in the lake, but
without success. Next day we continued our way northward
across a country so intersected by ravines, and choked with scrub,
that progress was very slow. We had to march in single file,
chopping a way through the jungle and trampling the under-
growth into a path. Several times during the day we were

110 ALONG THE RIFT VALEEY TO BARINGO PART II

charged by rhinoceros. They lay asleep until awakened by
the noise we made, and then, frightened and muddled, they
charged wildly in all directions through the scrub. Twice they
broke through the line of porters, but the men managed to
dodge them, and the only damage done was to the loads.

In the afternoon we emerged from the valleys on to a
plain where the scrub was thinner, and I went on ahead to try
to find water and a camping-place. Suddenly, without the
slightest warning, I found myself on the edge of a precipice
1900 feet in height. For some hundreds of feet the cliff was
absolutely vertical. A few yards away from where I stood it
actually overhung, as the wind had cut away the soft beds of
ash below the lava that formed the summit. The change was
so startling that for a moment it made me feel giddy. When
the porters came up they were as surprised as I had been, and
we all stood along the edge of the cliff and admired the
extraordinary view before us. At our feet, at the base of the
precipice, lay a long narrow lake, in shape something like
Windermere. The opposite shore is formed ofa series of steps
and terraces which rise one above another to the summit of
Doenyo Lugurumut. Beyond this ridge is the valley along
which runs the trade route to Njemps, and beyond this again
are the undulating foot-hills and the dark gray scarp of the
plateau of Kamasia. The view was certainly the most beau-
tiful I had seen in Africa. As a rule, except at sunrise and
sunset, the colours were disappointing ; but here the lake itself
was of an exquisite blue, broken by the green of dense growths
of alga, or by pink where vast flocks of flamingoes floated on
the surface. The colour effects on the shore and on the islets
were as striking by the contrasts as by the brilliancy of the
tints: here and there a glittering tract of sand, or a dazzlingly
white deposit of sinter around a hot spring, interrupted the
sombre brown hue of the acacia scrub.

We were all so fascinated by the landscape, with its wide
expanse of view, its striking contrasts of colour and form, that
it was some time before practical considerations forced them-
selves upon our minds. Then we realised that the view was
not without its drawbacks. The precipice that gave it to us
barred our progress and drained the plateau dry. Water was
absolutely necessary, so we started off in different directions to

CHAP. VII A DIFFICULT DESCENT III

search for it. Of all hunting there is none so exciting as that
for water, none which exacts sounder judgment and greater
patience ; and on the edge of a cliff 1g00 feet high no quarry
is more elusive and difficult to stalk. Once or twice my hopes '
were roused by finding some damp soil on the bed of the
brook I was tracking, but I returned to camp unsuccessful. A
porter had, however, found water in some rhinoceros foot-holes,
and these yielded us a limited supply. We hoped the usual
evening’s rain would enable us to fill up our bottles; but
though a terrific storm of wind nearly blew the tents over the
cliff into the lake, not a drop of rain fell. I had in consequence
to make a breakfastless start. We continued northward along
the edge of the plateau, in the hope of finding some place at
which we could descend to the lake. At half-past ten we
reached a gully which had cut back the edge of the plateau
and offered us a chance of descent. I started down it to
prospect. I found some interesting plants and a _ most
instructive geological section, but after a climb of some 800
feet, a vertical cliff of lava formed an absolute barrier to further
progress. I tried again in two or three other places, but in
vain, and I had to return to the plateau foiled and disheartened.
An enterprising porter, Fundi Mabruk, had, however, gone off
on his own account, and towards evening succeeded in finding
an old game track that led down to the shore. It was then
too late to descend that night, so we camped in a hollow, and
served out the last ration of food, which, however, could not be
cooked owing to lack of water. We started at dawn next
morning, hoping to reach the lake early, breakfast there, and
then hasten on to Njemps.

But the descent was a longer and more difficult task than
we had expected. The porters and sheep scrambled down
easily enough, but a good deal of ledge-digging and bush-
cutting had to be done to render it practicable for the donkeys.
It was therefore nearly eleven o’clock before we reached the shore.
Then, to our horror, we found that the water was salt and
sulphurous. The first man who reached the lake returned to
us making hideous grimaces and groaning, “ Dowa, dowa,
hapana maji” (It’s medicine, medicine, not water). And very
effective medicine it proved to be; its emetic properties acting
on the man’s empty stomach brought on such a violent attack

112 ALONG THE RIFT VALLEY TO BARINGO PART II

of retching that it was necessary to give him some cocaine.
The sight of the water drove the donkeys almost mad, and
they made most desperate efforts to reach it; we dared not
let them drink, for it would probably have killed them.
Bitterly disappointed we resumed our march along the eastern
shore of the lake. In our thirsty condition we soon began to
feel the heat. The whole place seemed to have been planned
as asun-trap. The black precipice and the bare lava at its
foot became hotter and hotter as the day drew on, till the glow
from them became almost intolerable. The cliff, moreover,
screened us from the refreshing breeze that generally softened
the midday heat. Hence the air was stagnant, and there was
nothing to carry away the moisture that rose from the surface
of the lake, or the putrid odour of the vegetation that lay
rotting in the submerged meadows along its margin. Here
and there we had to cross stretches of sand, raising a cloud of
salt-covered dust which added to the pangs of our burning thirst.
Occasionally we had to wade for short distances through the
lake, to avoid dense thickets of bush or rocky headlands, or to
cross meadows now submerged owing to the high level of the
water. During these we had to tie sacks over the donkeys’
heads to prevent them from drinking ; as we could not take
the same trouble with the sheep, they drank what they wanted,
and two out of the three died.

I dragged in the lake for shells, but could get none, nor any
trace of aquatic animal life. It was more barren than Elme-
taita, for the water of that lake, though bitter and salt, was
clear and pure, and yielded a few insect larvae and amphipods ;
but the putrid sulphurous water of Lake Losuguta seems fatal
to life. Some trees that stood a few yards from the shore
were dead, though, as their leaves were still attached to them,
their submergence must have been recent. The grass was
yellow, and whatever the water touched it seemed to kill.
The only exceptions were a green alga and some pink flamin-
goes, and in the absence of competition these throve exceed-
ingly. The alga grew in such dense masses that it often
coloured the water green; while the number of the flamingoes
was such that when, towards sunset, they rose from the lake
and flew northward, one of the kite-shaped flocks must have
measured 400 yards in breadth anda mile in length. But these

cHAP. vil “ACTION AND REACTION ARE EQUAL, ETC.” 113

alone seemed able to touch the waters of the lake and live,
and we saw neither birds nor insects on the shore. The day’s
zoological collection was represented only by a water-scorpion
(a Nepa) which we found in some half-dried mud, and a small
snake (Rhagerrhis triteniata, Gth.) An effort to add a rhino-
ceros nearly resulted in a disaster. We saw a pair, and as we
were desperately hard-up for food, I told Fundi to follow me,
and started off to stalk them. They bolted into the bush at the
foot of the cliff, and it seemed impossible for them to escape.
I soon found one of them, but could not get a safe shot at it, as
it stood facing us, and its head was over its chest. A small
stream bed, 4 feet deep and about 6 feet wide, ran towards the
animal. We crawled along this till I was level with the
rhinoceros. I was taking a steady aim at its brain when I
heard a shriek from Fundi of “ Kwea, bwana” (Climb, master).
The other rhinoceros was also in the bed of the stream, and,
having scented us, was charging down upon us. We both
sprang up into the thorn scrub, while the rhinoceros passed
beneath me and stopped, as if it intended to turn. I jerked
my rifle to my shoulder and fired at the animal’s neck. The
effect was startling to both of us. The mouth of the barrel
had scraped against the side of the gully, and become half
choked with sand; the recoil was so heavy that it threw me
back into the thornbush, while the bullet, instead of cutting
through the backbone, tore its way through the muscles of the
neck. With a grunt of pain the rhinoceros rushed on along
the gully, while I rolled into it. Fundi picked up his rifle and
ran to help me, shouting to the others that I was hurt. He
thought the rhinoceros had caught me, and was much relieved
to find that it was only the gun that had knocked me over.
My right shoulder, however, was so bruised and battered that
for some weeks afterwards I had to shoot from the left. Later
on the same day a rhinoceros threatened to charge the caravan,
but after a minute’s reflection it walked slowly southward. I
suggested to Fundi that we should go and stalk it. “ Bus faro
leo, bwana” (Enough rhinoceros for to-day, master), he replied.
I agreed with him, and so we made no attempt to intercept its
retreat.

About five in the afternoon we passed round a headland to
a wooded gully cut into the face of the cliff, in which we hoped

I

114 ALONG THE RIFT VALLEY 70 BARINGO PART II

to find water. It was our last chance that day. But, to our
intense disappointment, it contained nothing but sand. Never
before did I realise so fully the sad truth of the line in the
missionary hymn—

‘‘ Where Afric’s sunny fountains roll down their golden sand.”

All the fountains we passed that day rolled down nothing but
sand. To add to our annoyance, we could see rain pouring
down on the other side of the lake. It had rained every day
but two since we had left Mombasa, and we therefore hoped
that it would yet do so; but, as I feared, the hot cliff beside
us kept the rain-cloud away. By this time the porters were
too exhausted to go farther. Several of them had already
fallen far behind, and some of these had to be almost carried
on. We were too tired to pitch the tents, so our camp that
night was a very dismal one. After dark it became cooler,
and the pangs of thirst became more tolerable; but later on
it became intensely cold, and several of us were seized by an
attack of fever. The men clamoured for medicine, but as
there was no water they could not have any, and we spent a
miserably feverish, restless night.

Dawn came suddenly ; a dim tinge of grayish pink tinted
the western sky, and almost before I was certain what it was,
the sunlight caught the summits of the Kamasian hills. We
prepared to march at once; every man who had the strength
to do so picked up his load; I nodded the order to start, and
without a word being spoken we resumed our march. The
scrub here came down to the water’s edge, and we had to chop
a way through it. Fundi and I, with an Askari, led the van
to cut the path; but every jerk sent such a pang through my
shoulder, that I had to let the others do the work. Progress
was very slow; the slightest extra exertion produced an awful
feeling of sickness and weakness. We could stagger along on
the level fairly well, but if we had to climb a few feet to cross
a ridge, the men would fall exhausted upon it. Rests became
longer and more numerous; at ten o’clock we found the heat
of the sun unbearable, and it seemed as if the whole caravan
were on the point of complete collapse. A little way ahead
there was a gap in the jungle, so I let the men drop their
loads and hasten on to this. I intended to put up the fly of

CHAP. VII AKIVER OCT OF PEACE 115

the tent and let the men rest under it during the heat of the
day, while I went on with a few others to search for water.
Just as we were preparing a slight shower of rain fell; we
caught as much as we could and shared it. Omari refused to
take his share, and gave it to a porter. The drink, small
though it was, refreshed us somewhat, and we went on again.
I started ahead with Fundi and an Askari, and at length we
found some water in a swamp at the north end of the lake.
We fired a shot to announce the good news, and the two men
went back with water for the others. The porters soon arrived,
many of them without their loads, and we were soon revelling
in the luxury of abundance of water, after forty-one hours’ total
abstinence.

We had found water, but we had found more than we
wanted. Through the middle of the swamp there flowed a
river, which was too deep to wade, and too swift to swim.
It ought not to have been there, for we were now close
to a well-known road, and neither of the latest maps
showed any sign of a river at the place. But we did not
trouble about this: we drank what we wanted, and let the rest
run by. We could not understand whence the river came, and
at first we did not care; but when, a few hours later, we pro-
posed to resume our march, we dad to care. We found that
the river flowed from a gorge in the mountains and entered the
northern end of the lake ; we were therefore compelled to cross
it. Omari and I spent a couple of hours wading along the
hippopotamus paths, that ran like tunnels through the reeds,
in search of a place where we could cross. The only possible
ford was at the edge of a waterfall ; but the rocks were covered
with slime and alge, and a slip would have plunged us into a
pool and into the close company of some crocodiles. It is not
as a rule advisable to allow the fear of crocodiles to interfere
with plans, but in deep muddy water they are dangerous, and
neither of us chose to risk a fall into the pool below. We had
at last to recognise that it would be necessary to bridge the
river. We came to this decision very reluctantly, for there
was no food left, and the delay was serious. A clump of
acacias stood beside the camp, and men were set to fell timber
and hew it into a convenient shape. The men worked in
relays by firelight through the night, and in the morning the

116 ALONG THE RIFT VALLEY TO BARINGO PART II

beams were ready. We dragged them through the swamp to
a point below the waterfall, where the river ran between steep
banks of clay, which afforded a good foundation. We threw a
light trestle bridge across the river, and crossed by it in safety.
An hour later we passed a huge sycamore, close by one of
Teleki’s old camps; beyond this we forded a stream (the
Mudoleto), flowing northward into the swamps to the south
of Baringo.

Soon afterwards, on crossing a ridge, we saw steam rising
from the ground, and knew that we had reached the hot
springs of “Maji Moto.” The men ran forward singing,
while I stopped behind to collect and make some observa-
tions. When I came up to them, I found them bathing
in the springs and enjoying themselves thoroughly—larking,
indeed, like a lot of schoolboys. The ordinary caravan route
passes beside the springs, so we knew that there were no
further obstacles between us and Njemps. We felt assured
that there a supply of welcome food awaited us, and some days
of equally welcome rest. I could not resist the temptation to
ask my hungry men the precise delicacy which each hoped
was in store for him. I told them they could follow on at
leisure, and in the hope of having food ready for them on their
arrival, I started with Fundi, the interpreter Ramathan, and my
boy Philip, at the best pace we could achieve, in hot haste for
Njemps.

We took at first a north-westerly course round the lower
flanks of three “fault ridges” of lava; we kept upon these as
long as possible, for the lowland was one vast swamp, but when
they trended too far to the west, we struck off across the plain
for the woods around Njemps. We soon entered the shambas,
which are of enormous extent and watered by hundreds of
irrigation channels and ditches, which we had to wade or
jump. The crops consisted in the main of dhurra or millet,
but only the stubble of the previous season’s crop remained
upon the ground. While collecting some plants I startled, and
was startled by, a family of ostriches, but Philip had my rifle,
so I lost that chance of food; and later on I wasted a car-
tridge in a flying shot at a small antelope belonging to the
genus JMadogua. At length we left the fields and entered a
forest of acacias, with an undergrowth of mimosa scrub; the

CHAP. VII DEECSIVI PROSPECTS OR PEACE 117

path had been worn by the feet of many generations into a
hollow, that served as a channel for a sluggish stream often
3 feet in depth. But having to wade along this did not
lessen our sense of the welcome coolness of the shade. The
paths became more numerous, and, after a long wade—which
was rendered even less pleasant than usual by the odour that
arose as our feet churned up the slimy ooze at the bottom—
the ground began to rise, and I guessed that we were approach-
ing the river. A stream 3 feet wide was jumped by all
except the fat boy, who preferred to wade, and was in conse-
quence knocked over by the current, which was rushing down
like a mill-race; but I was too excited to stop and help him,
and shouting to the others to take care of the rifle, I walked
quickly up the path through the wood. A family of monkeys
fled screaming through the trees,a green parrot shrieked its
shrillest in rage at being disturbed from its midday nap, and
flew across the river. A few steps more and a sharp turn in
the path brought me to the steep bank of the Nyuki. On the
opposite side was a cluster of beehive huts, densely grouped
in the shade of some lofty acacias, and protected by a strong
double thorn stockade. It was the village of Njemps Mdogo.
The river ran swiftly in a deep channel that it had cut through
the red sandy alluvium. A fallen tree formed a rude bridge a
little distance up stream, and I preferred to scramble across its
slippery trunk and through its irregular branches, rather than
to cross the ford opposite the village. I paused for a minute
on the bridge; for a water-snake was gracefully wriggling up
the river, and the temptation was irresistible to flatten a revolver
bullet on the head of a crocodile that was basking on the
bank. As it was two o'clock in the afternoon, no one was
about ; an air of drowsy peace and security seemed to rest
upon the village, as about an English hamlet on a summer
Sunday afternoon. So with visions of a week of rest, with a
rich harvest of precious specimens to be gathered in the day-
time, and unbroken sleep at night, I walked gaily up the path
to the low narrow gateway, and fired off a couple of shots to
announce my arrival. A native crawled along the passage cut
through the otherwise impenetrable hedge of thorns to see who
I was. He was a tall Njempsian, with a breadth of shoulder
that told of former fine physique ; but he was terribly emaciated,

118 ALONG THE. RIFT VALLEY 7O BARINGO PART II

and stooped from sheer weakness. He looked at me for a
moment with his dreamy, hollow, shrunken eyes; then with a
sad smile held out his hand and said, “ Yambo, yambo.” His
aspect was that of a starving man, and filled me with dis-
may. I knew from his salute that he must know a little
Kisuahili, so I eagerly asked him if there were much food in
Njemps. “Jocula, tele jocula?” he repeated, and his sickly
smile faded into a look of bitter despair. “ Jocula sapana”
(There is xo food), he said with an emphasis that his appearance
made superfluous. Yet I assumed, or at least tried to assume,
a sceptical aspect, and pointed to the village, and asked him
what the people all lived on if they had no food. In reply he
only glanced up at the trees, tore off a few leaves from a branch
he carried in his hand, and voraciously munched them. I
pointed again to the highlands of Kamasia, rising like a wall
on the western horizon, and asked if there were food there.
“Jocula hapana,” he repeated; but after a pause he turned
to the north-west, and waving his hand several times in that
direction said, “ Mbali, mzbalz, jocula kedogo” (Very far, very
far away, there is a /z¢¢/e food).

Fundi and Ramathan then came up, having been delayed
in pulling Philip out of the stream: I at once set the latter to
cross-question the native in his own language. But he could
only tell us that last year they had had no rain, and so the
crops had failed, and this year the rains had been so heavy
that the crops had been washed away with the soil on which
they grew. I staggered across the path and sat down on a
fallen tree-trunk, while visions rushed through my mind of the
disappointment of the caravan, how Wadi Hamis would
grumble, how each of the Wakame would look the image of
despair, and Omari would become even sadder and more
thoughtful than he had lately been. I rummaged for a whet-
stone in one of my capacious pockets, and began to sharpen my
already supersharpened hunting-knife. When this mechanical
motion had dulled the sickening sense of disappointment, I
could contemplate more at ease all that was meant by the
simple statement: “There is no food in Njemps.”

CHAR GR. Vili

THE STAY AT NJEMPS AND EXCURSIONS AROUND BARINGO

** Ay, now am I in Arden; the more fool I; when I was at home, I was in a
better place: but travellers must be content.”—As You Like /t, ii. 4.

NJEMPS is the district on the floor of the great Rift Valley,
at the southern end of Lake Baringo. It is inhabited by a
section of the tribe of the Wakauvi, who are related to the
Masai; they are, however, agriculturalists, having abandoned
the pastoral nomadic habits of their ancestors. The first
European who succeeded in reaching this country was Joseph
Thomson in 1883. He gave the natives a character for
trustful friendliness and simple honesty, which has been con-
firmed by every subsequent traveller. So peaceful are the
Njempsians that one can walk about their country unarmed
and unattended, or chase butterflies or stalk zebras with as
little fear as if one were rambling through English lanes. In
contrast to the caution necessary in the land of the Masai,
this feature makes Njemps a welcome haven of rest for the
weary. The country, moreover, is usually rich in food, and
caravans refill their empty sacks for the journey northward
over the foodless wastes that must be traversed in order to
reach the ivory-yielding districts of Karamoyo and Samburu.

I had been warned both by Captain Williams and Mr.
Martin that it would not be safe to rely on getting much food
at Njemps, but that I could doubtless procure enough to take
my small caravan on to Kamasia, where it could be obtained
in any quantity at a small price. Captain Williams advised
me to make assurance doubly sure by having at least one day’s
food in hand when I reached Njemps; and, but for the dis-

120 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

turbance of my calculations on Lake Losuguta, I should have
had this. I had, however, distributed the last load with the
less hesitation, as I felt persuaded that in a district where there
was sufficient food to support two such large villages as Njemps
Mdogo and Njemps Mkubwa, enough could surely be obtained
somehow to ration forty men for a couple of days. If this
could not be done, I resolved to leave the loads and sluggards
at Njemps, and push on to Kamasia by forced marches. I
had never doubted that I could get as much as I wanted there,
and the news that the famine extended not only over Njemps,
but also over the rich plateaux to the west, was a blow as stagger-
ing as it was unexpected. I had always regarded the failure of
supplies at Njemps as a possibility, but as one that could only
be a nuisance. Now, however, it was obvious that the extension
of the famine to Kamasia might easily mean a disaster to my
expedition.

My plan of action was soon settled, but I was still sitting
on the log, wondering how I could most easily appease
the wrath of the caravan, when I was interrupted by a soft
voice giving me the Arab greeting “Subulkairi.” It came
from an elderly Arab dressed in a spotless white robe or
“kanzu,” which would have looked eminently respectable in
any bazaar in Zanzibar. The usual dialogue of salutations
followed, and he made mea long speech of welcome in an easy
flow of Kisuahili. I was too charmed by its musical rhythm to
bother about the meaning, and told Ramathan to make an
appropriate reply. The Arab led me by the hand into the
village and introduced me to his friends, a company of Mombasa
merchants ; they were waiting at Njemps for the return of the
parties they had sent off in different directions to purchase
ivory. They asked me if I were hungry, and I confessed I
was ; I believe I looked it. They gave me a bowl of delicious
bean-flour “ potiss,” or gruel, and a cupful of sour cream; a
plague of flies lessened the comfort of the meal, for in spite of
the efforts of two of the Arab’s slaves to keep them off by
flourishing over me zebra and eland tails, a crust of drowned
and drowning flies made the food look like a black-cap pudding.
At first I dived for flyless handfuls—my spoons had not yet
arrived—in the deeper strata of the mass; but as a few of my
tormentors were always picked up between the basin and my

CHAP. VIII FOOD OBTAINED I2I

mouth, I ceased to struggle against the inevitable, and com-
pleted that meal on the principle of “Open your mouth and
shut your eyes, and see what fate will send you.” My new
friends had not heard from the coast for fifteen months, so
I told them all the news that I thought would interest them ;
such as that Mr. Piggott was now “Bwana Mkubwa” at
Mombasa ; that the Sultan of Zanzibar was dead and another
was reigning in his stead; that the British East Africa Com-
pany had withdrawn from Uganda, and that Sir Gerald Portal
had gone there to take it over in the name of the British
Government. They were delighted to receive news, and when
I asked about food for my men, a load was at once given me;
I was told, moreover, that if I had cowries and “kiketi,” I
could buy as much as I wanted in Kamasia. So, fully recovered
from my fright, I strolled down to the ford to meet the porters.
I saw at once that the men had heard the news of the famine ;
they had been told of it by some women whom they had met
on the road. Wadi Hamis marched first with a look of de-
spairing triumph on his surly, pock- marked face. “ Jocula
hapana, bwana” (No food, master), he growled with an I-told-
you-so sort of air. The attitude of the three Wanyamwezi,
who followed him, was very different ; their sympathetic looks
showed that they felt rather sorrow for me in my perplexities,
than regret at the prospect of suffering for themselves. So |
hastened to relieve their anxieties by telling them in as off-
hand a manner as I could, “ Upaci fannya motu—Jocula tiari”
(Make fires quickly—the food is ready). The news ran back
along the line of men across the ford ; the shouts of joy cheered
on the stragglers, and camp was soon pitched under the shade
of some acacias on a sandy plain near the western gate of
the village. We bought firewood from some women, rations
were served out, and the men were soon merrily cooking their
food and fraternising with the porters of the trading caravan.

Kizizi, the chief of Njemps, was now in Kamasia, but was
due back next day, and it was advisable to make friends with
him. The Arabs offered me the loan of 500 Ibs. of flour, and
said if necessary I could pay for it in Mombasa; so there was
no immediate necessity to go on, and I decided to rest next
day and see Kizizi.

The traders visited my camp in the morning, and Philip

122 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

acted as interpreter to a shauri that began most amiably. At
last Timami, who was the chief spokesman and president of the
caravan, asked me to sell them some cartridges, as they had
used all theirs shooting food. This I did not believe, for I
knew they were not cannibals, and one of the party had
previously confessed they had used up all their ammunition in
a fight with a tribe six weeks’ journey to the north-west. I had
given a solemn pledge, in accordance with the terms of the
Brussels Convention, not to “give, assign, or sell to any person
or persons” either arms or ammunition. As natives are not
allowed to have breech-loading rifles on any pretence whatever,
I had been surprised to find that the caravan had both Sniders
and Remingtons, and had therefore taken precautions to prevent
the porters selling either cartridges or the powder out of them.
From the moment of my final refusal to sell cartridges, the
attitude of the traders changed; and, with the exception of
the two Beluchi, they did what they could to hinder instead of
help me. They suddenly discovered that the Njemps’ state-
ments were true, that there was no food in Kamasia, and it was
useless for me to go there. I replied that if there was none
there, I would go on to Elgeyo or Kavirondo. They then tried
the effects of intimidation, and told me the story of the massacre
of Bishop Hannington and his men, embellishing their account
with as many unnecessary horrors as they could remember or
invent ; they assured me that his caravan was a much larger
one than mine, and solemnly warned me against going into such
a district with so small a force. I laughed at their fears, and
explained that I regarded Bishop Hannington’s fate as due to
negligence, as his men were apparently undrilled, and the natives
had been able to take him prisoner without a shot being fired.
I pointed out that, like the Bishop, I was a man of peace, but if
necessary was quite ready to fight anybody and everybody on
the road, and that my camp would never be taken by surprise.
As they saw such intimidation as they could try had no effect,
they fell back on entreaties ; they said there was a little food in
northern Elgeyo, but since the time when Dachi-tumbo (Count
Teleki) had raided there and massacred the natives, they would
not sell to Europeans. I was assured that if I persisted in
going, the natives would at once burn their villages and fly to
the hills. The Arabs suggested that I should stay behind in

CHAP, VIII ARABIAN LOGIC 123

Njemps, and send Omari into Elgeyo to purchase food, while
one of them would act as guide to him; I asked which
of them would go, and they pointed out the very Arab whom
they had only just told me had that day come back from this
district at the request of his porters and slaves, as the natives
mistook him for a Mzungu (European) and would not sell him
food. I called their attention to this little inconsistency, and
was then shamelessly told that this incident had happened twelve
months before, and that the man was now blood-brother with all
the chiefs. I thought at first that they really only wanted to
make me buy my food from them at exorbitant rates, and so
determined to go on; but, with an unfortunate excess of caution,
before breaking up the conference, I obtained from Timami as
exact a description as he could give of the place where Teleki
was said to have raided. I was quite certain that Teleki had
never even been there, and that his great fight for food took
place much farther to the north; but the description tallied
precisely with the locality where Dr. Peters had performed one
of his marauding exploits. I attached no importance whatever
to the string of lies and contradictions I had detected in the
traders’ statements, for they were but Orientals, and it would
have been absurd to expect in them a Teutonic sense of truth.
I was dealing with people among whom, as Mrs. Humphrey
Ward would put it, “the capacity for testimony has not
developed.” I had to remember that their lies were possibly
not lying lies, uttered with an intention to deceive, but mere
dots and dashes honestly inserted to carry conviction of an
argument, otherwise truthful. So, though I had demonstrated
the falseness of their two premises, by showing that Teleki had
never been in the district in question, and that a man who had
just failed on his own account would not be likely to succeed
on mine, this did not blind me to the fact that in modern
Arabian logic the truth of the conclusion is in no way connected
with that of the premises. So, accepting with Mrs. Ward that
“the witness of the time is not true, nor, in the strict sense,
false ; it is merely incompetent, half-trained, pre-scientific,” I
broke up the conference in order to talk things over with
Omari.

I found that he also disbelieved the traders’ statements of
facts, but feared there was some truth in their main argument,

124 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

and that Teleki was bearing the blame, while I had to face the
punishment, of Karl Peters’ misdeeds. Later on, one of the
traders to whom I had rather taken a fancy—a Beluch, named
Jumma ben Abdullah—came back privately to beg me not to
go; there was a look of sincerity in the man’s face, and I
resolved to be frank. So without any effort to soften my words,
I told him that he knew they had been telling me lies, and
asked him why they did not want me to go. For a moment
he hesitated and then said: “ We don’t want you to go, because
we are dependent for our food supplies on that district, and we
fear you will spoil our market ; you have &zkedz (large blue beads
much prized there) and cowries, and we have not. If you go,
you will either spoil our market, or the natives will fear you
and run away, and we shall get no food for our return journey
to the coast.”

This seemed to me reasonable ; and though it was equally
possible that they had been raiding up there, and did not want
me to follow on their trail, it was hopeless for me to attempt
to decide as to which was the true motive. So after talking
the matter over with Omari, I determined to send him to
Elgeyo with twenty-two men to buy as much food as they could
carry back ; I could meanwhile explore Baringo and try to find
a route northward to Basso Narok (Lake Rudolf) intermediate
between the two used by Teleki. After we had got the
food, I thought I could go on to Kamasia to examine the gneiss
outcrop reported there by Thomson, and draw an east and west
section across the Rift Valley. The latter was really the main
object of the expedition, and I resolved to carry it out at any
cost or hazard.

The Arabs seemed much relieved when I announced my
decision, and that I had arranged to leave two men with the
donkeys, sheep, and most of the loads in the village. I told
Omari that I must have Fundi Mabruk, as he had been with
Teleki, and a porter named Alli, as he could speak a little of
the Masai language, but I would leave the selection of the other
men to him. He asked me to take Wadi Hamis, Mwini
Amiri, Abdullah, and Stahabu, as they were the four worst men
in the caravan, and he feared that if they went with him, they
might get into trouble with the natives and ruin the chance of
buying food. Ramathan Jumma was chosen as my Askari, as

CHAP, VIII OTS CARELESS ETHIOPIAN ” 125

he was less to be trusted with an independent command, and it
might be necessary for Omari to send back a party to Njemps
with messages and food.

Loads were packed, the number of cartridges in each man’s
possession recounted, and early next morning Omari started
for Elgeyo. The reserve goods were stored in a hut which
Kizizi lent me. I had to wait for a short time until the boys
had collected some spiders, and these had spun lines of web
across the cracks around the door. I was then asked to take
particular notice of the arrangement of these, so that on my
return I could be sure that no one had been into the hut to
steal my goods. Then after giving last instructions to the men
left to look after the sheep and donkeys, we started northward
across the red sand plain on the way to Baringo.

I had asked Kizizi for a guide who could be trusted, who
knew the native place-names, and was a good walker. He
picked out for me a primitive-looking savage named Lomweri,
who satisfied these three requirements so well that he proved a
perfect treasure. I had often heard of the “simple Ethiopian,”
but I doubt if any of the natives whom I had previously met
with could be truly described as men of no guile. But Lomweri
was as simple an innocent as one could hope to meet. His
character, as well as his costume, reminded me greatly of
Rudyard Kipling’s hero, Gunga Din—

** The uniform ’e wore
Was nothing much before,
And a little less than ’alf 0’ that be’ind,
For a piece o’ twisty rag
And a goatskin water bag
Was all the field equipment ’e could find.”

The main difference in the costume of Gunga Din and my
suide Lomweri was the absence of any piece of rag, twisty
or otherwise. When we started I gave him a few “hands”
of cotton cloth by way of prepayment, and also in the hope
that he would have considered our feelings sufficiently to
have worn at least part of it. But Lomweri was far too
prudent. As he afterwards pointed out, if worn it would get
dirty and crumpled ; moreover, the thorns would tear it, while
neither dirt nor scratches would matter on his skin. Nor did
he need clothes for the sake of pockets, for he carried his

126 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

impedimenta, a toothpick and a quid of tobacco, in the
expanded lobe of his left ear. So after the cloth had been duly
stroked, and patted, and licked, it was tied up into a bundle
and left safely at home in Njemps. His only weapon was a
bow and arrows, but he was such an appallingly bad shot that
he could not have carried these except to charm his lady friends
and frighten his foes. His intellectual attainments were as
simple as his personal adornments. His vocabulary was most
limited ; he could only count up to five, and had no idea of
distance ; everything that was not in sight was “loqua” (far
off), a word he used so much that we gave it him as a nickname.
His appetite was insatiable, and nothing to him was unclean,
at least when away from the eyes of the Mrs. Grundy of
Njemps ; and when properly fed, he was a splendid walker and
simply did not know the meaning of fatigue. Within a narrow
range, his knowledge of the country was surprisingly exact,
though he knew nothing of the Masai-haunted countries beyond
one day’s march to the south and east. He had the morals of
a child of five; he begged for everything he saw, and was
never abashed by refusal. He would eat three roast duck
straight off before my eyes, and then declare with tears and
lamentations that he was dying of starvation. He could be
terrorised by the men into saying anything, and while they were
listening would lie by the yard. But for all this, he had a
simple instinct of duty which nothing could shake ; as far as it
went, he followed it with a blind faithfulness and carelessness
of consequence that won my admiration and regard.

Under the guidance of this psychological curiosity we
crossed the open plain, until the scrub thickened and passed
into the forests beside the Tigirish. We made very little pro-
gress that day. The men, except Fundi, were all as angry as
they could be ; they seized every possible excuse for delay, and
it was past noon before we reached Njemps Mkubwa, or
“ Njemps the Larger,” and crossed the Tigirish to the north of
the town. The ford was deep, the current swift, and the banks
were steep and formed of slippery greasy clay, while the
abundance of crocodiles did not add to the pleasure of the
passage. I shot a couple of the brutes, to the intense delight
of the natives.

The men objected to going any farther that day, as they

CHAP. VIII MOSQUITOES AND FLIES 127

declared that the guide said there was no water or camping-
ground ahead for at least eight hours. This was manifestly
untrue ; so with the few words of Kikauvi that I had picked up,
I questioned Lomweri, but could only make out that we must
stop there for the night, as Kizizi was coming to see us in the
evening ; and I could see that the guide had been so bullied
by the porters that he would say anything. I felt a certain
amount of sympathy for the men, as they had had a very rough
time of it lately, and had doubtless been looking forward to a
long rest at Njemps. There was therefore some excuse for
their bad temper, and I did not like to be hard on them, so I
consented to pitch camp at once. Kizizi came in the evening,
and I also had a visit from a native of the town, who had been
with Teleki to Reschiat and back to Mombasa. He told me
that the name of the great salt lake to the.south of Njemps is
Pirias, but I could get no recognition of this name from any
other native of the district and so distrust it. He was an
intelligent man, and spoke Kisuahili very fairly, but with a
curious, and even comic, guttural accent. He possessed also
three other accomplishments as a result of his contact with
civilisation—the ability to put on clothes, to smoke, and to swear.
The last he had acquired very thoroughly.

We had been annoyed all day by swarms of flies. They
blackened the roof of my tent, and turned my basin of pea-soup
into a dipterous decoction. The flies, however, were harmless
in comparison with the mosquitoes, which rose like a mist from
the marshes immediately after sunset. Mosquito curtains were
far away with civilisation, and so I could only wrap myself in
my blanket-bag. Its texture was sufficiently impenetrable to
allow me complacently to pity the porters, whose thin cotton
sheeting was easily pierced. But mosquitoes are bed-fellows
that facilitate early rising; the men were eager to be off in
the morning, and asserted that they had never experienced such
a night before. We reached the south shore of Lake Baringo
fairly early, and as I was anxious to communicate with the
natives, we camped opposite the island of Lukrum and fired a
couple of signal-shots. Meanwhile I started off to explore the
course of a river called the Ndow, which enters the swamps at the
mouth of the Tigirish. I was at first much puzzled in trying
to reconcile the maps of von Hohnel and Thomson of this part

128 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

of the lake, either with one another or with the facts. Von
Hohnel omits the Ndow, but I found out later that he must
have passed a little distance to the west, on the platform that
forms the lowest of the foot-hills of Kamasia, under which the
Ndow flows by a subterranean course. Where we forded it, the
river was 30 feet broad and 3 feet deep, and flowed with a
powerful current between banks raised above the level of the
surrounding plain.

Next day I intended to camp at the north-west corner of
the lake, while the men seemed determined not to march at
all, and it was only after some delay that a start was made.
I pointed out the position where I wanted camp pitched, and
then struck off westward to examine some old lake beaches,
formed when the level of Baringo was much higher than at
present, and to look for fossil shells and living antelope.
Farther to the north I returned to the shore to pick up the
trail of the men, but could not find it, so I sent Lomweri back
with a note to Philip ordering them to hurry on, while I
climbed a lava crag to sketch, and take a round of angles for
the map. An hour later the guide returned with a somewhat
impudently-worded letter from the boy, telling me the men
refused to come on, and asking me to return and hear what
they had to say. I rushed back at once and found that the
loads had been dropped in disorder, the microscope smashed,
a lot of preserving spirit thrown away, and that the men had
bolted, leaving the two boys to guard the goods. Later on
the Askari came sneaking up to us, but he would say
nothing except that the men were hiding in the swamp, and
were going back to Njemps as soon as it was dark. A little
before sunset the others came near and sent in a message to
ask if I’ would hold a shauri, which I was only too glad to do.
Wadi Hamis acted as spokesman, and a very insolent spokes-
man he proved. He said they had seen Wasuk, that it was
not safe for so few men to travel alone in that country, and
that they. would not go on or obey orders any more. I had
no trouble in pulverising these arguments, for the guide con-
fessed that Sukuta—the country of the Wasuk—was some
days’ journey to the north, and that he had seen no signs of
any strangers in the district ; and, as I reminded the men, both
Kizizi and the Arabs had said in their presence that we

Bel a5vq (QYVMLISVaE ONIMOOT) OONIAVE ANVT AO GN NUYYHLNOS AHL ‘IX ‘ON

“WUT ‘Lvsuey

‘oSnqnsiay ofuaoq ~ “SIAIT [20°]

za kaplia.g

CHAP. VIII AEP ORT ERS ON Sai lie 129

should be perfectly safe. I taunted them with their cowardice
in leaving me for some time alone and unwarned, on the very
hill where they said the Wasuk were in ambush. The men
were as insolent as they could be, except Fundi and the
Askari, who were a picture of despair and grief. The shauri
was throughout a stormy one; Wadi Hamis at last pushed a
cartridge into his Snider, seized his sleeping mat, kicked over
his load, and said that I might go where I liked, but that he
was going back to Mombasa to appeal to Judge Jenner.
“Then as you have appealed to Judge Jenner, to Judge Jenner
you shall go,” I replied, as I angrily swung round on my heel ;
“but to-night you shall all stop here, and to-morrow I will go
on alone.”

The poor guide had been sitting through the shauri open-
eyed and open-mouthed, intensely puzzled by the whole per-
formance. By the aid of signs and gestures I explained that
I was going on alone, but he could come with me or go back
with the men, whichever he pleased. He replied at once that
he must keep with me. After our return to Njemps, when I
had the assistance of an interpreter, I asked him why he did
not go back with the others, as they had tried to make him
do. “I hoped you would go back,” he replied, “for if the
Wasuk had caught us, they would have killed us; but if you
went on, I had to go on too, for what should I have said when
Kizizi asked me, ‘Where is the White Man I sent you with,
to show him the way with the fewest thorns, to wherever he
wanted to go?’ If I had told him, ‘The White Man has gone
on and I have come back, then Kizizi would have killed not
only me, but my wives and children, and wiped my family out
of the tribe.”

My own course of action was perfectly clear; to have re-
turned to Njemps would have been a sheer waste of time, as
I could do nothing until Omari had come back from Elgeyo.
I was, moreover, extremely anxious to examine the passes
leading north from Baringo, especially since I had discovered
how much higher the level of the lake had formerly been ; for
I now wished to determine whether the lake had ever had an
outlet to the north. It had been believed that Baringo was
one of the sources of the Nile, and though Thomson had
_shown this is not so at present, it seemed quite possible that

K

130 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

such may once have been the case. I calculated that I could
easily complete my survey of the lake in four or five days,
during which time the shot-gun would supply ample food; I
had slept out in the open far too often to be in any way
concerned about the absence of a tent. Storms of rain were
certain to occur, but a bivouac that could be constructed in
half an hour would afford fair protection against these; my
only serious regret was at having to go on without collecting
apparatus.

I packed up a few medicines and filled a pocket with
cartridges, which was all the luggage I intended to burden
myself with, and having made these preparations, sat up
writing, as I feared if I went to sleep the men would bolt during
the night. Shortly after midnight I heard some one walk
quietly up to the tent. I coughed to show that I was awake
and indicate my exact position, which, it is barely necessary
to add, I immediately changed. I was relieved to hear Fundi
say, “Bwana, may I come in?” He asked if I were really
going on, and hearing that I was, told me how twice before,
when with enormous caravans, he had been through terrible
fights with the fierce Wasuk, who had killed more of his
comrades than the whole number of men in my caravan;
“ But if you go, I must go on too,” he concluded.

I simply thanked him, and assured him that if I did not
fear to go on, he ought not to do so either. But I was very
glad to get him, for the fact that he had joined the mutiny
was the bitterest constituent in this very unpleasant pill. I
neither liked nor trusted any of the other men, but Fundi was
a favourite.

The youngest of the porters,a mere boy named Baron
Abbas, then came in and reminded me how I had nursed him
when he had been ill on the Tana, and said he must go where
I went. A third, a three-quarter-witted porter named Alli,
and the two boys then said they would come on too; so I
could now look forward to the rest of the excursion without
the feeling that it was going to be a case of work all day and
watch all night.

Next day the mutineers returned to Njemps, where they
were stopped by the absence of food and presence of the
Masai farther to the south; the rest of us continued our way

CHAP. VIII NINETY MILES FROM LAKE RUDOLF 131

northward along the shore. We crossed a number of lava
sheets, broken by parallel faults into a series of cliff-faced
terraces; one of these, rising directly out of the lake, com-
pelled us to go a little distance inland. Elephant tracks were
abundant, but they were at least two months old, and we saw
no game of any kind. I pointed out a suitable place for the
camp on the northern shore, and told the men I would join
them there at sunset; I followed the raised beaches of the
lake across the northern watershed, at a point where Lake
Baringo must once have had an outlet to the north. The pass
is dominated by a massive, straight-faced, flat-topped lava hill
named Lobat; I intended to climb it, until I saw that time
could be more profitably spent on the pass than on the peak.
The view from the former, however, was very fine; it embraced
a long stretch of desert that sloped northward between the
peaks of Mesuri and Chibchangnani, that terminated the
escarpments of Kamasia and Elgeyo on the west, and the
ridges of Weweini and Subugu Loluko, that formed outliers of
the Laikipia plateau on the east.

At the other end of this basin, less than ninety miles away,
was the southern shore of the great Basso Narok (Lake
Rudolf). It was mournful to have to turn back when so near
it, but it was useless to go unless I could get some time there for
scientific collecting. To have dashed across the desert simply
for the fun of dashing back again and saying that I had been
there, would have been an unjustifiable waste of time and
energy, and a needless risk. More than two months of my
five had already gone, and there was nothing for it but to
lament the waste of time on the Tana, and go back to camp.
This it was now high time to do, for the sun’s lower rim was
already resting on the western plateau, and Lomweri was
going through a pantomimic show to remind me that when
the sun had set, the lions would rise. “ Kampi lokwa, Pokwa”
(The camp is far off, O Bulging Pockets), he had been repeating
for some time past, making as good an effort as he could to
pronounce my nickname, which he had learnt from the men.
After a last look over the northern desert, at the rose-tinted
slopes of the eastern hills, and the dark shadow that was
creeping from the frowning cliffs of Kamasia across the spark-
ling salt steppes, we turned to go. We recrossed the Lobat

132 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

Pass in the twilight, and in the darkness scrambled over
ridges, and forced our way through the thorn scrub down to
the northern shore of the lake. I fired a signal-shot, and the
reply guided us into camp.

The remainder of this excursion was most delightful and
restful, at least mentally, for Lomweri and I did our twelve
hours’ walking every day. There were no natives to worry us,
and the men were so ashamed of their part in the row that
they did their work without a grumble. Wild duck were
abundant; I had therefore no trouble about the commis-
sariat, as I often brought down ten at once, with a right and
left. The absence of vegetable food was unwholesome, but the
ducks roasted on spits over the fire were simply delicious.

The scenery, too, was most charming. A view of Elgeyo
would occasionally suggest doubts as to how things were going
up there, but thinking about this could do no good until our
return to Njemps; so the subject was resolutely kept in the
background, and not allowed to disturb my enjoyment of the
ever-varying panorama of quiet bays and rocky headlands.
The northern shore of the lake is especially picturesque ; for
the lava sheets that form it have been broken by faults into
a series of troughs with vertical walls, arranged as regularly as
if they had been drawn with a parallel ruler. The summits
of the ridges and the floors of the valley are flat, and slope
gently southward toward the lake; in this, the former end
either abruptly as cliff-bounded promontories, or as jagged ribs
of rock continued by lines of islets. The ground is covered
with rich green turf, studded with gorgeous meadow flowers,
while here and there are patches of scrub. The shrubs of
which these consist are not dreary, spine-leaved acacias,
but are clumps of Dombeya, with masses of dense green
foliage glowing with an outer crust of brilliant yellow bloom ;
there is the willow-like Lelesha (Zarchonanthes camphoratus),
which, like the olive, when the silver gray of the under sides of
the leaves is seen, as the branches sway on the breeze, “turn
all hoary to the wind.’ Where the valleys reach the shore-
line they form bays fringed by dense growths of reeds, rushes,
and papyrus, and containing acres of the light green cabbage-
like rosettes of Pzstza stratiotes, amid which rise the bright
blue flowers of the Lotus. In the open waters beyond sport

CHAP. VIII COWARDLY CROCODILES 133

schools of hippopotami—a small, dark-coloured variety—
which grunted at us as we passed. Flocks of wild fowl
browsed on the weeds and alge, fish-eating birds dived after
their prey, and every now and then the sharp crack of the
jaws of a crocodile would tell us that the tables were turned,
and that the birds were food as well as feeders. The crocodiles
occur in enormous numbers, especially among the bays that are
almost choked with vegetation ; there they lay like logs amid the
rushes, preying on the ducks that swarm on the pools. Bates!
tells us that in some of the upper waters of the Amazon the
alligators occur in huddled, jostling crowds, and are as thick
as tadpoles in an English ditch. Until I saw Baringo I thought
this wild exaggeration. In such places I never got all the birds
I shot, and to secure anything like a fair share of the bag I
had to plunge in at once. Fortunately the crocodiles are as
cowardly as voracious, and shouts and splashes readily drove
them away. One evening in the dusk I almost tumbled over
one that I had not noticed, and though it fled at once, if
possible more frightened than I was, I never waded for duck
again. After that I always sent in the men on the excuse
that the wet spoiled my boots and clothes; if none of the
porters were with me I left the duck severely alone. In this
work Lomweri was absolutely useless ; his ingrained terror of
crocodiles was so abject that it would have been pitiable had it
not been so comic. He would stand on the margin of the
swamp wringing his hands in agony, and imploring us to come
back ; but when we brought in the birds he would dance with
glee, pat his stomach, and smack his lips, and when the ducks
were roasted, he would beat any of us in the pace at which he
ate them.

The one disappointment of the return journey was the
failure to reach a small archipelago of islands in the southern
half of the lake; I wanted at first to visit them to see the
Wakwafi who inhabit them, but the islands themselves
acquired an interest, when I learnt to recognise in them the
broken remnants of a volcanic cone. The natives, however,
held aloof, and I postponed building a raft till I could return
to the lake later on. Lomweri and I once surprised a couple
of the natives on the shore, but neither the guide’s assurances

1H. W. Bates, A Naturalist on the Amazons, 5th ed. p. 299.

134 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

of friendship nor my offers of strings of beads would tempt
them near us. We could easily have cut off their retreat to
their skin coracle, but forced friendship would have been useless,
and we let them get into their tub and paddle off.

Our march back along the east shore was rendered un-
pleasant by the vast extent of swamp through which we had to
wade ; the route to Njemps twice followed by Teleki was now
so flooded that it was impassable. The deviation to the south
that this rendered necessary, and a delay caused by a hunt for
Philip, who had lost himself, to my great annoyance lost us a
day. We had to keep along an old lake terrace on the eastern
side of the Rift Valley, and wade a swamp that ran up
“Summuran Bay” into a fault valley into the hills ; we crossed
the lower slopes of the terraced ridges of Lolbogo, forded the
swift and muddy Mudoleto, and finally struck the path from
Maji Moto, by which we had originally reached Njemps.

I was welcomed back most cordially by Kizizi, who said he
had been seriously alarmed as to my safety ; he had arrested
the porters, kept them inside the village, and seized their loads.
As they had not been able to get any food, they were now
starved into tameness and submission. Though Omari had
promised to send back a native, there was no news from him.
Sokoni, the chief of the guides at Njemps, had returned from
Kamasia the day before and came in to see me. I had
messages to him from Mr. Martin, and we had an interesting
chat. He remembered Mr. Thomson’s visit very well, and had
acted as Teleki’s guide in the march to Basso Narok ; he told
me several stories of the hardships of that expedition, during
which he had several times abandoned all hope of return. The
information he gave me about Elgeyo and Kamasia was most
disquieting, and some of his remarks increased my distrust of
the coast-traders, and regret that I had allowed Omari to go
off alone. I therefore resolved to follow him, and told my
“stalwarts” they could rest in Njemps, and ordered the rebels
to be ready to start next day for the hills) Wadi Hamis had
the impudence to protest against my going with only five men
against “such Waschenzi” as the people of Kamasia. As he
was speaking, there came back to me the memory of a scene
in a geyser basin in the Rockies, at the end of some hours of
waiting for an eruption which did not come off; my guide had

CHAP. VIII LAKE BARINGO 135

guaranteed a performance, and was very angry at the failure of
his pet geyser. As we turned to go, he made one last effort,
apostrophising the geyser, and in the name of all the gods of a
Yankee stable-boy adjured it to come forth. I felt at the time
that his language was a thing that could never be forgotten
and ought never to be quoted. When, however, Wadi Hamis
finished his protest I did quote a little of it. I was ill with
fever at the time, and that is my only excuse for the outburst
and the confusion of the names of some Eastern deities with
those of the gods of that western cowboy. But when at dawn
next morning, in answer to my inquiry if the porters were
ready, Ramathan’s soft voice replied, “ Dio, Bwani: yote tiari”
(Yes, Master, we are all ready), I felt thankful that that language
had not been as wasted upon my porters, as it had been upon
the demon who disturbs that boiling Wyoming spring.

It is unnecessary to follow in detail the excursion to the
west, and I am glad to hasten through with the rest of the
dreary, anxious period of my stay at Njemps. As I was foiled
in my endeavour to return to the lake, that I might collect
representatives of its fish-fauna, and to visit its islands, and as
I only again saw it in the distance, a few notes on the geography
of Baringo may be here inserted.

Lake Baringo’ is the best known of the members of the
lake-chain which I was able to visit. Its existence was first
made known to Europeans by the reports of native traders.
The old estimates of its size were greatly exaggerated, prob-
ably as it was confused with Basso Narok. It became at once
a bone of contention among geographers. Thus Livingstone,
in accordance with his axiom that all fresh-water lakes
must have an outlet, which led him into his most serious
geographical blunders, connected it with the Nyanza. Burton
welcomed Baringo as another argument in favour of the dis-
memberment of Speke’s Nyanza into a lacustrine heptarchy.
Others, of course, claimed it as the source of the Nile. The
first European to reach the lake was Joseph Thomson in 1883,
and he showed that its size had been greatly exaggerated, and
that it had no connection with either the Nyanza or the Nile.
The maps of the lake were, however, erroneous in many respects,
and the circumambulation of it enabled me to correct these,

1 See inset map, on Map II.

136 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

and to determine the character of the basin. (The topography
of the lake is described in the Geographical Journal, vol. iv.
1894, pp. 311-313.)

Baringo and Njemps both lie on the floor of the Rift
Valley, the walls of which closely resemble in their structure
those of the region around Naivasha. Here, however, there
were no Masai to hinder exploration, so I could hope to work
out the geological structure of the country more conveniently
and thoroughly. The study of the eastern wall I intended to
postpone until the return march, and I was determined to
make the most of the present opportunity of studying the
western plateau, in order to obtain materials for a geological
section right across the valley. The eastern wall is in places
a single face of rock, over 2000 feet in height, the foot of
which is 7 miles from Njemps. The western wall, formed
here by the great fault-scarp of Kamasia, is 14 miles from the
village, and a series of foot-hills intervenes between the two.
From the descriptions of Thomson, I expected to find that
while these foot-hills were composed of volcanic rocks, the
plateau was a great island of the old rocks (gneisses) rising up
through the lavas and forming the backbone of the Kamasian
ridge.

We left our camp at Njemps on the 28th May and crossed
the plain towards the base of the foot-hills. Our progress,
however, was soon stopped by a messenger who recalled me to
the village; there I was detained till it was too late to do
more than reach and cross the river Tigirish, before approaching
nightfall arrested us. We had no guide, as, probably owing to
the instigation of the Arabs, none of the natives would go with
us. One of my men said he knew the way by which Omari
had gone, and I trusted him to guide us; he misled us, no
doubt wilfully. We got into very bad country, a district inter-
sected by deep ravines. We had to cut our way through dense
acacia scrub from one ridge to another. We trudged for
miles over sandy river-beds, through gorges so sinuous that no
breeze could work its way along them to refresh us, and with
walls as bare and black as if designed expressly for a sun-trap.
The men were frightened ; alarm begot anger, and they dawdled
as much as they dared. Illness made me irritable, and irrita-
bility made me energetic ; so at last I threatened to flog them,

CHAP. VIII THE FOOT-HILLS OF KAMASIA 137

one and all, for I was determined not to have a repetition
of their behaviour on Baringo. The geology, moreover, was
very tantalising. It was only too interesting, but it was com-
plex, and the conditions of the country were not favourable
to a hasty unravelling of its story. There were clearly two
series of lavas of very different ages, but they were so much
displaced and mixed up by faults that I could not make out
their relations one to another. Occasionally a gully would
promise an instructive section, but when a way had been
laboriously cut through to it, the sides were found to be hidden
under a wash of the “talus” of disintegrated rock, or were
obscured by a dense growth of scrub, or else a vertical face of
rock barred approach to the desired spot. At last I gave up
the attempt to settle the relations of the two sets of lavas by
mapping them, and so plodded through sandy gorges, or forced
a way through ravines choked with a dense growth of jungle,
until I found a series of old lake deposits, buried beneath the
later set of lavas. The upper part of the lake deposits had
been baked by the lavas into an intensely hard and exquisitely
white porcelain; but below they contained some beds of
gravels, all the pebbles of which must have been derived
momethe older set ‘of lavas. This gave me the clue 4]
wanted, so I weighted the men’s loads with a fair assortment
of the pebbles, and then went merrily on. We marched
for a couple of days westward over the rest of the foot-hills,
until we entered the inhabited region at the foot of the main
plateau of Kamasia. The natives were in great force, and very
suspicious of our objects. I did not, therefore, think it safe to
take the men farther, though I was resolved to go on myself.
So I posted the men and baggage among some rocks, in a
position which five men with guns could hold against an army
of timid spearsmen, and then started, with the Askari and one
porter, to attempt the ascent of Doenyo Lubikwe. This
mountain rises above the plateau of Kamasia as a fine conical
peak on the end of a well-rounded ridge; its bold outline
towered above the long flat edge of the plateau, and lured me
upward with a fascination that I could not resist. We nearly
reached the top, but alas! the start had been made too late in
the day, and we had the annoyance of having to return, when
the summit was well within our reach. We dared not delay,

138 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

for the red-painted natives, who were watching us in crowds at
a respectful distance, were timid and suspicious. Had we been
caught away from camp after nightfall we should probably have
seen more of them than we cared about. The sound custom of
not walking abroad at night and my hope of a second attempt
next day had to yield to more pressing needs, for bad news
awaited me on my return to camp. There I learnt that the
quarrel regarding which Sokoni had warned me, had led to an
outbreak of hostilities between the Wa-njemps and the Wa-
kamasia. A party of the latter was said to be already on
the march to Njemps, and to have cut off communications
with Omari. My reserve supply of goods and ammunition were
in the threatened village, and an immediate return was necessary
to save them. It had taken us three days to reach our present
position, but I resolved, in spite of the men’s protests, to do the
return in one. I had my dinner and we took down the tent ;
we stacked up the fires in such a way that they would keep
alight all night, and thus prevent the natives having any
suspicion of our flight ; then, an hour before the moon rose, I
crept stealthily out of camp to reconnoitre. I could not detect
any natives, so I went back for the others and led them out
along the ridge at some distance from the path, and then we
stole quietly through some fields out on to the uninhabited
region of the foot-hills. At first we all kept together, for there
were only seven of us, and we had to be very careful ; but when
we had left the danger from the villages far behind us, and had
only to fear that ahead at Njemps, I took my rifle from the
Askari, wished the men “ Kwaheri ” (Good-bye), and hurried on.
Dawn found me alone on a basalt platform near the eastern
margin of the foot-hills; I rested on the edge till it was light
enough to take my bearings, and to decide on the easiest way
down to the floor of the Rift Valley. The sky was absolutely
cloudless, and in that dry, cold air the sun rose over Laikipia
with a sudden blaze of light, that flashed upon the cliffs of
Kamasia with the glare of a search-light. In two or three
minutes its rays had reached the foot-hills, and only the Rift
Valley lay black and dark before me. Then ridge after ridge
within it suddenly sprang into sight, till the sunlight caught
the tracts of sand upon the floor of the valley, and “thrilled
her black length burnt to gold.”

CHAP, VIII IBOPLIL, (SILO TE 139

A few hours later I was in Njemps, listening to the head
Askari’s tale of troubles in Elgeyo, and trying to calm the
complaints of the ten porters who had come back with him,
and who for two days had not had a morsel of food. There
was nothing for it but to make an effort to appease their
hunger. I gave one of them my rifle and gun to carry, crossed
the Nyuki, waded for nearly an hour through the swamps, and
scoured the plain beyond in search of game. The bones of
buffaloes lay rotting on the ground, but the work of the plague !
had been only too complete ; there was not a beast to be seen,
and I returned to the camp with only a few brace of guinea-
fowl and some wild duck. This was better than nothing, but it
soon disappeared before twenty-five hungry men. So I turned
into bed, after fixing up a stick and telling the men to wake
me when the Southern Cross came in the line of sight with it.
Alas! when the sentry called me I was too weak to stand. For
the flesh diet and the malaria of the swamps, possibly aided
by overworry and overwork, had brought back my old foe—
malarial dysentery.

On the following day I was better. I went off to shoot, but
soon broke down and had to be carried back to camp. Fortun-
ately one of the traders, the Beluchi named Jumma, was a good
shot and a keen sportsman, and he offered to make good use
of half a dozen cartridges. He kept his word, and soon sent
back for men to carry in a “Swara mdogo,” as the Suahili call
the bush-buck (7ragelaphus sp.) Later on he got a zebra, but
this was shot so far from camp that the porters sent for the
meat could not reach the place until dark. This involved the
loss of the food, for the porter who had been left on guard
would not stay out alone after sunset ; the men could not find
the place, but the lions did, and during the night they devoured
the carcase. Next day I was better, and went off in one
direction, while the Beluchi started in another. We bagged a
couple of zebra, and on the way back, by a most fluky shot,
I bowled over a fine female water-buck (Kobus ellipsyprymnus).
Next day we were still more fortunate, for though game was
really scarce we killed two zebra and three mpalla (4pyceros
melampus). In the afternoon we tracked a lion to its lair ; but
after an interesting stalk through dense scrub he bolted, just as

1 See p. 266,

140 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

we thought he was going to charge, and we lost him. In spite
of its having been unsuccessful, this lion hunt was the most
pleasant incident in the dreary stay at Njemps. I am not an
enthusiastic sportsman under the most comfortable of circum-
stances. As this shooting involved starting at three in the
morning, stumbling for nearly two hours in a swamp, and then
waiting wet and shivering till, with the first streak of daylight,
the zebras came down to drink, I thought it very poor fun.
Moreover, when the first bullet was not fatal, as was generally
the case, a furious obstacle race was necessary, across rough
country and through thorn scrub, till a second could be placed
with better effect. As most of this work came at a time when
I ought to have been snugly tucked up in bed, and fed on hourly
doses of arrowroot or rice gruel, such violent exercise was
especially objectionable. A friend once asked if I were not
sorry for the zebra, but on these occasions I was far too sorry for
myself to have any sympathy to spare for anything else. Once or
twice I sent out some of the porters, who could be trusted not
to sell their cartridges to the traders. But the Zanzibari had
even less of the spirit of Nimrod in them than I had; they
wasted some precious ammunition, and probably spent the day
asleep under a bush. They thought that as I had led them out
into the desert, away from the fleshpots of Mombasa, it was my
duty to feed them. There was so much reason in this, that,
in spite of the discomfort and loss of time, I went on with the
hunting.

The days thus dragged wearily on, and there was still
no news of Omari. The threatened war was confined to a
few attempts at sheep-raiding in Kamasia, by small parties of
the Njempsians. The active hill-tribes, however, were too
much for the starved natives of the valley, and succeeded in
massacring every party sent against them. My own efforts at
zoological collecting were almost as unsuccessful as those of
my friends ; for after my return to camp from shooting, I was
always too tired to attempt any work. I had a shed built
beside the river, and used to lie in it, watching for a crocodile
to show its head upon the surface, when I at once planted a
Martini bullet in it. After a few days, however, this amusement
was played out; but we could cross the ford in the morning,
feeling more at our ease.

CHAP. VIII A STARVING GUIDE 14!

The one stroke of good luck that befell us at Njemps was
enlisting a man who had just crossed Laikipia, and consequently
knew the position of the Masai kraals. I had announced the
offer of a reward to any one who would bring me a guide.
For so long there was no answer to the advertisement, that I
began to fear I should have to be my own guide. This was
not a very cheerful prospect. One evening, however, a native of
Njemps Mkubwa came in to say that an Mkwafi of Laikipia
had just arrived in that town, and that he should be brought
to me on the morrow. The Njempsian told me that the man
was the sole survivor from a kraal of Wakwafi, the members of
which had been massacred by the Masai. ji

Shortly after my return from shooting next day, the pro-
posed guide was brought into camp. My first feeling when I
saw him was one of bitter disappointment. I had been told he
knew the district extremely well, and that it was only owing to
his familiarity with the game tracks that he had succeeded in
finding his way to Njemps. But he looked absolutely useless ;
I thought he was dying. He was comparatively a young man,
certainly not past middle age, but his hair was gray. He was
terribly emaciated and seemed to consist of nothing but a mere
bag of skin hung over a framework of rather massive bones.
When erect he stood six feet four inches high, but he was then
bent forward, leaning on a staff. His mouth was open, and
his huge bloodshot eyes were fixed on the body of an mpalla
that had just been carried into camp. The man who brought
him and I both spoke to him, but he did not heed us. I took
hold of his wrist, apparently without his being conscious of it.
The feeble spasmodic pulse confirmed the suspicion that he
was in the last stage of starvation. He told me afterwards
that since his escape from Ndoro nine days before, he had eaten
nothing but leaves and a few berries. We gave him a seat
upon a box, and as solid meat would have killed him, we fed
him at short intervals with small doses of beef-tea. In the
afternoon he looked better and fell asleep. Next day we told
him that we wanted him to guide us over Settima to Ndoro.
I offered to feed him on the way, give him as much food as he
could carry for the return journey, and pay him well. He said
that he could not go with us, that the Masai would kill him,
and that he would rather die than go on to Laikipia again.

142 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

I promised him full protection, and to let him return as soon
as we saw Doenyo Egeri (Mt. Kenya), and he could point out
to us the position of Ndoro. He refused to go, so I had sternly
to tell him that he had better return to Njemps Mkubwa. He
begged for food; but I could only say that I had not enough
for my own men and had none to spare for him. With that
the shauri ended, and I went back to my tent knowing that the
pangs of hunger would be a more powerful argument than
anything I could say. Every now and then during the day
the man’s piteous cry of “ Nyama, nyama” (Meat, meat) rang
through the camp. He persisted in his refusal, however, till
the evening. Then, when the porters cooked their food, the
savoury odour of the roasted antelope meat was too much for
him ; he decided that the risk of death by a Masai spear was
less awful than the certainty of slow starvation. Terms were
easily settled. I}was to feed him, give him a supply of food for
the return journey, and leave ten rings of iron and brass rod with
the chief of Njemps as his payment. I offered to take him
back to Mombasa and pension him, but this he declined. He
signed articles by surrendering his bow and arrows, and then we
gave the poor fellow his food. He seized it like a ravenous
hyena, and nearly choked himself with it. We had to tear it
from him by main force, cut it up, and give it him in pieces.
For days afterwards the taste of food always drove him mad ;
at his meals one man had to hold him down, while another cut
up his meat and fed him like a child. Mwini Mharo, the head
Askari, was the most attentive to him. We were a stony-hearted
crew, but there was not one of us who was not touched by the
sight of the merry Mwini patiently soothing that wild, gaunt
idiot as he doled him out his food. In a few days he grew stronger
and became calmer ; then he used to sleep all day and stand all
night in the smoke of a fire beside my tent singing a doleful dirge,
and waving about a flap of leather to drive away the mosquitoes.
If he thus disturbed the mosquitoes as much as he did me, from
his point of view this performance was a success.

Our relations with the coast-traders were of a very different
character from those with the guide. Omari at length returned,
but only brought 500 lbs. of food, which, with my store of
zebra meat, would last us only ten days. The Arab guide
had played us false. He had gone up under our protection,

CHAP, VIII MZUNGUPHOBIA 143

bought for himself as much food as he could carry, and spread
abroad the news that Omari was buying for a European. Only
once before had a “Mzungu” or “white man” visited that
district, and the report that it was about to be honoured by the
visit of a second sent the natives into hiding in the hills. The
Arab guide well knew what a legacy of Mzunguphobia Dr.
Karl Peters had left behind him for his successors. In con-
sequence Omari could buy very little food, and we had to pay
by days on half rations for Dr. Peters’ misdeeds,

My position was now rather an awkward one. Owing to
the unhealthiness of Njemps my time there was being worse
than wasted, but I had not food enough to plunge with safety
on to the great foodless plateau of Laikipia. I was very
anxious, however, to get away from Njemps, for local politics
there were getting mixed. The coast-traders, the starving
Wa-njemps, and the hill-tribes of Kamasia were all at logger-
heads, and agreed only in their suspicions of me. I did not
want to get involved in their squabbles, and so I resolved to
move elsewhere.

Four courses were possible. The easiest was to return
along the Rift Valley back to Fort Smith ; but a known road
had no attractions for me. A more attractive scheme was that
which had been urged on me by Major Smith and Captain
Williams, viz. to strike west to Uganda, and, replenishing my
stock of trade goods there, to march on to Ruwenzori. This
mountain range had, however, recently been visited by Emin
and Stuhlmann, and it did not seem to me worth going there
without knowing what they had done. A third possible course
was to go north to Basso Narok. Sokoni, the chief guide at
Njemps, described to me the great fish which occur in that lake,
and this tempted me to try to visit it. I had been within
ninety miles of its southern end, and I had thought of trying to
make a dash across the deserts to it, with a party of my six
best walkers. But with such a scarcity of food, and such an
uncertain basis of operations as Njemps, the risks were too
great. The last plan was to cross Laikipia to Kenya. The
objections to this were twofold: there was the possibility that
Mr. Astor Chanler and Lieut. von Hohnel had already worked
out the structure of that mountain; there was the certainty of
trouble with the Masai if I met them. But against these there

144 EXCURSIONS FROM NJEMPS PART II

was the argument that this was my original plan. I had started
intending to go to Kenya, and so to Kenya I resolved to go.

I told the Arabs that I was going, and explained to Azizi
that, as I could not return the food, I must pay him for it by
“chit” (or cheque) in Mombasa. He then refused to accept
that method of payment, though when he had lent me the
food he had himself suggested it. He now demanded all my
“kiketi,” a kind of large blue bead, and cowries, and a cheque
for 300 rupees to be paid in Mombasa. The ordinary price
for food at Njemps is one pice per kibaba; he wanted more
than ninety pice for each measure, besides sufficient trade goods
to buy the food five times over. After a stormy conference
that lasted for four hours I consented to give him all the cow-
ries and half the kiketi, and to pay his agent in Mombasa 160
rupees. Even this was a frightful swindle, but I was too
fagged to fight the matter further.

At daybreak next morning (5th June) the camp was
roused by the shouts of “Safari! Safari leo! Funga! Fannya
tiari!” (A journey! A journey to-day! Tie up the loads! Make
ready!) We were delayed for some time by the difficulty of
catching the donkeys, which had run wild, and had to be broken
in again. The natives would not help us, for they were holding
a great war shauri, to decide whether they should make an
attack in force upon the people of Kamasia.

We marched round the north wall of the town, and then east-
ward across the plain. We were soon stopped by the swamp of
the Nyuki. When the guide saw it he said we could not cross
it, and sat on the ground, folded his arms, shut his eyes, and
refused to move. Fundi and I tried to get through but failed,
and I feared the guide was right. When Omari came up he
simply set his teeth and said, “ Bwana, we must go through.”
Thanks entirely to his pluck and resolution, we did get
through.

Beyond this swamp there was no water for a long distance,
so we had to camp beside it. I spent the afternoon drying a
load of plants that had been dipped into the swamp during the
passage. This and two other incidents that happened at this
camp considerably lessened the pleasure of the departure from
Njemps.

One of the flour sacks was cut open during the night, and

CHAP. VIII NECESSITY KNOWS NO LAW 145

some of the contents stolen. Our supplies were so limited
that this was a serious offence against the whole caravan. We
could not, however, detect the thief, though the sentry who
was on.guard at the time was accused by the men. He was
of course responsible ; but I hoped that he had committed the
minor offence of being asleep on guard, and that the only
reason why he was suspected was that he had served for several
years in the Zanzibar police. Later on, however, he was de-
graded to the ranks for another act of theft, so probably the
men’s suspicions were not unjust.

Anxiety about the success of our march across Laikipia
was increased by the behaviour of the guide. That I could
find my way across without a guide, provided I had plenty of
time, I never doubted; but with our limited supply of food
delays might be fatal, and the usual rules of mountaineering
were no help in finding one’s way up such cliffs as those before
us. Just before sunset I walked up to a terrace beside the
camp, in order to sketch the scarp face of Laikipia. The
guide came up. I pointed out to him a gap in the skyline,
and asked by a sign whether that was the pass by which we
were to ascend on to the plateau. He looked steadily at it
for a few minutes; a cold shudder shook his whole frame, an
expression of anguish came over his face, and without answer-
ing my inquiry he strolled slowly down the slope to camp.
His look was one never to be forgotten. It told of a heart-
broken submission to a cruel fate, like that of a dying antelope
when it has realised the hopelessness of escape and the use-
lessness of further struggle. Whether his agony was due to
some recollection of the past, or to a dread of the cruel fate
-which did befall him, I could not tell. But it indicated such
disinclination to face again the perils of Laikipia that, in spite
of our sympathy with the guide, he spent that night tied to my
tent pole.

Car iy ER exe

ACROSS LAIKIPIA

‘*O’er the wide sierras and the high plateaux.”
Wat WHITMAN.

LAIKIPIA is a plateau formed of volcanic rocks, situated to the
east of the part of the Rift Valley between Lake Naivasha
and the steppes of Sukut. Most of the plateau lies at an
elevation of between 6000 and 7000 feet, and consists of rolling
prairie. Its area is almost that of Wales. Bounded to the
south by the forests of the Kikuyu country, it extends north-
ward between the volcanic piles of Kenya and Settima, and
the ridges of Doenyo lol Daika and Subugu, until it is cut off
by the westward trend of the Loroghi Mountains and the east-
ward bend of the Rift Valley.

Considering the proximity of the country to the road to
Uganda, it is surprising how little Laikipia has been explored.
The enterprising Arab traders long ago found their way across
-it, along two routes. One of these started at the north-eastern
end of the country of the Kikuyu, skirted the western foot of
Kenya, traversed Ndoro and the open steppes to the edge of
the Rift Valley above Baringo. The second route left the Rift
Valley to the north of Naivasha, and thence continued along
the eastern flanks of the wooded range of Subugu, enabling the
traders to reach Basso Narok (Lake Rudolf) without crossing
the country of the hostile Wasuk. These two routes were
recorded in 1874 in the valuable paper by Denhardt, referred
to in the first chapter. No further information about Laikipia
was obtained until Joseph Thomson made his courageous and
determined effort to cross it, to reach Kenya in 1883. His

CHAP, IX THE EXPLORATION OF LAIKIPIA 147

expedition had been fitted out by the Royal Geographical
Society, and one of its main purposes was the exploration of
Mount Kenya. Thomson entered Laikipia by the second of
the above routes, and, working his way round the northern
flanks of the mountain mass known as Settima, struck eastward
toward Kenya. He soon, however, got into trouble with the
Masai, who were present in force. Their attitude was so
threatening that Thomson could not cross the Nyiro. He had
to abandon his camp under cover of night and escape north
toward Njemps, which he reached after a series of adventures,
which are well described in his fascinating work Through Masai
Land. Four years later Count Teleki, with his accomplished
assistant Lieut. Ludwig von Hohnel, marched across Laikipia
along the main Suahili trade route, along which they were
guided by the great Suahili trader, Jumbo Kinameta. The
Masai were then not very numerous, and Teleki’s force was so
powerful that it suffered no interference from the natives. Von
Hohnel mapped the line of march with his usual skill, and
made two branch excursions to the east, to track the course of
the Guaso Narok and Guaso Nyiro, the two main rivers that
drain the plateau.

Laikipia was crossed a third time in the winter of 1889-
gO by the German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition under
command of Dr. Karl Peters. The Masai, ignorant of the
power of field-guns and repeating rifles in the hands of trained
Somali soldiers, were aggressive. Dr. Peters’ attitude was not
conciliatory, and his caravan was accordingly attacked by
hordes of infuriated El-Moran. Dr. Peters’ victory was com-
plete ; he burnt most of the leading kraals, and captured great
herds of cattle, which had no doubt been originally pillaged
from other tribes. Some other attempts have been made to
cross Laikipia, but without success.

With von Hohnel’s map to guide us, it would have been
comparatively easy to follow the Suahili trade route; but I
resolved to leave it, and cross the plateau along a new line,
partly for the sake of the exploration, and partly in the hope
of avoiding the Masai. After the treatment they had received
from Peters, it was certain that they would be thirsting for
revenge, and that if we met them we should have to fight. The
route I proposed to attempt was not only new, thus offering

148 ACROSS LAIKIPIA PART I

more chance of interesting geographical work, but it avoided
most of the open steppes, on which concealment was impossible
and defence difficult. The scarcity of food greatly increased
the risks of the march, for nothing rouses the suspicions of
Africans more than insistence on an immediate reply to a request
for permission to enter their country. And we had no time to
waste on the road in “shauri” with the natives, for our supply
of food could not last until we reached the Kikuyu plantations.

The men understood the difficulties as well as I did, probably
much better. But by this time they had also learnt that they
had to do as they were told. Most of the older men, more-
over, were pleased at the prospect of seeing new country: I
had chatted with them round their camp fires in the evening
about the great mountain, whose face was speckled with white ;
about the rivers and supposed lakes that formed the sources of
the Tana. Fundi, moreover, had related exciting stories about
the wonders of Kenya and the glories of the country at its foot,
with its abundant firewood, pure mountain streams, vast herds
of game, and freedom from mosquitoes. Omari had told the
men it was their duty to go wherever I wanted, and so long
as I did not fear to,lead, they must not fear to follow. So
between us we had roused general interest in the unknown land
into which we were about to venture. As _ soon, therefore,
on the morning of the 6th of June, as I gave the order to
“Taenda,” adding “Harako leo! maji mbali!” (We must
hasten to-day! water is far off!), the men took up their loads
and marched briskly across the plain to the foot of the for-
bidding cliffs of Laikipia.

We soon rose above the valley of the “ Paragara” (as our
guide called the tributary of the Nyuki by which we had
camped), and then crossed the opening of a bay of alluvium
which ran from the plain into the hills. We forded the Ngusa-
gari, a small stream that drained this bay, and reached the
foot of the cliffs, at the mouth of a narrow gorge half choked
with vegetation. We pushed through this, walked along the
bed of a dry stream over dark rounded surfaces of “ andesite,”
and climbed over fallen boulders of black basalt. We had to
scale a steep cliff on the north side of the river bed, hauling up
the donkeys with ropes. We followed one valley to the north-
north-east, and crossed a gap to another, and went along it to

CHAP, IX A GRAZ YV GUIDE 149

the south-south-west, until we came opposite to the “domo,”
or pass, which we had seen from the plains. A steep zigzag
game track led towards it, and during the ascent of this we
enjoyed a series of magnificent panoramic views of the Rift
Valley and Lake Baringo.

We crossed the summit of the pass and descended to the
springs of “ Njoro Larabwal.” Here we intended to rest for
a couple of hours and.then resume our march to the southern
end of the basin. But a message came from Omari that the
porter Jumbe had fallen ill and could not walk. I returned
with a hammock, some medicine, and eight porters to fetch
him. Carrying the invalid up the steep slope proved a difficult
task, and when we reached camp it was too late to go farther.

Next day we crossed the basin of Larabwal, and had again
to make a shorter march than we had intended. The guide
was seized with one of his crazy fits, and nothing we could
do would allay his frenzy, or rouse him from his subsequent
sullen stupor. The great cliff of Doenyo lol Mwaru rose high
above us, and to be caught at night upon its face involved
dangers too serious to be lightly risked. We therefore camped
beside the river, the Guaso el Narua, and nursed the poor
Mkwafi till the morning. Some fish we caught in the stream
consoled me for the delay.

We struck camp at daybreak, crossed a tributary to the
river, and reached the foot of a wall of rock that seemed to
bar further progress. The guide led us round the base of a
spur, to a game track, which mounted by a very sinuous course
up the face of the cliff. Numerous halts were necessary, but
they were doubly useful; the ascent was very toilsome, and
rests were welcome. The whole region of the foot-hills, the
basins of Larabwal and Lake Baringo, lay spread out before us
with the diagrammatic clearness of a map. After an ascent of
1400 feet the track became horizontal, and ran south along
the face of the cliff toa gap at its southern end. We expected
that this cliff was the face of the main Laikipia plateau, and
that after we had gained its summit our course would be level.
We found, however, that a deep ravine lay between us and the
steppes beyond. At first it looked as if we should have to
descend into this gorge, but the guide led us to a narrow ridge
at its head, by which we easily crossed to the plateau.

150 ACROSS LAIKIPIA PART II

The day’s march had been very fatiguing, though it had
only taken us about four miles onward. We hoped on the
morrow to make up for this slow progress, for we were
apparently on the western edge of a level plain, on which were
occasional lines and patches of forest. We were again doomed
to disappointment. A series of hidden ravines cut across the
plain, and each of these had to be crossed. The largest,
Longeyu lol Mwaru, was 350 feet deep, and its steep
banks were so densely clad with vegetation that some path-
cutting was required, and finally we had to camp on some
open grass lands only five miles from our previous resting-
place. There was nothing with which to make a “boma,” but
as there were no signs of inhabitants we did not trouble about
this, and simply picketed the donkeys to stakes beside my
tent door. The night was cloudless and moonless, and soon
became intensely cold. The highest shade temperature observed
during the day was 82°, but by eight o’clock the thermometer
had fallen to 39. E. and the\’menicreptunto their tents\for
crouched beside the fires When I went round camp at
midnight, I noticed that the donkeys seemed restive and on the
alert. A few minutes later one of them kicked against the
tent ropes, so I went out to try tocalm them. I stroked them
and chatted to them for a minute or two, and as they seemed
quieter, I told the sentry to look after them, and resumed my
seat in the tent. Before I had finished arranging my blanket,
the donkeys, with a wild snort, burst their bonds and _ fled,
while a cry of “ Mashimba” (Lions) rang through the camp.
In spite of our circle of fires, two lions had rushed the donkeys.
The camp was in an uproar in an instant. “If there are
many, they will charge us,’ shouted Omari, and the men took
up their stations, with guns ready, as if we had expected Masai.
The lions, however, followed the donkeys ; we heard a struggle
a few yards away, and so, seizing brands from the fires, went
to the rescue. We were just in time to see a lion sneak off
from the body of a donkey it had killed, and send a shot after
it. At the same moment we heard renewed excitement from
the camp, with Omari’s voice shouting orders to the men.
We ran back, and found that one of the donkeys had escaped
and returned to camp. It was trembling in every limb; we
hobbled it securely and placed it in my tent for protection,

CHAP, IX FIRST VIEW OF KENYA 151

and then waited for the lions to return to the body of the
donkey they had killed. They followed the third, however,
and as they did not catch it till it had run some distance from
camp, they devoured it at leisure.

As a result of this disaster, we had to rearrange loads. It
was not fair to add to the men’s burdens, for we had many
double marches ahead of us; so the skulls and many of the
skins of the zebra and antelope shot at Njemps had to be
left behind.

We marched to the southern end of the plain of Alng’aria,
and then turned eastward to traverse the parallel ridges of
Subugu (the Marmanett Mountains of von Hohnel). The
highest pass proved to be at the level of 6950 feet, and from
this we began the descent towards the undulating steppes of
the typical portion of Laikipia.

Shortly afterwards the guide suddenly stopped, and _point-
ing ahead said, “People!” He could not say whether they
were Masai or Wanderobbo, so I went forward with him to
scout, leaving the caravan to follow slowly. An hour later we
came to the edge of the woods, and I could see in the far
distance several columns of smoke. These, the guide said, were
at Lari lol Morjo. I could see no other signs of natives, so we
marched on to the plains and camped, waiting, however, till
after dark before we lighted fires.

Next morning we enjoyed our first view of Kenya, which
the porters called Meru. We saw it a few minutes before
sunrise, just as we were preparing to start. It was eighty
miles away from us, but it stood out sharp and clear on the
eastern skyline. There was a look of fascinating mystery
about it, as its dark jagged outline suddenly appeared above
the dull gray mist. There was no time, however, for senti-
mental reflections or esthetic rapture. I hastily traced its
outline, and read the bearing of the central peak through my
prismatic compass. Before I could repeat the observations, the
mountain had disappeared in a gray expanse of mist.

The view cheered us all immensely. Some hills we had
seen the day before had’ shown the men that we were now
only level with Lake Kibibi, and had thus made very slow
progress. Our food supply was running low, and we feared
that we could place but little reliance on our crazy guide.

152 ACROSS LAIKIPIA PART II

Now, however, we knew the position of Kenya, and if the
guide failed us, we could brave the Masai, and march straight
across the plains to the Kikuyu plantations on the southern
slopes of the mountain.

During the day we passed close by some extensive prairie
fires, which must have been lighted by natives, though we
saw none. The guide led us between two of the largest of
the fires, and we were all half choked by smoke. We reached
the Guaso Narok fairly early, and forded it at a place where it was
20 yards wide and 2 feet deep. As our guide said we should
come to some Masai kraals next day, he and I spent the rest of
the day in finding a route that would avoid them. On return-
ing to camp in the evening, I heard that the porter Jumbe was
missing. We searched for him as thoroughly as possible, but
without success. We could not delay, to continue the hunt in
the morning, and had to abandon him to his fate. It was the
man’s own fault and due to disobedience, though he could not
be blamed for this, as he had been in a condition of imbecility
ever since a sunstroke on the shores of Lake Losuguta. The
night had been intensely cold, and the exposure probably
killed him. If not, it is to be hoped that the man soon met
with either lions or Wanderobbo, for the physical pain of
death from either would be merciful, in comparison with the
mental agony of wandering lost in the wilderness, and dying
slowly of starvation.

At this point I became much troubled about our route.
According to the two maps of this district, if we followed the
course of the Guaso Narok we should enter a broad valley
between a range of mountains to our left, and two great peaks,
Goyito and Kinangop, each 14,000 feet high, to our right.
The topography, as represented by the maps, had led me to
expect that a nucleus of old Archean rocks would occur in this
mountain group; and I hoped to find on the flanks of these
rocks some, intermediate in age, between them and the volcanic
series. I therefore resolved to continue along the valley of the
“Ururi” (the Upper Guaso Narok) until opposite the pass
between the two western peaks, and then turn eastward across
the Aberdare Mountains of Thomson, or Settima Kette (or
Chain) of von Hohnel. This route seemed an easy one to
find, and the only part of it that might have been expected to

CHAP, IX MOUNT SETTIMA 153

offer difficulties was the traverse of the “Settima Kette.” But
a track across this was marked by Mr. Ravenstein on the
evidence of Denhardt’s report of a journey by Ferhaji of Pan-
gani. Ifa Suahili trader could cross, so could I.

As soon, however, as I tried to determine my position and
the course of the next march, I was bewildered by being unable
to find any one of my three guiding points. The Guaso Narok
appeared to end off abruptly, and there was no trace of a
double range of mountains to the south; all I could see there
was one great and extremely eroded volcanic dome. Of the
valley, five miles broad, which I proposed to enter, I could see
no sign, and no help could be got from the guide. I asked
him the name of the mountains to the south, and he said there
was only one, Settima, the position of which he correctly
indicated, though it was then hidden by the clouds. I next
told him to point in the direction of Mount Goyito ; he thought
for a moment, and then said he could not. I inquired why,
and he scornfully replied that there was no such mountain.
Then I asked for Mount Kinangop; but the guide looked still
more scornful, and told me I knew nothing about it, for Kinan-
gop was a “gopo,” or grazing plain, and not a “doenyo” or
mountain. Finally, I told him to guide us along the Guaso
Narok as far as it went; he declared that we had already
passed its source, and it went no farther. On my saying that
it must do so, for it was marked on the map as going for nearly
two days farther, the guide flew into a violent rage. He told
me I was a fool, for he had been there, and I had not; that I
knew nothing at all about it, and was worse than the idiot
Jumbe, for I preferred to believe a sheet of paper which
had never been in the district, rather than a man who had
lived there all his life. As soon as his rage abated, he sat
on the ground and demanded tobacco. Unfortunately, as
I do not smoke, I had none, and was accordingly denounced
as a hard-hearted brute. As he wanted it to chew, it would
have been useless to make him:some out of brown paper and
tea-leaves, a substitute which might otherwise have served. So
there was nothing for it but to leave the guide to recover from
his sulks, while I went on with the Askari, Mwini, to recon-
noitre. We soon reached the depression in the main Laikipia
scarp by which Thomson had reached the plateau. We went

154 ACROSS LAIKIPIA

PART II
far enough to make sure there were no mountains between

us and the Rift Valley, and that the main mountain mass lay
to the south-east.

A terraced grass slope led southward to
the grazing lands of Kinangop, above Naivasha.

We saw the
smoke of some kraals in the distance, and as the guide had

x
2
Z

un! we
n

ye
‘a

Nuh
¢
cent\ REE

rarer enete
Pa

nner

cys Uranneg

2
<

gaunt nt

‘
‘
A
3
%
%

NY: be
GINS ®
AWN
ae
Yn
o

N

Hy
a

SS
ANT TNHAN

<

%
2
z
%
Z
Z
cA
Z
z
Z
3

Thomson. Von Hohnel.

Kenya

A Nyuri R.

: f Laikipia
Nee}

Thomson.

Nyuri R.
SS)

Laikipia

Von Hohnel.

Nyuri R.

Laikipia

Gregory.

Fic. 3.—Diagrammatic Comparison of Maps of Settima by Thomson, von Hohnel, and
the Author. A, Aberdare Mountains; G, Goyito; K, Kinangop; N, Guaso
Narok; Nv, Naivasha; Ny, Nyuri; S, Settima; Sb, Subugu; U, Ururi.
told us there were many Masai in this district when he

passed through a fortnight before, we returned to the caravan.

make friends.

He plucked some grass, spat on it, and
sprinkled it on my head.

In the evening the guide came to me and said he wanted to

:
I returned the compliment, and
then he told me that in the afternoon I had been to Rangatan

,

CHAP. IX AN ACCIDENT 155

Busi, and that next day we should camp at Rangatan Ndari.
I was delighted to hear these names, as they are two of the few
in this district, marked on Ravenstein’s map.

The next two marches were among the most interesting
in the expedition. They cleared up the perplexities as to our
position, threw much light on both the geographical and geo-
logical structure of the country, and yielded some interesting
additions to the collections, including a couple of black crabs,
identified by Prof. Jeffrey Bell as Thelphusa berard?,and a cobra,
determined by Dr. Gunther as Naja nzgricollis, Rnhdt. The
marching in this district was easy, and the scenery grand, as
immediately to the west of us rose the broken eastern slopes of
Settima. Another source of interest was meeting some of the
natives, called Wanderobbo by the Suahili, by which we obtained
information about them (pp. 328-332), which seems to show
that some of the people included under this term are really
allied to the dwarfs. We arranged, moreover, for some of them
to go with us to the Kikuyu country, whereby we became inde-
pendent of our guide.

Shortly after this, in chasing a rhinoceros, I met with an
accident attended with the most unfortunate consequences ; I
fell and dislocated one toe and severely strained another. So
far, however, that was a mere matter of detail. Next day,
as ill luck would have it, I slipped when going over some rocks
and hurt my foot again, and this led to synovitis. That also
was detail, though next morning I could not walk. In defiance
of the Zanzibari proverb, “ Never mount a donkey that has
no saddle,” a sack was tied on to the remaining donkey, and
I rode. During the day the beast shied, the improvised saddle
slipped, and I was thrown and dragged a few paces along the
ground. During this the accident happened. In a collision
with a basalt boulder my watch sustained a blow which smashed
the glass and stopped the works. I did all I knew to start it
again ; I oiled it, and patted it, and sang hymns to it. But it
would not go; and for the rest of the expedition I had to guess
the time as best I could.

At length, late one afternoon, we reached the edge of the
Settima plateau near a conspicuous boss of lava, called from
its shape Narol Gwinia, or the “ Man’s Head Hill.” From this
point we looked down into the valley of the Guaso Nyuri or

156 ACROSS LAIKIPIA PART II

Nyiro (as the Wanderobbo indifferently called it), and saw in
the distance the hills of the northern frontier of the Kikuyu
country. We therefore felt that this stage of the journey was
almost at an end, and relaxed our supervision of the guide.
He repaid this confidence by trying to steal some arrows from
our native companions. He was detected, and fearing punish-
ment quietly slipped out of camp. His escape was not dis-
covered till the morning, when I at once started to search for
him, accompanied by a porter, who was the only man in camp
for whom the guide had ever betrayed the slightest feeling of
regard. We hoped to find him sulking under a tree, but the
track showed that he had started with no uncertain stride. We
followed it for some distance, but it went straight away from
camp, and the quest was hopeless. The guide had been a con-
tinual source of trouble to us. He had broken every rule in
camp, and his behaviour had been most erratic and capricious.
We had treated him like a spoilt child, tolerating every irregu-
larity, and humouring every whim, though at the same time
we watched him night and day. When we found that he had
gone, we all felt genuinely sorry for him; for we knew that he
could never reach Njemps. Even if he got there, he had
nothing to gain; for he had gone without the marked paper
that was to be a sign to the chief that he had fulfilled his con-
tract and been properly discharged. He would therefore not
get his pay, and would probably be punished as a deserter.
But the chances of his arrival at Njemps were so remote that
the treatment he might receive there was not worthy of con-
sideration. No doubt, unless the lions found him, the poor
guide perished miserably of cold and hunger on the steppes of
his native plateau.

Our next camp was at the foot of a hill known as Doenyo
Longari, where the Kikuyu dig the ochre with which they
decorate their shields. Our last half ration of food had been
served out the day before, but during the evening Omari found
that a few of the porters had a little flour left. This was col-
lected and found to amount to nine pounds in weight. I bought
it at famine price, and it was made into a thin gruel and shared
between the men. As the only food I could eat at the time
was arrowroot, which in the absence of milk had to be boiled
in water, we all fared rather badly.

CHAP. IX HCOME VEHMIN PEACE TERE 2” 157

Next day we entered the Kikuyu forests, which were traversed
in every direction by elephant paths. In one or two places
we saw elephant tracks that could only have been made that
morning ; but I had no time for hunting, even if a donkey had
been good enough as a mount. We crossed the Guaso Nairobi
(“Cold River”), and shortly afterwards emerged from the
forests and had an extensive view to the south, across a great
tract of undulating country, from which rose numerous clouds
of smoke. These signs of habitation and cultivation cheered
us, though we remembered the treacherous reputation of the
people, and prepared for a possible struggle. We crossed three
deep river gorges separated by lava plateaux, and approached
the plantations and villages. We saw that some natives had
seen us, so we selected a good site for camp, and fired a couple
of shots to announce our arrival.

No answer came, so I sent the best Kikuyu interpreter and
half a dozen porters to try to find some natives. They returned
an hour later with a promise that food should be brought to
us. No one came, however, except one or two men who crept
through the grass to watch us. During the afternoon, Omari,
with characteristic pluck, went off alone to the village and
scolded the elders for not having sent us food. I did not
know he had gone until shortly before sunset, when the men,
who had become seriously alarmed for his safety, reported his
absence. We all feared that he had been taken prisoner. I
served out 100 rounds of ammunition to each of five reliable
men, and started off with them to demand his surrender. To
our intense relief, however, we met him a few hundred yards
from camp. His report as to the attitude of the natives was
not reassuring, so we strengthened our defences, and made half
the men go to sleep, while the rest of us kept guard.

Just after ten o’clock we heard the dull thud of footsteps in
a gully that ran from the plateau to the river, and saw a party
of natives approaching us. They stopped in the mouth of the
gully, and two of them came toward us waving torches. Our
interpreter met them, and after a few minutes’ conversation
returned to say that the Kikuyu wanted to know who we were,
whence we had come, whither we were going, and how we had
dared to enter their country without permission! They were
willing to have a shauri, provided that the white man did not

158 ACROSS LAIKIPIA PART II

take part in it. Omari, Ramathan, and two porters were sent
as our delegates, and they were met by an equal number of the
Kikuyu. They lighted a fire, equidistant from our camp and
the main body of natives, and round it the shauri was held.
The Kikuyu declared that we were a bad lot and had smallpox
with us, and that we only wanted to enter their country in
order to spread it among them. Omari invited them into camp
to inspect us, and offered to let them kill any one who was found
to be suffering with the dread disease. He refused to discuss
the general question that night, for he said that we were starv-
ing, and that it is no use arguing with starving people. He de-
clared that the natives must at once sell us sufficient food to last
that night, and next day we would discuss the matter further.
Omari was made a blood-brother with one of the Kikuyu; they
sold us some food, and the conference adjourned till next day.
When the Kikuyu returned next morning we had our shauri.
Ramathan opened it by telling the natives that we had crossed
Laikipia, and wanted food to enable us to return northward in
order to visit the great mountain of Kilinyaga (the Kikuyu
name for Kenya). We therefore requested permission to enter
their country and purchase provisions. “ You shall not come
in,” replied one gray-haired elder. “Some white men came
some few harvests back to our friends away there at Karthuri,”
he said, pointing to the south-west ; “they stormed the villages,
they seized what food they wanted, and then burnt the rest.
When the elders asked for payment they were shot, while the
young men were taken away as slaves into the land of the
Masai, and we have heard of them no more.” We pleaded
against the verdict, and protested against being made responsible
for the acts of our predecessors. Ramathan made a long
and eloquent speech, in which he expressed on my behalf the
utmost horror at their story. Ramathan said that the white
men who had done these things were bad, and that I was good ;
that they were men of war, while I was a man of peace; that
they were great fighters, and I was a great medicine man. He
promised that I would pay for everything, steal nothing, and
harm no one. He warned them that if they refused to sell
food I should infer that their friends at Karthuri had done the
same, and that therefore the white men were justified in taking
it by force, and I should have to do the same myself. He

CHAP. IX KIKUYU MANNERS 159

assured them that I should be very sorry if this were necessary,
for I liked the people, and thought they were good to work so
hard and plant such big shambas, and were clever to grow so
many different kinds of grain. I fear Ramathan said many
things that I had not authorised, playing on the people’s super-
stitions, and extolling my powers as a great M/ganga or medicine
man. He however assured them that I wished my visit to do
them good and not harm, and if the latter happened it would
be their own fault.

After a long and, to us, anxious shauri, the suspicions of the
Kikuyu were allayed. Omari and Ramathan were made blood-
brothers with the sons of the principal chief, and then permission
was given to the women to sell us food.

They flocked into camp, carrying gourds of flour, baskets
of grain and beans, sheaves of sugar-cane, huge bunches of
bananas, bundles of yams, sweet potatoes (vzwa and viazz),
and maize cobs. With the exception of the sugar-cane we
bought everything they brought us, for we wanted at least
a ton of food, and with people so uncertain as the Kikuyu, a
change in their attitude might come at any moment. In the
afternoon another party of natives appeared on the scene, and
protested against the food being sold to us. There was a
noisy quarrel between the two factions, until our friends gave
way ; then they all withdrew, leaving some warriors to watch
the approaches to the camp, and prevent the women bringing
us supplies by stealth.

Next morning some ulcerated elders came for medicine ; it
was a pleasure to dress the wounds of men who stood pain so
well. A cretin also visited us, and by his hideous appearance
and idiotic ways caused much merriment in camp. ‘But there
was no sign of more food. In the afternoon a party of warriors
brought us some small bundles. This struck us as suspicious,
for trading is usually left to the women; so several men were
kept in hiding in my tent ready for emergencies. At a given
signal the Kikuyu raised a tremendous shout, and each of them
tried to seize something and bolt with it from camp. We
were too quick for them, and they gained nothing of any value.
The son of the chief was in camp at the time, and did not
escape. He was placed under arrest, and told that, in case of
treachery, he would be shot.

160 ACROSS LAIKIPIA PART II

We saw no more natives that day except an old invalid,
who came for medicine, bringing with him a few bananas as a
present. His wants were satisfied, and he was sent back with
the message that our prisoner would not be released until as
much food as we wanted had been brought in. Twice during
the night we heard natives creeping through the grass close to
camp, but the attack which we all expected was not delivered.

It drizzled with rain all night, but Mwini kept us awake
and in good spirits with his merry songs. Next morning the
invalids returned to camp. They came alone, so the rule of
“no food, no medicine” was rigidly enforced, and they went
sadly away. The cretin stayed with us, and I gave him a lump
of salt, which he licked and enjoyed immensely ; he tried to do
some trade with us, offering a rotten potato in exchange for a
rifle, and a banana rind for a spade; finally he tried to run
away with the thermometer screen. The rest of the day was
spent in a three-cornered quarrel between two parties of natives
and ourselves. The situation several times looked serious, but
the Kikuyu knew that if they attacked us the son of their chief
would be the first to suffer.

At last the natives sent a deputation to say they wanted to
make friends again. The deputies came to us with the slow-
ness befitting their dignity as messengers of peace; but they
returned much more quickly. The temptation of an empty
meat tin and some broken bottles was too great; they seized
the coveted articles and fled.

A number of women had come down with loads of food,
which they intended to sell us, as soon as the quarrel should
have been made up. They dropped their goods in terror, and
ran away with the men. We collected their loads and carried
them into camp, amid the wails of the women, who had stopped
on a hillock a few hundred yards away. As soon as they had
recovered from their fright they came to beg for their loads of
food, as they said they had no right to bring them down. We
allowed them to come into camp to identify their bundles, and
told them that if they would persuade their friends to sell us
what we wanted next day, they should be paid for what we
had confiscated. Otherwise we should take it away with us,
and they would get nothing.

The plan answered ; the women used their influence, and

CHAP. IX KIKOUVU PRECAUTIONS 161

the necessary supply of food was brought in on the morrow.
Lomweri and Iyutha, our two blood-brothers, were told to be
ready at dawn next day to guide us through the forests to
Ndoro. When the time came to start, the guides insisted on
delay, and as it was raining, and was bitterly cold, we did not
object. Later on, just as we were starting, a party of warriors,
in full war array, emerged from the woods and marched quickly
towards us. We prepared to receive them, and I led Lomweri
a few paces in front of our line; I levelled my revolver at his
head, and signed to him to order the men to stop. He did so,
and they obeyed at once. Lomweri sat on the ground, and
looked calmly up at me, far less frightened than I should have
been had the muzzle of a powerful revolver been almost touch-
_ing myear. The leader of the warriors came up, and explained
‘that their women were collecting firewood in the forests, and
they were going out to protect them from Masai—a statement
received by the porters with a shout of incredulous laughter.
I remarked that it was only right for women to be protected
during the discharge of their domestic duties, and that we
should be delighted to help in this good work. Extra cartridges
accordingly were served out with the greatest possible ostenta-
tion, and the warriors filed off along a path through the forest.
We waited for some time, and then followed them, marching
with every precaution, and keeping a strict guard upon the
cuides. Progress was therefore slow. At three o’clock the two
Kikuyu led us to a clearing, where they proposed we should
stop for the night. From the point of view of defence, this
place was a model of everything a camp ought not to be. So
we continued our march; we crossed the deep gorge of the
Guaso Thegu, and camped at sunset, on the open plains at the
western foot of Mount Kenya.

M

CHAPTER, -X

ON THE SNOWFIELDS. AND GLACIERS OF KENYA

‘‘ The only two essentials to happiness are a sound digestion and a hard heart.”

‘* There shall he see
No enemy,
But winter and rough weather.”
As You Like ft, ii. 5.

MounrT KENYA was first seen by a European on the 3rd
December 1849, when a break in its veil of clouds enabled Dr.
Ludwig Krapf to discern its snow-capped summit, from a hill
above the Wa-kamba village of Kitui. Krapf admittedly saw
it from a distance of about ninety miles, and though he stayed
in the same district for some weeks he only saw it once, and
then, but for a few minutes at sunset. European geographers,
at this time, were not convinced of the existence of snow on
Kilima Njaro, which had been discovered the year before by
Rebmann. The evidence in the case of this more accessible
mountain was far more definite, and it is therefore not sur-
prising that Krapf’s story was discredited, in spite of his
description of the appropriate emotions that overcame him.
To silence his traducers Krapf returned to the same district
in 1851. He reached Kitui, but Kenya'—as he called the
mountain—was not to be seen. He went forty miles nearer
than on the previous occasion, but in vain. His small caravan
was dispersed by a raiding party of Wa-kamba on the banks of
the Tana, and he had to return to the coast without having

1 The name Kenya was given to the mountain owing to a misunderstanding. The
proper Kikuyu name is Kilinyaga. The Masai call it Doenyo Ebor—the White Moun-
tain; the ‘‘ Wanderobbo’’ Doenyo Egeri—the Spotted Mountain; the Wa-kamba

‘«Njalo,” a term they also apply to Kilima Njaro; and the Zanzibari ‘‘ Meru,’’ a name
accepted in Europe for the peak west of Kilima Njaro,

Cyomsury “py Aq yoayS eB wWo17)

AASPA CLAYS “SSOMVHOVIN FO LSAM SNIVId ALdVM AHL WOW VANAM ‘ILX ‘ON

CHAP, X THE EXPLORATION OF KENYA 163

seen the object of his quest. Hildebrandt followed on Krapf’s
footsteps in 1877, and spent some weeks making botanical
collections in Kitui; but he aiso does not appear to have seen
the mountain,’ and the suspicions as to Krapf’s veracity were
strengthened. It was not seen, indeed, for the second time by
a European until, in 1883, Joseph Thomson saw its western face
across the plateau of Laikipia. The doubts as to the existence
of the mountain had previously been removed by Wakefield and
Denhardt’s collections of the routes of various Arab and Suahili
traders, to whom it was a familiar landmark. Thomson was
the first to give any information about its structure, for he had
the good fortune to enjoy several clear views of the mountain,
from which, with his usual acumen, he correctly concluded
it to be the denuded remnant of an old volcano. This peak,
he tells us, “ without a doubt represents the column of lava which
closed the volcanic life of the mountain. . . . The crater has
been gradually washed away.” ”

Four years later Kenya was visited by Count Teleki. He
camped at Ndoro, marched through the bamboo forests to
the Alpine meadows above, and reached the height of a little
over 13,800 feet. Here the failure of his food supply, and the
sufferings of his men, compelled him to return. Count Teleki’s
account of his ascent gives us the first definite information we
possess about the mountain. He made a small collection of
plants, which proved the occurrence on it of representatives of
the Alpine flora of Kilima Njaro and Abyssinia. Unfortunately
his conclusions as to its structure are less satisfactory. Accord-
ing to Teleki, Kenya is a well-preserved volcano, having a
crater of from 4 to 44 kilometres in diameter, and from 200 to
300 metres in depth,’ while the highest point is only a tooth
on the northern wall. Moreover, from his collections and
descriptions it was concluded that the mountain was a dome of
phonolite, and resemblances were detected between it and the
phonolite peaks of Central Europe.

This was absolutely different from Thomson’s conclusions,
but as it was based on an actual visit to the mountain, and not

Vide Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. new ser. vol. iv. (1882), p. 747, footnote.
Through Masai Land, p. 224.

3 Teleki is perfectly right as to the existence of this hollow ; his actual observations
are all correct as matters of fact ; it is only in his interpretation of those facts that I cannot
follow him.

1
2

1644 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA parti

on a bird’s-eye view of it from a point thirty miles distant, it
was generally accepted. The subsequent expeditions sent out
by the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1889 and
1891 were unable to contribute anything material to our
knowledge of the mountain. Piggott first saw its eastern face
early in 1889, and the three Europeans of the Tana expedition—
Dundas, Bird Thompson, and Hobley—made a determined effort
to ascend it from the south. They failed, however, to penetrate
the whole of the forest zone, and had to return from the height
of 8600 feet. Dr. Peters passed near Kenya in 1889-90
with the German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, and his
companion, Lieut. von Tiedemann, has given a sketch seen
from the south-south-east ; but they were neither of them much
nearer the mountain than Thomson had been. In 1892
Lieut. von Hohnel, who had previously accompanied Count
Teleki, but had been detained by illness in Ndoro during the
latter’s ascent, returned to the district with Mr. Astor Chanler,
who bore the heavy expenses of the expedition. It was hoped
they would together work out the topography of the north-
east side of Kenya, and possibly gain the summit ; they carried
out some most useful explorations in the Daicho region to the
north-east of Kenya, but did not reach the mountain. Their
work was stopped by a series of thrilling adventures ; Lieut. von
Hohnel was seriously injured by a wounded rhinoceros, and later
on the porters mutinied and returned in a body to the coast.

This forms a complete record of previous exploration of
Mount Kenya, so that our knowledge of the mountain is very
limited when compared with that of its great southern rival,
Kilima Njaro. As this is near the coast, and has in fact occa-
sionally been seen from the sea (as e.g. off Melindi in May 1893),
as it is accessible by an easy road, and as its natives were once
friendly, it has been visited by more than a hundred Europeans
and carefully explored. Kilima Njaro has been ascended to the
summit, it has been geologically mapped, and its flora and
fauna described in some detail. In regard to Kenya, however,
our knowledge was most rudimentary. It was not certain
whether it had a well-preserved crater, or whether it was a
volcano in the last stages of decay ; and the estimates of its
height varied from 18,000 feet (Ravenstein) to 23,000 feet
(Peters).

CHAP. X THE RESERVE CAMP 165

I therefore resolved to attempt to reach Kenya to settle
these and other problems connected with it. I assured every
one on the coast that I had no intention of completing the
ascent ; for I guessed from Peters’ photograph that it was not
likely to yield to any one climbing alone, and none of the
Zanzibari could be expected to venture upon the snow.

The preliminary accounts given by Teleki and Hobley of
their attempts to ascend the mountain, showed that the first
difficulty was the traverse of the forests on the lower slopes.
It was advisable, therefore, to select a route which would lead
through these at their narrowest part. The full reports of
these ascents had not been published when I left England, so
I had been careful to engage porters who had accompanied
both expeditions. The descriptions and statements of these
men showed that the forests are narrower on the west than on
the south. They are probably thinnest on the eastern side ;
but from the direction from which we approached, this was
quite inaccessible to us.

On emerging from the forests of western Kikuyu we therefore
marched northward through Ndoro, at a sufficient distance from
the base of Kenya to get a general view of the mountain. At
noon we selected the bay of moorland that seemed to run highest
into the forests, and at its head chose a place for camp.

The rest of that day was spent in a bustle of preparations.
A “zeriba” or “boma” was built to protect the camp, and a
strong shed begun to shelter the stores. Loads were re-sorted,
rations served out for ten days, and reserve food packed.
Twice Omari and I went through the baggage, to pick out
things that could possibly be left behind. My own kit was cut
down to the lowest possible limit, though I took all available
clothing to lend to the men.

Our camp here was at the foot of the mountain—in fact a
few hundred feet up its lowest slope; but we could not see it,
for an impenetrable mist obscured everything. Luckily for us,
however, the mist dispersed for a few minutes at sunset. I was
thus able to take a bearing of the summit, to note the direction
of the valleys and ridges that lead to it, and to plan a route
by which to traverse the forests to the peaks above.

At eight o’clock next morning (24th June) all was ready.
The men paraded, and the twelve chosen for the expedition were

166 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA part u

called out. Loads were given them, and without allowing any
time for discussion or murmurs, Omari led the way out of camp.
I kept in the rear to prevent dawdling or desertion ; for the mén
who had been with Dundas and Hobley, in their attempted
ascent from the south, told such pitiful tales of their sufferings,
that the porters were loth to enter the dreaded forests. We
plunged into these almost immediately, and found they con-
sisted of lofty junipers and Podocarpus rising from a matted
undergrowth of bush and shrubs. We forced a_ passage
through the jungle and startled a pack of monkeys (Colobus
occidentalis, Rochb.), whose long black and white fur so closely
resembled the Beardmoss ( Uszea) on the trees, that they were un-
recognisable at a very short distance. By watching the men in
front of me, and listening to the noise made by the leaders as
they lopped off branches or trampled down the undergrowth,
I could estimate and guide the direction of our line of march.
After passing for two hours through level forest, we came to the
foot of the ridge by which I had resolved to make the ascent.
It was low and broad and we easily reached its summit, and
followed along it to the east-north-east.

In the afternoon we found a swamp in a hollow, on the
flank of the ridge. It was fringed by the common English
rush (Juncus effusus, L.) and reed-mace (7ypha angustifolia, L.),
while dense clumps of tall bamboos were scattered over the
hillside above. These clumps rapidly increased both in
number and size, till they united into a continuous belt which
seemed to bar our further progress. It had been drizzling
ever since we entered the forests, and as the rain now
increased to a steady downpour, we pitched camp under some
lofty Podocarpus trees. I spent the rest of the day collecting
the snails and slugs which lived in the damp undergrowth.
The rain continued all night, and at daybreak next morning
a cold raw mist lay around us. We waited for a couple of
hours for this to lift, but as there seemed no prospect of it
doing so, we resumed our march. At first an elephant track
ran past our camp, and we followed it through the jungle until
it left the crest of the ridge, and ran down the slope toward
the roaring torrent in the valley below. This was out of our
way, and we had to cut a path through the jungle. The
work from this point was the most trying I have ever ex-

CHAP. X DE ORL Sia BES Te 167

perienced. The bamboos are usually about 40 feet in height
and from 2 to 3 inches in diameter, and are often packed
together so closely that it is impossible to force a way between
them. At the height of from 10 to 15 feet from the ground
they branch repeatedly, and their long grass-like leaves interlace
into a dense canopy of vegetation. Above this the trees give
off broad-spreading branches, which are connected by lianas
and other climbing plants into a second roof of vegetation. A
mist hung over the forests during the whole time we were in
them, and kept the vegetation sodden with moisture, and made
the mossy soil as saturated as a sponge.

Through this dark and dismal forest we had to force a
way. Occasionally an elephant path would run in our direction,
and we could then make comparatively rapid progress, delaying
only to lop off the lower branches of the bamboos, to cut
through fallen stems, or to climb over dead tree trunks. The
elephants, however, did not obey the rules of mountaineering,
and their tracks soon ran down into the valleys, so that most
of the way we had to cut a path step by step. Every blow of
our matlocks upon the bamboos shook the sodden canopy
overhead, and continual shower-baths of water kept us wet
and miserable. My clothes were soon soaked through, while
the raw, damp cold chilled the porters to the marrow. We
had to stop every hour to light fires to warm them, and even
then they found the climate almost unbearable, and one or two
cried like children.

We trusted by hard work to traverse the forest belt in two
days, for I was anxious to spend only one night within it.
But, as we soon saw, this hope was vain. On the evening of
the second day we had to pitch camp on a slope, where
the bamboos were so dense that we had to clear every foot
of ground we wanted, while it was so swampy, that we
had to spread out the bamboos as a platform on which to
support the tents. I went some distance farther, to try to find
a better place, and so knew that we were still in the heart of
the bamboo zone; but even then I was not prepared for the
revelation made by the boiling - point thermometers in the
evening, that, despite all our efforts, we had only risen 1700
feet in two days. Determined not to lose a moment’s time next
morning, Omari, Fundi, and I went ahead at daybreak to cut

168 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA Part il

the path, leaving the porters to follow as soon as it had become
less cold. We made a desperate effort to get out of the forests,
but when night fell we were still within them, and the bamboos
as thick as ever. We were so exhausted that, when the order
to camp was given, we, all lay down where we stood; and it
was not till some time afterwards that we could rouse ourselves
to light fires and prepare food. So far the work had been
simply miserable. We had not once seen or felt the sun
since we left the meadows of Laikipia. We had never once»
seen more than 20 yards ahead, and it was only rarely that
we could see up to the tree tops. The natural history had
also been disappointing. Of vegetation there was enough and
to spare; but the species were few, and the plants so sodden
with moisture that I could not press them; the bamboos were
especially irritating, for I could not find a single flower or
fruit, and thus it has been impossible to determine the genus
to which they belong. Many animals were not to be expected,
and we only saw one pack of monkeys, some red-breasted
birds rather larger than robins, many slugs and snails, and a
few insects. At night we heard the shrill cry of a cony
(Procavia shoana, Gigl.), of which I found a skull.

On the morning of the fourth day, however, there came a
welcome change. While cutting a way through the bamboos
we suddenly stumbled upon a block of lava (andesite). I was
delighted to see it, for I had not previously seen as much
as a pebble since we left Laikipia. As I examined it, my
interest was roused; for its grooved and rounded surface
suggested that it had been carried to its present position by
ice. The denseness of the jungle, however, prevented any
further evidences being obtained here, and I was accordingly
all the more delighted when shortly afterwards we entered a
clearing, and through the mist dimly discerned a high rocky
ridge a little distance above us. With a cheer we hurried
forward. The bamboos became smaller and scarcer, and were
soon left behind. The forests gave place to scattered clumps
of trees, and the rank undergrowth to a firm rich turf; the
long monotonous slope broke up into a belt of undulating
ground, which, with its numerous swampy, mossy hollows,
its irregularly scattered boulders, and its stiff, greasy clay,
reminded me of a glacial moraine. The men threw down their

CHAP. X THE ALPINE MEADOWS 169

loads and basked in the sunshine, while I examined the sections
in the stream banks, and collected the flowers on the meadows.
Many of these were old friends. There were clover and black-
berry, dandelions and bitter-cress (Cardamine, sp.) Some
silvery gray bushes about 6 feet in height, which clothed the
hillside, proved to be an arborescent form of that most typical
of Alpine meadow plants, the Lady’s Mantle (Adchemitla).
These plants were associated with others, such as the gladiolus,
ewvhich I knew only in gardens, and others, such as a tree-lobelia,
which were of a type quite new to me. I also caught some
specimens of a common English butterfly, the Clouded Yellow
(Colias edusa, Linn.)

An hour passed all too quickly, and then some rising
clouds warned us to hasten on to camp. Immediately
after we had started we surprised, and were surprised by, a
small antelope (a bush-buck). It made no effort to run away,
but stood and watched us, until a bullet from Omari’s Snider
cut up the ground beside it. The path cutting had so unsteadied
my hand, that I preferred to leave the responsibility of the shot
to some one else.

Above us rose a steep wall of rock, up the face of which
ran an elephant path. While scrambling up this the storm
broke upon us, and my men were alarmed by the appearance
of hail and sleet. Fortunately some of them had seen hail in
Kavirondo, and on the summit of Mau, and they were therefore
not as much startled by the sleet as they might otherwise have
been.

The men faced the storm most pluckily, but as we ascended
the slope it became much more severe, and I went on ahead to
select a place for camp. I was recalled by a signal-shot, and
found that the porters had collapsed on a half- frozen peat
swamp. They were crouching under the lee of boulders and
bushes for shelter from the driving sleet. A few of the stoutest
put up the tents, and I went on again to find a better place
for the permanent camp, as I intended to leave the men here
while I went higher up the mountain. On my return I found
that one of the porters had not come in. The Askari, who
were responsible for his safety, as it was their duty to see that
no one lagged behind, and my plucky headman had all tried
to go back to the rescue, but had been unable to face the

170 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA PaRT

storm. The missing porter was a man named Wadi Sadi,
whom I had especially chosen to join the party ; for he was a
sailor, and thus might have been expected to be a good climber ;
moreover he was the lightest man in the caravan.

I was therefore disappointed to hear that he was lost, for
it showed he was useless for the work for which he had been
chosen. I rushed back at once; but as the snow had hidden
our trail, I missed it, and had to search for an hour before I
found him. He was lying on his load about 300 feet below
the level of the camp; he was covered with snow and nearly
frozen to death. A little brandy revived him, but he was too
weak to stand. As it was still snowing it would have been
useless to have returned for help, for the porters were so cowed
that they would have refused to move. I recollected that
Wadi weighed less than the burdens some of my men had to
bear all day long, so I resolved to carry him. He was able to
cling to my back, and slowly, and with many halts, I struggled
with him up the slope. If the porter had left his load when
he first became too weak to carry it, he could no doubt have
walked on with the others. I thought his action in staying
out in the snow with it simply Quixotic, and, annoyed at the
trouble it had given me, I rather brutally told him next morn-
ing that he was a fool. It is a point of honour among Zanzibari
never to leave their loads, and I shall not forget the man’s
reproachful look as he asked, “How could I leave my load
without my master’s orders to do so?”

Another trait in the Zanzibari character was shown at
the same camp. In the morning the men came to tell me
that the water they had left in their cooking-pots was all
bewitched. They said it was white, and would not shake; the
adventurous Fundi had even hit it with a stick, which would
not goin. They begged me to look at it, and I told them to
bring ittome. They declined, however, to touch it, and implored
me to go to it. The water of course had frozen solid. I
handled the ice and told the men they were silly to be afraid
of it, for this change always came over water on the tops of
high mountains. I put one of the pots on the fire, and pre-
dicted it would soon turn again into water. The men sat
round and anxiously watched it; when it had melted they
joyfully told me that the demon was expelled, and I told them

”

—_—

‘ASPLI ay} UO azeraWIO[SSe Jo SBvid ay} JO 19}[ays tapun payord sem duro yaaj ooz‘Exr ayy,
*puinoasatoj ay} Ul 1n990 YyZvay puL “eUuLIIOSaIx) vI[aqo'T ‘stsuaXuay o1oauas

(‘VANAY NO ‘La oco‘Er *L1Vy)
“ILE 950g ‘“AUTIVA THNHOH HHL NI MIA ‘IITX ‘ON

Ree eS

. * ‘ wiles
a i o Me caly He % ‘

ise kee : cee :

PF Sea an PE RS isc i SO hia ee a ee aca aae Be

CHAP, X THE GIANT GROUNDSELS I7I

they could now use the water; but as soon as my back was
turned they poured it away, and refilled their pots from an
adjoining brook.

We moved camp next day to a drier and more protected
situation, where we left the invalids. My tent was carried to a
point 1700 feet higher up. We had to march for some time
across a peat bog, over which we made fair progress, until the
crust thawed ; after this we were for most of the time plunged
to the waist in half-frozen peat. Dragging the loads through
this was terribly fatiguing ; and a depressing sleet, which some-
times passed into rain and sometimes into snow, added to our
discomfort and obscured the view. After escaping from the
bog, we reached the crest of a ridge. We found there a
sheltered nook amid some crags of agglomerate, at a place
where a grove of giant groundsels and tree lobelias supplied
abundant firewood. The men begged that we might go no
farther, and I was only too willing to grant their request.
They put up the tent, and then, all but my cook, my personal
attendant, Fundi, and a porter who was too weak to return,
went back to the lower camp.

From this point I made a series of excursions to work out
the topography and geology of the ridges of the mountain.

In order that the account of the excursions among the
central peaks of Kenya may be understood, it is necessary to
give a short sketch of the topography of this part of the moun-
tain, and of the nomenclature of its peaks, valleys, and lakes.
For more detailed information reference must be given to the
descriptions in the Geographical Journal and Quarterly Journal
of the Geological Society.’ As it is impossible to describe the
mountain without names, some have had to be invented. I
should not, of course, think of applying European terms to
places for which native names are already in existence ; but
in a locality where there are no names, there can be no reason-
able objection to proposing them.

Several names are obvious. The valley in which Teleki
built his boma, and reached his highest point, it is natural to
callthe Teleki Valley. The name of this courageous Hungarian

1 J. W. Gregory, ‘‘ Contributions to the Physical Geography of British East Africa,”’
Geog. Journ. vol. iv. pp. 413-421; ‘‘ The Glacial Geology of Mount Kenya,” Quart.
Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. i. pp. 515-530.

972 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA part

explorer may also be conveniently applied to the two lakes on
the floor of this valley, and to the ridge at its head. To the
south of the Teleki Ridge is a peak 15,800 feet in height, which

>
2
S
ww
a

Summit
Typo. Etching Co. Sc.

SS

~
255 A
yy

SS

cefall

Old I

aS
: = “NS is r 7
ll \

me

yy
L
3
Z
Sk

Glacier.

mnt!

AUS

Wau
ysl
if
Uf,

= §
2

y)}
fl
ern,

YL
Mf

SHY LLM

id

wi
uh H

SS

Hh

Ki!
Mi

Y

/

x
S
k,
3
3
x
3
SS
N

4

GZ N

i WONUS
iy
1
f

Ly

Ny
Nii
b7/;,
My

i

}
Hh

YY
Mi
Fic. 4.—The South-Western Quadrant of the Central Part of Kenya.

.. Moraines.

Scale of 1 Mile.

MT KENYA.

MAP oF S. W. SLOPES Nai

of CENTRAL SUMMIT of

is an important landmark. It can be clearly recognised in the
sketch made by von Héhnel from Ndoro, and may therefore
be called Mount Hohnel. The name of this accomplished carto-
grapher may also be applied to a lake in a cirque upon this
mountain, and to the valley down which flows the strearh which

CHAP. X TE LEGWILS GLACIER 173

rises in this lake. To the south of the Héhnel Valley is the
head stream of the Guaso Mairi, and the valley may therefore
be named after this river. For the main valley on the south
side of the mountain I propose the name of the Hobley Valley,
as it is probably the one which the British East Africa Com-
pany’s expedition would have entered had it traversed the
whole of the forest zone. The tarns upon the floor of this
valley I beg to call after Mr. W. Bird Thompson, the caravan
leader of that expedition. When we come to the glaciers and
the central peak the names are not so obvious. The actual
peak consists of five pyramids, viz. the double central peak, two
large aiguilles which tower above the Lewis Glacier, and a sharp
triangular peak on the western aréte. The last, 17,500 feet
in height, I named Point Piggott, after the last Administrator
of the British East Africa Company. The glaciers are on the
south-western quadrant of the mountain. There are none to
the south-east, and I could not see any to the north-west, though
they may occur there, having been hidden by clouds at the
time when I might otherwise have seen them. The principal
glacier is on the south side of the mountain, and to it I gave
the name of the Lewis Glacier, out of respect to the late Henry
Carvell Lewis, whose brilliant researches have thrown so much
light on glacial problems in England and America. The other
glaciers are the Tyndal Glacier on the west side of the
mountain (Pl. XVII.), and the Darwin Glacier in the valley
between the other two. The latter was so named as we owe
to Darwin the first precise description of a glacial valley in
England. The Heim and Forel Glaciers are two small corrie
glaciers on the western face, which were named as they proved
very useful in surveying. The limits of the three valley glaciers
were marked by moraines.

The most interesting excursion made from the camp on the
agglomerate ridge was the ascent of Mount Hohnel. I took
with me my favourite porter, Fundi Mabruk, who was especially
useful, as he had accompanied Teleki during his visit to Kenya
and had been with him to the highest point then reached. We
crossed the Hoéhnel Valley, and up a cwm, which from the fine
crags of phonolite at its head I called Phonolite Cwm. This
led us to the Teleki Valley, which we followed to a col leading
south-eastward to Lake Hohnel. From this point we climbed

174 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA Parti

the western ridge; this was at first very easy, but we soon
came to a part where the aréte was steeper, and broken by a
series of lava cliffs. We could easily have avoided these, but
they were very easy, and so, to test my companion’s climbing
powers, I resolved to scale them. Fundi did not like the look
of the cliffs, but after a little persuasion he consented to be
roped, and I went ahead up a gully. Having taken my
position I had another little argument with Fundi, accompany-
ing it by a few gentle pulls on the rope. Thus exhorted he
climbed up about 10 feet, but his foothold having once given
way, he was useless. I had to lower him to the bottom, and
nothing would induce him to try it again. “That is all very
well for wajuzi (lizards) and Wazungu (white men), but Zanzi-
bari-can’t do that,” was his verdict. “ Youd better come back,
master,” he cried; “I promised to follow you anywhere, but
how can I, when the path stands up on end?” He would not
come on, so there was nothing for it but to order “ fungua”
(unrope), and continue the climb alone. At several places
vertical lava walls barred progress on the crest, and I finally
gained the summit from the south-eastern aréte, which I had
reached by a traverse. I rested here a while to examine the
ridges round this peak, and to consider the various possible
lines of attack upon the central summit. This rose abruptly
as a great black pyramid from the snowfields and glaciers at
its base. The face opposite me was so steep that the snow
only rested on it in cracks and hollows, and down gullies.
There was not a cloud upon it, but here and there a streak
of wind-borne snow-dust softened the harsh form of the rocks
and the dazzling lines of snow. It was so delightful to sit
upon the summit of the one peak, estimating the advantages
offered by the different lines of attack upon the other, and
comparing it with old Alpine friends, that I paid no heed to
the clouds creeping up the valleys from the west. I stayed on
the summit till they had reached me, and robbed me of the
view. Then, in order to obtain a fuller series of exposures
of the succession of beds of lavas and volcanic ashes, of
which Mount Hohnel is composed, than I had seen during
the. ascent, I began to descend its western face toward the
lake.

The climbing was at first rather difficult, as the face of the

ply aS ‘IHNHOH LNOOW JO LUNAS AHL WOW VANAM JO LINWAS TVALNAO AHL “AIX ‘ON

CHAP. X UNGTEES TELE, VALLEY 175

mountain consists of a series of almost vertical lava cliffs,
separated by slopes of volcanic ash and talus. The snow on
the ledges was in a very unstable condition, and rendered the
traverses along them highly interesting. Had there not been
good hitching points for the rope, it would have been risky.
Owing to the mist, it was impossible to see ahead and select
the best way down, and I was often compelled to retrace my
steps, and strike out blindly in a fresh direction, throwing
stones ahead to obtain warning of my approach to the next
cliff of lava. I was, therefore, not sorry when the snow was
restricted to mere patches, and the slope became more gradual
and passed into the swampy meadows beside the lake.

Some dead lobelias supplied wood for a fire, on which I
boiled my thermometers, and warmed some beans. Meanwhile
I sketched the outline of the lake, and examined the glaciated
boulder-strewn barrier that supports it. Then, refreshed by the
food and rest, I crossed the ridge on the southern side of the
Hohnel valley, and collected in the valley to the south, till
gathering clouds and approaching sunset warned me to return
to camp.

The camp on the ridge of agglomerate was too far from
the glaciers and the central peak to be of any use as a centre
for excursions upon them. Fundi Mabruk, a young porter
named Yussuf, and I therefore carried one of the men’s small
shelter tents and a few stores to the Teleki Valley. We
pitched our diminutive camp under the shelter of some
groundsel trees, a few hundred yards from Teleki’s highest
point, and near some old glacial moraines, which ran across
the valley like railway embankments. My first excursion
from this point was spoiled by a slight attack of mountain
sickness. As this occurred at only the elevation of a little
under 15,000 feet, I was surprised and disappointed. I did
not like to confess this to Fundi, as it seemed safer to keep
him in absolute ignorance of the existence of this malady.
I therefore became absorbingly interested in the study of a
coarse block of lava, one part of which happened to form a
comfortable seat. Shortly afterwards the usual afternoon snow-
storm broke upon us, and I was glad of this excuse to return
to camp. The attack was very slight, I soon recovered, and
suffered no more inconvenience, except undue fatigue.

176 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA Parti

Next day I intended to begin the exploration of the
glaciers. I was especially anxious to measure their rate of
flow, for which purpose it was necessary to put up a line of
stakes across one of them. As it would not be fair to expect
any one to attempt snow-work in bare feet, I] had brought up
a reserve pair of boots and leggings, which I tried to persuade
Fundi to wear. He put on the boots—under protest, but
absolutely refused to keep them on. As he also declined to
allow me to put nails into the soles of his feet (his hide would
probably have held them), I had sadly to reconcile myself to the
knowledge that whatever snow-work was necessary would have
to be done alone. Being anxious to start before daybreak, at
sunset we wrapped ourselves up in our blankets and lay down
on our improvised mattresses of Alchemilla bush. The snow-
storm, instead of stopping at its usual time, increased in severity,
and such a furious gale of wind swept down the valley, that I
thought several times the tent would be blown away. At
about two in the morning we were alarmed by the’rush and
whistle of slipping snow ; with a crash the wall of turf and stone
we had: built’ above the camp fell” in upon. the’ tent. «+The
doorway was blocked by snow and earth, but a desperate jerk
tore up the loosened tent-pegs, and we sprang out into the storm
to examine, as well as the blinding snowstorm would permit us,
the exact extent of the peril. The slip, however, had stopped,
though it had covered our tent ground, and buried the few
things and food we had with us. » There was no danger, but
it was impossible to light a fire or repitch the tent in the
darkness and the storm, and there was nothing for it but
to jump about, wrapped up in our blankets, to keep ourselves
alive until the morning. The two Zanzibari suffered terribly,
which, as the thermometer marked 28° below freezing,
was not surprising. My boy Yussuf simply sobbed with the
cold. The more stolid Fundi, in answer to my exhortations
to cheer up, as the sun was coming, when we should all be
warm, only replied with his usual fatalism, “ Yes, it will come,

1 Tt should be pointed out that this was not the proper air temperature. The ther-
mometer was simply slung on my ice axe, and not properly protected from the wind.
The instrument was an ordinary bath thermometer that had been given me by Mr.
Ainsworth, as none of my thermometers were graduated below 40° F. ‘The instrument
was broken on the return journey, and so its index error could not be verified. Meyer,

however, in the warm season recorded a temperature of 10.6° F., at an elevation of 14,200
feet, on Kilima Njaro (Ostafrikanische Gletscherfahrten, 1890, p. 165).

No. XV. THE LEWIS GLACIER. Page 176.

ry me
- - _
3“ 2h ee So

- ”

i;
' *
‘ '
i 5 a
a... ae
a 3
- pea Se4G cc

y2

CHAP. X ON THE GEACIERS AT LAST E77,

and Inshallah (God pleasing), we shall be alive when it does
come.”

This little accident put an end to my hopes of starting
before daylight. It was not till some time after sunrise that
we felt sufficiently warmed to face the cold wind that swept
down the valley. Breakfast was impossible, as our food was
buried in the snow-drift, but I had long since ceased to regard
this meal as a necessity. Leaving Yussuf to look after the
camp, Fundi and I hurried along the valley to the foot of the
old cliff, which must have marked the site of an icefall in
the old glacier. Here the valley bent abruptly to the north.
We climbed the cliff, and then, turning again to the east,
toiled up a long tiring slope, covered with moraine. Numerous
dead lobelia stems lay on this, though there were none then
living at this elevation. We crossed some dykes of phonolite,
and scrambled up some rocks, over which the stream from the
glacier plunged in a series of leaps. Above this we reached a
platform, upon which rested the end (or snout) of the Lewis
glacier. I was greatly interested to find here a series of five
small concentric moraines, the
uppermost of which has been
broken through by the glacier,
so that it is now re-advancing.
I rested on the edge of the plat-
form, to sketch the moraines
and wait for Fundi. That
morning he was weak and ill,
but he plodded steadily, though
painfully, upward. He had often
talked to me about the great
white fields he had seen with
Dachi-tumbo (Teleki), and how
bitterly disappointed he had
been at not reaching them. : z
He had taken a keen personal —====S2=_—_— LIE
interest in this expedition, and FIG. 5.—Terminal Moraines of the

eo : Lewis Glacier.
his influence with the men had
been most useful. I therefore waited for him to pass me, that
he might be the first man to set foot on the glaciers of Kenya.
He came up, laid his load upon the ground, kicked off his
N

178 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA _ Part it

zebra-hide sandals, and mounted upon a boulder. Then, with
his hands together before him, he began to pray. I could not
understand all he said, but sufficient to know that he thanked
Allah for having enabled him to come where neither native
nor white man had ever been before, and to stand on the edge
of the great white fields he had seen with Dachi-tumbo from
afar. He assured Allah that he was now more anxious
to return in safety to the coast than he had ever been
before, so that he might tell his friends of the wonders he had
seen.

After the prayer was over, I told Fundi to go on to the
glacier. He went a few steps farther, and then, with a pleading
look, said, “No farther, master ; it:is too white.”

There we lighted a fire, and boiled the thermometers,
obtaining data which placed the altitude at 15,580 feet. As
soon as the instruments had cooled, I prepared to continue the
ascent. But Fundi, whose curiosity was now satisfied, begged
to be allowed to return. He complained that his head was
aching, that his stomach was very bad, that he felt very sick,
and that his legs would not do what he told them. It was
obvious he was suffering from mountain sickness, and it was
not fair to take him farther. I therefore added his share of the
load of instruments, firewood, and “ pitons” (or pegs on which
to fasten the rope) to my own, and let him go back. Before
doing so, I fear I completely ruined any reputation for sanity
I might have had left, by executing a Masai war-dance on
the snout of the glacier, and then pelting Fundi with -snow-
balls.

I had hoped to ascend by the right moraine of the glacier,
but this was too risky, owing to the falls of snow and rock
that thundered down on to it from the face of the cliffs on the
north. I was therefore obliged to.continue along the left or
south moraine, until above the icefall of the glacier. The snow-
field here extended to the south, and as it would have taken
too*much time to. skirt it, I risked a traverse across to the
main south aréte of the mountain. The snow was in fairly
good condition ; and the few crevasses were marked by “ droop,”
and so could be avoided if not easily crossed. The ascent along
the aréte was less easy. The ridge rose gently till it reached
the point above a cliff, which stands out in the middle of the

No. XVI. FUNDI’S PRAYER. Page 178.

er > ae r
SY ia ne en, ee a
ae ace

CHAP, X ON THE SOUTHERN ARETE 179

glacier. On both sides of this the ice was thin and very rotten.
Numerous rocks jutted above its surface, and hitching the rope
over these gave me sufficient confidence to proceed. As soon
as the aréte was clear of the rocks, it became sharper and
steeper. It was bare of snow, for it was fully exposed to the
west, and was thus windswept. It sloped steeply on the left
to the “ bergschrund,” which had prevented me from reaching
the aréte on the north side of the rocks. The ice, however,
was firm, but intensely hard. My ice-axe was too light for
the work, and thus step-cutting was even more fatiguing than
it would otherwise have been. About this time I became
rather sleepy, and so tired that I could only go a few steps at
atime. To lighten my burden I tied most of it into a bundle
and fixed it to a peg in the ice, carrying on with me only a
little firewood and a couple of instruments without their cases.
I took one of the boiling-point thermometers out of its brass
tube, and carried it fastened into my pith helmet. An accident
to it would have detracted from the value of my long series
of altitude determinations, and left me dependent on only one
instrument ; but though I was quite conscious of this, I some-
how felt strangely indifferent to the risk of an accident, which
would have distressed me deeply.

As.I approached the rocks of the central peak the crest of
the ice became broken. An occasional traverse was necessary
round pillars or “seracs” of ice, and it became quite clear
that I could not go much farther. I persevered, however, for
_ though it was hopeless single-handed to reach the summit, I
was afixious to ascend a couple of hundred feet higher, when
it would have been possible to make a traverse on to the main
eastern aréte, and gain a view over the north-eastern part of
the mountain. But as I approached the rocks the ice again
became snow-covered. The slope to the left was less steep
than it had been, but the snow was in too bad a condition to
be crossed alone. A few yards farther up a snow cornice
overhung the cliff to the east. This might have supported me
then, but it possibly would not have done so on my return later
in the day. I recalled an unpleasant memory of an April
afternoon spent on a ledge in the Cottian Alps, waiting till the
cold of night should harden some snow I had safely crossed
in the morning. I had no desire to repeat this experience,

160, LHE SNOWRIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA “PARTM

and there was nothing for it but to return, especially as the
afternoon snowstorm was blowing up from the west.

I therefore worked back to the nearest rock, and tried to
light a fire to boil the thermometer. But the wood was damp
and would not burn, though I kept on trying till I had used
up my last match.

The storm broke before I had got off the aréte, and as it
had buried my footmarks I did not care to risk crossing the
glacier again, for the ice in the neighbourhood of the cliffs was
much crevassed. I kept along the crest to a col at the height
of 16,600 feet, which leads over to the Hobley Valley. I stayed
for a few minutes to pile some of the blocks of coarse rhyolite
that occur there into a small stone man, under which I left
a note of the date of the ascent, and then ran down the Lewis
glacier moraine to camp, reaching it, very exhausted, two hours
before sunset. The fact that I ordered “fannya jocula tiari”
(make food ready), as soon as I was within shouting distance,
and settled down at once to as hearty a meal as I dared make,
seemed to relieve my men considerably ;* but I could estimate,
from the anxious way they watched me, their deep concern for
my mental welfare.

Next day I made another attempt by the western aréte,
hoping that, as this was all rock work, I should be less handi-
capped by going alone. I ascended the ridge that forms the
north wall of the Teleki Valley, and continued along this until
I came to a depression which, from the existence of two lake-
lets on the summit, I have called Two Tarn Col. From this
point I had my last view of the snowfields of Kenya, though
I was among them for the rest of that day, and was within
range of view of the mountain for a month afterwards. Just
before sunset that evening a rift in the clouds gave me for
three minutes a view of the double-peaked summit, but with
that brief exception I never saw it again. The clouds buried
it the whole time, and prevented my obtaining a single bearing
by which to help in the determination of its position.

This last view, however, was perhaps the best. At my feet,
in a deep valley, lay the snow-covered and crevassed Tyndal
Glacier, beyond which rose the steep western face of the final

1 These storms greatly increased the difficulties of climbing on Kenya. They occurred
every afternoon, and spoilt a terribly high proportion of the twelve hours of daylight.

No. XVII. THE WESTERN ARETE OF MOUNT KENYA. Page 180.

Wit Point PicGorr AND THE TYNDAL GLACIER.

CHAP. X THE WESTERN ARETE 181

peak. Unlike the southern side this was almost entirely
covered by snow and ice, and on it rested two small corrie
glaciers (the Heim and Forel) supported upon ledges, the
larger of them ending in a cliff of ice from two to three
hundred feet in height. Huge masses frequently break off
from the ends of both of these, and fall with a crash on to
the margin of the Tyndal Glacier below, where they accumu-
late as fan-shaped piles of ice.

To the north rose the steep pyramidal peak of Point
Piggott, separated by a depression from the western aréte of
the mountain. This ridge ends to the south as a cliff, which
forms the northern boundary of the basin of the Tyndal Glacier.
Couloirs of snow occur in places along it, and one at least of
these might be practicable for a full-sized party, but a yawning
bergschrund separated the glacier from the névé fields at the
foot of the cliff.

I hoped, however, that the northern face of this ridge would
be easier, and resolved to work round the western and northern
sides of Point Piggott, and thus gain the depression between
it and the central peak.

A rough scramble over a slope, covered with a mixture of
snow and talus, took me on to the western edge of Point
Piggott ; but a mist covered the ridges to the north, and thus
I was disappointed of my view in this direction. It also drove
me farther than I had intended up Point Piggott, before begin-
ning to work round its northern face. During this traverse
I cantinued to ascend, until I must have been level with the
“breche” or depression which I hoped to reach, but the mist
prevented my determining my exact position. I was at length
stopped, at a height of probably about 17,200 feet, little below
that gained on the southern aréte, by some cliffs which it was
hopeless to attempt to scale ; I tried to turn them by a traverse
at a slightly lower level, which the loose snow made rather
uncomfortable, though I had always plenty of hitching-points
for the rope. Progress was very slow, and I could not see
that the daily snowstorm was blowing up earlier than usual.
My retreat was too late; the storm broke while I was still
on the northern face of the peak, and rendered some rocks
I had skipped over in the ascent quite impassable. I had
to descend a gully in order to try to reach some less steeply

182 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA partu

inclined snow lower down; this, however, was so powdery that
I could not cross it, and had to continue down the north face,
which, but for the rope, I could not have done. In consequence
of this I missed some sheets of paper which I had left in the
morning in order to guide me on my return, entered the wrong
valley, and did not get back to camp till three hours after dark.
Here the news was awaiting me that my men at the lower
camp were ill, and also a request to descend next morning to
attend to them.

The cold at night was intense, for the sky was clear and
cloudless, and an icy wind from the snowfields whistled among
the crags beside the camp. Personally I revel in cold, so I
gaily tripped out of my tent to read the thermometer ; but
on that occasion it was too much for me, and I was glad
to get back again to my blanket- bag, covering my retreat
by depreciatory comments on the value of meteorological
observations.

The night was followed by a wet day. I sent the men
down with the goods to the lower camp, and remained behind
for a short time with an Askari to collect in the Hohnel
Valley. While doing so it began to snow ; and when we began
the descent, we entered first a cold drizzling mist, and then
heavy rain. The Askari delayed progress, for he walked rather
slowly, and had a great dread of being lost. Whenever I got
a few yards ahead of him, and he lost sight of me in the mist, he
would shout excitedly, “ Zhuia! bwana, zhuia!” (Stop! master,
stop!) The first time he did so I obeyed at once, thinking
that I was rushing headlong over a precipice. His only reply
to my startled inquiry, “Kumbé?” (What’s the matter?) was
a moan, “Ah! bwana! I wish I had never left Zanzibar.”
The first time he did this, I thanked him for the information.
On the second occasion, I reminded him he had told me so
before. Next time I tried to soothe him with the remark that
I was glad he had, as I had thereby obtained the benefit of his
services. On the fourth repetition, however, I heartily agreed
with him, and suggested that the quicker he walked the sooner
he would be back in his beloved island home. I was, however,
always compelled to stop for him, for as soon as I disappeared
from sight in the fog his cries became most pathetic ; but my
remarks on the subject need not be chronicled. Shortly after

CHAP. X A LITTLE LEARNING 183

this I also began to wish myself in Zanzibar. Instead of
following round the rocks on the edge of the valley, I resolved
on taking a short cut across the peat swamps. The walking
was very bad, but the compass led us straight to a huge
boulder, on which had been erected a small stone man, as a
guide to the position of the camp. In five minutes we ought
easily to have reached it, but as we did not see it, we shouted.
There was no answer, so we went on again for another five
minutes, and then for another, but we could see no sign of the
camp. As we knew we were now below the right level, we
returned on our tracks. I made excursions on either side, as
far as the limit of shouting distance of the Zanzibari, but we
got back to the stone man without finding any trace of the
camp. By taking care and using the compass, we easily found
our way to some heaps of ashes and layers of cut bushes,
which marked the site of our encampment. It had clearly
been deserted for some time. My companion was in despair,
while I was greatly alarmed ; for I knew Omari would never
have moved camp without permission, except under very
extreme circumstances. I told the Askari he could come with
me at my pace, or follow by himself at his own, and having
found the trail followed as quickly as possible along it. It
was not always easy to find, for the spongy peat soon closed
up and obliterated the footprints.

At length we reached the upper edge of the forests. We
knew that if we once lost the trail, amid the woody shrubs on
its. border, it would be hopeless to find it again, so we took
turns at going on hands and knees to track it beneath the
bushes. It was not till close upon six o’clock that we heard
the report of a rifle. We ran toward it, expecting to find it
had been fired by a search party. To our relief we found it
was a signal from camp.

Omari came forward at once to welcome me, and express
his regret at the illness of the men. He offered no explanation
of the change of camping-ground, so I angrily asked for one.
It then transpired that my cook, who had been taught writing
in a mission school, had put his knowledge into practice by
forging a letter in my name, telling the headman to go back,
and that I would follow slowly afterwards. I found when I
got back to the coast that the man was an adept in the art,

184 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA PARTI

for he had scored some successes, and made one failure, in
forging cheques in Mombasa. But for Omari’s good sense in
stopping at the entrance to the forests, I should certainly have
spent a night in the open, foodless, and in the pouring rain.

My first impulse was to keep the men in camp here for
a few days, while I returned to continue mapping and collecting
in the higher zones. But the men were suffering so much from
the exposure, that I did not think this fair to them. They
nearly all had chilblains and mountain sickness ; some of them
were badly frost-bitten, and there were two cases of haemorrhage
from the lungs. This was so severe that the milder remedies
proved useless, and it only yielded to hypodermic injections of
ergot. I was so much alarmed at the condition of the men,-
that I felt bound to remove them as quickly as possible to a
less Arctic climate. Though very loth to leave the mountain,
I felt now justified in doing so, as I had accomplished the four
main objects of my visit, which were to collect representatives
of the fauna and flora of the different zones, determine the
geological structure of the mountain, see if there were any
slaciers upon it, and especially if these had had at any former
time a greater extension than at present.

Omari had already marked the position of the entrance to
the path we had made in the ascent. By means of the cut
bamboos and barked trees, we found our way back along it.
As we had used up our food, we were very lightly laden, and
two rapid marches brought us back again to our reserve camp
on the sunny steppes of Laikipia.

We had to rest there to nurse the invalids, for it was advis-
able that every man should be fit for duty before we entered
again into the land of the excitable Kikuyu. I had hoped for
an excursion to Settima, but this would have taken nearly
a month longer, and it would have involved another march
through the bamboo forests. My time was nearly exhausted,
and I doubted whether any of the men would follow me, while
their recent hardships were so fresh in their memories; so I
reluctantly abandoned the plan, and promised the men that we
would now return to Mombasa as directly as we could.

In concluding this chapter on Mount Kenya, there are two
points in connection with the mountaineering to which it may
be useful to refer. The first is the warning that the snow and

CHAP. X MOUNTAIN SICKNESS 185

icemonythe tropics tare not quite the» same. as inthe Alps:
Comparing Kenya and Switzerland, on the former the ice is
harder ; it is more often arranged in alternate layers, one hard
and compact, and one friable and spongy; and the snow is
more frequently in the powdery or pulverulent condition. The
present training of Swiss guides is not conducive to originality,
though it makes them very safe in their own immediate dis-
trict. If such guides be transferred to equatorial snowfields,
formed under very different climatic conditions from their own,
and there be allowed to apply unchecked the rule-of-thumb
methods favoured by the regulations of the “Corporations of
Guides” of the Alpine centres, disasters may easily happen.

In the second place, mountain sickness is so intimately
connected with the future of mountaineering, that any addi-
tional evidence as to the liability to this malady at high
altitudes in the tropics is of interest. Very opposite con-
clusions are held regarding this malady, and somewhat extreme
opinions have been expressed on both sides. According to one
school, diminished pressure makes little appreciable difference.
Thus Mr. Dent,’ for example, who is an eminent authority both
on mountaineering and on medicine, thinks that it need not
prevent men accomplishing the ascent of even the highest
mountain on the globe. Whymper,’ on the other hand, regards
it more seriously.

My own experience has been that exposure to lower
atmospheric pressure means a diminished capacity for steady
work. At comparatively moderate elevations the lightness of
the atmosphere has an exhilarating influence, and acts as a
decided stimulant. But, as with other stimulants, it is followed
by reaction.

It is not unless a stay is made for some time above the
level of 10,000 or 12,000 feet, and hard work undertaken
there, that the effects of the different atmospheric conditions
become manifest. No one now notices any appreciable incon-
venience at the height of 8000 feet in the Alps; but Mr.
Whymper maintains, from experiments in the Andes, that his
powers of walking were less there than at lower levels. I did

1 C¢. T. Dent, ‘‘Can Mount Everest be Ascended?" Nineteenth Century, October
1892, vol. xxxii. pp. 606-613.
2 E, Whymper, Zvavels among Great Andes of the Equator, p. V.

16 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA Part Il

not attempt any such systematic tests as those of Mr. Whymper ;
but I have no doubt whatever that at the end of a day’s march
on Laikipia, at about Whymper’s elevation, my rifle weighed
heavier than it did at a lower level; I was also sooner stopped
by shortness of breath when chasing butterflies, and both
symptoms made me anxious as to the effect Kenya would
have. Recollecting the experiences of Mr. Whymper and his
trained guides at the height of 16,600 feet on Chimborazo, I
began the ascent of Kenya thinking that, as I could not stay
long enough to get used to the diminished pressure, this alone
would prevent my rising much above the level of 15,000 or
16,000 feet. I spent, however, five days above the height of
I 3,000 feet, several times ascended above the level of 16,000
feet, and twice above that of 17,000 feet. During this time
anything like undue haste was followed by an attack of loss of
breath, from which I recovered very slowly. I had a slight
attack of mountain sickness one afternoon, due to over-fatigue.
I began the day by chasing some mountain rats (Ofomys
zrroratus), and afterwards, though tired by this exertion, carried
what was for me a heavy burden up to the camp in the Teleki
Valley. This was necessary, for I had only two men available,
and as they were unwell I had to share the loads with them.
On attempting to work in the afternoon, I felt bilious and had
a singing in my ears. Every step upward required a distinct
and painful effort. It was not a mere feeling of lassitude, but
as if my legs were paralysed, and my left foot numbed. On
the descent I experienced less inconvenience, and next day had
fully recovered.

I had no return of either symptom during the rest of my
stay. On the contrary, to my surprise most of the time I felt
unusually well. Probably the interest in the geology of the
mountain, and the absence of the worries of camp work,
account for my exuberant spirits. The only inconvenience I
felt was great liability to fatigue. This was so marked above
the level of 17,000 feet that I had to work in spurts; step-
cutting was especially trying, and I could only do this for a
few minutes at a time. The desire to lessen the toil of the
ascent was so strong, that it was continually tempting to run
risks, either personally or to the instruments, to effect some
trivial saving in trouble. I felt this especially in my second

CHAP. X MOUNTAIN SICKNESS 187

ascent above the level of 17,000 feet, when I was not so well
as on the first. The difference was probably due to food.
Then I had had breakfast of porridge and beans, and felt traces
of indigestion and flatulence. On the former occasion I had had
no solid food at all, for it was buried beneath a snowslip, and I
had only taken some spoonfuls of Schweitzer’s cocoatina.

The only previous occasion when I had any feeling that
could be attributed to mountain sickness was during an ascent
of Gray’s Peak, which, though the highest summit in the Rocky
Mountains, is only 14,341 feet high. Owing to the break-
down of our transport arrangements, my sister and I had a
very fatiguing march of twelve hours, and spent twenty-eight
hours without food, except some bread and meat which had
gone bad. At the height of 13,000 feet my sister fainted,
and I had a little trouble in getting her back to a deserted
mining hut. After she had recovered I continued the ascent,
but during the last 300 feet was so weak that I had to crawl
part of the way on my hands and knees, and on the summit
was too exhausted to put up my camera.

I could never understand why I should have suffered so
severely then, while later on, at elevations only a trifle less (as
on Pike’s Peak and the Tetons), I was only bothered by a
feeling of laziness and depression. But when, six months later,
Mr. Whymper’s account of his illness on Chimborazo was
published, I was so struck by the resemblance between our
symptoms and his, that I felt bound to accept the illness from
which my sister and I then suffered as true mountain sickness.

In a paper read before the Alpine Club I suggested that
its occurrence at this comparatively moderate elevation was due
to lack of food. The explanation never quite satisfied me.
Professor Roy,' however, has recently explained Mr. Whymper’s
illness as due to the fact that some of his tinned meat had gone
bad. The same explanation is applicable in our case. The
only food we had been able to get in Georgetown was some
steak and bread, which we had packed up in the form of sand-
wiches. On the way up the meat went bad, and of course also
spoilt the bread. We nevertheless ate a little, and our sub-
sequent indisposition was therefore probably due to bad food,
instead of to lack of food.

1 C. S. Roy, ‘‘ Mountain Sickness,” Sez. Prog. vol. iii. (1895), p. 92.

18 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA Part it

The effect of exposure at high altitudes on Zanzibari is
more important than that upon Europeans in regard to the
prospects of future work upon the mountain. The men left in
the camp above the forests suffered from biliousness, but I had
no opportunity of watching them. Fundi Mabruk at the
height of 15,400 feet showed all the symptoms of genuine
mountain sickness, and suffered from a severe headache for
days afterwards. He frequently told me during the return
march what a funny feeling came over him; but this, with the
impossibility of boiling his beans, and the freezing of the water
at night, he attributed to the witchcraft which possessed the
mountain. The other men, however, did not remain long
above 11,200 feet, and any symptoms of mountain sickness
were masked by the ordinary results of cold, exposure, and
imperfectly cooked food. But if the effects of the low pressure
had been very marked, they would probably have been recog-
nisable. It is therefore likely that the men might have
reached a much higher elevation if they had been properly
clothed and fed; while as far as I personally was concerned,
I felt no doubt that I could have ascended at least another
two thousand feet before being stopped by the rarefaction of
the air.

CHUA RA FeR xT

THE RETURN MARCH

** Kurudi nyuma si kazi”’
(Returning is not work).
Zanzibart Proverb.

AFTER the decision to abandon the projected visit to Settima
we all felt that we were well on the “home trail,” and were not
in the mood to brook delay ; so, when we reached the borders
of the Kikuyu country, our request to enter it was somewhat
peremptory. We camped at a place called Karati, beside a
swamp, about a couple of miles from our former camp. Our
“blood-brothers”” soon arrived with presents of food for me.
They came at once to show me that their ulcers had entirely
healed, and to express their gratitude. They promised food
for next day. Enough came in to enable us to march south-
ward on the morrow ; but a fresh outbreak of illness delayed us.
The return to the damp cold mists of the forests of Kikuyu
brought back the old lung troubles. For a couple of days the
lives of two of the porters hung in the balance, and the time
was» wasted to me, as constant attendance on the men pre-
vented collecting. Fortunately they recovered, but the next
few marches had to be taken easily.

As soon as we were ready to resume our journey we
arranged for permission to cross the country of our friends.
They insisted on certain religious rites being performed. They
said that if we entered their shambas without blessing our way
with blood, their crops would yield only empty grain; but if
we went as friends, after the proper ceremonials, then we should
be a blessing and not a curse, for the sun would shine upon
their shambas, and these would yield abundant harvests. I

190 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

replied that I should be most delighted to do anything that
would secure them a gleam of sunshine, and I only hoped it
would come soon. I had never yet seen the sun while in their
country, as on both previous occasions the land had been
wrapped till midday in a kind of Scotch mist ; in the afternoon
this changed into a drizzle, or rose to form dense, dark clouds.
A determination of latitude and longitude in this country
would have been quite impossible, even if I had had the in-
struments, as not once would the weather have permitted an
astronomical observation.

I therefore readily consented to buy a goat, which was to
be sacrificed according to Kikuyu rites, and the blood to be
sprinkled over the path before us as we entered the country.
It was arranged that we should start on Monday toth July.
At daybreak we struck camp, and crossed the swamp to the
south ; it was an especially vile one, but in compensation it had
helped to form a defence of our camp. We crossed two ridges
of black lava (andesite), and started on a south-south-east
course toward a rounded tree-covered hill named Geitaita.
After an hour’s march we reached a small brook—the Luiji
Reru—which formed the frontier of the inhabited district.
Here we were met by the old chief, Nathan Nyuki, and a
number of elders, at the head of a formidable crowd of warriors.
The chief said we must camp here, so that the rites might be
duly observed. This I flatly declined to do. He said they
had no goat, and must send to a far distant place to fetch one,
as they dared keep none themselves for fear of the Masai. I
pointed to some fresh goat-tracks beside the path, and asked if
they were made by elephants or crocodiles. He seemed not in
the slightest degree abashed at being thus caught in a barefaced
lie, but said a goat would soon arrive, and that we must wait
till it did. A man in the crowd had a reed-rat or Aulacodus,
much like those I had seen at Ngatana, but smaller and with
softer, shorter hair. I purchased it for an empty meat tin
and two cartridge cases, killed, and skinned it. As the goat
still did not come, I shot and skinned some birds. At intervals
of half an hour I went over to the chief and asked for the goat.
It was always “coming soon.” At three o’clock the chief sent
over to say that it was getting late, and I had better camp. I at
once went to Nathan Nyuki, pretending to be in a furious rage.

CHAP. XI PARTE POLITIES. 19I

It was my rule never to show any feeling of excitement or emo-
tion before natives. In the stormiest shauris with the Masai I
always affected an air of the most stolid indifference as to the
result, and supreme contempt for them. As I could not show
self-possession by smoking, I generally wrote or sketched during
the conference while others were speaking, and sharpened my
pencil or knife while I was speaking myself. On this occasion
I made an exception. It was very obvious that in this republic
of Kikuyuland there were two parties, one of which was friendly
to us, while the other was opposed to our passage through
the country. It was necessary to overawe the latter section of
the natives. I pretended to fly into a violent rage, paced up
and down in front of the chief and his elders, called them liars,
told them they were trying to play the fool with us, and warned
them that this would not do. I fixed a meat tin with a hole in
the bottom on a stick, filled it with sand, and said that when
all the sand had run through we should cross the bridge and
continue our march to the south. I said I could find my way
without their guidance, and would fight if necessary. I added
that if they compelled me to do this, I should, of course, burn
their villages and raid their cattle. In very few minutes our
two blood-brothers, both of them sons of the old chief, returned
with a goat. I believe they had been waiting in the valley on
the other side of the next ridge.

The goat was killed, the stomach cut out, and filled with
blood, which was mixed with the contents of the stomach.
Nathan Nyuki and the elders stood on the bridge and sang a
kind of chant. The chief then said that he was ready to lead
us, while the warriors formed up in two lines, one on each side
of the path, on the opposite bank. I explained that I also
had a religion, and to this religion I was devotedly attached.
The first article in its creed was never to put your head into
a lion’s mouth; the second was always to get out of the way
when an elephant was coming to walk over you; the third was
never to place a line of your own men between two lines of
spearsmen. I pointed out that according to their arrangements
this last article would be infringed, and that my religion must
be respected as well as theirs. So the warriors were all sent
ahead, the chief and I coming between them and the porters,
who kept well together, ready for emergencies. The bridge

192 THE RETORN MARCH PART II

ics

was of the type known in America as “ corduroy,” except that
sheaves of rushes, bamboos, and banana stems were used instead
of logs. These were built into a causeway, the stems being
placed parallel to the course of the stream, so that the water
percolates through the interspaces. We crossed the bridge, the
chief sprinkling the blood and the contents of the stomach upon
it, and chanting his benedictions. We climbed the ridge and
then descended to another stream, the Guaso Uini. Here we
entered the shambas, the extent of which surprised us. Had
the natives wished they could have smothered us with food in
an hour, instead of keeping us for three days, as they did on
our first visit. There were also several herds of goats browsing
on the slopes, a fact upon which I made some remarks to
Nathan Nyuki. From a plateau to the west of Geitaita the
chief pointed out to me the hills of Maranga, the point at
which we wished to leave the Kikuyu country. I took their
bearings through a prismatic compass, and replied at once
that he was a wicked old man to tell such lies, for he knew
it was nothing of the sort. I only suspected this from his
manner, but he was so startled that he at once pointed out
some other hills, and said they were Maranga. I took their
bearings through the prismatic compass, and verified the infor-
mation by making another elder tell me the name of the
hills. From this point I could see the valley of a broad river
—the Ilyaini—flowing south-eastward toward the Tana. I
thus felt independent of my Kikuyu guides. We marched on
till a little before sunset, when I resolved to camp. The chief
objected, and urged me to come on farther. We were now
approaching a tract of country covered by the woody shrubs
which grow up whenever forests are cleared. Once entangled
in the narrow tortuous paths through this shrub jungle, we
were at the mercy of the natives. So I chose a suitable place
for camp, and explained to Nathan Nyuki that the fourth
article in my religion was never to march after dark through
jungle, when there were Kikuyu in the neighbourhood. The
chief said I must not camp in the place I had chosen, but must
move to another site a few hundred yards away. There
seemed no especial reason for this, so I flatly declined to obey.
The chief and his elders sat in a circle round me and grumbled
as we watched the men pitch camp. Then they went away,

CHAP. XI TLISUVG POLITICS 193

lighted a fire half a mile from camp, and had a great shauri.
My blood-brother Iyutha, who was now a firm friend, said he
did not know what would happen, for though his father was
friendly, all the neighbouring chiefs were opposed to letting us
through their country. He warned us to be careful. He told
me that the leader of the malcontents was a chief from a hill
named Tuntum, which we should see next day, some distance
nearer the sunset than we should pass. After the shauri,
Nathan Nyuki and several others came over to say that the
people did not want us to go on, and that there was to be
another shauri next day. We were, therefore, to stay in our
present camp till this was over. I was busy at the time and
said I could not be bothered to discuss the matter then, but
that they were to return at daybreak.

The natives kept up a tremendous hubbub round their fires
all night. Several times some drunken warriors came near us,
to execute a wild dance near our fires. This was bad manners.
No native ought to approach a camp at night, except in a
case of urgency. So when another drunken Kikuyu came
near and prepared to dance, I welcomed him with a little
dust shot, fired with half a charge of powder. He returned to
his friends more quickly than he came, and we had no more
dancers that night. ;

Some of the hostile chiefs came into camp at daybreak,
and said we were not to go on to Maranga, and must not move
till next day. I said I had no objection to the first, but was
not going to obey the second. If they preferred it we would
go on to Tuntum, as they grew nice pumpkins and fat sheep
there. This was the village of the leader of the opposition,
who was rather staggered by the suggestion, while the chiefs of
the villages along the proper line of march seemed very pleased.
This confirmed me in my opinion that we had nothing to
fear from the people, and that they were really afraid we
should do mischief to them. It was, therefore, only necessary
to be very firm in resisting attempts to delay us, and to let the
natives see that we had no intention of robbing them. The
elders withdrew for a few minutes’ consultation, and returned
to say that we must not strike camp without permission. Camp
was accordingly struck at once, and we waited to see what
would happen. I thought that if we were to be attacked it

O

194 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

was best that the attack should be delivered before we were
on the march. The interpreter, Ramathan, knelt before me,
kissed my hand, and begged and prayed that we would not go
on. Omari, however, was as angry as I was, and equally con-
vinced that with such a fickle treacherous tribe as the Kikuyu
the safest course was to put on an attitude of determined
indifference, and bluff our way through. As the old chief
Nathan Nyuki did not come, after we had waited about a
quarter of an hour for him, I gave the order to lift up the
loads and march. Our two guides protested on the ground
that they wanted to go home and get food. I promised
to supply them with everything necessary, and said they
must stay with us. We walked on to the ridge, above the old
lake basin beside which we had camped. We skirted some
dense jungle, which I declined to enter at any price, and crossed
the shambas. There were several furious discussions, con-
ducted with all the passion of an odzum theologicum, for it was
against the religion of the natives for us to pass through their
fields, and it was against mine to go through the shrub jungle.
I compensated the elder of the nearest village with ten strings
of beads, worth three strings a penny, to cover any damage we
might do to his crops. As this sacrifice appeased the native
conscience, the protests ceased. Two last efforts were made to
stop us. A message came upbraiding me for leaving without
bidding farewell to Nathan Nyuki, and saying that as he was
an old man he could not get up till late. The only reply was
the regret that Nathan Nyuki should be so drunk, and the
suggestion that next time a white man honoured the country
with his presence, the chief should go to bed in proper time.
The final attempt was equally ineffectual, though I was more
sorry to have to resist it. At one place on the path they had
collected as many of the lame and sick of the district as they
could hastily assemble. They begged me to cure them. Most
of the fifty invalids had bad ulcers, and to have dressed all
these would have taken a day, while a single dressing would
have done but little good. I therefore had to break another
of my chief rules, which was never to refuse medicine
while I had any to spare. This, however, was such a
manifest imposition that I declined to look at any of the
invalids. I was especially sorry not to be able to help some

CHAP, XI AN OUT-PATIENT 195

men who were suffering from inflamed eyes. But I could not
wait.

We marched all day along the ridge that formed the water-
parting between the rivers that drain the southern slopes of
Kenya, and those to the west that form the main source of
the Tana. The streams to our left flowed into the Ilyaini,
and those to the west into the Thegana. Our course was in
the main to the south-south-east. Though the trail ran up as
well as down, we descended 400 feet during the ‘day. We left
the hill of Tuntum about three or four miles to the west. The
leader of the Kikuyu opposition, who lived there, looked very
much relieved when he saw we did not take the path that
led to it. He drank a deep draught of “ pombé,” rolled off in a
state of drunken jollity, and troubled us no more.

We camped on a piece of open heath country in Kithunguli,
at the height of 5440 feet. At the village close by, the people
were all more or less drunk. Some natives came in for
medicine, amongst them a man ill with smallpox. The
moment my men saw him they fled, shouting, “ Ndui, ndui ”
(Smallpox). I seized the man by the neck and ran him out
of camp. With the aid of a porter named Stahabu, who knew
some Kikuyu, and was so much pockmarked that he was also
safe, I explained the difference between in-patients and out-
patients. The native was told that he was one of the latter, and
that if he tried to return to camp he would be shot ; if he kept
away, I promised to come out and see him again next morning
before we started. The rest of the afternoon was occupied in
a similar series of evictions. The Kikuyu were all intoxicated,
and more than usually quarrelsome. The warriors came rolling
into camp, shouting unintelligible cries, and flourishing their
“simés,”’ heavy double-edged, somewhat lance-shaped, swords.
If one of the men had laid hands on them, he would probably
have been cut down at once. Fortunately they were so much
in awe of me that I easily ejected them and ran them out of
camp. A noisy crowd of women and children were got rid off
with little effort. I went towards them to speak to them, and
as I did so took off my pith helmet. Apparently they thought
I was taking off part of my head, for the whole crowd fled
with a shriek of terror. The natives made several ef the usual
attempts to snatch goods and bolt with them, but the people

196 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

were so drunk that they were easily frustrated. Next day, as
we got farther from the Masai frontier, the natives became
more friendly. We continued over undulating uplands, com-
posed of volcanic rocks. The path led by a pretty waterfall,
a pond named Kitui, and then the site of a Suahili camping-
place named Chanjega. This was situated beside a cluster of
trees which the men called “niamba.” They probably belong to
a species of dragon-tree or Dracena, having small hard fruits,
of the consistency of vegetable ivory.

We camped that night at Thiriati, on the southern frontier of
the district of Kornu. Here we said farewell to our two guides.
They had reached the southern borders of their own country, and
dared go no farther. They said the chief of the next district
would do his best to send us back; but they hoped we should
set through. I gave them presents and thanked them for their
help. We had become fast friends. The elder brother Iyutha
was very intelligent; he knew the country well, and gave me
much information, which proved to be reliable whenever I could
check it. He had had a very trying time while with us, but
had never once lost his temper. What with the hostile chiefs
on one side, and me on the other, he was rather between the
devil and the deep sea, and I am not sure how he would have
applied the simile. We each bluffed and abused him in turn ;
but he sat through it with a quiet smile on his face, as if he
knew all would come right in the end. He smiled just as
serenely when we were chatting together in the evening over
the camp fire, as when my clumsy fingers were dressing the
ulcers on his legs, of when I was holding my revolver to his
head during a threatened attack. I parted from him with
greater regret than I did from any other up-country native.
As a tribe the Kikuyu are probably as treacherous and fickle
as they are represented to be; but Iyutha never forgot he
was my blood-brother, or the duties which that relationship
entailed. He acted all through with splendid devotion, which
amply atoned for the scores of lies he told when under the
influence of the counsel of hostile chiefs.

Next day a deluge of rain made the passage of the river
Karati very troublesome. We pressed on, however, to Kithu-
Uri, the village of the chief of the district of Maranga. Having
heard of our approach, he had sent two men to meet us and to

CHAP. XI A. CHIEFS POSSES SD” 197

spy out who we were. They could not conceal their surprise
and contempt at the smallness of our force. The natives, how-
ever, were friendly and interested ; they stood in crowds by the
path to watch us pass. They had some cattle, the first we
had seen since leaving Lake Naivasha nearly three months
before. The abundance of pumpkins, and the use of small
stools and poisoned arrows, indicated intercourse with the
Wa-kamba. The chief, however, at first refused to see me, and
his people informed us that he was very angry, for he had a
devil inside him. When I succeeded in gaining an interview,
he flatly refused me permission to proceed, as he declared that
though white men had faces that smiled like the sky, they
were bad inside. As no white man had previously entered his
country, though four had passed not far from the frontier, this
was a rash generalisation ; but at least the latter part of the
verdict was true in my case, as I was then very bad inside.
Luckily for us, however, the chief was no better. His “devil”
was lodged in a tooth, from which it was exorcised by an
injection of cocaine. The chief looked pleased, but went away
without the slightest expression of gratitude for the eviction of
the agent of the evil one.

Our camp here was on the edge of an escarpment at the
height of 3900 feet. At the foot of the steep slope to the
south were some meadows with only a stream—the Mothambi
—between them and the steppes of the Tana. In the meadows
we saw a great number of men engaged in a war-dance, and
movements that appeared to be a rather complicated military
game. They were too far away for me to see the details ; and
as I did not know what the assembly indicated, I did not care
to go far from camp.

The hyenas here were very impudent. Two of them
came into camp during the night and each went away with
a mouthful of donkey. The excitement over this, and an
attack of fever from which I was suffering, destroyed my night’s
rest, and increased my longing for the peace of the uninhabited
plains to the south.

When the chief came down in the morning to report that
he was better, I urged him to allow us to go at once. He
first declined, but when I said that if I had to go back the
devil would go back too, he changed his mind. He begged

198 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

for medicine that would protect his people from the Masai. I
said that to do this his people need only use more sand and
less pombé. With the sand they could keep their spears
and simés sharp, while if they gave up pombé they would be
brave and strong, and would not quarrel amongst themselves.
The chief’s entreaties ceased, not, I fear, because he was satisfied
with my advice, but because my interpreter gave him some
scraps of paper as a present from me of anti-Masai medicine.
I was always very particular to disclaim any magical power, as,
although a little simple imposition would have helped me forward,
it might have hindered those who followed me. But on this
morning the attack of fever had left me so limp, that I could
not keep sufficiently alert to prevent an infringement of this
rule.

The chief gave me a sheep, which was killed according to
the native custom, and blood poured into the ground. After
this we were free to depart; we hastened down the hill, and
across the meadows. We forded the Mothambi, on the banks
of which grew some wild date-palms (Phanzx), and we worked
round the eastern slope of the ridge of Changabuba. This
consists of gneiss, the first non-volcanic rock (excluding gravels,
sands, and lake deposits) which we had seen since entering
the Kapte plains west of Machakos, three months before.

A ford crossed the Tana, due south of our camp at Kithu- Uri,
but it was said to be impracticable owing to the swollen state of
the river. We were told of another ford, two days’ journey farther
east, which would be’ passable before the other; but we were
assured that even this was now so flooded, that no one would
go as our guide. We found the ford and resolved to force it.
The river was as broad as the Thames at Richmond, and the
stream was swift. The water came up to my shoulders, and
the current was so powerful that only a few of the men
were strong enough to carry loads across. A _ school of
hippopotami was playing in the pool above the ford, and
added to the excitement by occasionally charging to within
twenty yards of us. A sad accident marred our pleasure at
effecting the passage. All the loads were over except two or
three, and I was dressing on the bank, when a cry from Omari
of “ Kretasi, kretasi” (The papers, the papers) called my attention
to the fact that the bundle of Kenya plants had been dropped

CHAP. XI A DIFFICULT FORD 199

into the river. I sprang in at once, and after half an hour’s
search Omari found the heavy pressing-case wedged between
two rocks in the bed of the river. Half the plants were ruined,
but I was lucky to have saved the rest. A load of ammunition
met with the same mishap, but now that the Tana flowed
between us and the Kikuyu, this was of little importance. We
ought to have been thankful for having effected the passage
with so little loss of time, since both Peters and Dundas wasted
weeks beside the river in this district. Peters marched for a
month beside it in the search for an easy passage, and, after
vainly trying to build a bridge or a raft, had to abandon the
attempt to cross the river. We ought not to have risked the
ford with the Tana in flood; but I had no time to lose, for to
be back in London at the appointed date, it was necessary to
catch a steamer announced to leave Mombasa on the 25th of
August.

We spent the rest of the day beside the river, drying the
soaked plants, a work which had to be continued all night and
late into the following day. As soon as the plants were ready
we marched southward across the barra for a jagged hill-range,
the name of which we afterwards found to be Voroni. The
stream beds were all dry, and we began to fear a waterless
camp, when we suddenly came to the bank of a broad rapid
river, which ultimately proved to be the Thika-thika. This
was recorded by Krapf on native information in 1848, but was
not seen by any European till Peters crossed it at its junction
with the Tana in 1889. Nothing was known about its
course. On Peters’ map it is called the Dika, and is marked
as flowing due east and west, whereas we found it flowing north
and south. I resolved therefore to follow it, in order to settle
whence it came, and because I hoped thus to collect some
geological evidence, which the troubles with the natives had
made impossible when in the Kikuyu country.

The next few days were the most delightful in the whole
expedition. There were no natives to worry us, and I could
again make afternoon excursions alone. The scenery was charm-
ing, the air cool, and the rain fell only at night. Game was
abundant and tame ; hence, though our store of food was nearly
exhausted, I was able to supplement it with zebra meat. The
river, moreover, acted not only as guide, but supplied us with

200 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

both water and food, for fish of good size and fine flavour were
abundant in it. This march reminded me of Emerson’s lines—

‘* The water-courses were my guide,
The falling waters led me,
The foodful waters fed me.”

The river came due from the south, and I feared that if
we crossed to the east side, it might suddenly turn to the west
and leave us. To avoid losing it, we therefore kept along its
western or left bank. It increased in volume, and finally bent
abruptly to the west-north-west round the ridge of Voroni. I
climbed this ridge and scrambled along its top to examine the
country before us. The main result was a scare from a rhino-
ceros. On my return in the dusk I had taken the wrong ridge,

Ss) Ba
K.
IS
(a) (0)

Fic. 6.—Diagrams showing Relations of Head Streams of the Tana and Athi,
after (2) Ravenstein, (4) von Hohnel, and (c) the Author.

and when hastening down it to get back to the right one, I almost
ran against a rhinoceros. It charged, and I had to climb the
rocks again; the result was that I lost myself in the acacia
scrub, and did not reach the camp till long after dark.

After passing Voroni the river-bed changed from gneiss to
lava, and the country rose in terraces, over which the river
plunged in a series of rapids and one grand waterfall about
80 feet high. Then we entered a deep valley, up which
we marched until it contracted to a gorge, at the head of which
was a series of waterfalls, grander and more picturesque than the
lower ones. We climbed the wall to the plateau and found
we had now reached the “ Kapte” plains, the vast lava prairie
that we had crossed on the journey between Machakos and
Fort Smith. The hill of Chanjavi rose to the south, and
the whole course of the river was now quite plain to me.

CHAP. XI A FIRE-MAKING COMPETITION 201

We therefore tried to cross it, but found it impracticable. As
is so often the case with African rivers, they become larger instead
of smaller when traced towards their source. In the barren
gneiss desert of its lower course, this river loses so much water
by absorption in the sandy soil that, where we first met it, its
volume is probably less than a third of that of the point where
we tried to cross. Omari, Fundi, and I therefore went ahead to
search for a ford. Instead of this we found a party of Kikuyu, or
rather they found us, in a way that was not to our credit. They
saw us first, and hid in the bush in two parties. We walked
straight into the ambush before we saw them. It was gross
carelessness, and we felt as much ashamed as we were alarmed.
We held up tufts of grass as signs of friendship, and called out
“ Moratta, moratta” (Friends). When they saw we were alone
and meant no mischief, they relaxed their bows, consented to a
shauri, and the leader came forward to shake hands. They were
a party of Kikuyu out hippopotamus-hunting, as all their crops
had been destroyed by the Masai. The great raid, the pre-
parations for which I had seen at Naivasha, had been only too
successful. An army of El-Moran had burst upon the district
of Igeti, and cleared it like a hurricane. The villages had been
burnt, the cattle seized, the crops destroyed, and all the people
massacred, except those who escaped to the woods and the Kapte
plains. While we were waiting for the porters, the leader of the
party told us the sickening story, his men sitting round sobbing. I
gave them some wire, and they guided us to a place where some
islands had been connected with both banks by some felled
trees. While the porters were crossing this, I shot a hippo-
potamus for the natives, and some birds for a small boy who
was trying in vain to kill them with a bow and arrow. I
further increased my reputation with these friendly Kikuyu
by challenging their best fire-maker to see who could make
fire most quickly with a fire-stick. By slipping the head of a
lucifer match fnto the hole in which the stick was twirled, I
won easily.

When my men had crossed the river we marched south-
ward, and traversed the almost imperceptible divide between
the basins of the Tana and the Sabaki. Dusk found us at the
edge of the Athi gorge. Just after sunset we were charged by
a rhinoceros ; I fired, and the dull thud of the bullet and the

202 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

animal’s grunt of pain told that I had hit it, but in the dark we
could not follow it.

Later in the evening, while fishing by firelight in the Athi,
I caught something which behaved very differently from any
fish that I had ever angled. It was a heavy mass, which
yielded gradually when I pulled it. A dark body appeared at
the water’s edge, and I thought it was a young crocodile. I
approached it cautiously, keeping its head covered with my
revolver, and found that it was a large water-turtle (Sterno-
therus stnuatus, Smith). The fish-hook was so deeply em-
bedded in its beak that I could not extract it. Yet the animal
lived to reach England, where it died a few days after its
arrival. .

The passage of the Athi next morning was most fatiguing.
The ford was broad and deep, and the water bitterly cold.
Most of the work fell as usual on Omari, and both of us had
renewed attacks of fever. We took huge doses of quinine,
drank hot tea, and then started at the head of the men for the
mountains of Ukamba. The fever was most unfortunate, for
we had used up our last food, and I had to go on ahead to try
to shoot some antelope. We saw some game, but my hand
was too unsteady ; both shots fired missed so badly that I
would not try again.

We passed the southern end of Chanjavi, from which we
were delighted to see our goal, the mountains of Ukamba, and
our old friends the ridge of Lokenya and the sharp cone of
Malili. The smoke of some shamba fires cheered us with the
signs of the proximity of natives, whom we expected would
be friendly, and have abundant food. They did not, however,
at first prove very amiable. When we realised, late in the
afternoon, that we should not get off the lava plains that day,
Fundi and I went ahead to find water. We failed in this, but
we discovered a number of natives who were hiding in the long
grass. They would not come to us when we called to them,
and as they seemed inclined to cut us off from the porters, we
thought it advisable to stop till these came up. By the time
the caravan arrived it was dark, and we had to camp where we
were, though it was very cold, and we had neither firewood nor
water. About an hour later a fire broke out to windward, and
a long line of flame swept down upon us. By its glare we saw

CHAP. XI A PRAIRIE FIRE 203

some natives following behind it. We had, of course, taken the
precaution of firing the grass before we camped, so that the
fire swept past us without any worse consequences than irritated
throats and aching eyes. As we had no water to relieve either
throat or eye we passed a dismal night. The men were so
uncomfortable that at three in the morning they asked if we
could not start at once. We did so, and marched until at eight
we reached a brook ; beside it we rested to quench our thirst,
and wash. Soon afterwards we reached a Wa-kamba village, and
I asked for a guide. Two men came, but they soon quarrelled
over the way, and I had to dismiss them both. We left them
fighting, and marched on toward the mouth of the main valley,
which was reached at two. Some women came down to sell
us pumpkins, and told us that we were in the valley of Kava-
luki, and that if we walked on at once we could reach Machakos
before dark. The elders came in, and were at first in a great
rage, as we ought not to have bought food without first ex-
changing presents with the chief. This was a fair cause of
complaint, so I did my best to apologise, explaining how
hungry we were. My soft answer pacified the chief, and he
offered to lend me a guide to take me to Machakos. The
men were all too tired to go any farther, for they had had no
breakfast, and had not my own prospect of a batch of letters
to lure them on. So leaving Omari to follow with them next
day, with only a couple of Wa-kamba I started over the hills for
Machakos.

™ We crossed the river, ascended the opposite slope, and
entered an upland valley that had been converted into a great
sugar-cane plantation by an elaborate series of dams and
irrigation channels. One of the guides—an old man—would
not, or could not, keep up during the ascent, so I sent him back.
Just at sunset we reached the summit of the final ridge at the
height of 5740 feet, or 1300 feet above our camp in the Kava-
luki valley. I could not see the station, and fearing we should
not get there that night we started to run. Twice the guide
took the wrong path, and we had to return. At last we saw
some shepherds sitting round a fire on the hillside, and I asked
one of them to act as guide. He pointed to the stars asa
sign that it was late, and then led off in a canter. This we
kept up till I had twice fallen over the ditches which serve both

204 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

for irrigation and as boundary marks. After this I said we
would walk. At length we reached the valley, and began the
ascent of the slope to the plateau on which the station is
situated. When we approached it, the guides held back. I
cautiously approached, shouting “ Mzungu” (European), and
keeping sufficiently down the slope to be out of range of
fire from the sentry-post. The sentries were startled and
puzzled. Presently I called out in Kisuahili that I was a
European and wanted Bwana Ainsworth. The excited sentries
discussed the unusual situation, the guard was called out, and
finally I was told to approach. I walked up into the glare of
the firelight, and the guard met me. My guides then came up,
and we walked round to the entrance to the fort, where I
had a hearty welcome from Mr. Ainsworth. He was not
used to visitors arriving alone at night, and my appearance had
created a scare.

At Machakos I enjoyed two welcome days of rest, reading
letters and newspapers, and having long conversations with
Ainsworth about the country and its people. His administra-
tion seemed to me more successful than that at any other of
the Company’s stations. When Ainsworth took over the dis-
trict there was war between the garrison and the people of the
hills, which I had crossed with only a Wa-kamba guide. He
succeeded in making peace, and getting into the most friendly
relations with the natives. The old chiefs were constant visitors
to the fort, and frequently sent in a present of a ton of food.
The people were rapidly acquiring a taste for European goods,
and learning to work, in order to be able to earn them. The old
Suahili garrison was being replaced by Wa-kamba,and Ainsworth
was organising a postal service of runners to carry the mails to
and from Tzavo, which he expected to prove both quicker and
cheaper.

The neighbourhood of Machakos certainly offers better
prospects of European colonisation than any other district
that I saw in East Africa. In the early days of the history
of this station the Wa-kamba acquired the reputation of
being hostile, indolent, and treacherous. Ainsworth’s adminis-
tration has shown that, when properly handled, they are
friendly, industrious, and faithful. They only need training
and protection from the Masai to enable them to make their

CHAP. XI THE MASAI AGAIN 205

country one of the richest and most fertile in British East
Africa.

At Machakos we were back again on a known road, and
my work was done. I resolved, however, on as much variety
as possible, and so left the ordinary track and marched south-
ward across the Kapte plains. We entered the Iveti Moun-
tains near the village of Wa-kilome, the residence of the chief
of the district of Maka. The chief was a fine old warrior
named Kiketi—the Suahili name of a variety of large blue
beads. On our way across the Kapte plains we encoun-
tered a small raiding party of Masai. As we were in
dense bush we met suddenly, and neither party could tell the
strength of the other. The one thing Zanzibari apparently
cannot do under such circumstances is to stand still. They
like to run, and do not seem to care much which way they go.
So we charged through the bush and the Masai fled. The
party was a very small one, and was apparently trying to
sneak into the district of Iuni to steal sheep. So our blood-
less victory was nothing to be proud of. However, we could
not be sure that the Masai were not the scouts of a larger
party, and as Omari and several men were behind with our
sheep, we spent an anxious half-hour till their safety was
assured.

Two days later we reached the Uganda road again at
Nzaoi, and along this we rushed back to Tzavo. The rain-
less season had now commenced; the swamps through which
we had waded on the way up were now dry; water-holes were
empty ; and we had to march for hours over the hot smoking
embers of prairie fires, or rush occasionally through belts of
flame.

We were now well on the home trail, and the men needed
no encouragement to quicken their pace. We usually marched
from midnight or three in the morning till eight, and then from
two till five. The stage from Nzaoi to Tzavo occupied only
six days, instead of the usual ten.

At.Kibwezi I received a warm welcome from Dr. Charters
and his colleagues, and a budget of bad news. Mr. Astor
Chanler had failed to reach Basso Narok, and was in difficulties.
A relief caravan had been sent for, and though we did not
then know it, his accomplished companion Lieut. von Hohnel

206 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

had been seriously injured by a rhinoceros, and was on his
way back to Kibwezi for medical treatment. Mr. Dick, with
whom I had at one time arranged to travel up to Baringo, had
gone off to trade with the Wa-kamba, and had died in a camp
beside the Athi, a few days’ march away. Edmonds, the last
man I had seen when leaving the coast, and who had come
with me for two days to nurse me on the way, had also fallen
a victim to fever. Watson and Charters had both been so
seriously ill at Kibwezi that their faith in its healthiness was
shaken. A message had just come up from Mombasa to
announce a terrible loss to East Africa—the death of Sir
William Mackinnon.

Dr. Charters showed me over the farm, and I was sorry to
see that the experiments with the grains and vines had not been
very successful. American maize had answered fairly well, but
wheat, oats, and barley had failed. The “quick-growing”
Russian maize had not grown at all. In a country with such
rapid variations between the extremes of excessive rain and
drought, the quickly-ripening cereals are the most promising,
and the failure of this experiment was especially disappointing.

My kind hosts here were not surprised that I had had trouble
at Naivasha, for two Masai boys then living at Kibwezi had
told them that an attack had been planned on the powerful
caravan of the Railway Survey. The attack was only aban-
doned when it was found that the expedition included four
Europeans and an escort of Sikhs.

After leaving Kibwezi a double march or “telekeza” took
us to the Kambu river. We left this at midnight, and at
dawn reached a hill known as Ndawi; shortly afterwards we
passed our old camp at Mtoto wa Ande. Here a deep well
had been sunk ; but it was quite dry. It never had contained
a drop of water, and it looked as if it never would, except
when the stream beside it was flooded. So on the principle
of the Englishman in Madrid, who poured some water that was
offered him into the Mazanares, as the river needed it more
than he did, I emptied my flask into the well as a christening.
But the proceeding was not purely ceremonial. My boy had
forgotten to boil the water, so, after the few hours’ exposure in
the sun, it was stinking.

At this point we entered the splendid road then being

CHAP. XI AN INDUSTRIAL MISSION 207

made by Mr. George Wilson, at the expense of the late Sir
William Mackinnon. The narrow winding path by which we
had previously traversed the Motito Wakalia, or “Five Mile
Jungle,” was replaced by a broad, straight, smooth track. I
revelled in the luxury of walking on a good road once more, so
went ahead, and marched to Kinani, if Mr. Wilson’s mile-posts
are to be trusted, at the pace of four and a half miles an hour.

At Kinani I found Major Smith and Mr. Martin with a
powerful caravan bound for Uganda. I had a pleasant after-
noon with them; they told me more news, and said they
had only that day been wondering if I were still in the land
of the living. At three next morning they left for the interior
and we for the coast. The heat that day was intense. My
men collapsed beside the dry water-hole at Ngomeni. I left
Omari to look after them, and with two of my best porters
pushed on to the Tzavo river for water. I found Wilson
there, and he kindly sent some of his men with water for
mine. He helped me also with food. I had expected to get
some from the station here, but the headman was away and
had locked up the store. Mr. Wilson kindly sold me a few
loads. All being tired, we rested here for a day. Wilson told
me much about his adventures in the country, and of the
trouble he had experienced before he could succeed in making
the natives cut the road. But he had allayed their suspicions,
andsa large gang of Wa-taita were now at work upon it. I
think Mr. Wilson’s road has been one of the most successful
industrial missions in East Africa.

At Tzavo I diverged again from the beaten track to follow
the Sabaki. Eight days’ march through thorn scrub brought us
to the freed slave settlement of Makongeni. The country was
uninhabited and monotonous in the extreme; some of the
men knew it, though at first they denied doing so, and did
their best to induce me to return by the ordinary road. The
march was rewarded, however, by the discovery of some Permo-
Carboniferous beds, and a series of fossils. I found these one
evening at sunset, and continued the search far into the night
by fire-light.

At Makongeni we entered the Giriama country, a tract
of wooded upland, with numerous villages. The population
seems, however, to be diminishing fast, and numbers of shambas

208 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

are going out of cultivation. We passed Kahamisi and Lake
Lagobuya, and camped on the eastern slope of the mountain
of Mangea, the summit of which I had previously twice seen in
the far distance. At Sinikumbe we saw the first cocoa-nut palms
and papaws. We passed Sokoki and Poroporo to Fuladoya,
and the following day crossed the Mwangudo river, which
yielded us some welcome fish, which proved to be a new
species (Chromis sptlurus, Gthr.) We passed Akiluma, and
went down the Warabo valley to a deserted mission station at
Mwaiba. Here we once more saw the sea. Our last hard
march took us to the Methodist Mission station at Ribé, at
the edge of the great inland plateau, where I was kindly
entertained by the Rev. Mr. Carthew.

We left Ribé next morning for the final march. We de-
scended the hill slope that led to the “temborari” or coastal
plain, passed the three round hills known as “ Coroa Mom-
baza,” or the Crown of Mombasa, and reached the estuary.
As the tide was out we marched along its bed toward Frere-
town, halting only to collect the cartridges from the men, lest
a salute should have undesirable consequences. I had to get
money for my men’s food allowances, and it being Saturday
I hurried on, to try to reach Mombasa before the bank
closed. At the beach at Freretown a boat was ready, and
two stalwart Suahili rowed me rapidly down the harbour to
Mombasa, and landed me at the quay.

A great change seemed to have come over the town during
the past five months. The British East Africa Company was
in a state of suspended animation, and its condition seemed
reflected in that of its chief town. In March Mombasa was a
bustling mart, full of life and activity. The harbour was then
crowded with dhows ; the quay and streets were noisy all day,
with people of many nationalities. Native Suahili, Soudanese
and Somali soldiers, Beluchi and Arab traders, Hindoo Ban-
yans and their Goanese clerks, were all busy in connection
with the safaris that were continually coming or going. But
now all was quiet, the harbour was empty, the shops and sheds
closed, the quay deserted. As I went through the town to
try to find some one, I saw only a few boys. I found Hobley
at lunch, and he returned to the Transport Office to receive my
luggage and distribute rations, while I went back to the terrace

CHAP. XI ZANZIBARI 209

above the harbour, to watch the men unload the dhow by
which they had crossed from the mainland.

This was the last act in the expedition, and I watched it
with mingled feelings. On the one hand, I was glad of the
prospect of rest and peace, and relief from the anxiety lest the
collections and note-books should after all be lost. But, on
the other hand, there was much that I parted from with regret.
The active life, the constant change of scene, the novelty of
the experiences, the excitement of exploration, and the interest
of the geological problems, had stored the past five months
with pleasant memories. But beyond this there was a keener
crief. I had now to part with my men. The expedition had
offered abundant sources of friction. The men had been over-
worked, and when Hobley asked Omari how he had got on, the
latter expressed the general opinion by his reply: “ Vema,
illa teli khazi, ¢e/¢ khazi” (Very well, but lots of hard work,
very hard work). Then the Zanzibari strongly object to rush;
one of their favourite proverbs is “Haraka, haraka haina
baraka” (Hurry, hurry has no blessing). But our caravan
had gone at a record-breaking pace. On my return I found
that Dr. Moloney claims the record for a journey of this sort,
for the Stairs expedition to Katanga, which travelled 1080
miles in six months all but ten days. We went 1650 miles in
two days less than five months. The porters are used toa
warm, damp, equable climate, such as that of Zanzibar, where
the extreme annual range of temperature is only 10° F.; but
on Laikipia they had been exposed to a daily variation of fifty
degrees, while the climate of the higher camp on Kenya was
of a severity of which the natives had never even dreamed.
Then I had been relentless, and insisted on the caravan going
on and on, stopping for neither rain nor flooded rivers, hostile
tribes nor fear of famine. The men occasionally had com-
plained, and some of them would have been glad to do more.
So we had had our little quarrels ; the men had grumbled, and
my temper had not been of the sweetest. But the memory
of these occasional disagreements sank into insignificance, in
comparison with the long record of ready obedience, willing
self-sacrifice, and personal devotion. Now that the last fare-
wells had come, I realised that the impression stamped most
deeply on my mind was not of peril or privation. Recollections

12

210 THE RETURN MARCH PART II

of these had been blotted out by regard for the men who had
braved danger and hardship, who had injured their health in
long marches across the waterless wastes of the Nyika, and
by exposure to the blizzards of the Kenyan snowfields, and
who had worked all through from a simple instinct of duty,
suffering for objects they could never understand.

Peek bil
PAoteRN BREGISH, EAST ArPRICA

‘*The Land of Light and Liberty.”
Motto of I. B. E. A, Co.

‘* Nature is cruel, man is sick of blood ;
Nature is stubborn, man would fain adore ;
Nature is fickle, man hath need of rest.”

MATTHEW ARNOLD.

Pi

1 u ' .
‘
y
‘
Fy ‘ =
r - om >
‘
‘
- ad =
th
1 ”)
»
*
ae 7
- i
‘ .
: cs 1 t :
i
’ ‘
os ‘
W = -
Fi
Pa
a
if P ht
mtr rare
4 eer i 7
4 ' ‘
r
~ '
ma
A:
\ s
'
a oT
es .
' t 2
|

\

y
; : 5 °
i. < F, 7
7 ; ore
i —_ ’ =
‘ - 2 i
ca 1 iy
; x ;
“a
- ©
. 7 y =
r P , :
, - -
i
‘ Z A
a
a
. 1
‘
. “ .
‘ f
Ps : P
‘ = 7
.
‘
; i
U id 7
’ 1
; y
ol i . * ;
. i >
: La i

* ' :
\ y _ ‘ '
i 1 ;
" ‘
. ie
nv am
; - . f
&
, ~
sy ~
. ~ .
P , a »
he
-
,
* - 2
.
te a all
* e iL 2.
’
i 7 ied -
- - - “i

CHARLER XII

THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH
EAST AFRICA

‘* Hier aber war’s ! Plutonisch grimmig Feuer
Aeolischer Diinste knallkraft, umgeheuer,
Durchbrach des flachen Bodens alte Kruste,

Dass neu ein Berg sogleich entstehen musste.”’
GOETHE,

IN 1852 Sir Roderick Murchison advanced the hypothesis that
Africa, south of the Sahara, was a continent of great antiquity
and simplicity, which had maintained the form of a great basin
ever since the age of the New Red Sandstone. Murchison
based his theory on the discoveries of Bain, the pioneer of
Swuth African geology ; but he drew support for it from the
probability that Lakes Ngami and Tchad, at the two ends of
the supposed basin, were connected by others reported by
classical traditions and modern traders. Murchison regarded
these lakes as the remnants of a series which had existed
uninterruptedly throughout two of the three great eras of the
earth’s history.’

This brilliant speculation was reaffirmed after the dis-
coveries of Livingstone,” Burton and Speke,? and Speke and
Grant,’ and was finally summarised in 1864 in the presidential
address to the Geographical Society,and in a paper entitled
“On the Antiquity of the Physical Geography of Inner Africa.” °
In these he claimed the country as of interest, because it was

1 R. I. Murchison, President’s Address, Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc. vol. xxii. (1852),
Pp. xxiii. 2 bid. vol. xxvii. (1857), p. clxix.
3 Jbid. vol. xxviii. (1858), p. ccviii.

4 Jbid. vol. xxxiii. (1863), p. clxxxi.
5 [bid. vol. xxxiv. (1864), p. clxxxvii. and pp. 201-205.

214 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part il

“ seologically unique in the long conservation of ancient terres-
trial conditions. This inference is further supported by the
concomitant absence throughout the larger portion of all this
vast area, ze. south of the Equator, of any of those volcanic
rocks which are so often associated with oscillations of the
terra firma.”

For a while every addition to our knowledge of the geology
of the equatorial region seemed to confirm the truth of this
hypothesis by showing that it consisted of one solid block of
gneiss and schist. These rocks were proved by Speke to
form the basis of the central basin; they were found to the
east of this by Thornton (1862), Gustav Rose (1863), and
Roth (1864); to the north and north-west by Baker, Schwein-
furth, Emin, and Junker ; to the south by Livingstone, Burton,
and Speke; and to the west, in later times, by Wolf and
Wissmann.'

That part of Murchison’s theory, which affirms that Central
Africa has never been below the level of the sea, is still in
harmony with the known facts, for no deposits of marine
origin have as yet been found in the interior. The sedimentary
beds, found by Speke and Stanley to the west of the Victoria
Nyanza, and recently described by Cornet in the Upper Congo,
have yielded no fossils to indicate the conditions under which
they were formed. It was hoped, however, that the deposits of
the long series of lakes would contain the bones of the land
animals, that lived on the plains around them ; just as the South
American pampas have supplied those of giant sloths, the
United States prairies those of horned reptiles, the Karroo of

1 The five chief contributions to our knowledge of the geology of British East Africa
are those of Thornton (1862), Beyrich (1878), and Sadebeck (1879) for the stratigraphy
of the coast region ; of Miigge (1886) and the joint memoirs of von HGhnel, Rosiwal,
Toula, and Suess (1892) for the petrography and physical geography of the interior.
Much incidental light is thrown on the country by the works of Blanford (1870) and
Baldacci (1891), and of Ebert (1887) and Cornet (1894), of whom the two first describe
Abyssinia, and the two last German East Africa and the Upper Congo. ‘The petro-
graphical studies on rocks from Kilima Njaro by Rose (1863), Roth (1864), Bonney
(1886), Hyland (1889), and Tenne (1890) must also be noticed, Information as to the
range of the various rocks, used in the construction of the map, occurs in the records of
most travellers who have written on the country, especially in those of Speke, Baker,
Stanley, Stuhlmann, Baumann, and Scott Elliot for the Nyanza region; of Hildebrandt,
Thomson, Piggott, Lugard, and Hobley for the eastern half of the country. Gibson's
short account (Proc. Brit. Assoc. 1893, pp. 758, 759) of his traverse from Mombasa
to Uganda, so far as it goes, is admirable. It did not, however, seem advisable to
burden the present chapter with references to this literature, for it is only in the case of
the Archean rocks and the coast deposits that previous results have been incorporated.
Reference to Suess’s important memoir is given in the Introduction.

CHAP. XII PEATEAG ERUPTIONS 215

uncouth lizards, the Siberian tundras of buried mammoths, and
the Weald of Kent of bird-like saurians. The lake deposits of
Equatorial Africa might have been expected to be especially
prolific in extinct animals, for the existing fauna is much
richer than those of the regions enumerated. Nevertheless, so
far they have proved barren. The conclusion has therefore
been gradually accepted that Tropical Africa is geologically
uninteresting, for as a continent it has no history, and it has
no message as to the development of life on the globe.

A quotation in the Introduction (p. 2) shows that the
old view of the simplicity of the geology of Tropical Africa
has lasted as late as 1891, but in the next year Professor
Suess’s memoir threw a special interest over the region adjoining
the Great Rift Valley. This, however, did not contradict
Murchison’s brilliant guess as to the antiquity of the continent,
and I was not surprised when the four months on the coast-
lands and the first month of the march inland showed nothing
of any special geological interest. But nearer the Rift Valley
the conditions are different, and the region presents a combina-
tion of features which elsewhere can be paralleled only, and
that imperfectly, in the Western States of America.

Plateau Eruptions—The first of these special types of
structures was seen the day after leaving Machakos, when we
reached a tract of country marked on the best existing geo-
logical sketch-map as recent alluvium. It was part of the
district known as the Kapte Plains, and I expected to find
this to be an old lake basin or a desert of wind-borne drift.
But on reaching the summit of the last ridge of the Iveti
Mountains, we found before us a vast expanse of undulating
prairie, stretching away to the western horizon. The rock of
which this consisted ended abruptly against the flank of the
old gneiss ridge on its margin, but it ran up the valleys and
into the hollows of the mountains, just as the water of a lake
follows the irregularities of its shore. So much did this view
remind me of that across the great Snake River lava fields of
Idaho, when seen from the range of the Tetons, that I felt sure at
once that this was a plain of lava and not ofalluvium. I hastened
down to it, and the inference was confirmed. The resemblance
between this plain and the American lava sheet became still
more apparent as we marched across it, and also when, on the

216 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST APRICA | PART AM

return journey, we traversed it farther to the north. As this
plain was therefore lava and not alluvium, it took its place as
part of the great volcanic series of Africa, the approximate extent
of which is marked on the accompanying sketch-map (Fig. 7).
An inset map of Southern Italy on the same scale shows the
insignificance of the lava flows of Vesuvius and Etna in com-
parison with those of Eastern Africa. The latter cover so
vast an area, that it is useless to compare them with the flows
from ordinary volcanic vents; they must be due to the same
method of eruption as that which discharged the rocks of the
great lava sheets of America and the Deccan Traps in India.
The extent of these is equally enormous; the latter cover
an area of 200,000 square miles, and those of the Western
States of America have been estimated to occupy a tract of
country as large as Great Britain and France combined. More-
over, these vast lava fields have been described as free from the
tuff and ashes which form the larger part of the material
ejected by volcanoes. Hence, for two reasons, it seemed hope-
less to explain their formation by the ordinary type of volcanic
action. Baron von Richthofen therefore proposed the theory,
which was subsequently supported by Sir Archibald Geikie,
that these lava seas were discharged from subterranean reser-
voirs through fissures, possibly hundreds of miles in length,
instead of through simple circular vents. That cracks may
form for great distances across a country and be filled by
igneous materials is proved by the occurrence of dykes,
which cut across northern England and Scotland; that the
contents of such fissures occasionally reach the surface is known
from observations in the Sandwich Islands. It was obvious at
once that these Kapte plains were older than those of North
America, and there was accordingly more chance of finding
exposed upon them some of the supposed fissures. A ride on
the great lava sheets of the Snake River of Idaho in 1891 had
temporarily shaken my faith in the fissure-eruption hypothesis,
but it had not destroyed it, and I therefore left the Iveti
Mountains for the plains expecting these would yield im-
portant evidence in support of the theory. The rocks have
been extensively denuded; the Athi has cut a deep gorge
through the plain, but nowhere could I find any sign of the
fissures. In places many small dykes occur, but their existence

“ROLLY JSVAT ysniig jo dvyy-yoiays [BoLso}oarj—'Z 2) Os |
YS 77 D)07T ZB tay70 4f

INUIT) JO.8f Jseq apnisuoT

ihe 2 N VW
isa

ao = < G ; 4 O1]DN'7 LP,

Faro 2fty fo sipopy

A
D

218 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA ParT ul

is not inconsistent with the ordinary type of volcanic action.
Moreover, beds of volcanic tuff and ashes are abundant, and all
the evidence points to the former occurrence of a vast number
of small craters scattered over the area. Later on, when
marching across Laikipia, we passed over another lava plain of
more recent date, and there found dozens of the denuded stumps
of small craters. That craters may also have existed on the
Snake River plains is not improbable, for several facts sug-
gested that these were older than I had inferred from previous
descriptions.

Hence, as the study of these African lava plains revealed
abundance of fragmentary materials due to explosive eruptions,
but none of the fissures, I was gradually driven to abandon
Richthofen’s theory in favour of one that seems better to agree
with the conditions seen in the field. This may be explained
by reference to the accompanying diagram (Fig. 8). The
upper figure represents an ideal section across an ordinary
volcanic crater in a region of folded and contorted rocks. In
such a case lines of weakness will traverse the country along
the axes of the folds. If beneath the area there be a mass
of rock, either molten or ready to melt when the pressure
is relieved, then this will force its way to the surface through a
vent, and by a series of explosive eruptions build up a volcanic
cone. According to the fissure-eruption hypothesis, the strain of
this subjacent lava is supposed to tear open a crack or fissure
instead of a single short vent; and, owing to the great size
of the aperture, the rock quietly wells forth without explosions.

According to the hypothesis suggested in the lower of the
three figures, the lava sheets may be produced without the
assumption of fissures. Wherever these great lava plains are
known, they occur on high plateaux composed of rocks which
either retain their originally horizontal position, or are of remark-
able uniformity in composition. If such a plateau occurs over
a great subterranean lava reservoir, then, as the contents of this
expand, the rocks above will be subjected to tension in all
directions. The plateau will therefore be traversed by a double
series of lines of weakness crossing one another like a network.
The intersections of these lines will be points of equal weakness,
and when the pressure from below is sufficient to force an
opening to the surface by one of these, many others will give

CHAP. XII RiBE VALEEYS 219

way simultaneously. Thus, instead of one big vent, there will
be numerous scattered small ones, the flows from which will
coalesce into continuous sheets of lava. These may therefore
be better described as Plateau Eruptions rather than as Fissure
Eruptions.

i

Fissure Eruption.

Plateau Eruption.

Fic. 8.—Three Types of Volcanic Eruptions.

Rift Valley. After leaving the Kapte plains we came
upon a second interesting type of structure. The valleys we
had previously seen were constructed on the same plan as those
of England; for their courses were sinuous and their slopes
rounded, since they were made by the familiar processes of
denudation and erosion. But, on emerging from the Kikuyu
forests, we entered one which was straight in direction, and was
bounded by parallel and almost vertical sides ; its characteristic
features were that its lines were straight, and that its angles
retained some of their original sharpness, for the direct action

220 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part il

of faults and earth-movements still dominated the scenery.
An hour after entering this valley, we reached the edge of the
Great Rift Valley, which, like the former, must be directly due
to earth-movements. Once the plateaux of Mau and Kikuyu
were continuous across the site of the Rift Valley ; a double
series of north and south cut through the plateaux, and
allowed the block of material between them to subside. This
left a great open Rift Valley (or, to use Prof. Suess’s term,
a “Graben”), This method of valley formation is illustrated
by Fig. 9; strips of country have fallen owing to a series of
parallel cracks or “faults,” and thus a valley has been formed
with precipitous, and sometimes step-like sides. . Such valleys

FIG. 9.—Section across Rift Valley. (F= Faults.)

have long been known in America, and the extraordinary
steepness of their bounding walls may be seen in photographs
of the Yosemite Cafion in California.

Block Mountains —A third feature in this region of Africa
is mountains constructed on a different plan from those typical
of Europe; there they are formed by actual elevation owing
to the intrusion of igneous rocks or to the folding of beds
once laid down as horizontal sheets of sediment ; some of the
mountains of the Rift Valley, on the other hand, are formed of
layers which are still horizontal (as in Fig. 10); each mountain
consists of a huge block of material ' that has been left standing,
while the rest around it has fallen to a lower level.

1 A ‘Scholl”’ in the terminology of Professor Suess.

CHAP. XII RECENT EARTH-MOVEMENTS 221

Thus, instead of there being no new type of structure in this
region, and the geological facts being of wearisome monotony,
it teems with novel problems, and all its conditions seem different
from those of Europe. For the valleys are often due to rifts
instead of to erosion; the mountains are sometimes formed of
blocks instead of by folds ; while the lava flows are on a scale that
shows the impossibility of measuring the universe by European
standards. There was yet a fourth difference which was especially
noticeable, as it afforded great aid in the study of the geology
of the district. England is an old-fashioned piece of the world ;
its physical features were determined long ago. Most of the
inequalities caused by dislocations and faults have been levelled,

Kamasia t Lake |

7200 4 ; H Baringo
am |

Miles

FIG. 10.—Section across a ‘‘ Block Mountain.” (F= Faults.)

and those that remain are mainly due to denudation and
erosion. But in Africa it is not so. Great earth-movements
have happened so recently that rock scarps, 1000 to 2000 feet
in height, still stand bare and precipitous as though formed but
yesterday, and straight lines and sharp angles still dominate
the scenery. The recent date of such earth-movements has
therefore rendered the physical features of the country such a
direct expression of its geological structure, that this can be
recognised in a hasty traverse.

So intimate is the connection between the physical geo-
graphy of British East Africa and its geology, that it is
convenient to refer to the former before attempting to
summarise the latter.

222 TETENGLOEOGNAOPEB RIGS areA Sie AU RGA PARTI

The Geographical Zones of British East Africa—In the
Geographical Journal it was pointed out that British East Africa
may be considered to consist of seven zones or belts, running
north and south approximately parallel to the coast.’

The first of these is the coastal plain, known to the
Suahili as the “Temborari.” In some parts of East Africa
this is a wide tract of malarial country, but in most of the
British dominions it is narrow, and can be traversed in one or
two marches. It consists of a low-lying plain, formed of raised
coral reefs and old sea-beaches, and is generally covered by a
soil formed of wind-borne sand. On the seaward margin there.
is a line of dunes, which are sometimes 150 feet in height.
This zone is deeply indented by estuaries, which, as they are
followed inland, are found to branch repeatedly ; some of the

Mt of Mountain

Volcanic Chain Axis E.

Ww.

Nyanza Rangatan Rift Rangatan
Valley

ee |

: . Foot
Rangatan : Nyika Plateaux

Temborari

or
Coast Plain

Indian Ocean

Fic. 11.—Section across British East Africa.

small creeks unite with those of an adjoining estuary, and thus
islands are cut off from the mainland. The shores of the
estuaries are mud flats, on which grow dense jungles of man-
groves. The flats are uncovered at low tide, and the decom-
position of the vegetation and dead marine animals left upon
them causes the malarial exhalations which are the bane of
the coast.

The next zone—the Foot-hills—is also narrow, and is
entered to the west of Mombasa at Chamgamwe, at the summit
of a steep slope that rises 200 feet above the shore. From
this point there extends westward an undulating plateau covered
with woods, groves of palms and plantains, orchards of mango
and papaw, and fields of dry rice, maize, and dhurra. This
district is the granary of Mombasa, as it was in the fourteenth
century at the visit of Ibn Batuta. The foot plateau is not

1 J. W. Gregory, ‘‘ Contributions to the Physical Geography of British East Africa,"’
Geog. Journ. vol. iv. (1894), pp. 293-297.

CHAP, XII THE NYIKA 223

present throughout the whole of British East Africa. In some
places a steep ascent of 800 feet or so leads from the coast
plain to the edge of the broadest of the East African zones—
the great Nyika.

Nyika (or U-nyika) is the Suahili word for the country of
the tribe known as the Wa-nyika, and it appears to mean either
“wilderness” or “lifted up.” It has been gradually adopted
for the whole of the great scrub-covered plains of East Africa,
of which the Wa-nyika occupy only an insignificant proportion.
The Nyika, in this wider sense, extends southward from
Somaliland, opposite Aden, across the Italian, British, and
German dominions in East Africa, its continuity being
broken only by the valleys of the six principal rivers, the
Shebeyli, Juba, Tana, Sabaki, Rufigi; and Rovuma. The
peculiar scenery of the Nyika has often been described, and a
good idea of its aspect can be obtained from an exquisite
photograph published by Paulitschke.? The soil of this zone
is sandy, and usually stained bright red by oxide of iron. It is
porous, and water is scarce except in the rainy season ; there is
no turf, for the grass is dry and grows in scattered tufts. The
higher vegetation (see pp. 286-287) consists of loose acacia
scrub, and of plants and trees with succulent stems and spine-
shaped leaves, such as the Birthwort and the Spurge.

Rising through the Nyika, or occasionally forming its
western boundary, is the next zone, the “ primitive mountain
axis” of East Africa. This is part of a chain composed of
very ancient rocks, which once formed the backbone of the
continent. It probably extended from the Drakensberg of
Natal to the mountains of Abyssinia, and possibly to the
Ababd Mountains of Egypt and the central peaks of Cyprus.
Its original continuity has been destroyed, as it was breached
by earth-movements and denudation, and it has been in places
buried under vast piles of volcanic materials. But the old
rocks continually reappear upon this line, as a series of hog’s-
back-like ridges running from north to south. The Bura,
Taita, and Ongalea Mountains, the numerous “Bare Hills”
that rise above the Nyika in the Ukamba country, Bwinzau

1 The etymology of the word is considered in Geog. Journ. vol. iv. (1894), p. 296.
2 Ph. Paulitschke, Bectrage sur Ethnographie und Anthropologie der Somal, Galla
und Harari (1886), pl. xiii.

224 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST, AFRICA, PART aM

near Kibwezi, the Iveti Mountains, the gneiss ridges of Ithamba
and Changabuba, Doenyo lol Daika, and the Loroghi and
Matthews Mountains, are the remnants in British East Africa
of this ancient mountain axis.

Proceeding still farther to the west, we come to the next
zone—broad plains of volcanic rocks, which are the great
erazing lands of the nomadic tribes, and for which we may
adopt the Masai name of “ Rangatan.” The largest of these is
the “Kapte Plain,’ which extends from near the base of
Kilima Njaro, northward to the upper valley of the Tana.
Beyond this is another Rangatan, forming the high plateau of
Laikipia ; farther to the west is Rangatan Nyuki, or the “ Red
Grazing Land,” probably so called from the colour of the river
which flows through it. These Rangatan may play an impor-
tant part in the future of British East Africa, for, as their soil is
fertile and retains moisture well, and as the climate is cool and
bracing, they offer the best sites for European colonisation.

The Rangatan are formed of sheets of volcanic material,
which occurs also piled into lofty cones. The largest of these
run along a line from north to south, forming the “ Volcanic
Chain.” The highest mountain of this series is Kilima Njaro
in German East Africa, but the largest is Kenya, 280 miles to
the north. Between the two occurs the line of craters of the
Kyulu Mountains, while the series is continued to the north
by Mounts Loldibo and Kulall, which link it to the lofty
volcanic peaks of Abyssinia.

The last zone was originally also a highland, but it is now
broken by a series of north and south faults into the “Great
Rift Valley.”

The Geological Basts of the Seven Zones—When we turn
from the superficial features of the country to its geological
structure, we find that the seven zones are all different in
composition. The coastal plain consists of raised coral reefs,
marine sands, shell beds, and recent alluvium, with an occa-
sional outlier of deposits belonging to the next zone.

The foot plateau consists of shales and sandstones referable
to the middle period of geological history, though including
some carboniferous beds belonging to the latter part of the
previous era.

The Nyika and the primitive mountain axis are both

CHAP. XII A COMPARATIVE SEQUENCE 225

formed of crystalline rocks (gneisses and schists), which occur
in the former as level plains, and in the latter as hog’s-back-
like ridges, composed of the harder parts of the series. The
Rangatan and the volcanic chain are both volcanic, one being
formed of sheets of lava due to “plateau eruptions,” and the
other of piles of ashes and lava as in ordinary craters.

The floor of the Rift Valley is occupied by more varied
materials than either of the other zones, for we find upon it
ancient and modern lavas of various ages, the alluvium of
dried lake basins, recent river gravels, and deserts of loose
drifting sand.

The Geological Sequence-——Before attempting to show the
relations to one another of the different rocks which form
these zones, it is necessary to choose a simple standard of
comparison. A convenient method is to refer the African
rocks to their position in the sequence observed between
Holyhead and London. This begins at the former town with
some schists, and next reaches a ridge of “ gneiss,” which is one
of the oldest rocks known to the geologist. Passing thence to
the south-east, the traveller continually moves from older to
newer deposits. Thus after crossing the Menai Strait the
Archean gneisses and Cambrian slates are left behind, and to
the south can be seen the summits of the extinct volcanoes of
Snowdon. Continuing eastward, still younger rocks belonging
to the Silurian period! are seen, followed by those of the
Flintshire coal-field. Here the systems belonging to the “era!
of ancient life” (Palzozoic) are left, and a few miles before
Chester the railway reaches the New Red Sandstone or Trias,
which is traversed till three miles before Rugby. There the
sandstones disappear below some clays, and the route crosses
an alternation of ridges of limestone and valleys of clay,
belonging to the period of the Oolitic Limestones or Jurassic.
These in turn are succeeded by the rocks of the Cretaceous
period ; of these the best known member is the Chalk, which
can be seen on both sides of the railway, as it passes along an
old river valley cut through the Chiltern Hills. At Watford
the Chalk, the latest English representative of the “era of

1 The terms used for divisions of time in the present chapter have a somewhat
technical meaning : thus, an epoch is a subdivision of a period, and this in turn is part
of an era.

Q

226 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PaRT ill

middle life” (Mesozoic), is seen for the last time, and the rest
of the journey is over “London Clay,” deposited during the
Eocene. The next two periods, the Miocene and Pliocene, are
not represented in this district, and we pass at once from the
London Clay to the gravels of the “ Pleistocene.” In some of
these, formed by the Thames when it flowed to the north of its
present position, we find the flint implements made by early
man.

Thus, in a journey from Holyhead to London, we may see a
sequence of deposits which includes representatives of most of the
great periods in the earth’s history. The following table sum-
marises this sequence, marking the rocks which belong to the
different divisions in England, and those which, as we shall see,
represent them in British East Africa.

Era. Period. «4 English Representative. East African Representative.
(Pleistocene | Neolithic gravels Gravels with Neolithic
| Implements.

Cai : | Paleolithic ,, (?)
pene se ] Pliocene | (?) Hill gravels on Deposits of Lake Suess,
ae ne | summit of Chilterns etc.
Miocene Unrepresented Basalts of Plateau
| Eruptions.
\ Eocene | London Clay Deposits of Lake
| Kamasia.
(Cretaceous Chalk Hills of Chil-| Older Plateau Erup-
Mesozoic or | terns tions.
Era of Inter- |} Jurassic Limestones of North-) Clays with fossils
mediate Life amptonshire near Mombasa.
| | Triassic | New Red Sandstone Magarini Sandstones.
_ (Carboniferous) Coal Measures of Flint-) Sabaki Shales.
| shire |
Palecee: oe Devonian Unrepresented )
E f Silurian Sandstones of Denbigh-| |
see Aa < shire eee .
Ametoate Tie Ordovician Volcanic rocks of Snow- Age pene
don |
| (Cambrian J
Archean Gneisses and Schists of) Gneisses and Schist
(Fossils un- Anglesey
known)

The Geological History of British East Africa—tIn British
East Africa there is no long succession of fossiliferous deposits,
as in England. In 1892 the only fossils recorded from it were

CHAP, XII THE ARCHEAN ROCKS 227

a few plants, ammonites, and reptile bones from the hills of
Mombasa, and a few sub-fossil shells of living species. The
only rocks to which any definite age was assigned were those
from which the above fossils came, and the gneiss, which was.
regarded as Archean.

In spite, however, of the absence of a definite series of
fossiliferous deposits, it is possible to determine the relative
ages of the rocks in East Africa, and to find among them re-
presentatives of most of the principal divisions of the geological
sequence.

The earliest era of the earth’s history is the Archean, which
is represented in Anglesey by a ridge of gneiss and by schists.
Rocks of the same kind underlie the whole of British East
Africa, and form two-thirds of its surface. Three days after
leaving Mombasa the traveller finds these rocks on the plains
near Taro, and continues upon them for 230 miles until past
Machakos. Here they sink beneath sheets of volcanic rocks,
from which they rise to the west, forming the whole of the
Uganda plateau and the Nandi Hills.

The rocks of the Archean series may be divided into two
groups, the Upper and the Lower. The former occurs in a part
of the Iveti Mountains between Zuni and the pass of Kwazome,
and has been found by Mr. Scott Elliot on the flanks of
Ruwenzori. It is composed of a series of schists—banded
rocks which split into flakes like slates. These vary in colour
in accordance with the mineral which predominates in their
composition. Some are silvery gray, as they consist of mica
and quartz ; others are dark green, as they contain hornblende
instead of mica. The Lower Archean series consists of gneiss,
in which occurs bands of an irregular coarse-grained rock of
light colour (pegmatite), and of fine-grained fissile rocks which
are dark green or black.

It is not easy to decide as to the exact origin of this
Archean series. The gneisses were probably formed from
various rocks, some of which were igneous and some sedi-
mentary. They have, however, all been completely altered
by burial deep below the surface, whereby they came under
the influence of the internal heat of the globe. They were
thus rendered crystalline, and their original characters obliter-
ated. The gneisses contain two sets of rocks, which were

228 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART Ill

probably igneous in origin, and were forced into the gneiss in a
molten condition. When the main series was altered, these
igneous intrusions underwent the same change. One set con-
sisted of so-called “acid” rocks, as they contained much
quartz; these have formed “pegmatite” veins. The other set
was poor in quartz, but rich in such materials as iron and
magnesia, and thus had a more complex chemical composition ;
they therefore underwent more marked alterations, and were
crushed into a series of dark-coloured banded schists in the
way so clearly described by Teall in the case of the Scourie
Dyke in Sutherland. These rocks, therefore, carry us back to
a very early period in the earth’s history, for they doubtless
date from the Archean era, and are of approximately the same
age as the gneiss of Anglesey. Though their interpretation is
difficult, they tell us that Africa was originally a country where
igneous activity prevailed, and they remind us that all the
rocks, now exposed on the surface, were once deeply buried
underground.

After leaving the Archean system there is a gap in the
geological record, and we have no certain knowledge of the
condition of Equatorial Africa during the first four of the five
ages of the era characterised by the “ancient forms of life.”
Deposits formed during this interval are known, such as the
Karagwe series, to the west of the Victoria Nyanza, and the
Lualaba series of the Upper Congo basin. But they have not
yet yielded any fossils; and as the shales and sandstones of
which they consisted have been crushed into slates or consoli-
dated into quartzites, they give no certain knowledge of the
condition of the country at the time of their formation.

The record does not begin again till the upper part of the
Carboniferous period, when England was covered by the swamps
and jungles, in which grew the vegetation that has formed our
coal-fields. |

In the hills to the west of Mombasa there are some sand-
stones in which occur the famous water-holes of Taro.
Thornton found a few plant impressions in these beds, and on
this evidence the sandstones have been assigned to the Carbon-
iferous. However, in the Sabaki valley I obtained more
definite evidence of the Carboniferous age of some of the
deposits, by finding a series of fossils containing some fish

CHAP. XII (RHE AGE OF MIDDLE LIFE? 229

scales, and some mollusca determined by Professor Amalitzky
of Warsaw and Mr. G. F. Harris as Paleanodonta fischeri
(Amal.) These show that at this period large freshwater lakes
occurred in the valley of the Sabaki.

The next period in the earth’s history was the Trias,
during which quaint reptiles lived at the Cape in the region of
“the baked Karroo,” and a great continent extended across the
Indian Ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to India. This
probably extended northward as far as Western Russia, for
one freshwater fauna spread throughout this region. In
Eastern Africa a band of brilliant red sands and sandstones
occur near the coast behind Mombasa, and thence extend
northwards to the hills around the mission station of Ngao on
the Tana. These can be especially well seen in the hills above
the plantations of Magarini, and I therefore propose to call
them the “ Magarini Sands.”

There is no direct fossil evidence as to the age of these
beds, but as they appear to overlie the Carboniferous rocks, and
are in turn covered by the next series, they are probably
Triassic. They are no doubt a desert sand, and, though
here and there the action of rivers and streams can be traced
within them, they indicate the existence of an arid climate
toward the close of the New Red Sandstone period.

After the formation of the last of the Magarini Sands the
land subsided, until part of the coast region was below .the
sea. The continent over the Indian Ocean was broken up, or
at least indented, by gulfs or seas that ran northward from the
great Southern Ocean. On the shores beds of shale were formed,
some of which are now found at intervals along the African
coast from Somaliland to German East Africa. These yield
ammonites, which show that the beds from which they come
were formed at the same time as the Oxford Clay of our
Midland Counties.

In the next great period—that of the Chalk—another
change came over the country. In Sofala and Madagascar to
the south, and in Somaliland to the north, marine conditions
still occurred. The British dominions on the east coast, how-
ever, yield no marine deposits of this age. The next fossil
from them is Eocene in age, and allied to species found in the
Kirthar series (Upper Eocene) of India. The evidence of this

230 THE NGELOLOGN OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA “PARIMIE

fossil is not free from doubt, but as the conclusions it suggests
are probable and in accordance with other lines of evidence,
and as it fixes a date which otherwise must be left uncertain,
it is convenient to admit it.

Accepting, then, that the fossil in question came from East
Africa, we know that a new stage in the history of the country
began after the close of the Jurassic. Up to this point, ever
since the Archean era, Eastern Equatorial Africa had been
stable and restful; but then the old volcanic fires broke out
anew, and inaugurated a series of events which have given the
region its especial interest. In summarising these it is con-
venient to give names to the principal divisions, and the native
terms for the geographical features determined in each of them
may be appropriately adopted.

The first of these we may call the Kaptian, as in it were
formed the Kapte plains. That this period began later than the
Jurassic is probable, for Hobley has shown that the rocks of
this age on the coast are cut by dykes. The composition of
the rocks suggest that these dykes belong to the first series of
eruptions. The volcanic action near the coast was not very
powerful, but in the interior innumerable small volcanic cones
buried an enormous tract of country under a flood of molten
rock.

The earliest lavas ejected by these “plateau eruptions”
were of the kind known as “ trachytes,” and these were fol-
lowed by others containing less silica, which are named
“ andesites”” owing to their importance in the Andes.

The duration of this period of intense volcanic activity
cannot be precisely determined, but it must have been pro-
longed. When the pressure on the lava sources was relaxed,
the volcanoes dwindled, became dormant, and then extinct.
They had, however, destroyed the structural stability of the
country ; for the subterranean reservoirs were empty, while
masses of volcanic material had been piled upon the surface.
The upper layers of the earth’s crust were therefore over-
weighted above and weakened below, and earth-movements
were necessary to restore equilibrium. The first change was
probably a subsidence of the country to the east and west of
the East African lake-chain, leaving this line as a ridge or
arch running north and south from Basso Narok, past Baringo

cHap. x11 ZTHE BEGINNING OF THE RIFT VALLEY 231

and Naivasha, to the southern end of the volcanic region near
Lake Nyasa. Throughout the whole of geological history the
dominant lines of weakness in East Africa have run from
north to south, and it is therefore only natural that the ridge
should have trended in the same direction. As the move-
ments of this epoch raised the line which formed most of the
existing watershed between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans,
it may be called the “ Doenyan,” from the Masai name for
mountain.

The regions on either side of this central ridge probably
continued to subside. The central arch was therefore left
unsupported, and parallel cracks opened along its flanks, as
they do on a bridge when its buttresses give way. As the
summit of the ridge was thus weakened it sank, making the
first step in the formation of the Rift Valley.

As we have seen in the Introduction, Suess has shown
that the Rift Valley extended from the north of Palestine to
Lake Nyasa, but the whole of it was not formed simultaneously.
Moreover, each part was probably formed by a series of earth-
movements at distant intervals.

The first of the series of north and south faults which
formed the Rift Valley happened in the Eocene. This is
determined by the occurrence of marine fossils, which must
have lived in a gulf that ran into the valley from the Indian
Ocean. As the earth-movements of this epoch formed the
Nyasa region of the Rift Valley, we may call it the “ Nyasan.”

After the subsidences of this epoch, volcanic disturbances
of the plateau type began again. In the foot-hills of Kamasia
there are lake deposits, in which occur beds of pebbles of the
Kaptian lavas. Above the lake deposits there are flows of
basalt, which have baked the clays into a porcelain as hard
and white as the purest china. We may call this second series
of plateau eruptions the “ Laikipian,” as its basalts form the
main cap of Laikipia, where they lie on eroded surfaces of the
older lavas. After these eruptions had again disturbed the
equilibrium of the region by removing the foundations in some
places, and piling up accumulations of volcanic materials over
others, earth-movements again set in. Probably it was at this
time that the plateau which occupied the site of the Victoria
Nyanza began to subside. The head streams of the rivers

232 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA Parr itt

that rose upon it were cut off from their lower courses, and
were reversed in direction. They flowed to the centre of the
depressed region, where they collected as a great lake. The
second of the series of faults which made the main Rift Valley
probably happened at the same time, and increased its size and
depth, while others enlarged that of the Albert Nyanza. The
climate of Africa must then have been less arid than at present.
The snowfields of Kenya were certainly larger, and great
glaciers flowed from these for several thousand feet down the
flanks of the mountain." The heavier rainfall helped the
growth of lakes, which extended over places that are now sandy
deserts. This period may therefore be called the “ Naivashan,”
from the Masai word for lake. The first of these extinct lakes
which we crossed was in the Kedong basin, where we entered
the Rift Valley. There on the face of the Kikuyu scarp,
which forms the eastern wall of the valley, are the terraces of
an ancient lake. This I propose to name Lake Suess, after
Prof. Edward Suess of Vienna, whose Das Antlitz der Erde |
venture to regard as the most original and suggestive geological
work that has appeared since Lyell’s Principles. The terraces
of this lake are perfectly visible when seen from a little distance,
though often difficult to trace in the jungle that covers the face
of the cliff. The terraces were formed by the conservative
action of the water, which protected the part of the valley wall
below its surface, while that above it was exposed to the wind
and rain. The cliff was therefore driven back, while the débris
which fell from it accumulated on the floor of the lake. The
terraces show that Lake Suess at one time reached the height
of 400 feet above the present floor of the valley, along which it
extended for a considerable distance.

It is probable that the outlet of the lake was to the north,
whence a river flowed along the Rift Valley, through the basins
of Baringo and Basso Narok. There it was joined by a
river, the Turquell, which, as we shall see in another chapter,
probably received the drainage of the basins of the Victoria
and Albert Nyanzas, through the valley occupied by the
Salisbury or Musaniya lake-chain.”

1 The evidence for this is stated at length in a paper on ‘‘ The Glacial Geology of
Mount Kenya,” Quart. Jour. Geol. Soc. vol. 1, (1894), pp. 515-530.

2 For topographical information which supports this idea I am indebted to Major
Williams, R.A.

CHAP, XII MN EXTINCT: LEAKE 233

Lake Suess must have lasted for a considerable period,
gradually dwindling as the climate became more arid, and as
earth-movements cut off its extension to north and south. One
of these earth-movements formed the ridge crowned by the
volcano Longonot, which separates the Kedong and the Naivasha
basins. That this ridge is later than the lake is shown by the
fact that the terraces on its flanks are uptilted. It is also
certain that the lake was earlier than the last of the lava flows
from Longonot, for these have spread out over the alluvium, a
fact illustrated in Pl. IX. (p. 97). Volcanic action, however,
took place in the district while the lake was in existence, for
Doenyo Nyuki (the Red Mountain) once rose above its surface
as a volcanic island.

In the later stages of the history of Lake Suess volcanic
activity of a violent type was renewed, new craters being
formed along lines running north and south. Kibo—the
highest mountain in Africa—was a member of this series, to
which also belong the Kyulu Mountains (a line of craters in
Kikumbuliyu to the west of the Uganda road), Elgon and
Lekakisera to the north-east of the Victoria Nyanza, and the
most recent craters on the floor of the Rift Valley, such as
Suswa and Longonot. These volcanic disturbances were
followed or accompanied by another series of earth-movements.
The chain of volcanoes from Elgon to Lekakisera apparently
marks a line of elevation, which cut off the connection between
the Nyanza basin and Basso Narok (Lake Rudolf). Parallel
to this was a line of depression, which lengthened the Albert
Nyanza Rift Valley, and formed the gorge between Wadelai
and Lado, through which the waters of the Central Basin of
Africa gained an outlet to the Nile.

Mention of this event reminds us that in Equatorial Africa
there is not merely one Rift Valley, but a series, which ramifies
through the country like the rill systems of the moon. Suess
has shown that these “valleys of dislocation” often end by
splitting into a series of smaller ones, which he calls a “ virga-
tion,” from its resemblance to the loose ends of a bundle of
twigs. The Great Rift Valley presents a typical case of this
in Palestine. In Africa, however, it branches occasionally,
and forms an open system. The members of this have not
been geologically surveyed, and in many cases the topographical

234 LHE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA Parr im

information, from which their existence is inferred, is unsatis-
factory. But of the existence of such a series there is now no
doubt.

We have thus rapidly summarised the main outlines of the
geology of British East Africa. The first striking fact is that,
with the exception of a narrow strip upon its margin, the
country has never been below the sea. The second point of
interest is that the history of the region may be divided into
three stages :—

1. The Archean, represented by igneous and _schistose
rocks.

2. The long uneventful interval between the Archean and
the Cretaceous.

3. The subsequent complex series of volcanic eruptions
and earth-movements.

This threefold division reminds us at once of the geology
of Brazil and of the southern or peninsular half of India, the
histories of which agree very closely with that of East Africa.
Thus Southern India consists in the main of gneiss and schists ;
upon these occur slates and quartzites (the Cuddapah series)
much like those of Karagwe. Then comes a long recordless
interval, until, in the Cretaceous, plateau eruptions poured out
the 200,000 square miles of Deccan Traps, which correspond
with the Kaptian series of Africa. After this the scarp of the
Western Ghats was probably formed in the same manner as
the scarp of the East African plateau.

The main interest in the geology of British East Africa
is in the last of the three periods. This is complex, for it
has three parallel histories—those of the volcanoes, of the
lakes, and of the earth-movements. In the previous sketch
the effort has been made to combine the three narratives into
a continuous story; but the following table shows them
independently :—

[ TABLE

CHAP. XII THE EAST AFRICAN SEQUENCE 235
Jee Rift Valley Area.
* ast African i
Geological | Representa- -| Nyanza Basin.
tives.
ae Volcanic Action. Lakes. Earth-movements.
Longonot,Doenyo | Modern | Last series of |
Upper Ngai, and Teleki Lakes. faults.
Series Volcano in| Neolithic
eruption extension |
Pleisto- |
cene
Longonot, Kyulu, Elgon series in
Lower and existing eruption. For-
Series crater of Kilima mation of Nile
Njaro gorge.
Pliocene | Naivashan | Doenyo Nyuki Lake Extension of | Depression of
Suess Kenya glaciers area and_for-
Second series of mation of Sem-
Rift Valley liki Rift Valley.
faults
\(?) Miocene | Laikipian | Plateau eruptions Basalt eruptions.
of basalt
Nyasan Lake First series of Rift
Kamasia Valley faults.
E Sea in southern
ocene
end.
Doenyan | Kenya, Settima, Ridge over Rift | Plateau condi-
and Mawenzi Valley tions.
in eruption
|
Cretaceous | Kaptian | First plateau |
eruptions.

In the case of the volcanic history there are probably

five main divisions, three of plateau eruptions and two of crater
eruptions. The succession of lavas poured forth appears at first
to agree with Richthofen’s theory of the volcanic rock sequence.
The plateau-eruption lavas followed one another in the order
—trachyte, andesite, and basalt, and this succession appears to
support Richthofen’s hypothesis. But if we consider the crater
eruptions, no definite succession occurs. In these, trachytes
occur after andesites as well as before them, and basalts at the
end of the series as well as at the beginning.

236 THE GEOLOGY OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART UI

After the completion of the system of Rift Valleys, the
study of East Africa becomes the work of the archeologist
and historian, instead of the geologist. The stone implements
of the old terraces of Lake Baringo (see pp. 323, 324) show
that man entered the region while yet the lakes were larger
than they are to-day. Volcanic eruptions still took place
and earth-movements continued, for some of the fault-scarps
are so bare and sharp that they must be of very recent
date. This continuation of earth-movements into the human
period is one of the most striking features of the district.
Whereas, according to the old view, British East Africa was
supposed to have acquired a condition of stable equilibrium at
a very early age, it has, on the contrary, been in a continual
state of change since the time of the formation of our Oolitic
limestones. During the eras between those of the Archean and
of the Chalk, the country may have enjoyed comparative rest ;
but in the age of the latter, there began one of the two greatest
of the series of volcanic outbursts known in the world’s history.
This and the resultant series of earth- movements have kept
the region ever since in a condition of disorder and unrest.
One region has been raised and another depressed; in one
place a fiord has been opened from the sea, and then separated
from it; elsewhere a line of movement has reversed the direction
of rivers, and transferred lakes from one river system to another ;
while differences in elevation have caused variations in climate
and rainfall. The evidence of these changes is apparent on every
hand. Scars of great earth-movements, extinct volcanic craters,
dried lake basins and old river beds, show the extent and
recent date of these events, and the structural instability of the
region of the Great Rift Valley.

In later chapters we shall see that this structural instability
has had a most important influence on all branches of the
natural history of British East Africa, for its results have
affected the development of both animals and plants, and
helped to mould the character of the people.

CHAR LE Ril

PROBLEMS OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE EAST AFRICAN
FLORA AND FAUNA

** Kisauni kutamea mvinde?”
“*Mvita kutamea mgomba?”

(Will Kisauni grow the she-oak ?
Will Mombasa grow the banana tree ?)

3
Zanzibart Proverbs.

THE problems of the distribution of animals and plants in a
country are riddles, the difficulty of which varies with the
complexity of its history. In regions of great stability they
are simpler than where important geographical and climatic
changes have taken place in the past. Thus, on the old
view of the geological uniformity of the continent of Africa,
these problems might have been expected to be com-
paratively simple, whereas they have always proved excep-
tionally confused and intricate. After making a preliminary
collection in East Africa, I compared notes with those of the
residents, such as Mr. Ainsworth of Machakos, the late Mr.
Bell Smith of Melindi, and the late Dr. Charters of Kibwezi,
who had had experience on the west coast. The result
sorely puzzled me, by bringing out apparently glaring con-
tradictions in the facts of distribution. Thus certain groups
run across Africa from east to west, while others extend from
north to south. The commoner beetles, butterflies, and birds
seemed to belong to a fauna that spread across the continent
from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. On the other hand,
some less important groups of animals, and some of the more
striking of the plants, have their nearest affinities with those of

=

238 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

Abyssinia and the Cape. That different groups of living
creatures have different geographical distributions is a well-
known fact. As shown by Dr. Blanford, in his remark-
able presidential address to the Geological Society in 18g0, it
can be easily explained by the assumption, that the distribution
of land and water has varied greatly at different periods in
geological history. A group of animals, therefore, that made its
appearance on the earth at one period, was able to spread along
very different lines from those followed by a later group, when
old land-masses had been broken up, and seas once connected
had become separate. Thus, if we compare the distribution of
different groups of animals, we find a gradually increasing special-
isation as we pass from the oldest to the youngest groups.
This is shown by the accompanying four sketch-maps. The
oldest of the five classes of vertebrate animals is that of the fish,
of which only the fresh-water forms are of any value in this con-
nection ; when they were introduced, they were apparently able
to spread in any difection, and thus their present distribu-
tion appears to be determined mainly by temperature, for the
faunas range round the world in three bands. By the time
the tortoises appeared in the period of the Trias, or New Red
Sandstone, the land of the southern hemisphere had apparently
been broken up, and it was only to the north of the equator
that the animals were abie to range round the globe. Accord-
ing to the tortoises, therefore, North America, Europe, and
Asia are all part of the same province; but before the
introduction of the lizards, remains of which first occur in
the Purbeck limestones, great geographical changes had
occurred. These reptiles could not spread westward into
North America, but they made up for this restriction by
extending southward throughout Africa. After another great
lapse of time, snakes appeared upon the scene in the age of
the London Clay (a part of the Lower Eocene) ; the European
species were now cut off from Africa, and in Asia were limited
to the western half of the continent. The passerine birds, on
which Dr. Sclater’s classification is mainly based, soon followed
the snakes; they were cut off from America and Tropical
Africa, but their powers of flight enabled them to spread over
the whole of Europe and Asia, though they did not succeed in
entering India, Siam, and the Malay Peninsula.

‘sayvUS JO UONNqIISIG MUL ‘AI ‘sprezr'y Jo uonnqmsiq ey, ‘III
‘SdSIOWOT, JO UOINIUSIG 94], ‘TI *Ysly JayeAy-ysety Jo uonnqiuysiq ayy, ‘]
(‘raYyIUNH 0} Surprosoy) ‘uornquysiq [eo1Sojooz jo sdeyy— ‘zr “org
99 11 D2N0T BD 4347041
OO!

7p .
on 11); - = ee a eee NG aMens
PE oe AS 7 Worcs aes yoyenby ° Olona? Ta LW
EE cera Z QS SS ——— Ea eee tit eee

~

SS pe

240 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

The application of this simple explanation to the anomalies
in the internal distribution of plants and animals in Africa
seemed prohibited by the general assumption that this continent
had always maintained its present form. Moreover, this ex-
planation does not fully account for the distribution of some
groups in small local patches; and as soon as the scientific
exploration of Equatorial Africa began, numerous small outliers
belonging to one province were found to occur in the middle
of others.

Thus, when Baron von der Decken returned from his
memorable expedition to Kilima Njaro in 1862, he brought
back with him a collection of plants, many of which were
determined by Ascherson to be species previously known from
the mountains of Abyssinia, such as Helichrysum abyssinicum,
Sch. Bip., Spzlanthes abyssinica, Sch. Bip., and Achyrocline
Hochstettert, Sch. Bip. Others, such as the tree lobelias
(Tupa), are allied to those of the same region, and others
belonging to genera such as the Wormwood (Aréemzsia) are
typical of the north temperate zone. During New’s daring
visit to Kilima Njaro in 1871 he obtained specimens of twenty
plants, which enabled Sir Joseph Hooker and Professor Oliver
to add the 4artsza to the list of northern genera growing on
the mountain. The later collections of Teleki, Johnston, and
Volkens have fully confirmed the fact of a flora existing on the
higher part of this mountain, unlike that of the surrounding
lowlands, and allied with those of the mountains of Abyssinia
and the Cameroons, and to a less extent with those of the Cape
and the Mediterranean basin.

The most striking of these plants was a giant groundsel,
which was first discovered on Kilima Njaro by Mr. H. H.
Johnston, after whom it was named Seneczo Johnstont. This
plant, though belonging to the same genus aS our English
groundsels and ragworts, grows as a tree from 20 to 30 feet in
height, resembling members of this genus previously known
from the mountains of Abyssinia and the Cameroons.

In some photographs taken by Gedge at a corresponding
elevation on Mount Elgon, similar arborescent groundsels form
a conspicuous feature in the scenery. Count Teleki observed
another species on Kenya, and a view published by Stuhlmann
demonstrated the existence of a similar form on Ruwenzori.

CHAP. XIII THE CAMEROONIAN SUB-REGION 241

Moreover, on each of these mountains, the giant groundsels are
associated with tree heaths, tree lobelias, and other plants allied
to those of Kilima Njaro and the temperate zones. Teleki’s
observations did not, however, show whether the Alpine flora
of Kenya was more closely allied to that of Kilima Njaro, of
Abyssinia, or of the Cameroons, and the determination of this
point was one of the main objects of my visit to the mountain.
More than half of my collections from Kenya were lost in the
Tana, and of the remainder, only two out of three botanical
groups have been as yet described. These show that the flora
is allied to that of Kilima Njaro, though the species are in
many cases distinct.

The Alpine birds of Central Africa have the same remark-
able distribution as the plants, for upon the highest mountains
there is an avifauna unrepresented on the adjoining lowlands.
Dr. Bowdler Sharpe has grouped together these isolated colonies
into a special sub-region, which he calls the “ Cameroonian.” On
his map, illustrating the geographical distribution of birds,! he
shows this “Cameroonian sub-region” as a series of areas
scattered over Equatorial Africa.

The most simple possible explanation of these facts
is, that the seeds “have been carried ‘by the wind, or by
birds, from one mountain summit to another. It is well
known that the wind can carry some seeds for enormous dis-
tances; and if the resemblance of the floras of Abyssinia,
Kenya, and the Cameroons, were due solely to plants with
seeds so small as those of the orchids, or provided with
appliances especially adapted for floating in the air, such as
the pappus of the groundsels, this explanation might suffice.
But seeds so large as those of the Gladiolus, and so hard and
heavy as those of Podocarpus, can hardly have been carried far
by the wind; nor are the birds sufficient to account for the
distribution, as the sun-birds, which alone occur at these
altitudes, are not migratory.

A second explanation is suggested by the fact that similar
anomalies in distribution occur in Europe, where Alpine and
Scandinavian plants, such as the little Lauzla arcuata of the
Grampians, live on the summits of mountains, far from the

1 R. Bowdler Sharpe, ‘‘ On the Zoo-Geographical Areas of the World, illustrating the
Distribution of Birds,’ Natural Science, vol. iii. (1893), pp. 100-108,

R

242 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

present homes of the species. In Europe this admits of very
easy explanation, for the former extension of the glaciers in the
great Ice age drove the northern plants farther south; as the
climate became milder and the ice receded, the plants returned
northward, and in the south survived only on the summits of
the higher mountains. Analogous cases have been found in
North America, and admit of the same explanation. Thus on
the White Mountains in New Hampshire there is a group of
butterflies of Arctic types, which have been left as a legacy
from glacial times.

The occurrence of these isolated patches of an Alpine flora
in Equatorial Africa therefore suggests that, in times geologi-
cally recent, a change has come over the climate. This is con-
firmed by other lines of evidence ; instances are known of the
survival of plants in situations now ill-suited to them. For
example, at the southern end of Basso Narok, von Hohnel
found a patch of the Hyphene palm. His photograph shows
that the trees are dwarfed and unbranched, and are clearly
growing under unfavourable conditions. They are probably
survivals from a rich growth of these palms that flourished
around Basso Narok at a period when a great river flowed into
its southern end, and its waters were less alkaline than they
are to-day. The geographical evidence is equally conclusive.
Livingstone’ has graphically described the existence of river
gorges in Bechuanaland far larger than could have been cut
by the rivers that now flow through them; and the same fact
has been reported in the Sahara by Zittel, Rohlfs, and Weld
Blundell. Old beaches and terraces indicate the former exist-
ence of lakes, whose waters have long since been lost by
evaporation into the air and absorption by the soil.

Hence the evidence of the plants, river gorges, and old lake
basins, together demonstrate that some change has taken place
in the African climate. The two latter could be explained by
a mere decrease in the rainfall, but this would not account for
the first; and the facts afforded by the Cape, Kilima Njaro,
and the Andes seemed to forbid an appeal to the glacial
agencies, which explain the analogous cases in Europe and
America.

1D, Livingstone, Aisstonary Travels and Researches in South Africa (1857),
Bb Tani,

CHAP, XIII TROPICAL GLACIATIONS 243

It is true that, in the Himalaya, ice action once operated
several thousand feet below its present limit, but there is no
proof that it reached the plains ;* moreover, this occurred in the
midst of a continent and 30 degrees from the Equator.

Some evidence has indeed been adduced from the Cape of
a recent glaciation, but so far it is inconclusive, and the facts
opposed to it are very weighty. For example, one of the most
easily recognisable rocks in South Africa is the volcanic “ Pipe
Amyedaloid” of the Stormberg series. If glacial action had
occurred since this was formed, boulders of it must have been
distributed across the country. Their absence seems incom-
patible with the existence of an ice sheet in Cape Colony since
the Cretaceous period. It is therefore less surprising that by
the Europeans who have visited Kilima Njaro (more than a
hundred in all) no extension of its glaciers has been recorded.
It may be objected that negative evidence in the case of
Equatorial Africa is not reliable; but that of the Andes shows
conclusively that there has not been any universal extension of
the glaciers in the tropics. The fact that the glaciers at the
Andes are now at their maximum extension is well established :
D’Orbigny indeed argued from it that the Andes are still
undergoing elevation. Mr. Whymper has informed me that
only twice in Ecuador did he see any trace of glaciation below
the level of the existing glaciers. In the more important case
he found some decayed voches moutonnées below his second
camp on Chimborazo; but they were so little below the
“Glacier de Débris,” that a mere local variation in wind would
account for the slight extension of the ice that made them.

Thus the negative evidence of Equatorial and Southern
Africa and the analogy of the Andes seemed to forbid any
appeal to glacial theories for an explanation of Central African
anomalies in biological distribution. When, therefore, above the
forests of Kenya, I found an old moraine several thousand feet
below the level of the existing glaciers, I felt that I had found
not only a valuable clue to the causes of the spread of the
Alpine flora, but a chance of determining the date of its
extinction on the lowlands and of the change in the African
climate. This evidence has been considered at some length in

1 C. A. M‘Mahon, Records Geol. Surv. India, vol. xiv. (1881), p. 310; vol. xv.
1882), p. 49. See also‘Aan. Geol. India, ed. 2, p. 484.
9

244 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

a paper on “The Glacial Geology of Mount Kenya,’* which
deals with both the causes of the greater glaciation and some
of its results. The former has been referred to in a previous
chapter, but the latter must be considered in relation to the
changes in the flora.

In the paper quoted it is shown that the glaciers once
extended for over 5400 feet below their present limits, and it -
is suggested that this was due to the level of the whole country
having been much higher than at present. Whether this were
the cause or not, there can be no doubt that the Alpine flora,
which now descends on Kenya to the level of 10,400 feet,
must have been driven as far as the glaciers advanced. It
would thus have reached the contour line, which now stands
5000 feet above the sea. Other effects would have tended in
the same direction. The greater extent of the snowfields
must have increased the rainfall on the surrounding country.
Moreover, on the mountains there does not appear to be any
division of the year into wet and dry periods, as there is on
the plains; the heavier rainfall would therefore have been all
the more effective, as it would have been distributed throughout
the year. The rainfall on the. plains would also have been
increased in another way. In all mountainous countries, more
rain falls on one particular zone than either above or below it.
At present, in British East Africa, this “zone of maximum
rainfall” occurs between the levels of 7000 and 11,000 feet,
and thus only includes parts of the highest mountains, and not
the plains. But during the period of greater elevation of the
country, the maximum rainfall would have occurred at a
relatively lower level, and probably most of the surface of the
high plateaux was included in this zone. In much of the
country in which the rainfall is now scanty and uncertain, it
would therefore have been regular in distribution and con-
siderable in amount.

The results on the vegetation of the district must have
been very great. The air being damper, it would no longer be
necessary for the plants to guard themselves against the drain
of moisture caused by the process of transpiration. The desert
scrub, which now covers the country, would have been replaced
by a less specialised and more normal type of vegetation ; the

1 Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. 1. (1894), pp. 515-530.

CHAP. XIII FORMER RANGE OF ALPINE FLORA 245

possession of narrow, spiny, or needle-shaped leaves and succulent
leafless stems would not then have been an advantage; the
foliage would have been more luxuriant and better adapted for
animal food ; forests that now occur only as belts beside the
rivers would have been spread far and wide across the country.
The scrub would have been replaced by woodland, and districts
that now, as barren sandy deserts, present barriers to animal
migration, would have been fertile, well-watered prairie. All
the conditions, in fact, that govern the distribution of animal
and plant life would have been different from those that obtain
at the present day.

At the time, therefore, of the maximum size of the Kenyan
glaciers, the Alpine flora would have spread at least throughout
the areas marked by dots on the accompanying map (Fig. 13).
No doubt it extended lower, as traces of it have been found in
the mountains of Usambara, but the precise lower limit cannot
be determined from the data available at present. When the
climate changed with the decrease of the glaciers, the Alpine
flora crept up the mountain sides, and became isolated from its
allies in the temperate regions to north and south.

We have assumed, however, that this Alpine flora has
received contributions not only from the north but from the
south, and this compels us to consider the theory that
all faunas and floras have originated in the northern hemi-
sphere, and thence have worked their way to the south. The
occurrence of isolated patches of the flora of one region in
a more southern zone has been mentioned as not unknown in
Europe and North America. Similar evidence occurs in Asia.
On the mountains of Ceylon and the plateaux of Southern India
there occur plants such as Rhododendron arboreum, Sm., and
mammals such as the Indian Marten (Martes flavigula, Bodd.),
which do not live on the surrounding lowlands, but reappear to
the north on the Himalaya. Similarly, the Himalayan fauna and
flora can be traced along the mountains of Assam and through
Burmah into the Malay Peninsula. An outlier occurs even on
the hills of Java.’ Russell Wallace? and Haacke* have
collected a good deal of evidence of the same character, and

1 Blanford, Medlicott, and Oldham, dA/an. Geol. India, ed. 2 (1894), p. 14.

2 A. Russell Wallace, /s/and Life (1880), chap. xxiii.

3 W. Haacke, ‘‘ Der Nordpol als Schépfungszentrum der Landfauna,”’ Biol. Centralbl.
Bd. vi. (1886), pp. 363-370.

246 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

upon it advanced the theory that the movement of faunas is

always to the south.
This theory of the northern origin of life is unquestionably

36 38
r==>Basso"

=$Narok L.

-“Yambeni Mts.

Kenya 73)

Osz

Fe
jako

Sabak#R

, a= e
be: ; i BES MelindiZ
. : 5
ee eval: =

Present Distribution Eee

Walker & Boutall sc.
Range at Maximum GlaciationE==)

FIG. 13.—Map of Present and Former Range of Alpine Flora.

very suggestive, as it is supported by many different lines of
evidence, explains many difficult problems, and is itself readily
explained. Nevertheless, I venture to doubt its universal
truth. Colonies occasionally have migrated into Europe and

CHAP, XIII SOUTHWARD MIGRATIONS 247

North America from the south. Thus a South American fauna
entered the United States in the Upper Miocene.'

Plants so typical of the Cape flora as Calodendrum capense,
Thunb., and orchids of the genus Ysa, occur on the plateaux of
Equatorial Africa associated with the Mediterranean and north
temperate species. This certainly suggests that in Africa
plants have been introduced into the equatorial regions from
the south, as well as from the north. That the rule that plants
and animals have usually travelled from north to south is not
so universal as to prohibit this, is shown by the fauna of the
Andes. ‘The theory of a migration from north to south during
a cooler period has been applied there, but H. W. Bates, in
discussing the results obtained by Mr. Whymper’s collection,
pointed out that the facts give no support to it. He says:
“Tt seems to me a fair deduction from the facts here set forth,
that no distinct traces of a migration during the life-time of
existing species, from north to south, or wzce versd, along the
Andes, have as yet been discovered, or are now likely to be
discovered.” On the contrary, he claims that there are no
traces in the Andes of Ecuador of temperate forms of either
beetles or butterflies, and the fauna consists of modified repre-
sentatives of the genera of the neighbouring lowlands.

Mountain floras, therefore, are of two types—those which
have been left as relics of an older or foreign flora, and those
which have developed zz sztu by the adaptation of local, low-
land species. In British East Africa there are representatives
of both types. Many of the mountains are not sufficiently
high to reach the levels at which alone the temperate plants
can live. In such cases they have been killed off, and the
summits are occupied by dwarfed, or otherwise modified, re-
presentatives of the species of the adjoining lowlands. The
occurrence, however, of species of such genera as Clematzs,
Polygala, etc., on the summits of the Taita Mountains, shows
that in some localities representatives of both groups occur
together.

1 W. B. Scott, ‘‘ The Mammalia of the Deep River Beds,” Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc.
vol. xvii. (1894), p. 62. Many similar cases could be quoted. A book has, indeed,
recently been issued by C. Dixon, The A/igration of British Birds (1895), which main-
tains, as the fundamental law of distribution, that species never migrate to the south. ’

2 E. Whymper, Zravels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator, vol. ii., Supple-
mentary Appendix (1891), p. 4.

248 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

As has been already suggested, a great change in the
character of the flora of a country must inevitably influence
the distribution of its animals by altering the food supply.
Thus insects will vary with the flowers, and birds with the
insects; small mammals will disappear as the vegetation
becomes sparser; earthworms will be restricted to the more
fertile regions, and termites or “white ants” replace them, as
the soil becomes harder and more barren. In the case of the
fresh-water fauna, the range of possible variation in the environ-
ment is more limited. The current of a river may become
slower, or the quantity of water in a pool may lessen; but the
conditions do not vary fundamentally, unless the water dries up
entirely, and such a change as this is at once fatal to animal
life. Nevertheless, the fresh-water fish of Equatorial Africa
present as many anomalies in distribution as the land animals
and plants. When Giinther’ in 1869 described the collection
made by Petherick in the Upper Nile, he pointed out that the
fauna of which it is a part has a very remarkable distribution,
being more nearly related to the faunas of the Palestine and West
African rivers than to those of Lake Nyasa and the Zambesi.
Later collections have fully confirmed the truth of Dr. Giinther’s
view. Though the fish of the Zambesi, the Upper Congo, and
their connected lakes, such as Nyasa and Tanganyika, are in
the main identical in genera with those of the Upper Nile, they
differ from them in species; while the Upper Nile contains
some of the very same species as the Jordan and the Sea of
Galilee. My collections prove that the rivers of British East
Africa, such as the Tana, Athi, and Sabaki, and the rivers and
lakes of the Rift Valley have the same generic fauna. The
Tana, however, is intermediate between the Nile and the
Zambesi, for it has two species from each, viz. Clarzas lazera,
C. V.,and Clarotes laticeps, Riipp., from the former, and Eztropzus
depressirostris, Ptrs., and Synodontis szambezensis, Ptrs., from the
latter, as well as one (Barbus intermedius, Riipp.) from Abyssinia.’

The fact that renders the evidence of fresh-water fish so in-
structive is that the distribution of the species is often extremely
local. Thus many of the small British and Irish lakes have

1 Tn J. and B. H. Petherick’s Travels in Central Africa, Appendix C, vol. ii. pp.
197-268.

2 A. Giinther, ‘‘ Report on the Collection of Reptiles and Fishes made by Dr. J. W.
Gregory during his Expedition to Mount Kenya,” Pyoc. Zool, Soc. (1894), pp. 84-91.

cHaP. x1 CHANGES IN AFRICAN RIVER SYSTEMS 249

forms peculiar to them, such as the Llanberris Charr (Saduo
perist, Gthr.) found in the two Llyns at Llanberris, the Salmo
colt, Gthr., of Lough Eske, and the Salmo grayz, Gthr., of Lough
Melvin. The fact, then, that the same species occur both in
the Upper Nile and in the Jordan, suggests that there must
once have been some connection between them. If the fish
which occurred in both rivers were eels, able to wriggle their
way for some distance across land, or catfish (CZarzas), able to
live for months embedded in the dried mud on the floor of a
desiccated pool, the facts would have little weight. But the
fish in question have no such remarkable powers of vitality,
and are killed by a few minutes’ exposure to the air, or to
water of a different composition from that to which they are
accustomed.

Dr. Giinther suggested that this remarkable -fish fauna
must have originated in the lakes of the central plateau of
Africa, and thence spread in every direction.

That such changes in the river systems of Africa, as are
necessary for Dr. Giinther’s theory, actually occur, is shown by
the controversyas to the relations of the Congo and Lake Tangan-
yika. When Stanley in 1871 proved that the river Ruzizi at the
northern end of Tanganyika was an inlet, instead of an outlet,
there seemed no point left for the escape of its surplus waters.
Cameron accordingly in 1877 circumnavigated the lake, and
then found that the Lukuga had a slow current flowing west-
ward from the lake. Stanley returned in 1876, and found
no outlet at this point. Hore early in 1879, and Thomson at
its close, and other explorers later on, have found a powerful
stream flowing from the lake toward the Congo. Tanganyika,
therefore, is sometimes connected with the Congo, and at other
times it is not.

If Tanganyika had not been visited till twenty years hence,
it is quite possible that its connection with the Congo might
never have been seen, and the presence in it of so many Congo
species would have been difficult to explain.

The dispersal of the fish fauna of the rivers and lakes in
the Victoria Nyanza region may have been brought about by

1 F. Day has denied the validity of these species (Zishes of Great Britain and
Treland, vol. ii. (1884), pp. 112-114) ; but Giinther's faith in them is unshaken, and Day
admits them as distinct varieties. They are therefore certainly distinct forms.

250 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

a change, similar to that which is even now taking place in the
case of Tanganyika. Probably at one period a wide plateau
of gneiss and schists extended over the Victoria Nyanza basin.
As the surface of the plateau was at a great elevation, the
rainfall must have been heavy, and the hollows occupied
by numerous lakes, with rivers flowing from them in every
direction. It is well known that the direction of some of the
head streams of the Mississippi is occasionally reversed, and
they then flow northward into the Red River, and thus to
Hudson Bay. The same thing must have happened on this
central African plateau. The different rivers must have had
their highest sources in the same swamps; dams would have
been formed across the streams by the growth of vegetation,
the accumulation of shoals, and the falling in of the banks.
Occasionally a slight earth-movement would block the outlet
of a lake, and cause it to open at a spot whence its waters
passed to another river system. Thus floods, dams, and earth-
movements would continually give the fish in one stream an
opportunity to work their way into a stream of another river
system. Hence all the rivers and lakes of such a plateau
would be tenanted by a common fauna.

But at length came a change; the centre of this plateau
subsiding, formed a basin without an outlet. The rivers
were therefore “ beheaded” ; instead of rising in the centre of
the plateau, their sources were now on the outer slope. The
streams, which originally flowed outward from the highest part
of the plateau, reversed their direction and flowed inward,
so as to help to form a lake in the centre of the depression.
Later on the separation between the waters of the central area
and the rivers that originally rose on it was rendered more
effective by the formation of the two Rift Valleys, when
strips of land subsided on either side of the central Nyanza
depression. There is therefore no difficulty in understanding
why rivers which flow into the Atlantic and into the Indian
Oceans, and are now widely separated by an area of internal
drainage, are inhabited by the same forms of fish.

So far Dr. Giinther’s suggestion accounts for all the facts.
But it does not remove the real difficulty, which is, that some
members of this fish fauna are absent from the Lower Nile
and yet are present in the rivers and lakes of Palestine.

CHAP. XII MEDITERRANEAN AND RED SEA FAUNAS 251

As Dr. Giinther says, “The system of the Jordan presents
so many African types that it has to be included in a descrip-
tion of the African region.”’ He adds, moreover, that “ this
infusion of African forms cannot be accounted for by any
accidental means of dispersal,” and thus it appears to afford
conclusive proof of an original connection between the rivers
of Palestine and Central Africa.

At first it seems to be very easy to account for this con-
nection, by assuming that a river from the Jordan basin was a
tributary of the Nile, at the time when the eastern end of the
Mediterranean was dry land. We know that the Levant was
land in Pliocene times, for thus only is it possible to account
for the almost complete difference in the faunas of the two seas
on either side of the narrow isthmus of Suez. This difference
is perhaps the most impressive fact in the whole range of
zoological distribution. Thus in the case of the Sea-Urchins,
not one species was common to the two seas at the opening of
the Suez Canal. The evidence of the Mollusca is equally con-
clusive, for according to Mr. Edgar Smith,’ who has issued the
last authoritative statement on the subject, only eight species live
on both shores of the isthmus. This number is quite insig-
nificant in proportion to the enormous faunas of the two seas,
while the presence of the eight species in both seas can be
easily explained. A couple of them (C/zton stculus, Gray, and
C. discrepans, Br.) live attached to seaweeds, and could easily
have been blown across the narrow isthmus; the other six
occur also in the Atlantic, and could thus have reached the
Mediterranean through the Straits of Gibraltar. The evidence
of the Mollusca is therefore as conclusive as that of the Sea-
Urchins, in disproving any recent connection between the Medi-
terranean and the Red Sea. But the separation between the
two seas cannot have been always effected by the present isthmus
of Suez; for the geological evidence shows that the Red Sea
extended farther north in Pleistocene times, and then actually
occupied part of the present site of the Mediterranean. It
is now generally believed that the passage of the Red Sea
by the Children of Israel must have been effected at some

1 A, Giinther, The Study of Fishes, 1880, p. 227.
2 E. A. Smith, ‘‘On a Collection of Marine Shells from Aden,"’ Proc. Zool. Soc.
(1891), p. 398.

252 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

point farther north than the present end of the Gulf of Suez.
The account of the destruction of Pharaoh’s host may possibly
be based on some catastrophe that happened owing to a change
in the relative levels of land and water in this district. But
the conclusion does not depend on the uncertainties of tradition.
Raised beaches containing marine shells of living species are
claimed to occur at a height three times as great as that of the
existing watershed,and must have been formed at a time when the
sea-level was higher than it is to-day. We are therefore con-
fronted by the probability that the two seas must have been in
communication in times geologically quite recent. So clear is
this evidence, indeed, that Professor Hull has issued a map
showing the two seas connected by a wide strait, at a time for
which he accepts the name of the Pluvial period. He accounts
for the divergence of the faunas by the assumption that they
could not have crossed owing to the shallowness and narrowness
of the water. But as a colony of Red Sea species, including
the Sea-Urchin (/feterocentrotus mammiullatus, Brdt.), has worked
its way through the Suez Canal, which is only one-sixth of the
depth and one four-hundredth of the width of Professor Hull’s
strait, this explanation seems quite insufficient. In order to
reconcile the apparent geological proof of the connection of the
two seas, and the zoological proof of their separation, we are
bound to accept Professor Suess’s suggestion that, when the Red
Sea extended to the north, the Mediterranean lay much farther
to the west. The Levant must then have been a plain, over
which roamed herds of antelope and rhinoceros, and across
which flowed rivers in which lived the hippopotami, whose
remains have long been known in the island of Crete. Suess
suggests that the great scaly dragon slain by one of the
Knights of St. John of Malta on the island of Rhodes may
have been a crocodile, for these reptiles still live in the Jordan
and in the Zerka (or “Crocodile River”) on the coast of
Palestine. That such traditions are of geological value has
been shown in the case of Samos; for the stories of the
occurrence of great monsters there led Dr. Forsyth Major
to visit the island, and to make the famous collection, which
finally proved the former extension of the African fauna across
the Levantine area.

It is therefore practically certain that the Nile must have

CHAP. XIII THE “BEHEADING” OF RIVERS 2

c2
pre)

been continued farther northward and westward than its
present mouth, and it seems natural to conclude that the
connection between the Jordan and the African river systems
was established by a river, which flowed from Palestine into the
Nile. Professor Hull’ has not only accepted this view, but
endeavoured to show that the connection was established
along the course of the brook Kishon, for, near the head of
its valley, a pass only 300 feet in height leads over into the
Jordan basin. It is known that in Pliocene times the Jordan
valley was occupied by a deep fresh-water lake, and Professor
Hull suggests that the drainage from it escaped by this
“ Esdraelon Gap” into the Levantine basin.

There does not, however, appear to be any sufficient
evidence in support of this view. No traces of gravels or any
river deposits, such as would probably have been formed by
so large a river, have been found upon the pass. The theory
that the Jordan discharged by a river flowing along the valley
of the Jalud and over the Esdraelon Gap into the valley of the
Kishon, assumes that this gap was then but little higher than
it is to-day, and that immediately to the west the ground
sloped down toward the Mediterranean. But the whole
arrangement of the river system in the district renders it more
probable that the Esdraelon Gap was formed by a river flowing
eastward instead of westward, and that at the time of its
formation the Jordan valley was even more effectually separated
from the Mediterranean than it is-at present. This gives a
very different origin for the Esdraelon Gap, which can best be ex-
plained by reference to a parallel case near London (see Fig. 14).
All travellers to Brighton may notice that on leaving Croydon
the railway gradually ascends the broad, dry “ Golden Valley.”
Six miles south of Croydon the railway passes through a
tunnel and emerges into a valley, which runs at right angles to
the former, and is occupied by a tributary of the Mole. Looking
backward, the Golden Valley is seen as a gap on the hill face
above. If the traveller has time to walk up to this, he may
find upon its floor some beds of gravel containing pebbles of a
rock (Lower Greensand Chert), derived from the hills to the
south. This material can only have been brought into its

1 FE. Hull, ‘‘On the Physical Conditions of the Mediterranean Basin,"’ Trans.
Vict. Instit. 1895, 10 pp.

254 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

present position when a stream from the south could flow
directly into the Golden Valley.

This, however, has now been diverted owing to the occur-
rence of a band of clay east and west across its former
course; the Mole has cut its way eastward along the clay, as
it is soft and easily removed by water, and thus has absorbed
into its own basin the stream that originally flowed northward
down the Golden Valley.

The Esdraelon Gap was probably formed in exactly the
same way. It occurs on the face of the plateau of Endor and
Nain, which presents a steep face to the west, and a long

We as atershed
= i — a i

= = th ee

Wealden... Watershe

of North Do N©07r°% A
ee} a1 45 "4
me 5 ~ {os}

5 ° = 3
x = = S
Ss
Ss =
a] °
o
Ss
Original Course of Golden Valley Present Arrangement: the Golden
Stream and the Mole. Valley beheaded by T-shaped

Course of the Mole.

Fic. 14.—Diagrams illustrating the Beheading of River Valleys.

gradual slope to the east. Originally the plateau must have
extended farther to the west, continuing to rise in that
direction, so that the rain that fell on it flowed into the
Jordan. The Wadi el Muwali, a tributary of the Kishon
however, now flows at the foot of the steep western face of
the hills. It has cut its way into the plateau, and drained
the streams that once rose farther to the west, just as the
Mole has diverted the Golden Valley stream. The Wadi el
Muwali has therefore “beheaded” the Jalud and cut away
the upper part of its basin. What now appears as a notch
in the western edge of the plateau is therefore only a section
across the upper part of the valley eroded by the Jalud, when
this stream rose much farther to the west.

cHaP. x11 WESTERN WATERSHED OF THE JORDAN 2

It is, therefore, quite possible to account for the existence
of the Esdraelon Gap without assuming that it always marked
the watershed between the Mediterranean and the Jordan (for
this, indeed, probably lay as far west as Cyprus); while a con-
nection between the Jordan and the Nile would in no way help
to explain the difficulty for which it is proposed. Such a
connection is directly disproved by the fact that the Medi-
terranean fish fauna is absent from the Jordan; only one or
two species, and those are Blennies, belong to both. If there
had been any direct connection between the Jordan and the

TUE

Esdraeflon

Pg vue,
oy Poy

Walker & Boutall se,

Fic. 15.—The Neighbourhood of the Esdraelon Gap.

rivers of the Mediterranean basin, it is inconceivable that the
fish of the latter should not have entered the former. More-
over, any such connection would be useless to our present
problem, for it ignores the real difficulty. If we follow the
Nile downward from its upper basin, genera of fish such as
Clarotes, Lepidosiren, Gymnarchus, and Haplochilus disappear,
and others not known in the Upper Nile take their place.
Thus MJochococus replaces its close ally Rhinoglanis. In the
Lower Nile there appear certain fish, such as five species of
Mullet (AZugz/), which have entered from the Mediterranean,
and another group, which appears to have entered from the
equatorial region, at the time when the Zambesi and the
southern lakes received their contribution from this source.

256 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

The African fish in the Jordan, however, appear to have
entered that river at a later time, and they are not found in
the Lower Nile.

As Dr. Ginther says, “ Hemichromzs is not represented in
the north-eastern part of Africa proper, but chiefly on the west
coast and in the Central African lakes.” Similarly the Clarias
of the Jordan is not the species (C. anguzllarzs, Linn.) of the
Lower Nile, but that (C. macracanthus, Gthr.) of the Upper
Nile It is no use, therefore, to assume the existence of a
connection between the Lower Nile and the Jordan, to account
for the existence in the latter of fish which do not occur in the
former.

As, therefore, the route proposed for the migration of the
fish across the Esdraelon Gap is opposed to the evidence, and
useless as an explanation, we are compelled to turn to some
other line of connection between the Jordan and the rivers of
Equatorial Africa.

It has been mentioned as certain that in Pliocene times a
large area in Palestine was occupied by a lake, the terraces
of which may still be seen on the banks of the Jordan and
around the shores of the Dead Sea. The fossils from the
terraces indicate that the water was fresh, so the lake prob-
ably had an outlet. This must have been either westward
across Palestine, or southward by the valley of the Wadi
Arabah, which leads to the Gulf of Akabah. The only
locality suggested for the former is the Esdraelon Gap, which,
as we have already seen, is improbable ; but the latter is sup-
ported by several arguments. It is true that the Wadi Arabah
depression is crossed by a ridge known as El Saté, which rises
to the height of 787 feet above the sea, or nearly 500 feet
higher than the Esdraelon pass. But the evidence already
quoted shows that the latter has been reduced in elevation by
denudation since Pliocene times, while there is reason to think
that the height of the Wadi Arabah ridge has been increased
by elevation. The equatorial part of the Rift Valley is divided
into a series of basins by transverse ridges, similar to that of El
Saté. Some of these are certainly due to elevation, for the old
lake terraces upon their flanks have been tilted from their
originally horizontal position (see Pl. VIII. p. 94). Similar

1 Giinther, of. cét. p. 228.

CHAP, XIII OUTLET FROM DEAD SEA 257

terraces extend for some distance up the Wadi Arabah valley
from the southern end of the Dead Sea, and attain the height
of 1300 feet above its present level. Hull’ states that the
alluvial deposits slope down to the north, and this supports
the view that the ridge has undergone elevation. Anderson,”
the geologist with the United States Expedition to the Dead
Sea, indeed, came to the conclusion that the ridge across the
Arabah had been raised. Moreover, in the geological map
prepared by Professor Hull,® some old lake deposits are marked
on the south side of the watershed and only a few feet below
it. The account of these given in the text is not very precise,
and we cannot decide whether or not these deposits are
connected with the former discharge from the Jordan lake ; but
their existence is an important link in establishing a fresh-water
connection along this line.

The opinion that the Dead Sea has always been an isolated
basin was held by Lartet;* and, as far as concerns any
marine connection between it and the Red Sea, his arguments
are unanswerable. His conclusion that the rivers on the northern
side of the ridge of El Saté have always flowed from south to
north is, however, not so well established. The evidence he
adduces shows that the rivers flowed thus in the latter stages
of the history of the Dead Sea; but this is scarcely open to
doubt. It is quite compatible with a discharge to the south
at an earlier period, and such has not yet been conclusively
disproved.

In order that the fish from Equatorial Africa might
have entered Palestine by the route along the Wadi Arabah,
it is not necessary to assume that a river flowed the whole
way from the Jordan to the northern end of the Red Sea.
If fish from the south reached the lake proved by Hull
to have existed on the summit of the El] Saté ridge, an
occasional flood or a slight earth- movement would have
enabled them to enter the streams that flowed northward into

1 E. Hull, Memoir on the Geology and Geography of Arabia Petrea, Palestine, and
Adjoining Districts, p. 81.

2-H. J. Anderson, ‘‘Geological Reconnaissance of Part of the Holy Land,” Ofic.
Rep. U.S. Exped. to Dead Sea and Jordan, part v. (Baltimore, 1852), p. 206.

3 E. Hull, of. ciz. map ver. p. 138; text p. 87.

4 L. Lartet, ‘‘ Note sur la formation du bassin de la Mer Morte,"’ Bul. Soc. Géo/.
France, sér, 2, t. xxii. (1865), pp. 442-448; ‘‘ Essai sur la Géologie de la Palestine"’ (1869),
Pp. 236-237.

S

258 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

the Jordan basin. An incomplete connection such as this
would allow the fish to pass by the Wadi Arabah route; but
the evidence, geological and geographical, renders an actual
outlet from the Jordan over this pass so probable, that it is
simpler to accept it. We may therefore assume that a river
flowed southward from Palestine, and along that part of the
Rift Valley which is now occupied by the Red Sea, and
entered the Indian Ocean somewhere near Aden. Near its
mouth this Erythrean River (for it may conveniently be
called after the ancient name of the Red Sea) probably united
with another from the highlands of Central Africa, which
flowed along the Rift Valley from the northern end of Basso
Narok (Lake Rudolf),’ following the course of the Omo
and Hawash, and across the depressed basin of Afar. This
river would have received the drainage of the southern slopes
of Abyssinia, the Rift Valley between Naivasha, Baringo, and
Basso Narok, and also of the Victoria and Albert Nyanzas,
which were not then connected with the Nile. At this time
the Nile itself probably rose on the northern slopes of the
mountains of Latuk on the east bank, and of Kakuak on the
west, and the drainage of the two Nyanzas passed to the south of
this mountain range, along the valley of the Musanyi, through the
Salisbury lake-chain, and down the Turquell into Basso Narok.

At this time, then, we may assume that the equatorial
lakes were in direct river communication with the Jordan,
and their fish could reach Palestine without entering

1 Dr. Donaldson Smith's very successful expedition across Somaliland to Basso Narok
has thrown further light on the possible connection between the Omo and that lake.
Dr. Smith, in a paper read before the Geographical Society on 6th January 1896, has
expressed his doubts as to this connection; he regards the Omo as one of the head-
streams of the Juba, and thinks that the Basso Narok depression ends off in the moun-
tains in southern Abyssinia. If that is the case, there cannot have been any former outlet
from Basso Narok to the north-east. But Borelli traced the Omo to a level (3450 feet)
which renders its connection with the Juba almost impossible, and all the information given
him by natives was in favour of the Omo reaching a great lake. The altitudes given by
Dr. Smith to Lake Abbaja render it just possible that the Omo reaches this lake instead’
of Basso Narok. On Dr. Smith's preliminary map (issued 6th January) two scarps with
a depression between them are indicated. The western scarp is only shown to the west
of the head of the Nianam ; but the occurrence of an apparent continuation of this to the
north-east has been shown by previous explorers. The eastern scarp is marked from
Fakes to Amara, and the altitudes given render its continuation past Basso Ebor to Basso
Narok most probable. This leaves the Zuai lake-chain, the Omo valley, and the country
between Borelli’s southernmost point on the Omo and Dr. Smith’s most northern point on
the Nianam, on the floor of the depression. Dr. Smith’s exploration therefore appears
to me to confirm the idea that the Omo and Lake Rudolf are connected by a line of
depression.

CHAP, XIII ORIGINAL SOURCES OF THE NILE 259

the Nile. Later on this river system was broken up by
earth-movements and change of climate. Owing to the latter
cause the glaciers and snowfields of Lebanon and Central
Africa shrank in area, the rainfall became less, the lake
levels were lowered, and the rivers diminished in volume.
At the same time the elevation of the ridge of El Saté across
the Arabah portion of the Rift Valley cut off the southward
discharge of the Jordan, a change more readily produced
owing to its lessened size. The continued depression of the
region to the south brought it below the level of the Indian
Ocean, and thus the Red Sea took the place of the Erythrean
River. An elevation of the land across the valley of the Omo
separated the basins of Basso
Narok and Afar, and along
the chain of volcanoes of
Elgon and Chibchagnani
severed the connection of
the Victoria Nyanza with
phe eastern Raft Valley. A
parallel depression to the
west continued the western
Rift Valley farther to the
north, and formed the gorge
between Wadelai and Lado
by which the great lakes are Fic. 16.—Diagram of possible former Source
: : of the Nile and Outlet from the great
connected with the Nile. Rqustonalllakes ‘

This view is put forward
only as the theory which seems to me to best harmonise the
known facts. For proof or disproof we must wait, until the
river-courses and the gravels of the valleys between the Nyanza,
Southern Abyssinia, and Somaliland have been investigated.
The theory seems, however, to explain the three main
difficulties :—

I, (he occurrencé of the equatorial fish in the Jordan ;
for it shows the possibility of direct river connection between
Equatorial Africa and the north of Palestine.

2. The absence of some species of fish which occur in
the Jordan from the Lower Nile, by assuming the comparatively
late date of the connection between the Nile and these rivers.

3. The complete difference of the faunas of the Medi-

260 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

terranean and Red Sea, owing to their being separated in
Pliocene times by the whole length of the latter and by most
of the Levant.

The theory has, moreover, the recommendation of throwing
considerable light upon the relations of the land and fresh-water
faunas of Abyssinia and the adjoining region. The evidence
furnished by the fish, which alone we have considered, is fully
supported by that obtained from other groups of animals, and
also from plants.

We may take, first, the land and fresh-water shells. The
fauna in Abyssinia has long been known to consist of a re-
markable combination. The typical African genera, such as
Attheria, Iridina, Achatina, Galatea and Lanzstes are absent,
and the fauna is composed of three distinct elements, all
foreign. One group has come from the Cape, another from
India, and a third from the north, probably from Palestine.
The last group is especially noteworthy. It consists of a
group of species which are either still living in Europe, such
as the common English pond shells, Lzmnc@a pereger, Miill., L.
truncatula, Mill., and Succinea debilts, Mor. ; or species that have
only just become extinct there, such as Corbicula fluminalts,
Miill., which is one of the commonest fossils in the gravels of
the Thames valley. This species is still living in the Sea of
Galilee, in the Tigris, and also in the Lower Nile. Aubry and
Hamon discovered it in 1883 in some old lake beds in the
Afar region of Abyssinia, through which the assumed Erythrean
River would flow. The shell was found farther south by von
Hohnel, and, in the course of a tributary of this river, I found
masses forming a shell bed a little to the south of Lake Baringo.
There it was associated with J/elania tuberculata, Miill., which
is another common species in the raised beaches of the Dead
Sea. It therefore seems probable that the fauna, which is
represented by this Corbicula fluminalts, worked its way into
Abyssinia from Palestine, and entered Abyssinia by following
the Erythrean River.

The evidence afforded by the birds and land animals is less
complete, because, in consequence of the direct connection with
Egypt, the fauna is mainly Mediterranean. But even among
the birds there are many species which support the view of the
direct connection between Palestine and Eastern Africa. Thus

CHAP. X11 THE AFRICAN COLONY JIN PALESTINE 261

in the oases at the northern end of the Red Sea and above the
gorge of the Jordan there is a Sun-Bird (Czzuyris osee@, Bonap.),
belonging to a family not found in Africa north of the Sahara,
though to the south it ranges east and west through the
tropical regions of Africa and Asia! The African Darter
(Plotus levaillantz, Licht.) is common in Southern Africa, on
the Zambesi, along the East African coast, and on the Niger ;
it is absent from Egypt, Nubia, and the whole of the north-east
of Africa, but reappears in Syria, in the Lake of Antioch, and
no doubt once extended along the Jordan.” Of the three
Turtle-Doves of Palestine one (Zurtur communis, Selby) is
European, another (7. rzsorzws, Linn.) Indian, and the other
(TZ. senegalensis, Linn.) Ethiopian; the last occurs throughout
Africa, except on the north of the Atlas, and in Palestine is
restricted to the Jordan.*? Tristram’s Grakle (Amydrus tris-
tram, Sclater) and the Fan-Tail Raven (Corvus affinis, Riipp.)
have the same remarkable range, being confined to Palestine
and Eastern Tropical Africa; the former lives only in Palestine
and Equatorial Africa, and the latter only among the cliffs of
the Dead Sea and the highlands of Abyssinia and Kordofan.*

The literature of any group could be quoted as further
evidence for the former connection of Palestine and Equatorial
Africa along a line which avoided Egypt and the Lower Nile.
The mammals give us the example of the Coney (Procavia
syrtaca, Hemp. and Ehr.), which belongs to a typically East
African genus, but does not there occur farther north than
Abyssinia. The only Rhizopod quoted by Tristram from the
Dead Sea is the Grammostomum capreolus, P. and J., an Indian
Ocean species.

Among butterflies, Hart’s small collection on the Dead
Sea yielded two species of the typically Ethiopian genus
Teracolus, one of which (7. phzsadza, God.) was known in
Aden and Abyssinia, and the other (Z. chrysonome, Klug.) in
Somaliland. The evidence of the plants points in the same
direction. Among Mediterranean and European species there
are many known elsewhere only in Equatorial Africa and Asia,
and—which are absent from Lower Egypt.

1 See H. B. Tristram, The Fauna and Flora of Palestine (London, 1884), pp. 63-64.
2 Of. cit. pp. 108-109. SOP) cits Py 20.
4 Of. cit. pp. 74-76.

262 EAST AFRICAN FLORA AND FAUNA PART III

The same fact is clearly shown by Hart in his careful
analysis of the Flora of Sinai." He has published a list of species
found in the Dead Sea basin, which are typically tropical in
their range. Thus the mallow Adutilon fruticosum, G. and P.,
ranges from Senegal through Abyssinia to Beluchistan and
Scinde, but is not reported from Egypt. Loranthus acacia,
Zucc., is a common parasite on the trees of Nubia, Abyssinia,
and the Wadi Arabah. The grass Cyperus eleusinoides, Kunth.,
has an enormous range to the south, but misses North-Eastern
Africa. Calotropis procera, Willd., is common in Somaliland and
the East African Nyika, but its Palestine habitat is separated
from these by the whole length of the Red Sea.

It would be easy to quote further evidence, showing that
one of the constituents of the complex fauna of Palestine
entered that country from the south, but was excluded from
Lower Egypt and North-Eastern Africa. .

As Canon Tristram concludes—* To sum up our deduc-
tions, a review of the botany as well as the zoology of the
Dead Sea basin reveals to us the interesting fact that we find
in this isolated spot, comprising but a very few square miles, a
series of forms of life differing decidedly from the species of
the surrounding region, to which they never extend, and bearing
a strong affinity to the Ethiopian region, with a trace of Indian
admixture.”” As the species which serve as the most striking
illustrations of this fact live either in or beside fresh water, a
river connection is the most natural agency by which to account
for it; and as these species are absent from the Lower Nile
valley and from Egypt, the river connection must have been
established along the eastern side of the range of highlands,
which separates the Nile from the Red Sea. Thus it is the aim
of the present chapter to show that the apparently irreconcil-
able contradictions of the facts of plant and animal distribution
become intelligible when the former geological evidence is
taken into account; for the recognition of the existence and
history of the Rift Valley affords a simple explanation of
the occurrence in Palestine of a colony of the inhabitants of
Equatorial Africa.

1H. C. Hart, Some Account of the Fauna and Flora of Sinai, Petra, and Wady

Arabah (London, 1891), pp. 123-172.
2-H. B. Tristram, The Fauna and Flora of Palestine (London, 1884), p. xvi.

CHEAT EARS 2eLVi

NOTES ON THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA

“* Zep, What manner o’ thing is your crocodile ?

Ant, It is shaped, sir, like itself; and it is as broad as it hath breadth : it is just
so high as it is, and moves with its own organs ; it lives by that which nourisheth it ;
and the elements once out of it, it transmigrates,

Lep. What colour is it of ?

Ant, Of its own colour too.

Lep. ’Tis a strange serpent.

Ant, ’Tis so. And the tears of it are wet.

Ces. Will this description satisfy him ?”—A zt, and Cleop. ii. 7.

‘* Nasals entering the nasal aperture ; splenial elements not entering the mandibular
symphysis, which does not extend beyond the eighth tooth. No bony nasal septum.”
—The Crocodile according to Boulenger (Catalogue of Chelonia).

NECESSITY for rapid marching interferes more with the study
of the habits of animals than with any other branch of a
naturalist’s work. While traversing a country at the rate of
fifteen miles a day, there are few opportunities for the quiet
observation of animals or of their habits. Besides, in the
present condition of our knowledge of the African fauna, it is
generally more profitable to collect than to observe; so to
avoid risking the loss of an animal, it is often necessary to
shoot or capture it at once, instead of quietly watching it at
work or at play. Unfortunately, too, the only groups of
animals of which I have any special knowledge are marine.
For these reasons the present chapter contains only a series of
somewhat disjointed notes and observations.

Mammalian life is naturally the first object of interest. In
the African fauna it holds the most conspicuous position,
although perhaps not the most instructive. The mind at
once recalls the giraffe, elephant, lion, hippopotamus, rhinoceros,

264 THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST APRICA PART III

zebra, as well as the numerous species of antelope; and few scenes
leave a deeper impression on the imagination of the traveller
than the great herds of game, gambolling and feeding on the
vast plains of the interior.

The relative importance of the great mammals is increased
by the scarcity of the small ones. This reminds us at once of
Darwin’s famous comparison of the mammalian faunas of
Africa and South America, when he pointed out that the
barren steppes of the former are inhabited by vast herds of
enormous animals, whereas the luxuriant vegetation of the
latter supports only a few small forms. Darwin’s statement of
the facts is undoubtedly correct, and his conclusions just and
instructive, but he gave no explanation of the anomaly. This
may be suggested by describing Africa as the land of migratory
mammals, instead of that of large mammals. The rains fall at
two special periods of the year, which differ in different parts of the
country, and at other times the steppes are burnt and foodless.
In the dry season the soil is baked into ferruginous brick-like
loam, so intensely hard that small mammals cannot burrow into
it. The result is that the only animals that can live are those
which have sufficiently rapid powers of locomotion to follow the
rains, or are sufficiently strong to hold their own in the fight
for water round the pools, or to survive through long periods
without drinking. Unless animals are followed, one cannot
realise how far they wander. Harris and I kept on the track
of a herd of elephant on the Tana, and followed it all the way
from Merifano till close to the coast. Several times we found
tracks that could not have been made more than an hour
previously, and once we heard them trumpeting and playing
in a swamp beside our camp. But we never caught sight of
them. The distance we followed them, however—only thirty
miles—is little compared with that which hunters sometimes
have to chase a herd. M. Foa, for example, in his recent book,'
tells us how he tracked a herd of elephant for seventeen days,
going as quickly as he could, before he finally came up with it.
Other animals, such as the buffalo, travel in the same way.
They walk slowly, feeding as they go, but often journeying
twenty or thirty miles as the crow flies (or is supposed to fly),
from one night’s resting-place to the next. Only animals of

1 Edouard Foa, Mes grandes Chasses dans l' Afrique Centrale (1894), p. 285.

CHAP, XIV THE EXTERMINATION OF GAME 265

considerable size can travel such distances, and since these
journeys are necessary in Africa, the continent has gained the
name of “the home of large mammals.”

The vast herds of game, however, which once roamed over
the steppes, are being rapidly reduced in size and number.
Plains which in the days of Andrew Smith, Oswell, and Gordon
Cumming were thronged with antelope, are now tenantless, and
many of the species seem destined soon to follow the quagga
and white rhinoceros into extinction. Man no doubt has played
a leading part in the annihilation of the enormous herds that
once thronged Cape Colony. The fact that, during the last
few years, the game has retreated from the Somali coast into
the interior, shows how easily it can be driven from a district.
Nevertheless I doubt the justice of charging sportsmen with
the main responsibility for the destruction of the big game.

In South America a mammalian fauna, much richer than
that of Africa (for it included no less than fifty-eight genera of
animals larger than a big dog), has been destroyed since a time
which, though before the date of the human occupation of the
continent, was geologically recent. Man has no doubt helped
to exterminate some species, but his influence has probably
been insignificant compared with that of natural agencies.

Lions are abundant on all the game-fields, and Jackson '
and Mackinnon once saw twenty-three in a single herd on the
Kapte plains. The number of animals such a herd must
destroy every year is enormous, and disease is probably even
more effective in the process of destruction. When Jackson”
returned from Uganda in July 1890 he saw, between Baringo
and Naivasha, herds varying in size from 100 to 600 buffalo
six times in a single day; and Teleki,® while at Njemps in
January 1888, shot no less than fifty-three individuals in the
month.

In the same district in 1893 I did not see a single buffalo.
Five years before the buffalo was almost the commonest of the
big game in British East Africa. The whole number I saw
was four—a herd of three in the Tana valley, near Ngatana, and
a single bull in the valley of the Thika-thika. The explanation

1 F. J. Jackson in Big Game Shooting, Badminton Library, vol. i. (1894), p. 245.
2 Op. cit. p. 217.
% Hohnel, Zum Rudolf-See (1892), pp. 823-824

266 THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

has been supplied by Gedge, who followed Jackson a few
months later. Several times a day his caravan had to diverge
from its path, to avoid the stench from a rotting carcase—in
fact he saw fifteen in one day; but he did not see a single
living buffalo.’ Cattle disease had swept through the country,
and destroyed them all.

The gnu and the giraffe have suffered almost as badly; I
only saw one of the former and one herd of the latter, both on
the Kapte plains; but in the valley of the Thika-thika I found
giraffe bones nearly every day, and once saw the remains of
six skeletons on a single march. Giraffe and gnu are both
subject to the same disease as the buffalo, and thus in British
East Africa they have almost shared its fate.

Another mammal that is now almost extinct is the Square-
mouthed or Burchell’s Rhinoceros (Rhznoceros simus), which
differs from the ordinary Rhznoceros bicornts in having the
mouth square and adapted for browsing, instead of prehensile
and fitted to feed on leaves and shrubs. This species is only
certainly known south of the Zambesi, and even there it is
almost extinct. In marching across Laikipia I came one
evening upon three rhinoceros together, browsing on the
steppes. I was attracted by their light gray colour, and
stalked them. As I approached, I found they differed from
the ordinary rhinoceros, not only in colour, but in the blunt-
ness of the head and in the shape of the horn. I had only a
Martini rifle with me, and had by this time come to the conclusion
that, in open ground, it was advisable not to attack more than
one rhinoceros at a time. But I was so interested in these
three, that I resolved to risk the attempt to secure one. I got
within about sixty yards, when the birds resting on the backs
of the animals saw me; their fluttering and cries disturbed the
rhinoceros, which fled. I sprang up and sent a bullet into the
hindmost, but the animal went on. It was late in the after-
noon, and I was far from camp, so that I could not continue
the chase. I reported this as soon as I returned to England,
and before having read von Hohnel’s statement” that Count
Teleki had killed a white rhinoceros a little to the north-east
of Lake Baringo; nor did I then know that a horn (now in

1 Big Game Shooting, Badminton Library, vol. i. (1894), p. 217.
2 Zum Rudolf-See, p. 542.

CHAP. XIV THE SQUARE-MOUTHED RHINOCEROS 267

the British Museum), similar to those of the rhinoceros I saw
in Laikipia, had been brought by a native caravan from this
district, and described by Dr. Sclater as a new species, under the
name of R. holmwoodt. Reports of a similar animal have been
received from Loango, and it is probable that these rhinoceros
all belong to a type once widely distributed over Africa, but
now dying out. The square-mouthed rhinoceros is the nearest
living ally of the extinct Tichorine or Woolly Rhinoceros
(Rhinoceros antiquttatis), which lived in England when this was
in a steppe condition at the close of the Glacial period. It is
interesting, therefore, to find the existing representatives of this

Fic. 17.—A Bushman Rock-Painting of Burchell’s Rhinoceros.

species persisting in the southern region of Africa, and on the
high plateaux near the glaciers of Mount Kenya.

The square-mouthed rhinoceros is often called the “ White
Rhinoceros,” as it is identified with that so described by the
Dutch hunters at the Cape. The two specimens recently shot
by Mr. Coryndon and sent to England, as also that obtained
by Mr. A. Eyre in 1895, and now in the Museum at Cape
Town, are as dark as the common species. In a discussion at
the Zoological Society Dr. Giinther made the very plausible
suggestion that the White Rhinoceros of the Dutch may not
be quite the same as the Rhznoceros simus, for the old Dutch
farmers were not in the habit of calling black animals white.
The colour of ARkznoceros simus probably varies within the
same limits as does the common species. It is therefore

268 THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

possible that the old “white rhinoceros” is a different and
extinct species, belonging to the square-mouthed group.

Though disease unquestionably aids in the work of exter-
mination, it can scarcely cause the destruction of whole faunas,
for one malady only seems to attack a few species. We must
look to some other cause to account for the vast accumulations
of bones belonging to animals of different species and of different
habits, from which most of the remains of fossil mammalia have
been derived. These huge piles of bones have always been a
puzzle to geologists, for, as Sir Henry Howorth remarks—
“Nor would any causes we know to be operating now account
for the caches or heaps of incongruous beasts found in pre-
cisely the same fresh condition, and yet piled together in
confused masses. This mixture of animals of different habits
and habitats—of carnivores, and pachyderms and herbivores—
is most puzzling, especially when the remains show so often a
common freshness and an unworn and ungnawed appearance.
Death certainly has no favourites, and is singularly neutral in
its methods; but it does not, in its normal moods at all
events, collect great mylodons and thickly-hided megatheres,
nimble opossums and safely-cuirassed glyptodons, cavies and
mastodons, and kill them together and bury them together.”!

This singular association of bones is one of the arguments
on which Sir Henry Howorth bases his theory of the destruc-
tion of the great extinct mammalia by a deluge. On the
march across Laikipia, however, a different explanation of the
phenomenon impressed itself forcibly, and even painfully, on
my mind. The plateau had been described to meas one of the
richest game-fields in Africa, and I trusted to it to supplement
our scanty food supply.

Here and there around a water-hole we found acres of
ground white with the bones of rhinoceros and zebra, gazelle
and antelope, jackal and hyena, and among them we once
observed the remains of a lion. All the bones of the skeletons
were there, and they were fresh and ungnawed. The explana-
tion is simple. The year before there had been a drought,
which had cleared both game and people from the district.
Those which did not migrate crowded round the dwindling
pools, and fought for the last drop of water. These accumu-

1H. H. Howorth, The Mammoth and the Flood (1887), pp. 345-346.

CHAPS XIV) LAESIVAYVS OF THE RAINOCEROS 269

lations of bones were therefore due to a drought, and not to a
deluge.

My remark in reference to the encounter with the three
gray-coloured rhinoceros—that |] had learnt to leave these
animals alone when there were more than one—may suggest
that I regard the rhinoceros as a dangerous beast. Such,
however, is not the case. I had been told on the coast many
stories about the savageness of this animal, and the fury with
which it charges caravans. But Jackson, the most reliable
authority on East African big game, gives it a different char-
acter, and my own limited experience entirely confirms his. The
rhinoceros is really so short-sighted and stupid that with a
powerful smashing rifle it is the easiest of game to kill, and it
will always run away if it has time to think the matter over.
It is only dangerous in dense bush, for it then smells an
opponent without seeing him, and dashes wildly about in a fit
of fright and fury. I especially remember a valley to the
south of Lake Losuguta, where, as we cut our way through
the thorn jungle, we roused ten rhinoceros in one day. Some
of them dashed away at once, but others charged the caravan,
broke through the line, and disappeared into the bush on the
other side, while a hail of Snider bullets shivered into dust
upon their skins. Some of the brutes were uncertain of our
exact position and rushed about, crashing wildly through the
scrub, and snorting with rage. At these onsets some of the
men would fling down their loads in terror, and rush for
the nearest acacia bush to climb it; others would stand with
rifles ready, though knowing that at any moment the rhino-
ceros might charge any one of us, and that as we could not
see him till he was within a couple of yards, it would then be
too late to dodge or stop it. This affected the men in very
different ways; some of the pluckiest men in the caravan
were the most alarmed, and some of the most stupid were
then the steadiest. The former recognised most clearly their
absolute helplessness, while their livelier imaginations gave
them a more vivid picture of how they would look when the
rhinoceros had finished with them.

That in such positions the rhinoceros is really dangerous
was shown by the experiences of Mr. Astor Chanler’s caravan,
which at this very same time was trying to work northward

270 THE PAGNA OR BIATTSH EAST VARRICA PART III

to Basso Narok, about 100 miles to the east of us. Several of
his porters were killed by rhinoceros, and Lieut. von Hohnel
was so seriously wounded that he had to be carried back to
the coast.

In open country and in thin scrub the rhinoceros is com-
paratively harmless, but even there he may be mischievous,
as I found in my first attempt to hunt this animal. On the
day of our entry on to the Kapte plains, we saw a rhinoceros
feeding about a mile from the path. Telling the boy to follow
with a Snider, I started to stalk it. We found that it was a
cow with a young one. I succeeded in reaching a fairly good
position, and was just preparing to fire, when some birds sitting
upon the back of the animal detected me; they sprang into
the air, flapping their wings and uttering a shrill hiss. This
alarmed the rhinoceros, and it suddenly turned and faced me.
In this position it was impossible to fire with any effect. So
I crawled a few yards to the right in the hope of getting a
side shot. The rhinoceros, however, moved too, and fidgeted
about between us and its young one. ‘The latter gave a short
cry, and as the cow turned to look at it, I fired at its back-
bone. The report of the rifle and the animal's grunt of pain
roused the bull, which was sleeping in a hollow close by. It
trotted slowly into a position between us and its mate, and
stood there until the female and the young one had fled
to a safe distance up the hill. I waited to see what would
happen, and kept ready for a side shot at the shoulder when
the animal turned to follow its family, as I anticipated it
would do. Instead of this, to my surprise, it suddenly
charged furiously at us. Its head was held forward and was
jerking up and down as it ran, so that I could not get a
satisfactory shot. If I had aimed for the brain, the bullet
would probably have been deflected by the horns. All I could
do was to fire at the left cheek, which made the rhinoceros
swerve to the right and then stop. I turned to get the
Snider from my boy and give him the Martini to reload, when,
to my consternation, I found that he had bolted with the
second rifle and all the cartridges, except one, which I had in
my hand. My spectacles were misty with perspiration, so I
took them off and cleaned them. Just as I was replacing
them the animal, without the slightest warning, charged again,

CHAP. XIV ELEPHANTS AND LIONS 271

and there was nothing for it but to run. I thought I could
easily escape, for the rhinoceros looked such a slow and
ungainly beast. I soon found, however, that he could go
more quickly than I could, and double like a hare, so I
dodged behind a white-ant-hill into some long grass. My
pursuer fortunately missed me, caught the scent of my boy,
and followed him. He soon lost the scent, and then sweeping
round to the north galloped wildly away after its mate.

The only animal in the extermination of which man is
playing the leading part is the elephant. The date of its
extinction, however, is far distant, for in some districts it is
still so numerous as to be a serious plague to the inhabi-
tants. On the borders of the Kikuyu country elephants occur
in such abundance and do such serious damage to the planta-
tions, that an elephant-hunter would be welcomed as warmly
as if he were a medieval knight-errant come to do battle with
the dragon. Lions also are numerous, and do terrible damage
to the herds. Their tracks occur everywhere; and though |
only saw them thrice, I heard them very frequently.

Lions as a rule appear to be timid, and three of them
withdrew from the body of a hippopotamus, on which they
were feeding, rather than allow me to put a bullet into one
of them. But on another occasion I had an unpleasant
experience of their audacity when hungry ; for, as described
on p. 150, they charged the camp at night, and killed two
donkeys. The power of lions, however, has been much
exaggerated. Those in Algeria have been reported to leap
into cattle kraals, seize buffaloes bigger than themselves, and
then, with their prey in their mouths, leap over ten-foot
palings, and run away at full speed for miles. Neither of the
lions I saw could have performed such a feat. Yet their
slouching style of movement gives them an aspect of immense
muscular strength; and the catalogue of accidents in lion-
shooting shows that its dangers are not to be lightly esti-
mated. It has been denied that lions can kill animals as
large as the rhinoceros or hippopotamus; but that they can
do so we found on the Thika-thika. Three lions had sur-
prised a hippopotamus in some long grass about thirty yards
from the river; there had been a desperate fight, in which
the grass had been trampled down for yards around, but the

272 DEVE, SLAUCINEA (OVE ISIRITEMS Tal JBVAS IE AIR RCH PART III

hippopotamus had finally succumbed to loss of blood; its
skin was terribly scratched by claws and teeth, and the lower
part of the neck had been torn away. The hippopotamus was
about two-thirds grown, and its skull (which I brought back
to London) measured 19 inches in length.

Most of the larger mammals in British East Africa do not
seem to adopt any especially protective colouring, but trust
for safety to their speed, and to a good outlook against their
foes. Many of the antelope when feeding have some of the
herd posted as sentries, to watch for the approach of danger.
These outposts may often be seen standing on an ant-hill ;
they do their duty so efficiently that it is generally difficult to
stalk the herd. In some cases, however, a coloration, which
at first sight would appear to render the animals extremely
conspicuous, is found to be really protective. Thus the
monkey Colobus occidentalis is covered with a long silky fur
arranged in alternate stripes of black and white, so hand-
some that the skin is much prized by the Masai for making
head ornaments. The contrast of black and white is so
marked, that at first sight it would seem to preclude con-
cealment, but its value is at once evident when the animal is
seen at home. This monkey lives in the high forests of
Abyssinia, Kenya, Kilima Njaro, and Settima, where the
trees have black trunks and branches, draped with long gray
masses of beardmoss or lichen. As the monkeys hang from
the branches they so closely resemble the lichen, that I found
it impossible to recognise them when but a short distance
away.

The ornamentation of the zebra was also a puzzle to me
till I saw them at home. The ordinary explanation of striped
animals, such as the tiger, is that the stripes resemble bands of
light seen through tall grasses and jungle. But this is not
applicable to the zebra, which lives in open plains. Watch the
zebra on these, however, and the value of the coloration is
apparent. Ata distance of from 250 to 300 yards the stripes
of the East African species (Equus boehmz) cease to be visible,
and the animal appears of a dull gray colour, like that with
which warships are painted to render them inconspicuous. In
dull cloudy weather, and especially at dawn and sunset, which
are the most dangerous times for game, the zebra is practically

CHAP, XIV PROPLCTIVE MIMICRY 273

invisible at a distance of over 500 yards. In bright sunshine,
in the middle of the day, I have seen a herd of them at a
distance of over three miles; but that is not the time when
their enemies prey upon them, and then their visibility involves
little risk.

It is, however, among the insects that cases of protective
resemblance are most abundant. Insects shaped like seed-pods
and leaf-buds, like lichen and dried sticks, or coloured like leaves
and rocks, were met with nearly every day. They are too well
known to need description, but two cases may be mentioned.

One case was met with during our return march from the
first expedition. Strolling one evening out of the camp at
Kurawa, I was startled by a hissing noise like that of a snake
coming from a clump of grass. As I was wearing knicker-
bockers and tennis shoes, I sprang back and pelted the grass
with handfuls of sand. As this did not drive out the supposed
snake, I cautiously approached, peering into the clump. 1
could just detect a small green head among the stalks, and
behind this appeared, whenever the noise was repeated, an
expansion like the hood of a cobra. I tried to kill the animal
by a few sharp blows with my stick behind the head, and
one of these knocked it over. I then found that I had been
frightened by a big grasshopper, which, by puffing out its
wings, assumed a resemblance to the shape of the head of a
hooded snake ; while its noise was a good imitation of the dull,
jerky hiss of some species of snakes.

The second case was more remarkable. I was working
through the woods beside the Kibwezi river with Mr. Watson,
one of the missionaries at the station there, when my attention
was attracted by a large brightly-coloured flower, like a fox-
glove or a Tznne@a (see Frontispiece). It had been raining heavily,
and the vegetation was so sodden with moisture that collecting
was useless; I should have passed the specimen by had not
I noticed some small, white, fluffy patches below the flower.
These appeared to be lichen, of a kind which does not usually
grow on flower stems; I therefore pushed my stick through the
bush to pull the flower towards me; as soon as my stick
touched it, to my great surprise, the flowers and buds jumped
off in all directions.

at

274 THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

There were several similar clusters close by, and when Mr.
Watson came up I pointed one out to him and asked him if
he had determined to what genus it belonged. He said he
had not done so, but that he had seen it before, growing in
these woods. He attempted to pick it, and was as surprised as
I had been at the result.

The arrangement of the colony, with the green bud-like
form at the top of the stem, and the pink flower-like insects
below, looked so much like an inflorescence that it deceived
both of us, although Mr. Watson is an enthusiastic botanist.

Whether the insects can resume this arrangement on the
stem if they are once disturbed I cannot tell. Though we sat
and watched beside them for an hour, they made no attempt to
return to the stem. The insects were very sluggish, and simply
clung to the leaves on which they first alighted. As a rule the
members of this genus can fly well, but these seemed only able
to hop for a few inches at a time, and would not move if they
could help it. It may be that the insects were only rendered
sluggish by the cold and rain; but it appears not unlikely that
the members of this species have very limited powers of flight,
and secured protection from birds by this ingenious mimicry of
a cluster of flowers. The colony resembled very closely some
species of 7zzu@a, a genus which grows in this district ; and
Dr. Rudolf Schlechter tells me that it is even more like a
Transvaal plant, which he names Sesamopterzs pentaphylla, DC.

At the time I was much puzzled, for mistaking the lichen-
like form for the larva of a beetle, I thought the pseudo-
inflorescence was formed by three distinct species. My
colleague Mr. C. J. Gahan, however, identified the insects as
members of the hemipterous genus //aza, and on examining
specimens in the British Museum we found that the larva
belonged to the same genus.’

The arrangement is therefore intelligible: a female has

1 The mimicry of the larva is now well known, as a colony of the larvze of an allied
species (//ata limbata) has been placed by Sir William Flower in the mimicry cases in
the Natural History Museum, to illustrate their resemblance to lichens. Mr. W. F.
Kirby has kindly called my attention to a translation of a paper by M. C. Piepers, ‘‘On
the Habits of East Indian Insects, especially Lepidoptera,” in his Handbook to the Order
Lepidoptera (Nat. Libr. vol i., 1894, pp. Ixii.-lxxiv.) In this Piepers describes how two
rings of the orange butterfly Cad/idryas scylla, L., surrounded five white species of the
genus Pers, giving rise to a group, which was at first mistaken for an orange-coloured
flower.

cHAP. XIV SPECIFIC HEAT AND VNSECT COLORATION 275

laid her eggs on a stalk, gradually walking up it as she did so.
The eggs at the same height on the stem are thus of about the
same age; the lowest eggs are hatched first, and the insects
there are accordingly adult while those above are still
immature. This does not account for the occurrence of the
larve at the base, which is inexplicable to me, unless they
belong to another generation.

This assumes that the green bud-like and the pink flower-
like forms belong to the same species. Mr. Gahan has kindly
sorted the specimens into male and female, and found that the
colour difference is not sexual. Thus on the Frontispiece, Fig.
26 shows the male, and Figs. 2a and 3 the female form; these
may be distinguished by the greater length of the transverse
mark on the hinder margin of the fore-wings of the male.
The same difference occurs between the sexes of the green
form.

In every respect, except colour, the two forms are identical,
and it therefore seems most probable that they are dimorphic
forms of one species, which is (ata nigrocincta (Walker).

Another point which interested me in reference to insect
coloration was the influence of the different capacities for the
absorption of heat possessed by different colours. A black object
becomes more heated than a white one, when both are exposed
under the same conditions. An insect has so much surface in
proportion to its bulk, that dark-coloured species are heavily
handicapped when exposed to the intense sun of the tropics.
This is the simple explanation of the fact, which impressed
itself upon me as soon as I began to collect butterflies—that
the light-coloured species fly in the daytime, and the dark
ones in early morning and at dusk. I made _ considerable
collections at Ngatana, at all hours of the day, to test this point.
Thus on 30th January, I began collecting at 5.45 A.M., and
found only species which are mainly of dark brown colour,
such as Hypolimnas misippus, Linn., and /unonza clelia, Cram.
At 6.30 a reddish brown species (Lamunas klugi, Butl.) began to
appear, and this was the only species caught during the next
half-hour, though this was abundant. A little before half-past
seven a light brown species, Acrwa cecilia, Fabr., made their
appearance, followed immediately by numbers of light-coloured
butterflies, such as Zeracolus syrtinus, Butl., which is all white

276 THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

except for a red tip to the wings, and Catopszle pyrene,
Swains., which is wholly of a light creamy white. The dark-
brown forms disappeared from the open steppes before seven,
and they were followed into obscurity by the light brown
Limnas, of which not a single specimen could be found during
the heat of the day. Then the open “barra” was tenanted
only by white and light-coloured species,

This rule, however, is not universal, for other factors modify
it. Thus in dull, cloudy weather the dark-coloured forms fly
abroad all day ; while some species of rapid flight habitually
do so, such as many of the swallow-tail butterflies. Papzlzo
demoleus, Linn., for example, a common species in the Sabaki
and Tana valleys, was met with at all times of day; but it
lived mainly under trees, darting out across open places from
one shady place to another.

In connection with birds, the most interesting point ob-
served was the presence of some of the Kilima Njaro species
on the meadows around the glaciers of Kenya; these have been
identified by Dr. Bowdler Sharpe as Wectarinza johnstont,
Shell., and Pzxarochroa hypospodia, Shell.

The birds on the Lower Tana were only typical examples
of the East African coast forms, such as the Grossbeck
(Melanobucco melanopterus), and numerous Weaver birds of the
genus Hyfantornis ; and on the march inland, neither time nor
cartridges could be spared for them. Of the latter I hoped
to make better use on Laikipia, where the drought, however,
had cleared the district, and a vulture was the only bird seen
until we approached the Kikuyu frontier. But elsewhere birds
were abundant ; wild duck swarmed on the fresh-water lakes ;
enormous flocks of flamingoes (Phenicopterus roseus, Pall.)
lived on the salt-lakes of the Rift Valley ; guinea-fowl and
pigeons were common in the woods. An interesting adaptation
in form is met with on the open plains, where many of the
birds have long tail feathers, which flutter in the wind like the
tail of a kite, and aid in the balance needed for flight against
the powerful winds that sweep across the steppes.

As reptiles can be preserved without the expenditure of
time involved in skinning birds, I. lost no opportunity of
collecting them. The members of this group of most general

CHAP. XIV HIGUD, (CIROKQOVDIGLIE: 2757,

interest are the crocodiles, and the same feeling was roused in
me by Bird Thompson’s thrilling stories. He had seen a good
deal of these reptiles during his journeys on the Tana, which he
described as simply paved with them. I had been taught in
England to regard crocodiles as harmless bogies. In some
places this estimate is no doubt true, but in others, facts are
not in accord with it. In the Tana the crocodiles are of great
size, and are certainly not to be despised. In some parts of
the Ozi, if I leant my arm on the side of the canoe, the
Pokomo canoe men left off paddling, declaring that a crocodile
would seize me and capsize the canoe. That this was no idle
fancy of the natives I learnt afterwards from Thompson. He
was once coming down the Tana with a Pokomo boy, whom he
had adopted, when a crocodile suddenly caught hold of the
boy and dragged him overboard. The whole thing was over
in an instant. No one saw the crocodile until its snout
suddenly jerked out of the water, and at once the crocodile
had disappeared and the boy was gone. There was a ripple
on the water, but neither boy nor beast was ever seen again.
During the ascent of the Tana by the stern-wheel steamer
Kenta in 1891, Thompson had many unpleasant experiences of
crocodiles. Several times when porters were going to the
river for water, one was seized by the leg and dragged into the
river.

The Tana Wa-pokomo regard the crocodiles as their most
deadly foe, and strive to wage a war of extermination against
them. To encourage this, no man is allowed to marry until
he has killed a crocodile. The animals are surprised when
asleep on the bank, and killed with spears; but the work is
rather dangerous, and inexperienced men are frequently knocked
over by a blow from the reptile’s tail, and dragged into the river.
On land crocodiles are generally timid ; they lie close beside the
water and slip into it at the slightest suspicion of danger; but
when hungry they are more daring, and a child, asleep in the
verandah of the mission station of Jilore, was recently carried
away by one. In the water they are very courageous. I was
once fishing in the river at Ngatana, from a bank about six feet
above it, when the chief came and warned me not to sit so near
the water, as a crocodile might knock me into it by a blow with
its tail. From politeness I moved a yard away from the edge

278 THE FAUNA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

of the bank until the chief was out of sight; but the danger
seemed so fanciful, that I thought my old friend merely wished
to speak to me, and could think of nothing else to say. Later
on, however, I found that the natives of other Pokomo villages
attribute the same power to the crocodile, and the German
missionaries at Ngao knew of cases where people had been thus
swept into the river and killed. The natives on the Nile told
Sir Samuel Baker the same story, and it is hardly likely
that it would have been independently invented in two such
distant localities, and by such different tribes, if it had no basis
in fact.

Reports as to the size of crocodiles vary greatly. Lieut.
Giraud’ shows a figure of one, which, on the most moderate
computation, must have been 4 feet high and 30 feet long,
while Werner” states that he saw specimens on the Congo
50 feet in length. I saw no such fine creatures as these.
The normal length of the adults on the Tana was from 10
to 12 feet, but a few were perhaps 3 feet longer. In the
rivers of the Rift Valley they were even smaller, and
certainly less dangerous. When we had to cross a river,
if there were crocodile tracks on the bank, we fired a few
shots into the water, shouted, and splashed about, and then
plunged in freely. Further precautions were only once or twice
taken, where the river was swift, muddy, and deep, and the
signs of the crocodile exceptionally abundant.

In the shallow jungle-filled swamps of Baringo, crocodiles,
varying from 3 to 6 feet in length, are so numerous as to
remind me of Bates’s statement that the caymans in some
of the upper tributaries of the Amazon are as abundant as
tadpoles in an English ditch. These small Baringo crocodiles
live on water-fowl, and seem afraid of anything larger. We
soon learned their harmlessness and timidity, and went into the
swamps and pulled out the ducks we had shot without hesita-
tion. Yet even in this district the natives have an ingrained
terror of crocodiles; our local guide would never go into
the water if he could help it, and then only after taking
elaborate precautions. Hence it is probable that the deeper
pools of the rivers of the Baringo basin are haunted by

1 V. Giraud, Les Lacs de l' Afrique Equatoriale (1890), p. 441.
2 J. R. Werner, River Life on the Congo (1889), pp. 184-185.

CHAP. XIV GROWTHA OF SUPERSTITIOUS DREAD 279

crocodiles of a larger size, which levy a death tribute from
the unhappy natives. The cumulative effect of repeated
fatalities has apparently led to a hereditary fear, which the
visitor who only hears of casual accidents finds it difficult to
understand.

CEA dE Ravi

THE FLORA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA!

‘* Even in thy desert, what is like to thee?
Thy very weeds are beautiful.” —ByRon.

IN Chap. XIII. reference has been made to the interest of the
Alpine flora of Equatorial Africa, in its bearing on the problems
of plant distribution, and the past climatic history of that
region. The floras of the coast-lands and of the interior

1 Note on the Literature.—As the exploration of Eastern Equatorial Africa began in
districts which are now included in the German sphere, the knowledge of the botany
of British East Africa has lagged far behind that of the regions to the south.

The three first important collections were made by Grant (1860-63) in the Victoria
Nyanza basin; by von der Decken in 1859-61 (described by Ascherson in 1879) in the
coast regions and the Tana delta; and by Hildebrandt (in 1878) in the Taita Mts.
and Ukamba. ‘The next additions were made in the Rift Valley and on its adjacent
plateaux by Fischer (1882-83) and Thomson (1883-84). The collections of the latter were
described by Sir J. D. Hooker in a remarkable paper, in which, from comparatively
limited data, he drew conclusions as to the affinities of the flora, which have been con-
firmed by all later work. Extensive additions to the flora of the Rift Valley and Laikipia
were made by Teleki and von Hohnel in 1887-88 (described by Schweinfurth, C. Miiller,
J. Miiller, and Stephani), Important collections from the great central basin have been
made by Stuhlmann (1890-91), Baumann (1891-93), and Scott-Elliot (1894) ; the small
but instructive collection made by Stairs in 1889 may also be mentioned. Rev. W. E,
Taylor has added greatly to the knowledge of the plants of Mombasa Island and Giriama.
South of the Anglo-German frontier much more work has been done. Sir John Kirk
early collected in Zanzibar and in adjoining parts of the mainland. Decken, New,
Thomson, etc., made small collections from Kilima Njaro, from which adequate collec-
tions were first made by H. H. Johnston in 1884 (List by Oliver and Baker, 1886).
Since the country passed into the possession of Germany, our knowledge of its flora has
made vast strides by a number of botanists organised by Engler. His Ueber die Hochge-
birgsflora des tropischen Afrika 1893 (1894), and Ueber die Gliederung der Vegetation von
Usambara und der angrenzenden Gebiete 1894 (1895); the Die Phanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas
und der Nachbargebiete 1895, and the series of papers in Engler’s Botanische Jahrbiicher,
‘‘Beitrage zur Flora von Afrika’ (Pts. i.-xi., 1891-95), are unquestionably the most
thorough and scientific works yet carried out in Equatorial Africa. For the floras of
Abyssinia and British Central Africa, which help to link the Alpine flora of Kenya with
those to the north and south, reference may be made to the great monograph of Richard
(1847) for the former, and the memoir by Britten, Baker, and Rendle on the flora of
Milanji (1894).

CHAP, XV FIRST IMPRESSIONS 281

plateau are less important in this respect than that of the
meadows beside the glaciers and around the snow-fields of the
higher peaks ; nevertheless they yield interesting evidence as
to the factors that govern distribution, and striking examples of
the adaptation of plants to conditions of rainfall, soil, and
climate.

Taken as a whole, the flora of British. East Africa at first
sight seems poor and commonplace—very different from the
usual conception of tropical vegetation. There is no vast
expanse of dense forest, in which the trees are buried below in
a matted jungle of undergrowth, and laced together above
by twining creepers and lianas, while the trunks are adorned
by epiphytic orchids, bearing flowers of exquisite form or
powerful odour.

Instead of this wild luxuriance, the vegetation is sparse,
the flowers are small and insignificant, wild edible fruits are
rare, and the flora appears disappointing, dull, and monotonous.
Of course there are exceptions. Belts of dense forest occur on
the alluvial plains bordering the rivers, and in the zones of per-
ennial rain on the mountains of the interior, while the swamps
on the coast are covered with acres of blue-flowered lotus-water-
lily, or Yungi-yungi, and tiny yellow bladderwort (U¢recularia).
Neither is the country wholly lacking in plants of quaint form
or interesting habit, for there are the trailing rubber vines
(Landolphia) and rope-like lianas; the screw-pines (Pandanus)
with huge spiral rosettes of leaves, and trunks balanced on
the apex of a cone of aerial roots; baobabs (Adansonza
digitata, Linn.) with massive soft trunks and irregular knobbed
branches ; silk-cotton trees (Lombar sp.) with graceful stems
and rectangular branches, and forests of branching dum palms
({Lyphene thebaica, Mart.) These, however, are exceptions,
and, as a rule, the vegetation is commonplace in aspect and
ordinary in structure.

Most of the plants above mentioned are confined to the
coast zone, and there they are associated with others which,
as on Mombasa island, form a vegetation of exquisite beauty
and more typical of the tropics. But a few miles inland
there is a sudden change in the flora. The coast plants, the
palms, mangoes, and fruit orchards disappear ; they are replaced
by huge candelabra-shaped euphorbias with thick succulent

No

82 THE FLORA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

stems, by sharp-spiked aloes, saw-leaved sansevieras, and a wide
expanse of thorny acacia scrub. But in spite of its unfamiliar
appearance, the wide range and monotony of this flora soon
render it tiresome. Here and there, it is true, there is a break ;
a belt of forest occurs beside a river ; a jungle of shrubs crowns
the summit of a ridge, or a tract of wood and turf covers a lava
sheet. But the contrast of these oases only intensifies the
dreary dulness of the surrounding plains, where day after day,
week after week, there is nothing to be seen but the same few
species.

At length there comes another change, as striking as the
first, but more pleasing. As the land rises to a higher level,
where the rainfall is heavier and more evenly distributed
throughout the year, the spiny-leaved scrub is replaced by
shrubs with luxuriant green foliage, the tufts of grass of the
desert thicken to a fine rich turf, meadow flowers of European
genera cheer the traveller with home associations, and forests
of fine timber trees give him welcome shade from the tropical
sun.

Throughout the whole country, however, the general aspect
of the vegetation, taken in mass, is remarkably similar to that
of temperate regions. Both the scrub of the plains and the
shrubs of the plateaux, when seen in mass from a little
distance, appears much like the bushes and pollards of our
woodlands. The grasses and the tussocks of rush and sedge
resemble those of England in form and habit, and in the
interior many, such as the reed-mace (7ypha angustzfolia, L.)
and the common rush (/umncus effusus, L.), are the familiar
British species.

A superficial examination of the East African flora is
sufficient to show that it occurs in zones which, as a rule, run
parallel to the coast. These zones correspond with those based
on geological and geographical considerations (see p. 222), except
among the higher mountains, where the cold and rainfall have
induced a local, zonal arrangement on a somewhat different
plan. The three lower divisions, viz. the coast plain or
“temborari,” the first inland plateau or Nyika—including the
primitive mountain axis as a subzone,—and the high grass
plateaux or Rangatan of the interior, are as well marked
botanically as geographically. The forest belt of the lower

CHAP. XV BOTANICAL ZONES 283

slopes of Kenya, of the uplands of Kikuyu, and of the summit
of the scarp of Mau, belong to a fourth zone, corresponding
less exactly to the geographical division, which includes the
chain of volcanic mountains. Above this there are four
other zones, the limits of which are due in the main to tem-
perature and moisture. The botanical zones are therefore
as follows :—

Zone. Cfttacterised by

1. Coastal Plain : . Palms, mangroves, etc.

2. Foot-hills . : . Fruit-trees and herbs of species common
round shores of Indian Ocean.

3. Nyika . : . . Acacia scrub, succulent trees and herbs.

4. Rangatan . : . Flowers and shrubs allied to those of Abys-
sinia and the Cape.

5. Mountain Forest . . Podocarpus, junipers, blackberries, stinging
nettles, etc.

6. Bamboo ; : . Dense thickets of bamboo.

7. Lower Alpine . .. Tree heaths, Gladiolus, Alchemilla, and a
tree lobelia (LZ. decheniz).

8. Upper Alpine : . Tree groundsels, tree lobelias, and heaths.

g. Snow-fields . ; . A few Helichrysum and lichens.!

The Coast Zone-—The Coast Zone contains most novelties
to the European visitor. Its most characteristic plants are the
palms and the mangroves. The prevalent species of the former
on the sandhills of the coast, and in the plantations of the
Arab merchants, is the Coco-Nut Palm (Cocos nucifera, Linn.),
which is to the East African what the reindeer is to the Lapp.
He feeds on its nut and leaf-buds, drinks its milk and sap, and
lives in huts made from its timber and leaves. He weaves its
fibres into cloth, or twists it into rope, and makes the shells of
the nuts into spoons and ladles; while he derives his main
income from the export of the dried kernel or “ kopra.”

1 Since this chapter was written, Engler has published a detailed memoir (‘‘ Ueber
die Gliederung der Vegetation von Usambara und der angrenzenden Gebiete,’’ Phys.
Abh. k. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1894 (1895), pp. 1-86) on the distribution of the plants in
part of German East Africa, which he divides into eight zones. The correspondence of
these zones to those here adopted is shown by the following table :—

pees mat Coastal Plain.
3. Bushland of the Jurassic Rocks 3 Foot-hills.
4. Nyika . ; : Nvik ape be aed
5. Bushy Steppes of the Vorland . : yika (zones 5 an Cine. Tegar Ce” ae
a Tropical Mountain Forest fertile parts of the great Nyika plains).
7. Parts of higher uplands with few or
Rangatan.

no trees : : :

8. High Mountain Forests ; : ; Mountain Forest Zone.

284 THE FLORA OF BRITISH AST APRIGA PART III

The coco-nut palm, however, is more restricted in distri-
bution than in utility. The natives have a proverb that it will
not grow out of sight of the sea; this is practically correct,
although we found a grove at Charra on the Tana, a day’s
march from the coast, and the missionaries have also planted
some trees a day farther inland at Borabini, where they
yield, however, only a scanty crop of fruit. The coco-nut
palm is replaced in the interior by the branching Dum Palm
(Hyphene thebaica, Mart.), known to the Suahili as the
“miala.” It forms dense forests a few miles from the sea, and
extends for a considerable distance inland along the banks of
the larger rivers; in British East Africa, for example, it
occurs at Tzavo, 130 miles up the course of the Sabaki, and
there is a small clump of dwarfed forms at the southern end of
Basso Narok.t Emin” reports them in the Nile Valley as far
south as Lado in latitude 5°20 N. In full-grown specimens
of this palm the stem bifurcates, and each branch may divide
again once or twice, so that it appears very different in form
from the familiar coco-nut or date palms. The fruit consists of
a cluster of hard brown nuts (more correctly drupes), which
in colour and taste resemble ginger-bread full of chopped-up
horse-hair. People who have been accustomed to this as food
seem able to thrive on it, but to others it is poison. Our
men on the Tana would at first insist on eating it, but as
it led to severe attacks of dysentery we had to prohibit its
use.

The third palm common on the coast zone is the most grace-
ful of the three—the Borassus flabellifer, Linn., the “ mvuma”
of the Suahili, the “ doleb ” of the Nile, and generally known as the
Palmyra Palm. Its most striking feature is the spindle-shaped
stem, which is thickest at about half its height from the ground,
and tapers both to root and crown. In Eastern British East
Africa it does not appear to extend far inland ; I did not see it
farther from the sea than a little above our camp at Vuju on
the Tana. It occurs, however, on the Nile farther south than
the dum palm, for Emin? found it at Dufilé, a short distance
to the north of Mwutan Nzige (the Albert Nyanza).

The only palms that seem to thrive in the interior are a

1 Shown in Hohnel’s view, Zum Rudolf-See, p. 705.
* Emin Pasha in Central Africa (1888), p. 401. D Mepih, Wo Wi

CHAP, XV AN AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRANT 285

species of wild date (Peuzx sp.), known to the Zanzibari as
the “mkindu” (from which the river to the north of Kibwezi
takes its name), and a water palm (Raffa sp.), both of which
occur along the rivers of Kikuyu and Ukamba.

After the palms, the mangroves (mainly belonging to the
species Rhzzophora mucronata, Lam., and Lruguiera gymmnor-
rhiza, L.) form the most striking feature in the coast flora. They
grow in dense, jungly masses, bordering the estuaries and tidal
creeks. The trees usually grow in the water, but the whole of
the trunk is raised above it by a series of adventitious roots ;
it therefore appears as if the tree were supported on a many-
legged stand. The most interesting point about the plant is
the method by which it prevents its seeds falling by the way-
side, and restricts them within the narrow belt in which alone
they can grow. If the seeds were scattered on the surface
of the estuary, the currents would either cast them ashore or
wash them into water too deep for them to root in. The seeds
therefore germinate while attached to the tree. The radicle
grows into a thick solid spike, eight or ten inches in length,
which, when released from its attachment to the parent, falls
with sufficient force to drive the spike firmly into the mud
beneath. The seeds therefore secure a suitable soil, and grow
into dense thickets along the shore between the tide lines.

A third conspicuous feature in the coast flora came rather
as a surprise. In front of the Residency at Lamu there are
some specimens of that typically Australian tree, the She-Oak or
Casuarina. These had obviously been planted artificially, so
I thought no more of the matter. But on returning to the
coast at Marereni, there we found on the headland a clump of
these graceful feathery trees. Subsequently I noticed them in
similar positions at all the points on the coast where I landed,
as far south as Natal. The Suahili proverb, quoted on p. 237,
shows that the natives have noticed the very restricted belt in
which the she-oak can live, for Kisauni is on an estuary about
a mile from the sea: their cones must have been carried from
Australia by the West Australian and the “ Equatorial Drift”
currents, and washed upon the shore. They thus form an im-
pressive lesson on the action of the sea as an agent in plant
distribution.

2. The Foot-hills—Accepting the palms and the man-

286 THE FLORA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

groves as the typical forms of the coast zone, it is necessary to
make a separate zone for the “ Foot-hills” that occur in most
places between the coast plains and the inland plateau. As,
however, most of the shrubs and herbs on these hills are the
same as those on the lower zone, except when directly due to
difference of soil, this belt is not very important. The most
striking feature in this zone is the abundance of fruit-trees,
most of which, however, have been introduced. Thus the
mango (Mangifera indica, Linn.) and the betel-nut palm (Aveca
catechu, Linn.) have been imported from India; the cashew-
nut tree (Avxacardium occidentale, Linn.) and the papaw (Carica
papaya, Linn.) from South America. The Jack-fruit (Artocar-
pus integrifolia, Linn.) represents the bread-fruit tree of the
South Sea Islands; while the orange, lime, lemon, custard-
apple, pomegranate, pine-apple, and guava are included among
the debts which East Africa owes to the Arab settlers. ,

Among the indigenous plants there is a considerable pro-
portion of Indian species, for the flora of both the lower zones
contains many plants, common round the shores of the Indian
Ocean. The specific names of some of the commonest, such
as Cephalandra indica, Naud., Abutilon astaticum, G. Don.
Glycine javanica, Linn., and Centrosema virginianum, Benth.,
indicate the affinities of this flora.

3. The Nyika—tThe third botanical zone commences at
the summit of the slope that terminates the coast plains. Thence
it extends inland for a great distance, occupying the whole of
the “ Nyika” and the gneiss mountains that rise above it. The
differences between the flora of this zone and that of the coast-
lands force themselves upon the notice of the most casual
observer. Fruit-trees disappear, palms become scarce, the
shady mango trees and sycamores are replaced by thin loose
scrub. The main characteristics of this zone are the prevalence
of spine-leaved acacias, and plants with massive succulent
stems or leaves, such as the aloes, euphorbias, Sazsevera, and
Aristolochia. The acacia scrub extends across the country for
hundreds of miles. The trees as a rule are low (usually from
10 to 20 feet in height), flat-topped, and often umbrella-
shaped. At times they grow so close together that a path has
to be cut through them; as the scrub is thorny, and the
undergrowth consists of hideously-barbed briers and of

ae

CHAP, XV THE NYIKA 287

“nkonge” (aloes and Sanseviera) with leaves pointed like
bayonets or edged like saws, the work is severe. Elsewhere
the scrub is thinner, and the traveller marches for days over a
sandy plain, with here and there a thorn bush, and here and
there tufts of hard dry grass. In the more fertile regions a
few baobabs raise their knobby leafless branches above the
scrub ; beside the streams some large acacias spread out their
flat cedar-like branches; but these are so exceptional that
camps where they occur are generally named after them—
Mobuyuni (“ At the Baobabs”), or Mkuyunz (“ At the Acacias ’”’).
Occasionally the vegetation is richer—-where the decomposi-
tion of lava sheets has formed a fertile soil, where hills rise
above the plain and collect a larger proportion of the rain than
is their due, or where the springs maintain permanent water-
pools. On the hills are dense growths of woody flowering
shrubs, yellow marigolds and Acanthaceg, feathery asparagus
and wild bananas; around the pools are dense belts of reeds,
rushes, and sedges, and upon them float the light-green,
cabbage-shaped rosettes of Pzstza stratiotes, and filamentous
growths of Lagarosiphon. Such oases, however, break the
monotony of the Nyika but rarely, and most of this zone is
occupied by thin thorn scrub and sandy plains, and from the
summits of hillocks the eye ranges over a vast expanse of
flat-topped trees.

During the rainy season, however, a change comes for a
while over the Nyika. The whole country is then sodden
with moisture; the paths, which have generally been worn into
hollows, are occupied by streams; the valleys are converted
into swamps. The vegetation suddenly appears to wake up ;
the baobabs burst into flower and then into leaf; the grass
becomes green; creepers climb over the acacias and cover
them with a mass of large white flowers, among which the
convolvulus is especially conspicuous. But as soon as the
rains cease, the Nyika reverts to its normal condition. The
grass withers, the undergrowth dies and disappears, prairie fires
break out and sweep across the country, and the traveller has to
march for days over charred, blackened wastes, which a month
before had been green with turf and gorgeous with flowers.

The most remarkable feature in the flora of the “ Nyika”
is its specialisation to resist desiccation and death during long

288 LIS FLORA (OF BRIPTLSE EAST AFRICA PART III

periods of drought. It is modified to enable it to survive the
hot dry season in four different ways, each based on the principle
of reducing the loss of moisture in “transpiration.” The
simplest contrivance is that adopted by the baobab (Adansonia),
the leaves of which remain on the tree only during the rainy
season. A second plan is used by many of the acacias, in
which the leaves are reduced to mere spines or needles, the
fleshy tissue being lost, and only the veins or “vascular bundles”
left. A third arrangement for the same end is the reduction
of the surface of the leaf in proportion to its mass; thus the
leaf becomes thick and succulent, and the number of “ stomata”
(or pores through which moisture can escape) lessened, as in the
fibre-yielding plants, such as the aloe and Sanseviera. The
last and extreme method is the entire disappearance of the
leaves, which are represented only by thorns and spines, while
respiration is effected by the green succulent stem. The loss
of moisture from the plant is therefore greatly reduced, for the
surface on which it can take place is small in comparison with
that exposed on a leaf-bearing tree. The plant secures, in fact,
a minimum of surface with a maximum of mass. The thick
succulent stems, moreover, contain special stores of moisture,
and reservoirs of milky juice or “latex,” which, being confined
in special vessels or elongated cells (tracheides), can only escape
by the slow process of exosmosis. The plants in which this
adaptation has been developed are the most remarkable-
looking in East Africa. Such are the species of Avzstolochia, a
genus which has one representative—the birthwort (4. clemadtztzs,
Linn.)—established in England; the forms in the Nyika are
huge spherical bulbs, sometimes 3 feet in diameter, from
which long trailing branches, armed with thick spines, spread
over the ground. The bulb is full of juice; this is reported
to be very poisonous, and the only animals that attack the plant
are the ants. The Spurges (Euphorbiacee) offer a still better
illustration, for they occur in two very different types. In the
grass plains, as on Laikipia, this family is represented by small
herbs, with leaves and structure like the common spurges of
our woods and fields; but in the Nyika, the species (such as
Euphorbia Nyik@, Pax.) are lofty candelabra-shaped trees, from
30 to 60 feet in height, with thick succulent stems like
the cactus. In other places, as in the Baringo basin, a closely

CHAP. XV THE RANGATAN 289

allied genus forms hedges and thickets, which can only be
traversed at some risk; for the spines are sharp and brittle,
and if they run into the flesh they break off, and deposit an
acrid juice which causes ulceration. The plant is useful, how-
ever, medicinally ; the Zanzibari, who know it by the name of
“mtepu,” as well as the native Njempsians, chew the young
shoots, in order to benefit by the gently purgative properties
of the latex.

The mountains that rise above the Nyika, such as those of
Taita and Iveti, at first sight appear to have a very different
flora, owing to the prevalence of woody flowering shrubs, which
form a dense jungle from 8 to 10 feet in height. But the
smaller flowering plants, which, from the point of view of
geographical distribution, are the more important, contain so
large a proportion of dwarf representatives of the plants of the
valleys and the plains, that it appears best to leave these
mountains as a subzone of the Nyika. An occasional screw-
pine (Pandanus) or a dragon-tree (Dracena) even remind
the visitor of the vegetation of the coast. The fact that the
peaks and the valleys have the same flora instead of a totally
different one, as in the case of Kilima Njaro or Kenya, shows
that these mountains were probably never covered by an ice-cap.

4. The Rangatan.—The fourth zone is that of the “ Ran-
gatan,”’ the prairies of the high plateau. This zone consists
mainly of vast tracts of undulating moorland, covered with
grasses. These grow to the height of from 2 to 4 feet ; and as
the ears ripen and turn yellow, they give the country a certain
resemblance to the great cornfields of Dakota. Others, such as
Tricholena rosea, Nees., are tinged with a delicate brownish
pink, which, when seen on a distant hill-slope, reminds one of
a clover field on a Surrey down. Some of the most conspicuous
grasses on the Rangatan are— Sefarza glauca, Beauv., Andro-
pogon finitimus, Hochst., Themeda Forskaliz, Hack., Sporobolus
mmdicus, R. Br., and Eragrostzs Brownet, Nees.

The great charm of this region consists, however, in the
belt of country on its borders. There, clusters of trees and
clumps of flowering shrubs are scattered over velvety turf,
forming park-like scenery of exquisite beauty. The resemblance
to an English park is increased by the number of plants
belonging to the same genera, or even species, as those of

U

290 THE FLOKA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

Europe. Thus we find our common water-plantain (d/zsma
Plantago, Linn.), a British reed-mace (Zypha angustzfolza,
Linn.), and rushes such as the Mediterranean species /umncus
Fontanesit, Gay. The St. John’s Wort is represented by a tree
(Hypericum Schimperit, Hochst.), the mallows by AHzdbzscus
gossypinus, Thunb., and the pond weeds by Aponogeton abyssini-
cum, Hochst.

The flora, therefore, presents resemblances to that of more
temperate regions, such as the Cape, the highlands of Abyssinia,
and the shores of the Mediterranean.

5. Lhe Mountain Forest Zone-—The woods on the border
of the prairies gradually thicken, and pass imperceptibly into the
“Mountain Forest Zone,’ which occupies the region of heavy
rainfall on the summit of the scarp of Mau and the lower slopes
of the main peaks. The forest consists of great Junipers and
Podocarpus, from 80 to 150 feet in height, which have been
determined by Schweinfurth and Rendle as /unzferus procera,
Hochst., and Podocarpus elongata, Thunb., P. aff. Mannzz, Hook.
The trees of this forest zone are draped with long pendent masses
of gray, beard-like lichens, which Mr. Gepp identifies as Usnea
ceratina, Ach. A dense canopy of vegetation formed of creepers
and lianas spreads from tree to tree, while the ground below is
carpeted with a rank growth of plants, among which species of
European genera are very abundant. Chief among these are
the blackberry (Audus), the meadow-rue (Thalittrum), and the
stinging-nettle (Urtica).

6. The Bamboo Zone-—The Mountain Forest Zone passes
upward into that of the Bamboo, which on Kenya occupies the
slopes from the height of 8000 to 9800 feet. It occurs also on
Settima, Mau, and Elgon. The bamboos are packed together
so closely that, except where the elephants have forced a way
through them, a path has to be cut step by step. The bamboos
rise to the height of from over 40 feet, and the stems are
often from 3 to 4 inches in diameter at the base. Above they
branch repeatedly, and the foliage interlocks into an imperfect
thatch, which is always sodden with moisture. In spite of the
abundance of the bamboos I was never able to find them in
flower, and the foliage is insufficient for the determination of
the genus; but Mr. Rendle tells me that they do not belong to
Bambusa, the ordinary bamboo. .

CHAP. XV THE ALPINE ZONES 291

This zone of Kenya did not yield very much of botanical
interest, no doubt because during our traverse through it there
was no time to collect. The bamboos as a rule leave no space
for anything except mosses, but in places the soil was covered
by Iceland moss (Se/aginella) and the maidenhair fern, of a
species which Mr. Carruthers identifies with that living on
our southern coasts.

7. The Lower Alpine Zone.—¥rom the forests and jungle
of the Bamboo Zone, it is a great relief to emerge on to the
Alpine meadows above. These appear to be divisible into two
zones, the Lower and Upper Alpine zones.

The Lower Alpine Zone occurs on Kenya between 10,000
and 11,500 feet. In its lower part it contains a few small
bamboos and scattered forest trees, outliers from the zone
below. Its most conspicuous features are shrubs and meadow
plants. The former consist largely of heaths, belonging to the
genera Erica and Sleria, of which the species are not yet
described. In protected situations these may grow to the
height of 15 feet, but on exposed slopes they occur mainly as
low bushes, about the height of gorse.

The most striking flowering plants are sessile thistles,
yellow composites much like the dandelion, gladiolus (G.
qwatsonioides), and meadow orchids (Disa Gregoriana, Rdle.)
A tree lobelia of a species very different from those of the
zone above, and in growth more like the ZL. Deckenii of Kilima
Njaro, occurs here.

8. The Upper Alpine Zone.—This zone extends from about
11,500 to 14,000 feet. The most typical plants in it are the
tree groundsels (Seneczo keniensis, Baker fil.) which grow in
groves along the slopes of the valley. These, though belonging
to the same genus as our common ragwort and groundsels, are
extraordinarily different in form, consisting of fluted trunks of
soft brittle wood, which branch once or twice, and sometimes a
third time. The branches each support a great cabbage-like
rosette of leaves, from which arise long spikes of groundsel
flowers. Two tree lobelias (L. Zelekzz, Schw., and L. Gregoriana,
Baker fil.) also occur in this zone. The most conspicuous
plants associated with them are the “everlasting flowers” of
the Cape and Abyssinia, belonging to the genus Helichrysum.

9g. Lhe Snowfields—The eighth zone now ends at the height

292 GHEE ORAOE LE RIDLS aS AS ALLORAGA. PART III

of about 14,000 feet, although it once extended higher, for dead
trunks of the lobelias lay on the moraine of the glacier, several
hundred feet above any living ones, and in the zone now
covered by the snowfields and glaciers. There a few small
patches of lichens and dwarf Helechrysum (the highest of which
were seen at 16,600 feet) are the only representatives of plant
life.

The vegetation of Eastern British East Africa thus consists
of eight or nine floras, which are so different from one another
that it is difficult to discover any features which characterise
the flora as a whole. The severity of the struggle for existence
in this region, however, is shown by a few points that may be
worthy of remark.

The first characteristic of the flora that impresses itself
upon one—and it does so in a very pointed and unpleasant
manner—is its prickliness. Some plants seem to consist of
nothing but a collection of prickles; these are developed on
every part of the plant, on the stem, stalks, flowers, and seeds,
while the leaves are often reduced to a few needles. The
thorns and prickles help the plant in nearly every stage of
life; for they scatter the seeds by clinging to the fur of
passing animals, they protect the plant against animals that
would devour it, and in some cases obtain for the plant the
food it requires from the air. Some of the plants have the
prickles arranged in a very ingenious way: thus the “ wait-a-
bit” thorn (the Wacht-ein-beet of the Dutch settlers of the
Cape) has hooks pointing in opposite directions, so that a jerk
backward to disentangle clothes caught by them, only impales
these all the more firmly on another set. In some cases, as if
the thorns were not sufficiently formidable, ants burrow into
their bases; the plant increases the growth of tissue to bury
the invaders, and thus the base of the spine is enlarged into a
woody bulb, capable of inflicting a nasty wound. Most of the
succulent plants are protected by an abundant crop of thorns and
spikes. Some of them, such as Sansevzera gutneensts and most
of the aloes, have broad leaves with edges spiked like a saw ;
another species of Sanseviera (S. cylindrica) has bayonet-shaped
leaves, which end in a point so hard and sharp that it goes
through leather as easily as through paper. The leaves in

CHAP. XV LPHEISHAPES OF TREES 293

this “nkonge,” as the Zanzibari call it, are placed opposite one
another in a plane which, by a peculiarly malicious arrange-
ment, is twisted into a spiral. Hence from whatever side these
“chevaux de frise” be charged, the unlucky traveller only
plunges on to the pricks; and this happens with aggravating
frequency when chasing wounded game through the scrub
in the dim light of early dawn.

Another type of defence extensively adopted consists of
circles of stout hairs pointing downwards, which prevent the
more simple-minded of the ants from reaching and robbing the
flowers. Nearly all the grasses are provided with these spiked
collars, for their farinaceous seeds are especially attractive to
ants. In many of the flowering plants the same purpose is
effected by having the leaves placed in opposite pairs with
their bases “connate,” or growing together to form a cup, as
in the English teazel; in the rainy season, when alone the
plant is in flower, this cup is filled with water, and this natural
moat prevents crawling insects from reaching the coveted stores
of honey and pollen.

The method of reducing the waste of seeds in a plant by
their germination on the parent is not unknown among our
English plants, and cases occur more frequently in the upland
meadows (or Alps) of Switzerland. In Africa this “viviparity ”
is very extensively adopted. The case of the mangrove has
already been quoted, but the method is used in the plants of
the “ Nyika” in an opposite manner; for in these the leaves
act as a kind of parachute, and scatter the young plants
broadcast before the wind, instead of restricting them to a
narrow belt.

The action of the wind in moulding the forms of trees is
well shown in the open plains of East Africa. The few
timber trees that occur there are, like the baobab, fixed by
trunks of enormous bulk, so that the wind acting on the leafless
branches has but little power over them. In other cases the
leaves are narrow and spiny, and the branches expand in flat
horizontal sheets, which present only their narrow edges to the
wind. In none of these cases does the upper portion of the
tree give the wind much leverage by which to overthrow it.
The smaller trees are also shaped by the same agency. The
acacias which form most of the scrub are low and flat-topped,

204 THE FLORA OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART III

expanding above like an umbrella. This form is apparently
acquired as a protection against the tornadoes that sweep
over them. The shape is not much use to an _ isolated
tree, for the wind can then get underneath the branches and
tend to wedge it up; but these trees usually grow packed
together, and their flat tops form a surface, over which the
storms sweep with little effect.

It is no doubt also as a protection against the wind that,
as if to atone for the leaflessness of the trees, the flowering
plants are woody. Thus on the plateaux we have to look for
the main masses of blossom, not to the turf on the meadows,
but to the clumps of shrubs, which often glow with the yellow
of the Dombeya, the Calodendrum, and the St. John’s Wort
(Hypericum), or appear gray with the groundsel-like flowers of
the “lelesha” (Zarchonanthus camphoratus, L.)

In spite, however, of such points as these, the flora is mainly
of interest in connection with the problems of geographical
distribution. For the contrast between the tropical flora of the
coastal plain or the Tana delta and the temperate floras of the
Alpine zone, between the dense jungles and forests of the
lower slopes of Kenya and the sparse scrub of the sandy
Nyika, is the most striking feature in the natural history of the
region. To a geologist this is of especial interest, for the
distribution of the plants is determined to a considerable extent
by the geological structure of the country. The nine zones
are no doubt largely due to the different temperatures of
different heights. But altitude is not the only factor; the
boundary lines of the zones do not exactly follow the contours.
The variations of temperature due to height are overpowered by
the influence of the amount of moisture in the air, which is
often determined by the character of the rocks in the country
to windward. Thus the western sides of Kilima Njaro and
Kenya have a greater rainfall and broader snowfields than the
eastern, as the lava country to the west is more fertile than
the sandy wastes to the east. The geological factors, more-
over, not only determine the amount of the rainfall, but whether
this is used to the best advantage. The higher mountains, and
the lowlands beside the coast and the larger rivers, have a
luxuriant vegetation, because the former intercept moisture
from the elevated currents of air, while the latter are watered

CHAP. XV THE INFLUENCE OF SOILS 295

by a heavy dew. These sources are perennial; but, on the open
plains, the air is dry and the rains are concentrated into two
rainy seasons; the plant life in these districts is therefore
dependent on the capacity of the soil to retain moisture.
Geologically the plateau region consists of an undulating upland
of gneiss, covered in places by sheets of volcanic deposits. Ac-
cording to which of the two classes of rocks crops out at the
surface, there are one of two types of vegetation. The volcanic
rocks form very rich soil; they absorb moisture readily, and
part with it slowly. Hence the lava tracts are clad in a rich
green turf or forest, and have numerous springs. The gneiss,
on the other hand, is very porous; and, as the foliation is
generally vertical, the water that falls upon it rapidly percolates
to a depth at which it has no influence on the vegetation. The
tracts formed by this rock are therefore barren sandy wastes,
supporting only the dry grasses, the soft-stemmed leafless trees,
the dreary scrub, and the succulent shrubs, that constitute the
desert flora of the East African Nyika.

Glebe eh lsh) ee DOvAll

THE ZANZIBARI

‘Whip me? No, no; let carman whip his jade,
The valiant heart’s not whipt out of his trade.”

Meas. for Meas. ii. 1.

AMONG the many blessings which the Arab has given man-
kind, not one of the least is the Zanzibari. Long before Bruce,
Mungo Park, and Denham had roused English interest in
African exploration, before even Prince Henry the Navigator
had sent out his fleets, or Vasco da Gama had rounded the
Cape and quarrelled with the people of Mombasa, the Arabs
had quietly found their way into the heart of the Continent,
settled on the shores of Tanganyika, built trading stations on
the hills of Unyamwezi, and discovered all the great lakes as
well as the snow-capped summits of Kilima Njaro and Kenya.

Probably for more than two thousand years caravans,
organised by Arabs, have been despatched from the east coast
to the principal trade centres of the interior. This work can
only be done by human transport; for the tsetse and other
flies poison one set of transport animals, the uncertainty of
water and the roughness of the road are fatal to another, while
long caravans in single file are at the mercy of hostile natives
unless the load-bearer can fight as well as carry. Hence
the Arabs had to raise a supply of native porters, and the
Zanzibari is a product of the trade which could not exist with-
out his services. Indeed the term Zanzibari is only a name
applied to natives from any up-country tribes, who have come
down to the coast and adopted the trade of caravan porters.
Without this class of men, geographical exploration in the

CHAP. XVI BRHETR REROULTATTON 297

great belt of Tropical Africa between the Sahara and the
Zambesi would have been impossible. The expeditions which
discovered the great lakes and tracked the rivers of the Equa-
torial regions have all had to rely upon the transport organised
by the slave-raiders and ivory-dealers of the Suahili coast.
Hardly a fact about the geography of the interior of the Con-
tinent has been discovered, except at the price of the lives of
these poor natives ; and our knowledge of the roads that lead
there is in direct proportion to the number of Zanzibari whose
bones bleach beside them.

In spite of this, the services of the Zanzibari are not
regarded in Europe with the gratitude they deserve. Travellers
have given very different reports as to the behaviour of their
men ; but the best known accounts of them have been unfavour-
able. Burton, for example, describes his porters thus :—

“The self-willed wretches demean themselves with the
coolest impudence ; reply imperiously, lord it over their leaders,
regulate the marches and the halts, and though they work
they never work without loud complaints and open discontent.
Rations are a perpetual source of heartburning ; stinted at
home to a daily mess of grain porridge, the porters on the line
of march devote, in places where they can presume, all their
ingenuity to extort as much food as possible from their
employers.” !

Cameron tells us * that in his caravan “the majority of the
men were thieves, and pilfered unceasingly from their loads” ;
and he gives support to the view that the Zanzibari must be
handled sternly, for he tells us elsewhere *—“I found that we
had treated our men with too much consideration, and they in
consequence tried to impose on us, and were constantly
grumbling and growling.”

Mr. Joseph Thomson tells us that he had to select the men
for his “ Masai Land Expedition” from “a flood of vagabond-
age ... the blind and the lame, the very refuse of Zanzibar
rascaldom, beach-combers, thieves, murderers, runaway slaves,
most of them literally rotten with a life of debauchery” ; and
he accordingly had to start with “a villanous crew.” 4

1 R. F. Burton, The Lake Regions of Central Africa, vol. i. (1860), pp. 342-343-
2V. L. Cameron, Across Africa (1877), vol. i. p. x1.
3 Op. cit, Vols it p. 107.
4 J. Thomson, Through Masai Land (1887), p. 23.

298 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

It is natural that stories of difficulty, mutinies, and crimes,
and of the frequent failure of expeditions through the mis-
behaviour of the men, should leave a deeper impression on
the mind than the records of faithfulness and quiet obedience.
The prevalent belief in the utter villainy of the Zanzibari is
expressed by Drummond in the following passage :—

“These black villains the porters, the necessity and the
despair of travellers, the scum of old slave-gangs, and the
fugitives from justice from every tribe, congregate for hire.
And if there is one thing on which African travellers are for
once agreed, it is that for laziness, ugliness, stupidness, and
wickedness, these men are not to be matched on any continent
in the world. Their one strong point is that they will engage
themselves for the Victoria Nyanza or for the Grand Tour of
the Tanganyika with as little ado as a Chamounix guide volun-
teers for the Jardin; but this singular avidity is mainly due to
the fact that each man cherishes the hope of running away at
the earliest opportunity. Were it only to avoid requiring
to employ these gentlemen, having them for one’s sole com-
pany month after month, seeing them transgress every com-
mandment in turn before your eyes—you yourself being
powerless to check them except by a wholesale breach of the
sixth—it would be worth while to seek another route into the
heart of Africa.” *

I shared this opinion when I first went to Africa, and
agreed with the other members of the expedition as to the
great importance of the attempt to run a camel caravan on a
large scale so far to the south. We thought that if camel transport
succeeded, it would revolutionise the conditions of travel in
Equatorial Africa by superseding the lazy, lying, expensive and
mutinous Zanzibari. It was therefore a surprise to me when,
on asking Mr. Piggott on the “ Malda” about systems of trans-
port, he spoke enthusiastically of the merits and_ virtues,
efficiency and economy of the Zanzibari, and said that he
doubted whether anything else could compete with them. I
was the more astonished to hear the Mombasa men thus
praised, as I remembered Johnston’s warning to travellers—
“Never, if they can help it, to engage porters at Mombasa.
Independently of all questions of religion—-Mohammedan and

1H. Drummond, Tvopical Africa, 4th ed. (1891), pp. 5-6.

CHAP. XVI FIRST IMPRESSIONS 299

Christian alike—the inhabitants of the Mombasa district are
a thoroughly bad lot. It is hopeless to win them by kindness,
or infuse a spirit of discipline by sternness. They are liars,
cowards, thieves, and drunkards.” ?

My first experience of Zanzibari porters was unfavourable.
At Mkonumbi several were engaged for us, and failed hope-
lessly. They could not carry the regulation loads; they
showed no knowledge of camp ways; they proved sullen and
lazy. However, these were only a scratch lot—mostly freed
slaves, who had been tempted from ordinary agricultural
labour by the prospect of high wages and little work. After
they had been discharged, I saw no more of Zanzibari, until
our eighty porters under Omari came to the camp at Ngatana.
Their attitude throughout was amusing rather than pleasant.
They made no attempt to conceal their contempt for the
Abyssinians and Somali, and I think we also came in for a
share of this feeling. Whenever the porters arrived in camp
from Witu with a fresh cargo of stores, the Abyssinians would
at once drop their loads and fall exhausted beside them; the
Zanzibari, on the other hand, simply to show their contempt
for such feebleness, would dance and sing, and race round the
camp with their loads on their heads, until they were ordered
to stack them. The feeling of the Zanzibari towards the
Somali was more definitely hostile ; jealousy of the higher pay
and privileges, which they thought the Somali did not deserve,
added bitterness to their contempt. In their good-natured
way the Zanzibari were generally ready to help the Abyssinians
to make themselves comfortable in camp; but they seemed to
gloat over the miseries which the Somali endured, owing to
their ignorance of the camp dodges, in which they themselves
were experts. The result was that in time the hatred between
the two classes of men became so intense that, to avoid
quarrels, the Zanzibari camp had to be pitched a few hundred
yards from that of the Somali, and the men were kept as
much separate as possible.

In other ways, however, the Zanzibari gave us no trouble.
When they coveted Pokomo pumpkins, they got them for the
asking from their friends the villagers, or they stole them so
cleverly that the Somali had the blame. They never dis-

1 The Kilima-Njaro Expedition (London, 1886), p. 43.

300 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

tressed us by dying, and were not even seriously ill. In the
crowd of Somali and Abyssinians which came twice daily to
the dispensary hut, when Mackinnon was “at home” to invalids,
not a Zanzibari was to be seen, unless one were there for the
fun of jeering at the feeble folk. The Zanzibari, in fact, did
their work in a quiet, business-like way without fuss or noise.
Moreover, they entertained us greatly by coming over to our
camp to sing and tell funny stories.

But im spite of) all this’ we did not like them. ~~ They
assumed an air of bumptious arrogance that was not pleasing.
It is not exactly gratifying to feel that your native servants
despise you, as ours manifestly did. We felt we could not
depend upon our men if we quarrelled with their headman.
We knew they used to go to Omari, saying, “ This is not a
safart ! Why should we waste our time here any more. Let
us beat our drum and go!” Had we had any unpleasantness
with Omari, they would have beaten their drum and gone.
Thus a certain distrust was added to our consciousness of their
aggressive self-assertion.

But when once we had crossed the Tana and begun our
march, the Zanzibari had to work, and then everything was
changed. They showed themselves adepts at camp ways, and
proved most willing workers. When a halt was called, camp
was pitched speedily and without confusion. Tents were up,
water and wood brought, fires lighted, and cooking done, as if
by magic. There was none of the old trouble to make the
men perform these tasks, and do the other odd jobs required to
render camp comfortable and orderly. The Somali had to be
told everything, and only obeyed slowly and sullenly. Each
Zanzibari, on the other hand, knew his special duty, and hast-
ened to do it with willing obedience. We often had a forcible
illustration of the difference in their demeanour, when we were
trying to sleep at night after a hard day’s work. The noise in
our Somali camp was maddening, especially when we were ill
with fever ; Benett-Stanford would go out and order the men
to be quiet. “We Englishmen,” he would say, “work all day
and try to sleep at night; but you Somali sleep all day, and
then chow, chow, chow all night.” The Somali would laugh
and be quiet for three minutes, and then the hubbub would
begin again. If the Zanzibari were too noisy we had only

CHAP. XVI LEE LOGGING SVS Vi. 301

to send a message to Omari; his stern voice would ring
through the camp, “ Kilele, kilele” (Silence, silence), and every
sound would be hushed.

The change from the Somali to the Zanzibari was so
pleasant, and the behaviour of these latter so satisfactory
during our return march to the coast, that I resolved to
employ them exclusively on my second expedition. The
Somali wanted to go with me, for they were returning to Aden
penniless; many of them begged to be employed, and some
even offered to serve for nothing. But I would not take one
at any price. I trusted entirely to Zanzibari, and well indeed
did they justify my trust.

When comparing experiences with others who have used
Zanzibari, | feel that I was fortunate in getting a good set of
men ; and the fact that I had not a single deserter shows that
I did not get any of the riff-raff of Mombasa or Zanzibar, for
they would have bolted at the start. Yet my men were not
by any means a picked staff; being in a hurry to start I had
at the last to take any porters I could get, to supplement those
chosen from the first expedition. That the men did not desert
later on was probably due to the fact that the caravan was
worked on a different principle from that often adopted.
Several men of great experience had given me advice as to
how to treat Zanzibari. Prince Boris Czetwertynski, for
example, had told me that the only way to make a Zanzibari
respect you is to flog him. Yet this system of management
is not always successful. A caravan had gone into the interior
just before me, the leader of which, a very experienced man, was
reported to have adopted the “ flogging” system. He had lost
so many men by desertion, that he had been obliged to camp
for two months in the “ barra” waiting for reinforcements to be
hired and sent up to him. I could afford neither the time nor
the money involved in such a delay, and realised that it would
be better to lead the caravan than to drive it. The result was
we had very little trouble. The men made a march of un-
precedented swiftness, and had a really hard time of it. When
asked by Hobley how they had got on, upon their return to
the coast, Omari’s reply, “Teli khazi, te/z khazi!” (Much hard
work, very much hard work !); “teli mvua!” (much rain !), ex-
pressed the general opinion. Nevertheless throughout the men

302 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

did their work, and put up with exposure with the greatest
cheerfulness. Flogging was only necessary twice, and most
of the time we were rather like a family party.

My first axiom in the treatment of my men was based on
Sir Evelyn Wood’s maxim, when organising his expedition
against the Boers—the first thing to be considered is the
health of the baggage animals. My porters were my baggage
animals,and I made every arrangement I could for their health.
I tried to adapt my ways to their habits, for my nature being
more plastic than theirs I could more easily fit into a new
environment. But I never allowed the work of the expedition
to be interfered with, and if exposure were necessary the men
had to stand it. On Kenya, for example, they were kept ata
high altitude far longer than was good for them.

My second axiom was to know as much as possible about
my men. I was interested in them as samples of African
natives, and was also anxious to learn all I could of their
language, habits, and temperaments, so that I might use the men
to the best advantage. I often spent a few minutes with them
at night, chatting by their camp fires, drawing from them
stories of their past journeys and telling them reminiscences of
my own. They may have credited me with a good deal more
disinterested benevolence than I deserved ; but I believe this
close intercourse with my men was the chief source of our
harmonious co-operation. Among other things, it impressed on
me that the Zanzibari are not a tribe but a class, and must be
dealt with accordingly.

Only twenty-four of the men of my caravan knew to which
tribe they belonged, and these twenty-four represented no less
than fourteen different tribes—Wa-konde, Wa-zaramu, Wa-digo,
Wa-doa, Wa-makwa, Wa-degereko, Wa-gindo, Wa-ganda,
Wa-biza, Wa-kame, Wa-nyamwezi, Wa-nyasa, Wa-hadamu,
and Wa-pemba.

The national characteristics of these tribes differ so widely,
that it is useless to treat the men as if they were all turned out
of one mould ; the difference of type, moreover, gives a diver-
sity of capacity which a leader may apply to the various needs
of an expedition. For example, the Wa-degereko are a
domesticated and agricultural race, men of enormous physique
but of a timid and essentially effeminate character, whose only

CHAP. XVI A GOOD EXAMPLE 303

theory of fighting is to live to do it on another day ; they have
no notion how to find their way in the jungle or how to track
game, but they have an uncommonly keen eye for business and
bargaining. The natives of some tribes, on the contrary, are
born hunters and trappers, who have been trained from their
youth to deeds of daring in war and in the chase, or, like the
Wa-nyamwezi, have a high sense of union and discipline.
Others, like the Wa-digo, are intelligent, courteous, but
cowardly, and such excellent linguists that this tribe supplies
interpreters to most of the up-country caravans. The Man-
yema are a cannibal tribe, whose stupidity and roughness are
scarcely redeemed by the dash and daring of first-class fighting
men. The Wa-konde are brusque and business-like, and you
can lay responsibilities on them for which the sullen, grumbling
Wa-kame are totally unfit. It is evident that the methods of
dealing with such varieties of character should, if possible, be
as varied. A joke may do with one man what a threat alone
could achieve with another; one may be most moved by a
promise of reward at the coast, when another can be touched
by an appeal to his honour. It is from caravan leaders who
do not study the characters of their men that we hear most of
the stories of mutiny and desertion, and that the only argument
a Zanzibari can understand is the whip.

I may mention the following incident as illustrating the
inspiriting example of a good leader, and the Zanzibari’s
capacity for following it. On one occasion, after being forty
hours without water, we came upon a scanty supply, and my
headman Omari, who had been trained by Stanley, refused his
share. He shook his head at first, for so dry and stiff were
our tongues that we could hardly speak, and then stammered
out that he was not thirsty. When I insisted on his taking
his small share, he quietly handed it to the porter who appeared
most overcome with thirst. As I looked at his face, grimy
with the labours of the long day, I could not help thinking of
Kipling’s lines—

‘But for all ’is dirty ’ide
He is white, pure white inside.”
Later on I asked him how he had denied himself. He said,
“It was nothing! I’ve seen Bula Matari (Stanley) do the same
thing lots of times, and if he could do it, Inshallah! so can I.”

304 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

Like the rest of the world, the Zanzibari have their faults,
and many of their failings are intensely irritating. Their
greatest vice is a tendency to desert ; they are inveterate liars,
and frequently present an amazing mixture of timidity and
foolhardiness. The Zanzibari have a hereditary fear of the
Masai, and an undrilled caravan is liable to terror-stricken
panic in case of attack. Yet the men persist in straggling
behind in the most hostile country, and if the fancy takes them
will go off single-handed to pillage a plantation, apparently
totally indifferent to the fact that by so doing they are en-
dangering the very existence of the whole party. Perhaps the
most troublesome fault of all is that they cannot be trusted to
keep awake on sentry duty. According to general report, the
greater the danger the more soundly the sentries sleep. To
find your Askari sentinels either dozing or fast asleep during
the most risky hours, night after night, is a severe strain on
the temper, and you are then apt to curse Zanzibari in general,
and kick the sentries in particular. I always went round camp
two or three times a night, and when in hostile country did
not take off my clothes, except to change them, for days
together.

The recklessness of the men about their food is another
trying characteristic. At the commencement of a new stage
in the journey we had to serve out ten days’ rations, and
some of the men would eat so much in the first few days
that by the end of the week they had none left. But
they can go for great distances on what appears to be the
most insufficient food; some of my men carried loads of
110 lbs. from dawn to dusk, with only an hour’s rest in the
middle of the day, on a pound and a half of beans or Indian
corn, and sometimes less than that. Whence their “ foot-
pounds” of energy were derived puzzled me, until I noticed
that they became thinner and thinner. They illustrate the
laws of compensation; for the amount of food the men can
eat, when they have it, is simply phenomenal. When we
reached the Kikuyu country on the return journey, I owed all
the men arrears of food, amounting with one group of men to
seven days’ rations. I offered to give them beads or wire
instead of the excess of food, that they might buy for them-
selves any little delicacies they fancied, such as chickens or

CHAP. XVI A BIG MEAL 305

ripe bananas. But they refused my offer. “ You owe us seven
days’ food,” they replied ; “seven days’ food we will have or
nothing.” Of course it was given them ; but, in the evening, one
of them came as a delegate from the rest to ask for medicine.
He complained of severe internal pains, and seemed very
uncomfortable. His power of diagnosing his symptoms being
limited, I asked what he had been doing or eating. He calmly
replied he had done nothing, and had only eaten the food that
had been given him. Each of the men having obtained his
seven days’ rations had borrowed a big cooking-pot, made a
great fire, and had cooked and eaten the whole of the 10% Ibs,
of beans. I was somewhat annoyed and declined to give
medicine, telling the emissary the only expedient I could
think of to prevent fatal consequences was a band of hoop
iron; this we had not got, so he must tie himself together
with my climbing-rope. When the story of this Milo’s meal
was circulated round camp it was regarded as a good joke,
and the appetite of the six huge feeders was added to the list
of stock-jokes of the caravan.

A more serious failing in the Zanzibari is his liability to
violent paroxysms of passion. When the fit is on him he is
hardly accountable for his actions; he will take offence at the
merest trifle, and until he recovers is ready to desert in spite of
any consequences to himself. The well-known Zanzibari tragi-
comedian “ Tom Charles,” for example, threatened to desert from
Teleki’s caravan only two days before reaching Mombasa, owing
to some tiff with the native headman; it was only Teleki’s
good-natured intervention that dissuaded him from forfeiting
his two years’ hard-earned pay and his reputation as a reliable
servant, besides rendering himself liable to a long term of
imprisonment. This tendency to passion greatly increases
the difficulty of handling the men; they have to be humoured
and coaxed like children; and when in anger, appeals to their
self-interest are in vain, for the last persons they then think of
are themselves.

To secure peace in a caravan, a leader must respect the
customary organisation. The sole duty of a porter is to carry
his load from camp to camp, and all other work is supposed to be
done by special men. Stacking the loads, sentry duty, putting
up the tent of the leader of the expedition, and collecting his

Xx

306 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

firewood and fetching his water, is the work of the Askari,
There is always one of these to every ten porters. They do
not carry loads unless a porter is taken ill on the march, and
then the Askari is at liberty, before taking up the man’s burden,
to give him ten blows with a stick as a safeguard against
malingering. This is a recognised right, though the Askari
do not as a rule insist upon it, unless in an obvious case of.
imposition. I never saw it enforced. On the contrary, in
cases of illness the men were always ready to help one another,
and several times I saw an Askari insist upon taking a load
from a sick man pluckily struggling to bear up under it.
The Askari are responsible to the “ munipara” or headman, who
holds an extremely important position, and upon whom to a
large extent depends the peaceful working of a caravan. He
distributes the loads and food, and must see that all loads are
brought into camp. Hence he generally marches last, and
must not leave this post without the permission of the European
leader, who then generally takes his place. It is the absolute
rule of the road that no man is to be left behind alone. If a
porter is too ill to proceed, the headman stays with him, sending
on a message by one of the Askari for a fatigue party to be
sent back to carry the invalid. The porter has his rules to
obey ; ¢.g. he must not upon any account leave the track with-
out leaving his load there, or giving some other sign to the
headman. The only man I lost was sacrificed through his own
neglect of this rule; he was tired, stole from the path, and went
to sleep under a tree; when later on he tried to follow us he
lost the way ; our search for him was vain, and he, no doubt,
was either starved to death or killed by exposure to the cold,
unless the lions mercifully put an end to his sufferings. As a
rule the men obey their unwritten code implicitly ; it is, indeed,
a matter of habit with them, and an Ethiopian will sooner
change his skin than his habits ; indeed that is not so difficult
as one might imagine, for in cutting our way through the thorn
jungle of the Sabaki or Lake Losuguta, the men changed their
skin for sticking plaster at an appalling rate.

The whole ethic of a porter’s religion is concerned with his
load. His creed is very simple, consisting of two articles—(1)
Thou shalt not drop or abandon thy load; (2) Thou shalt not
steal from it. Stanley tells a good story which well illustrates

CHAP. XVI THE PORTER AND HTS LOAD 307

the first rule. When he started on his search for Livingstone he
was new to Equatorial Africa, and anxious to try new methods
of transport. So he took out a light, narrow waggon, which
was laden and hauled inland. The waggon, however, was
always in mischief, and generally hours behind the rest of
the caravan. Stanley at last got tired of it, and one day,
when it was unusually far in the rear, he sent back an order
that the thing was to be thrown into the jungle, and the men
with it were to come on as quickly as possible. Hours passed
and they did not appear. So Stanley marched back and met
the stragglers, led by the strongest man staggering along with
the waggon, axle, wheels, and all complete, upon his head.
The porter pleaded that he could not leave his load, and that
it was easier to carry it thus. But this was such a reductio ad
absurdum of wheeled traffic, that the waggon was thrown on
one side and there abandoned.

On Kenya I had a somewhat similar experience, when
a porter, not by any means one of my best men (in fact
one of the worst), nearly sacrificed his life in the effort
to save his load. He had been caught in the snowstorm
that broke upon us, the day of our arrival at our camp
above the forests. He could not drag his load up the steep
slope that led to the camp, and he would not go on without it.
It was a mere matter of etiquette. The load would have been
_all right if he had left it, and there were no natives to steal it ;
but it was against the porter’s religion to leave his load, and he
sat upon it. After an hour’s search I found him, half covered
in snow, lying on his load, nearly frozen to death. A little
brandy revived him, but he was too weak to stand, and I had
to carry him up to camp. Next morning when he was better,
but while I was still suffering from the irritation of having to
hunt for him in the snowstorm, I told him he was a fool to
have stopped there, and that he ought to have left his load and
come on when he could have done so. “ How could I leave
my load without my master’s order?” was the man’s reproach-
ful reply. Such is the stuff of which a good Zanzibari is made.

The regulation load which the Zanzibari is supposed to
carry is 60 lbs. Many of the missionaries think this excessive,
and refuse to allow any of their men to be hired, unless a
promise be given that they shall not be required to carry more

308 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

than 50 lbs. But as a matter of fact the weight is more often
raised than reduced. The British East Africa Company allow
loads of 65 lbs. and, at the outset of an expedition, this is the
utmost that a man should be expected to carry. Later on,
when the men have become used to their work, the amount can
be increased. We often had loads made up of 50 kibaba of
food which would weigh in all 75 lbs. The packing adds
another 5 lbs., and the porter’s ten days’ rations 15 lbs. more.
A rifle and 20 rounds of ammunition would raise the total to
about 105 lbs. In addition to this the man has to take his
turn at carrying a heavy copper “sufuria” or cooking-pot, and
always has a roll containing his shelter tent and the cloth that
serves as a blanket, and a few other trifles of his own. Porters
with such loads as these are therefore really carrying 110 lbs.
at least, instead of the regulation 60 Ibs. ; and the men seemed
to regard this as quite moderate treatment. Teleki’ on one
occasion gave his men loads ranging from 110 lbs. to 148 Ibs.

It appears almost as if, while you keep to their load, the
porters will allow you to impose upon them ad 7nufinztum, or at
any rate as long as their strength will hold out ; but order them
to fetch you some firewood from a bush a hundred yards dis-
tant, to carry a load across camp, or to do anything that is an
infringement of the established dasturvz or custom, and it is quite
another matter. If you respect dastur¢ and ask a man to per-
form the service, he will be flattered and do it at once ; but the
smallest demand upon him outside his recognised duty will put
him in a bad temper for the rest of the day. At the beginning
of an expedition, when there are all sorts of odd jobs to be done,
the men are slack, and the leader perhaps not used to caravan
ways, @astur? is continually invoked. If the appeal is not
respected, the chances are the men will desert. Their natural
view is, that if a leader will not respect their privileges near
the coast when protection is at hand, what will he not do up
country when his men are entirely at his mercy? The porters,
as a rule, implicitly obey the laws of safari custom, and expect
their leader to do so too.

Trivial infringements of dasturi are therefore bitterly
resented, though the men appear generally ready to tolerate
them, if really necessary. On Laikipia I had to withdraw

1 Hohnel, Zum Rudolf-See, p. 698.

CHAP, XVI A MIXED CHARACTER 309

certain privileges, which are usually held sacred. The men pro-
tested ; but I told them that the only dastur¢ on Laikipia was
to be speared by the Masai and eaten by the hyenas. If
they wanted that fate they could easily get it; if not, they had
better not talk about dastur7¢ till we reached a safer country.
The men laughed, and we heard no more about the matter.
Greatly though the Zanzibari loathe any interference with
their customs and privileges, they will tolerate even that rather
than an act of injustice. This rankles in the Zanzibari mind,
and is certain to be paid off some day. Amongst my porters
was a Mgindo, serving under an assumed name, which we will
suppose to have been Wadi. He was my most faithful personal
attendant. When we were in a waterless camp at night, Wadi
would wait till no one was looking, and then sneak my water-
bottle and fill it up from his own small calabash. Several
times when our food supplies were approaching exhaustion, and
we were on short rations, he would tie up half of his in a
corner of his loin-cloth to save it for me. I only found this
out by accident in Kikuyu. As soon as the natives brought
food into camp and the prospect of famine was averted, Wadi
produced his store and began to eat it. I chaffed him about
his caution, and he did not seem to like it. Omari afterwards
remonstrated with me for my banter, for he said, “ Did you not
know that the food was all being saved for you?” Wadi had
remarked to him a day or two before that if the Kikuyu would
give us no food, “Mpokwa” would want the beans sooner than
he would. Wadi was always doing things of that sort, walking
miles after the day’s work was done to collect herbs for food,
and then giving them all to others. Nevertheless he was a
man with a bad record. He had been one of the two ring-
leaders in perhaps the worst act of mutiny that has disgraced
the annals of British East Africa. Wadi was with a caravan
in the interior. According to his account, the leader knew no
Ki-suahili and was dependent entirely on his interpreters—a lot
of mission boys. One of these committed an act of theft. The
leader of the caravan said the thief must be found. Wadi was
accused. His defence was falsely translated by the interpreter,
who was a confederate of the thief. Wadi was condemned and
flogged. A fortnight later there was a mutiny one afternoon in
camp. Ninety porters suddenly seized their guns, some loads

310 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

of ammunition and ivory, and marched off. They sold their
ivory for food and fled back towards the coast. They stormed
every village they came to which they could attack with safety.
They captured women from one tribe and sold them for food
or ivory to the next. Thus looting, massacring, and murdering,
they swept down to the coast, leaving a blood-stained trail
behind them. The whole story is a terrible one. The actual
leader was a man named Wadi Kombo, who has long since
been called upon to answer for his crimes. But there is good
reason to believe that my faithful Wadi not only joined, but
helped to instigate the mutiny. He had been wrongfully
punished, the injustice rankled in his mind, and he took his
revenge.

This had happened several years before, but Wadi’s hatred
of mission boys was still keen and bitter. Once a drunken
native was rolling round the camp, trying to steal,and generally
misbehaving. I threatened to have him kicked out. He
pulled himself up in a ludicrous effort to assume an air of
dignity, and said he was no mere up-country savage (mshenzz),
for he had been to the coast. “ Yes,” remarked Wadi, who was
standing by, “I thought he had been brought up at i
~ mentioning a well-known mission station. On another occasion
he caught my tent-boy drinking some of my water when there
was none in camp, and Wadi had emptied his calabash into my
water-bottle. He was very angry and kicked the boy about.
Suddenly he remembered what a terrible breach of camp
discipline he was committing. A headman has the right to
flog any porter or Askari during the absence of the leader of the
expedition, reporting it to him when he returns ; but he may not
flog the leader’s personal servants, such as tent-boy or cook.
If necessary he can put them in irons, but he must not flog
them. For a mere porter, then, like Wadi to do this was a
grievous sin. He suddenly realised the enormity of his offence
and came half-sobbing to me to apologise. He explained that
he had a little water that he did not want, so, rather than throw
it away, he had poured it into my bottle. Then he had seen
my boy drinking it, became angry, and hit him. He begged
humbly for forgiveness, which was readily granted. Wadi saw
I was not angry, so, as he left the door of the tent, he looked
back and remarked, “ You will forgive me, won’t you, Bwana?

CHAP. XVI THE HUMOURS OF THE ROAD SDI

I know no better. You see I was not brought up at a mission
school.”

I have said that the childishness of the Zanzibari introduces
one great difficulty in handling them, but this may be more
than counterbalanced by appeals to their keen sense of humour.
Almost anything can be done with them by chaff. Time after
time incipient rows were nipped in the bud, awkward questions
and just, but inconvenient, protests were evaded by the feeblest
of jokes, or a little banter at the expense of the spokesman. I
had a series of slits cut in the wall of my tent, and through
these could see any little incident that happened in the camp.
One day the guide or kiringozi, Wadi Hamis, upset the pot of
food he was cooking into the fire, greatly to the wrath of the
others. A few days later he came up as leader of a few men,
to complain that they could not do something expected of
them. “Of course you can’t; all you can do is to capsize
your cooking-pot into the fire,” was my irritable and inconse-
quent reply. The sullen Wadi Hamis was completely taken
aback, and the others rolled away, shaking with laughter, and
spluttering out to the rest of the camp that Bwana said all
Wadi could do was to upset the cooking-pot. Thus, in a burst
of merriment, what might have been an unpleasant row was
averted. Parties of porters were continually coming up with
questions and complaints. As a rule these were fair and easily
satisfied ; but when they were not, it was only necessary to turn
the laugh against the ringleader, who would slink away abashed,
while the others would lose their grievance in their merriment.

It was not only little troubles that could thus be soothed.
For several days before we reached the Kikuyu frontier, on our
march across Laikipia, the danger of famine hung heavily on
our minds. We all knew the difficulties before us, but we did
not care to refer to them. At length a few of the malcontents
plucked up courage, and came in a body to ask me what was to
be done. The deputation respectfully pointed out that all our
food would be gone before we reached the frontier, that the
Kikuyu would not let us cross it, or sell us food until they had
discussed the matter for some days among themselves. “ What
shall we eat then?” asked the spokesman. “Kulu mimi”
(You may eat me), I replied with my blandest smile. My
omnivorous propensities had been one of the standing jokes

312 THE ZANZIBARI PART III

of the caravan. I was always teasing the men about their
fastidiousness in food, and they replied by jeering at my
readiness to eat anything. As Mohammedans they were
extremely particular, and would rather die than indulge in
cannibalism. When members of a cannibal tribe such as the
Manyema join a caravan, they are constantly chaffed about
their food, and are nicknamed “ Kulu-watu” (Those who eat
people). My offer of myself as food for the hungry was
perfectly safe therefore, and was received as a splendid joke.
The men went off doubled up with laughter, stammering out
to their comrades, “The master says when we get to Kikuyu
and have nothing else to eat, we may eat him.” When the
wit of the camp objected that I was too thin, the laughter was
redoubled ; the difficulties ahead were all forgotten, and no
more was said about the approaching starvation of the caravan.
Many other instances might be given of a funny answer (or
what was deemed such) turning away wrath.

The quick sense of humour of the Zanzibari can not only
be used to soothe, but also to inspirit them. When the Masai
couched their demand for our trade goods as toll, in a request
for payment for their hongo dance, the porters were alarmed
and urged that the tax should be paid. I went forward and
did a dance of my own, mimicking that of the Masai to the
intense amusement of my men. I then put in a claim for
hongo for my dance, and said the two claims would neutralise
one another. The novelty of this proceeding so revived the
spirits of my men that they decided we must not pay, and
were perfectly ready to fight.

Besides appreciating my feeble attempts at humour, the
Zanzibari could supply wits of their own. One of the most
useful of my party was a Mdoa named Mwini Mharo, a man
of very varied antecedents and a record by no means spotless.
He had once been a headman and had been degraded. He had
had a bitter quarrel with Lugard and deserted. After this
he had been sent up to Uganda in the chain-gang. On
his return, he had enlisted in the expedition with which
I started. There he had mainly distinguished himself by
being involved in an act of theft, which could not be absolutely
proved against him, though the evidence was very strong.
After his journey with me, he went inland again with an

cpraP. XVI A ZANZIBARI WIT 313

expedition, the leader of which gives him a woefully bad char-
acter. But I found him so useful that I made him my head
Askari, and he was mainly responsible for the trade goods.
He was such an expert thief himself, that he was up to all the
dodges; and as he knew that if anything were stolen he
would be suspected, he durst not steal himself. Thus practi-
cally nothing was taken. He was a confirmed liar, as a rule
very indolent, and had very little control over the men. He
was, moreover, liable to fits of murderous passion, in which he
would draw his knife and try to slay the object of his wrath.
So Mwini’s character was not a perfect one, and I have to
admit he had his failings. But, in spite of all, he was indis-
pensable to me. Though a thief, he was not a kleptomaniac.
When roused, his capacity for work was colossal. His sight
was marvellously keen, and his knowledge of animals and their
ways was very intimate. He could track a wounded antelope
or follow up an obscure trail with unerring instinct, and with-
out apparent effort. His courage was superb. But his main
virtue lay in his rollicking good- humour. When the men
were almost too weary and exhausted to drag themselves
along in some double march across difficult country, and we
were all gloomy, depressed, and surly, Mwini’s spirits would
rise to their highest. I would call him to the front, and soon
some lively marching song would break from him, cheering
our hearts in spite of ourselves, until we were all joining in
the chorus, or shouting back the refrain. Unconsciously our
pace would quicken, and as if by magic “the crooked would
be made straight and the rough places plain.” If we had to
camp out in the plains or spend the night in some dismal
swamp, crouching fireless and foodless in the pelting rain,
Mwini would vary his songs with stories of the strange things
he had seen and heard. At first the men would be angry and
tell him to stop. Huddled up under the open fly of the tent,
which I would share with them on such occasions, I have
watched them, taking in sullen despair a malicious pleasure in
the contemplation of their own sufferings, looking as if sheer
misery were the only thing that rendered life possible, and
scowling at Mwini’s ribald irreverence to their solemn dignity
of martyrdom. But one by one they would thaw to his jokes,
till the whole camp was infected, and the danger of an epidemic

314 THE ZANZIBARI PAK °T III

of fever or complete nervous collapse through the exposure
would be over. Mwini was often far more efficacious as a
prophylactic against fever than any medicine.

A mystery hangs over Mwini’s fate. It is thought by
some, who know him only too well, that the capture of the
donkey caravan with which he disappeared came about
through some treachery of his own. They believe he is still
safe enough somewhere, enjoying a share of the booty of this
last escapade. But it seems to me far more probable that the
capture was made by the Masai, with whom under no circum-
stances would Mwini have conspired, for, from some reason, he
hated them bitterly. This explanation at least is more agree-
able, and I prefer to remember rather how he cheered us
when the way was weary, how he shared his rations with less
provident companions, how tenderly he nursed our sick, how
untiringly he trudged by me as we scoured Laikipia together, to
find a way that would avoid the kraals of the Masai. I always
looked with something like a blind eye at many of his little
ways and weaknesses, for I found in him a faithful friend and
an invaluable servant, and there will ever be in my heart a soft
corner for my merry old comrade Mwini Mharo.

The study of the psychology of the Zanzibari is another
source of interest. His mental attitude to the European is
an interesting one, somewhat resembling that of a seventeenth-
century Puritan towards the Deity. Nothing a European
does now surprises him. His mind is absolutely d/asé.
The most cunningly devised European machinery fails to
evoke the slightest expression of astonishment. There is an
explanation ever ready to his mind. I once called one of
them to a telephone at Witu, and let him hear the voice of a
man whom he knew was at Melindi, five days’ march away.
He listened, and said he recognised the voice, as if it were all
the most natural thing in the world. He was not in the
slightest degree surprised. It was simply another European
dodge, and there was an end of it, as far as he was concerned.
Probably he would not have been surprised if his great-grand-
father had been called from the grave to speak to him through
the wire. The instrument was European: he was African.
He could not hope that his finite mind would understand the
infinite subtlety of the Mzungu, and why should he try? The

CHAP. XVI THE HEROES OF AFRICAN EXPLORATION 315

Zanzibari knows he cannot understand everything, so he does
not attempt to, and the ways of Europeans no more surprise him
than does the sunset. But failure to understand the European
does not lessen his sense of obedience. My own men worked
for me right loyally, though they never understood my object.
At first they nicknamed me “ Dudu,” which may be interpreted
as “bugs and beetles,” a name -finally replaced by that of
“Mpokwa” or “bulging pockets.” The fact that the men
sometimes wondered at my object was shown when, in the
Kikuyu country, one of them was dangerously ill— we
thought dying. One night he seemed anxious to ask me
something, though he hesitated to speak about it. I went
away, but a porter soon recalled me to the sick man. Then,
with a great effort, he asked me to promise that, if he died, I
would not put his head in a box and take it home with me,
like the skulls I had dug up at Tzavo.

From the relief my promise gave, not only to him, but to
others, I could see that many of the men had felt that I
should not hesitate to add their skulls to my collection, if they
died onthe march. But this had not prevented them from risking
their lives time after time in my service ; and when the fare-
wells came at Mombasa, I felt that the Zanzibari are the real
heroes of African exploration. They do their work without
the stimulus of the incentive of exploration ; they have no share
in the interest of the scientific problems; they enjoy none of
the credit of success. They only receive their scanty allowance
of a pound and a half of grain a day as food when on the
march, and a miserable pittance of ten rupees a month as pay
on their return. Yet for these they have to endure hardships
and privations, compared with which those of their European
master, with his comfortable tent and store of tinned pro-
visions, are for the most part trivial inconveniences. The very
highest success in life they can hope for is only promotion to
the rank of headman. Only a small minority can ever obtain
the greater dignity and higher responsibilities of this position.
For the majority, if they escape the natives, who are ever ready
to murder a lonely porter for the sake of his load, and never
fall ill during a period of double marches and half rations on
one of the cold, inland plateaux, there remains but the oblivion
of an early and unhonoured grave.

CHARTER. XWiIl

THE NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA!
‘* Dislike me not for my complexion.” —JVerch. of Ven. 1. 2.

THE connection between the character of a people and the
geographical and geological structure of the country in which

1 Note on the Literature.—The study of the natives of British East Africa naturally
began on the coast-lands. Attention was first given to the Suahili, and especially to
their language ; for knowledge of this we are mainly indebted to Krapf (1850 and 1882)
and Steere (1870); Suahili folklore has been reported by Steere (1873), W. E. Taylor
(1891), and indirectly by D. J. Rankine (1891) and A. C. Madan (1887). The best
history of the coast towns and their inhabitants is in Burton's Zanzibar (1872), from
which most later accounts have been drawn. For knowledge of the tribes near Mombasa,
such as the Wa-nyika, Wa-giriama, Wa-pokomo, and Galla, we are indebted to Krapf
(1858), Wakefield (1866), New (1873), Fischer (1878), Gedge (1892), and Taylor

1891).

Of the inland tribes the most interesting is the Masai; the first accounts of its
language are those of Krapf (1854) and Erhardt (1857); Johnston (1886) has given a
clear account of the language and discussed its affinities. The tribe was first adequately
described by Fischer and Thomson ; their accounts, both published in 1885, admirably
supplement one another. Since then most travellers who have visited the Masai country
have described the tribe, but with the exception of Peters (1891) and von Hohnel (1892)
most of the work has been done in German East Africa: as by Johnston (1886), Meyer
(1888 and 1890), French Sheldon (1892), Baumann (1894), ete. The Wa-kamba have
been described by Krapf (1858), Hildebrandt (1878), and cursorily by later travellers
across their country,

The tribes of the Nyanza basin have now a voluminous literature dealing mainly with
the Wa-ganda and Wanyoro : it began with Speke (1863), Baker (1866), and Stanley
(1878); was continued by missionaries such as Felkin, Ashe, Mackay, and Wilson ;
and has been scientifically treated by Stuhlmann (1893) and Baumann (1894). Lugard’s
account of the Wa-ganda (1893) must also be mentioned.

The problems in connection with the dwarf tribes rest on the scientific descriptions of
Schweinfurth (1874), Hamy (1879), Flower (1888), and Stuhlmann (1893). The most
readable general account of these races is by Quatrefages (Les Pygmies, 1887 : English
translation 1895) ; a list of the principal literature is given by Stuhlmann, and a valuable
summary of the whole by Schlichter (1892).

A bibliographic index to the languages is given by Cust (1883), and an account of
the African races generally by Ratzel (Vélkerkunde, Bd. i., 1887). With these excep-
tions, the literature referred to deals only with the tribes of British East Africa ; but the
anthropology of that area cannot be considered without reference to the two monographs
of Paulitschke (1886 and 1893), and the works of Stuhlmann (1893), Baumann (1894),
and a series of memoirs in the volumes of the A/ctthezlungen von Forschungsreisenden

CHAP. XVII GEOGRAPHY AND CHARACTER By,

they live, has been frequently pointed out by historians, ethno-
graphers, and geologists. Buckle, for example, in a well-known
passage in his H¢story of Civilisation, has drawn a most in-
structive contrast between the geographical conditions of India
and of Greece, and shown how their influence can be traced in
the characters of the inhabitants of the two countries. Thus
he points out that in India nature is all-powerful ; for example,
the mountains are so high that they cannot be scaled, and the
rivers so broad that they cannot be bridged ; while the climate
is an alternation of torrid drought and torrential rains, of pro-
longed calms and irresistible tornadces. The powers of man
are feeble in comparison, and he is therefore dwarfed and
overawed. In Greece, on the other hand, nature is moderate
in ali things: the hills are low, the streams small, the rains
evenly distributed, and the climate temperate. Man’s individual
development is therefore stimulated, and not repressed. In
India nature is colossal, and therefore man is puny. In Greece
nature is mild, and therefore man is strong.

A similar connection between the temperament of the
Semites and the physical features of their surroundings has
been remarked by other writers. As Prof. Keane expresses
it, the Semitic intellect is “less varied but more intense [than
the Aryan], a contrast due to the monotonous and almost
changeless environment of yellow sands, blue skies, flora and
fauna limited to a few species, and mainly confined to oases
and plains reclaimed by irrigation from the desert, everywhere
presenting the same uniform aspect. Hence to the Semites
mankind is indebted for little philosophy and science, but for
much sublime poetry associated with many profound concep-
tions of a moral order.’” Draper, again, has shown that
Europe illustrates the same principle; for the climate of that
continent progressively modified the Asiatic tribes that entered
it, until they resembled the races among which they settled,
and until a condition of “ethnical equilibrium” had been thus
attained.’

und Gelehrten aus dem Deutschen Schutzgebieten and in the new Zeitschrift fiir afrika-
nische und oceanische Sprachen.
1H. T. Buckle, Héstory of Civilisation in England (ed. 1885), vol. i. pp. 137-146.
2 Art. ‘*Semitic Race,” Cassell's Storehouse of Information, vol. viii. (1894), p. 72.
3 J. W. Draper, Atstory of the Intellectual Development of Europe, vol. i. (ed. 1875),
PP- 34-35-

318 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Parti

The East African races afford a further illustration of the
dependence of character on environment; since, as the geo-
graphical conditions are different from those of India or Greece,
they have produced a different type of national character.
This case is especially instructive, as the direct influence of
the geological factors is so clearly shown.

As we have seen in Chap. XII., the most striking feature
in the physical conditions of Eastern Equatorial Africa is insta-
bility. Geological evidence was there quoted to show that the
climate of the country has undergone a great change at no
distant period. The facts of zoological distribution quoted
in Chap. XIII. confirm this. Statements made by the Arab
governors of Mombasa and Mambrui, and the meteorological
statistics collected on the coast, support the same view;
they show that the climate is still characterised by excessive
variation and uncertainty. The tables of rainfall occasionally
show us the total failure of one rainy season, followed by
a disastrous excess in the next; while such incidents as
the famine at Njemps repeat the same story in more tragic
terms.

Owing to the peculiar conditions of the African climate,
the natives are more than usually dependent on the rainfall.
Merensky’ has pointed out that the maps of South Africa
which show the distribution of rain correspond closely with
those which show the distribution of population.

But rain is not the only factor that has to be considered.
In a region of such unstable equilibrium as Eastern Equatorial
Africa, we have to allow for changes in the structure of the
country as well as in its climate. Great earth-movements
have occurred there recently, and, it may be, are in progress
still. These may at any time have altered the subterranean
drainage of a district, dried up the springs, diverted the courses
of the rivers, turned a garden into a desert, and wiped out
a tribe. The traditions of such disasters haunt the people’s
memory, and occupy a leading position in their folklore. The
terror of their possible recurrence exercises a disturbing influence
on the native character. It keeps alive a disposition towards
nomad life, alien alike to the growth of either a fatalism like that
of India, ora culture like that of Greece. All the tribes, however,

1 A, Merensky, Bettrdge zur Kenntniss Sud-Afrikas (1875), pp. 78-79.

CHAP. XVII INTERMIXTURE OF RACES 319

cannot become nomadic. Some of them are physically and
mentally incompetent for the strain of such a life, and must be
content with servitude or else submit to the ever-recurring raids
of the more powerful tribes. The physical conditions of the
country, therefore, help to divide the people into two classes:
one consists of warlike conquering nomads ; the other of feebler
races, who either eke out a precarious existence on mountain
summits, in forest clearings, and on islands in the vast malarial
swamp, or else live as serfs and helots in subjection to the
dominant tribes.

If this were all that had happened owing to the migrations
of African tribes,—if the conquerors had exterminated all the
conquered, if the new possessors had kept apart from the dis-
possessed,—the race characters might still have been preserved
fairly pure. But this has not occurred. The bands of invaders
probably contained a majority of men, while owing to polygamy
an excess of women was required. The men therefore had to take
to themselves wives from the people of the land in which they
settled ; hence mongrel races occur wherever such national
movements have taken place, and abound from one end of
thevicontinent tol the other, The Hlottentots, for example,
are now regarded as hybrid between the Bushmen and Bantu,
instead of belonging to a distinct race, differing from either.
The Suahili in the same way have resulted from the inter-
marriage of Arab and Negro. The whole of the great group
of the Fulah is probably a product of the blending of Hamitic
and Negro tribes. It is this miscegenation which has introduced
uncertainty into the classification of the African races. There is
no trouble in determining the affinities of the Bantu Zulu, the
Semitic Abyssinian, the Hamitic Somali, or the aboriginal
Bushman ; but to estimate the systematic value, and to discover
the relationships of hybrid tribes, which have merged the
physique of two races, and perhaps adopted the language of a
third, is so difficult that many ethnographers have abandoned
the effort in despair.

Moreover, not only are the physical features of the people
confused by intermarriages resulting from nomad life, tribal war,
concubinage, and polygamy, but the language test has also
been rendered unreliable, owing to the extent to which some
tribes have adopted words and inflexions, or even the whole

320 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part

language, of an altogether different race-group. A well-trained
sense of hearing gives many of the people a remarkable facility
in the acquisition of new languages ; and nomadic habits, national
migrations, and intertribal commerce have given abundant scope
for the exercise of this useful faculty. Slaves have introduced
forms and phrases into the language of their owners; helot
tribes have been forced to learn the tongue of their masters ;
and conquerors have adopted the speech of the conquered. On
the one hand, for example, the Bantu Wasania’ now speak a
dialect of Galla, just as the Aryans of Phrygia have adopted
the language of their Turkish conquerors, or as the Celts of
Western Europe have in the main accepted those of their
Teutonic or Latin neighbours. On the other hand, the Hamitic
race which invaded Uganda has now adopted the language
of the Bantu people whom it conquered, just as the Teutonic
Normans and Lombards exchanged their own for a Latin
tongue.

Owing to the extent to which both the physical and philo-
logical data have been affected, it is obvious that the study of
the African people would be an especially difficult branch of the
science of anthropology, even if all the available information had
been obtained and—had been collected by experts. But we
know nothing of many tribes whose evidence would be most
important ; while others, who might have supplied useful links
of evidence, have been crushed out by famine or war, and left
either no trace of their existence, or, like the Zimbas, live only
as the memory of a once-dreaded name. Most of what is
known, moreover, is due to the reports of travellers, whose
opportunities of intercourse with the natives have been very
limited, and who have brought no special training to the task
of observation.

It might therefore seem wiser to attempt nothing more than
the record of new facts in the tabular form approved by anthro-
pologists ; but the problems connected with this subject are so
interesting, that we cannot dismiss the African native with a
simple tabulation of nose lengths, and a few pages of com-
parative vocabulary.

In spite of all the difficulties of the subject, it is now
generally agreed that the African tribes may be divided

1 A tribe living on the Sabaki, and elsewhere on the East Coast ; see p. 328.

CHAP, XVII DISTRIBUTION OF AFRICAN RACES 321

among five of the principal divisions of the human race—viz.
Negrillo, Negro, Hamitic, Semitic, and Mongolian. The follow-
ing account of the natives of British East Africa will deal with

=> iA
f 4 es Eh
LS
7 GL

,

7
4

Semitic
Hamitic
Galla
Somali
[2] Nilotic
A Masai group
IW Soudanese Negro
Bantu Negro
Bushmen

‘
20 Meridian o of Greenwich 20

Walker & Boutall sc.

Fic. 18,—Ethnographical Map of Africa.

them in this order, so far as they are represented in this region ;

BI

but before proceeding to this it will be convenient to summarise
the classification adopted.

322 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part iu

|
Main division. Typical African tribes. Sue ers
I. Negrillo. Pygmies and Bush- | Doko of Laikipia.
men.
2. Negro.
Section A. Papuan. An Unrepresented in Africa.
55 B. African.
Division 1. North- ee None in British East |
Western or Africa.
Soudanese.
a 2. Southern “ice Pokomo, Wa-kamba, etc.
or Bantu.
si3 3. Negroid. Hausa and Fulah. Masai, Wa-ganda, etc.
» 4. Negrilloid. | Hottentots. Some of Wanderobbo.
3. Caucasian.
Section A. Hamitic. Tribes of North-East-| Galla, Somali, etc.
ern Africa,
An B. Semitic. Moors and Abys- | None.
sinians.
4. Mongolians: Section Sakalava and Hova | None.
Malays. of Madagascar.

SECTION A.—THE STONE AGE IN East AFRICA

As we shall see in the following section, there is one tribe living in
British East Africa which carries us far back in the history of the
human occupation of this region. There are, however, traces of a
still older race. It is well known that in Europe the earliest men were
unacquainted with the art of preparing metals, and were only provided
with weapons and implements made of stone, which occur in vast
numbers in our river gravels. Similar tools have also been found in
Northern Africa, and have been recorded from the Cape by Sir George
Grey, Dale, Sanderson, Gooch, Penning, and other authors. Stone axes
have been described from the Gold Coast by Winwoode Reade,
Cameron, and Burton ; but in 1892 no record of old stone implements
had been recorded from Equatorial or Eastern Tropical Africa. I was
therefore interested, during an excursion up one of the side valleys of
the Iveti Mountains, to find a chipped flake of obsidian. The flake was
rough, but the chipping on its edge was unquestionably the work of
man, while the material was absolutely different from any rock in the
neighbourhood. I thought, however, that it might have been chipped
by a Zanzibari for use as a gun-flint, and dropped on the caravan route
which passed a few miles away. I therefore did not trouble any
further. ~ A few days later, on the Kapte plains, I found some more ;

CHAP, XVII THE STONE AGE IN EAST AFRICA 323

but small fragments of obsidian occurred in the volcanic tuff on which
these lay, so the evidence was again inconclusive. I found some more
specimens lying beside the track in the Kikuyu country, but still the
gun-flint theory seemed a possible explanation. It was not till I
reached the highest point of the Kikuyu uplands, before beginning the
descent into the Rift Valley, that I found final proofs of a stone age
in Equatorial Africa. I was digging in some gravels, searching for
fossil shells, when I found a broken obsidian implement of the type
known as a “ridged flake.” Its edge was chipped, so that there was
no question of its artificial origin; and as it occurred in a patch of
sand in a gravel, there was no doubt of its antiquity. After this I
found similar implements in many different parts of the country,
including the platform on the Kikuyu scarp, the alluvial plain of Lake
Suess, the plateau between Lakes Losuguta and Kibibi, the lake
terraces around Lake Baringo, on the Sobat pass leading from this lake
basin to that of Sukut, on the summit of the pass across the range of
Subugu (the Marmanett Berge of von Hohnel), and in many places on
Laikipia, as, for example, at Nairotia.

The best specimens came from a locality near the ford over the
Gilgil river, where I found the site of an old settlement. As the
implements were associated with hundreds of artificial chips, they were
probably made on the spot. Fragments of rough pottery occurred at
the same place, but I could find no bones, or tools made from
bone.

The implements found are all made of obsidian, except a borer,
which was of pitchstone. They consist of several different types, the
principal of which are illustrated by the accompanying figures.

The commonest implements are flakes, which are either flat, ridged
(Fig. 19, No. 1), or polygonal. A few with saw edges were met with,
such as No. 4. The Gilgil site yielded several cores, from which
obsidian flakes had been struck off (No. 5). Flakes with one end
bluntly rounded to use as skin scrapers (Nos. 2 and 3) are also repre-
sented. Borers made from long splinter-like chips also occur, as in
No. 7. Small knives, made by chipping away one or both edges of a
flake, are fairly numerous, while the Gilgil camp yielded a triangular
arrow head (No. 6).

I asked many of the natives whether any such implements as these
were used by existing tribes ; but they jeered at the idea that they could
ever have been of service to any one. ‘They said the only stcnes used
were pumice, kaolin, and ochre. The first is obtained in many
localities, and distributed owing to its value in sharpening spears. ‘The
kaolin, or china clay, and the ochre are both used as paints.

There is, moreover, geological proof of the antiquity of these imple-
ments. Both on the summit of the Kedong Pass, and in the old
settlement at the Gilgil, the implements were found 7» s7¢z, in deposits
which must have been formed many centuries ago; in the latter they

324 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA PARTI

must be earlier than a gorge cut through the lava there. Those from
Baringo must also have been used at a time when that lake was much
larger than at present.

The forms of the implements do not give any definite evidence of
great age. Sir John Evans has kindly examined some of them, and
says they are of a neolithic type.

Section through a.b,

” Section
through a.b.

Y Section
through a.b.

Fic. 19.—Neolithic Stone Implements from Masailand.

Recently three distinct descriptions of stone implements have come
from Tropical Africa, M. Dupont has found some on the Congo;
Dr. Jousseaume! has described a series from Somaliland in an article
in L’ Anthropologie; and Mr. Seton-Karr has brought back a large series
from the same country, which have been exhibited (September 1895)
at the Ipswich meeting of the British Association. ‘The Somaliland

1 Jousseaume, ‘‘ Réflexions anthropologiques a propos des Tumulus et Silex Taillés
des Comalis et des Danakil,” L'’ Anthropologie, t. vi. (1895), pp. 392-413.

CHAP, XVII PREHISTORIC CAIRNS 325

implements are identified by Sir John Evans as neolithic, and as they
are apparently all made of chert, their evidence is more satisfactory
than that of tools formed of obsidian. <A record of a stone spear from
the Kilima Njaro region has also been published, but there are many
points in the account of it which render the testimony doubtful.

Additional evidence of prehistoric people is afforded by the existence
of stone cairns. ‘These have long been reported from East Africa, but
they have been explained as mere heaps of stones collected together in
order to clear the ground for cultivation. I found two in the Sabaki valley,
in positions where this explanation was quite impossible ; but as my men
were two hours ahead, they could not be recalled to open them. Our
Somali used to tell us that in their country there are three sets of ruins,
those of the Somali and Galla, and those of a nation earlier than either
of the others. The Sabaki graves are not like those of the Galla, which
have been well described by Paulitschke, and it is much to be desired
that one of them may be opened, and that any bones therein may be
sent to England.

SECTION B.—THE NEGRILLO OR PyGMy TRIBES
The Doko of Latkipia

One of the most interesting results from explorations during the
last half-century in the interior of Africa has been the confirmation of
many reports by classical geographers and early travellers, which had
previously been disbelieved. The discovery of the sources of the Nile
has verified the assertion by Ptolemy, that it rose in two great inland
lakes; and Dr. Schlichter’s detailed comparison! of Ptolemy’s statements
with present knowledge shows that the ancients were better informed
upon the subject than the geographers of the last, and even of part of
the present century. That the ancient Hindoos also had a certain
knowledge of the continent is rendered probable by the facts reported by
Rigby.?

Moreover, it has now been shown that the accounts of pygmies,
given both by classical authors and by the pioneers of modern African
exploration, are not mere travellers’ tales. Schweinfurth has carefully
examined pygmies in the very district in which Pliny reported their
presence, and recent travellers have shown that Andrew Battel, the
discoverer of the gorilla, was not drawing on his imagination when, in
1625, he described some dwarfs from the backwoods of Loanga. This
ancient mariner, who, as the title of his story tells us, was, “sent by the
Portugals prisoner to Angola, who lived there, and in the adioyning

1H. Schlichter, ‘‘ Ptolemy’s Topography of Eastern Equatorial Africa,’’ Proc. Roy.
Geog. Soc. new ser, vol. xiii. (1891), pp. 513-546.

2 C. P. Rigby, ‘‘ Remarks on the North-East Coast of Africa, and the various Tribes
by which it is inhabited,” 7vans. Bombay Geog. Soc. vol. vi. (1844), pp. 89-90.

326 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part il

Regions, neere eighteene yeeres,” has so clearly described the pygmies
that his account is worth quoting. ‘*Tothe north-east of Mani Kesock
are a kind of little people called AZatimbas ; which are no bigger than
Boyes of twelve yeares old, but are very thicke, and live onely vpon
flesh, which they kill in the Woods with their Bowes and Darts. They
pay tribute to Mani Kesock, and bring all the Elephants’ teeth and
tayles to him. . . . And of these [the women] will walke in the Woods
alone and kill the Pongos [gorillas] with their poysoned Arrowes.” }

The records of these dwarf races are now very numerous, and relate
to all parts of Africa south of the Sahara. The works of Paul du
Chaillu, Oscar Lenz, and Marche demonstrate the occurrence of
numerous settlements of these people in the region of the French
Congo; there they are scattered from the south of the Cameroons,
through the Gabun and across the basin of the Ogowe, to the Congo
near Stanley Pool. In the highlands to the west of Mwutan Nzige (the
Albert Nyanza), which form the watershed between the Congo and the
Nile, live other representatives of the Negrillo race, who have been
carefully studied by many travellers.”

In the upper basin of the Congo and on the banks of its tributary,
the Kasai, another group of tribes of dwarfs has been described,? which
has received the name of Watwa, Batwa, or Batua. Still farther to the
south are a few settlements of similar people, such as the Mossaro, in
the upper basin of the Zambesi. These are of much interest, because
they link the dwarfs of the Congo with the Bushmen of Bechuanaland
and the Cape.

Although the first reports of the existence of these dwarfs made
during the present century came from British East Africa, no positive
proof of their occurrence there had been published when I landed on
the coast in 1892. Dwarfs had been found in the Ruwenzori district
by Stuhlmann, and a portrait of a boy published by Borelli® might
have been regarded as proof of their existence to the south of
Abyssinia; but Cecchi? described the Doko, the tribe to which the
boy belonged, as “‘ negroes of tall stature,” and Leo Reinish,® the great
authority on Hamitic languages, included the Doko in the Sidama, one

1 Purchas, His Pilgrimes in Five Books, pt. 2 (vol. ii.), lib. vii. ch. iii. (1625), p.
983.

2 Schweinfurth, Junker, Casati, Emin, and Stanley. They have also been recorded
by several others.

3 By Stanley, Wissmann, Grenfell, Bateman, and Wolf.

4 A useful bibliography of the pygmy races is given by Stuhlmann, JZ¢ Emin
Pasha, 1893 (1894), pp. 473-475. Also in appendix to English translation of De
Quatrefages’ The Pygmies (1895), App. A and B, pp. 239-248. Schlichter’s masterly
summary of the literature is referred to on p. 332.

° T. Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery to Africa and Arabia, etc., 1821 to
1826 (1835), vol. ii. p. 212.

6 Jules Borelli, Z¢hiopie méridionale (1890), p. 313.

7 Ant. Cecchi, Da Zezla alle frontiere del Caffa (1885), vol. ii. p. 463.

8 L. Reinish, ‘‘ Das Zalwort vier und neun in dem chamitisch-semitischen Sprachen,”
Sits, Phil. Hist. Cl. K. Akad., Wiss. Wien. Bd. cxxi. Abh. xii. (1890), p. 4.

CHAP. XVII LER Se EE PORLS: OF ATELY OFGO 327

of the three members of the High Kushite group of Hamites. Hence
the only evidence of the existence of dwarfs to the east of the great lakes
rested on native rumours. These, however, were very precise. They
were first reported in detail by Captain Harris! in 1844, who obtained
the information in Shoa two years previously. He calls the dwarfs the
“ Doko,” and says they are ‘a pygmy and perfectly wild race, not
exceeding four feet in height, of a dark olive complexion, and in habits
closely approximated to the beasts that perish.” He describes their
country as ‘‘clothed with a dense forest of bamboo, in the depths
whereof the people construct their rude wigwams of bent canes and
grass. They have no king, no laws, no arts, no arms ; possess neither
flocks nor herds; are not hunters, and do not cultivate the soil; but
subsist entirely upon fruit, roots, mice, serpents, reptiles, ants, and honey.

Both sexes go perfectly naked, and have thick pouting lips, small
eyes. The hair is not woolly, and in the females reaches to the shoulders.”

This description was repeated by the Rev. J. L. Krapf in 1860,”
who says he obtained the information from a native of Enarea when
visiting Shoa on behalf of the Church Missionary Society.

Nothing, however, is said about this in Krapf’s earlier record of his
journey,° and it is impossible to compare the account of the Doko in
his later book with that of Harris without concluding that Krapf’s
account is a plagiarism. ‘This conclusion throws doubt on the value
of his statement that he saw one of the pygmies in Barawa, and
that it ‘accorded completely” with the description, which he had
copied from Harris.

Evidence in support of the existence of the East African dwarfs,
which, though based only on hearsay, was apparently more reliable than
that of Krapf, was given about the same time by Pere Léon des Avanchers.
In 1859 this author recorded? the existence of the race of the Wa-
berikimo, and marked them on a map as living to the west of a lake
named El-Boo, or, as he called it in 1866,° Lake Baro. In this latter
paper he reported also the existence of a race named ‘ Cincallé,” or
‘* What a marvel,” to the south of Abyssinia. Rigby, moreover, in 1844
mentioned that a tribe of dwarfs, the Berikimo, scarcely 3 feet in
height, lived six weeks inland from Mombasa.® But the latest informa-

1 W. C. Harris, ‘‘ Particulars concerning the great River Gochol and the Countries
adjacent thereto, from Native Information collected in the Kingdom of Shoa,” J7vans.
Bombay Geog. Soc, vol. vi. (1844), pp. 63-64. This Gochol is the western of the two
rivers said to enter the northern end of Basso Narok.

2 J. L. Krapf, Travels, Researches, and Missionary Labours, etc., in Eastern Africa
(1860), pp. 43-45. ic

3 Jas. M‘Queen, Journals of the Rev. Messrs. Isenberg and Krapf, detailing their
Proceedings in the Kingdom of Shoa, London, 1843. :

4 «« Esquisse géographique des pays Oromo ou Galla,” Bull. Soc. Géog. sér. 4, t. xvii.
(1859), p. 163.

> «Tettre A M. Antoine d’Abbadie,” Bull. Soc. Géog., Paris, sér. 5, t. xii. (1866), p.
171.
6 C. P. Rigby, ‘‘ Remarks on the North-East Coast of Africa, and the various Tribes
by which it is inhabited,’” 7vans. Bombay Geog. Soc. vol, vi. (1844), p. 80.

328 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH HAST AFRICA PART i

tion about this tribe, obtained by Paulitschke+ from the Somali, placed
it in the valley of the Sobat, a tributary of the Nile. Its position was,
therefore, removed 400 miles to the north-west, and outside British
East Africa.

Another statement that suggests the occurrence of dwarfs in this
country is that, according to Tutschek, some of the slaves of the
Galla on the eastern coast, the Wasania and Watwa, have “clicks” in
their language. These clicks are very characteristic of the Bushmen
and dwarf languages, and if the statement be true, then these two
tribes must be Negrillo. It rests, however, solely on some remarks by
Tutschek,? and is improbable. Fischer gave a short vocabulary of the
language of the Wasania,* which shows that they now speak a dialect
of Galla; but the tribe is certainly not related to the Galla, and
is either Bantu or Negrillo. Herr Wiirtz, one of the missionaries at
Ngao, had seen some Wasania, but had not heard them use any clicks;
indeed, he told me that Wasania is only the Ki-pokomo name for
the Waboni. This, however, is doubtful, for Fischer gives lists of
words from two languages which he assigns to the Wasania and the
Waboni, and they differ widely from each other. Gedge 4 has described
the habits of the Waboni from information collected by the members
of the Tana Expedition, and these resemble those of the Doko.
Nevertheless it is still impossible to say whether the Watwa, Wasania,
and Waboni are one tribe or more, and whether they are Negrillo or
Bantu.

There was, therefore, no reliable evidence of the occurrence of
pygmies in British East Africa, and in my hasty march I did not
expect to see any.

On reaching the summit of the last pass over the chain of Subugu,
to the south-east of Baringo, we saw in the distance the smoke of great
prairie fires, which my men said were lighted by the Wanderobbo. I
had tried to get information about these people in Mombasa, but could
learn nothing satisfactory about them. Bird Thompson told me they
were a tribe of ‘bastard Masai,” but could not say which other race
shared with the Masai the parentage of these people. The Rev.
W. E. Taylor, the keenest ethnographer on the coast, told me that
they were a Bantu race who now spoke Masai. Paulitschke,°® on
the other hand, says that they are a race with the physique of the
Hamite, but speaking a true negro language. Mr. Taylor’s view seemed
such a natural one that I did not trouble much about the people,
especially as my men said that the Wanderobbo are a wild race, who

1 Phil. Paulitschke, Ethnographie Nord-ost Afrikas (1893), PP. 34-35:

2 C. Tutschek, 4 Grammar of the Galla Language (1845), p. 6; but his statements
do not bear out the claim rested upon them by later authors.

3 Zeit. fiir Ethnol. Bd. x. (1878), pp. 141-144.

4 E. Gedge, ‘‘A Recent Exploration up the River Tana,” Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc. new
ser. vol. xiv. (1892), p. 518.

POD: cot p33:

CHAP. XVII BLOOD-BROTHERHOOD 329

live in the fastnesses of the forests, and will not enter into communica-
tion with caravans. In one of the woods on Laikipia, a few miles
to the north of the “Thelphusa swamp,” we stumbled by accident on
one of their deserted huts. It was a mere bivouac, formed of four
upright logs, with the interspaces filled by brushwood, and covered by
a pointed roof of twisted boughs. A few days later I had the good
fortune to see some of the natives. I had left the path and was
busily engaged collecting specimens of a tree St. John’s Wort (//-
pericum Schimpert, Hochst.), when I was recalled by a shout of “Watu”
(People) from the men. I ran back to the point whence came the
sound of my interpreter’s voice, and forced a way through the bushes
on to the path beside him. He was talking to a couple of naked
natives, and I cannot say whether they or I were the most startled.
They heard the rustle in the bushes and looked round, expecting to
see another Zanzibari—and they saw me. ‘Their hands dropped in
horror, and one of them said to the other “Ngai” (God). I had
expected and dreaded to find that they were Masai, instead of which
they were Negrillos. They were both of them young men of about
4 feet 6 inches in height. They were of a brown colour, different
from the copper brown of the Zanzibari or Masai. They had bent
shins, rounded heads, longish hair, and protruding jaws, and the outline
of their backs had the characteristic Bushman curve.

They spoke Masai, and readily consented to lead us to a ford
over the Guaso Nairotia, and with much interest watched us pitch
our camp. I sent one of them with a present to their father to
ask him to visit us, and kept the other a hostage till he came. He
arrived towards evening with three other men, of whom one was of
normal size, and was clearly a half-breed Mkwafi. The bearing
of the men was frank and unsuspicious; they shook hands at once,
without any of the preliminary palaver practised by the Masai. I
happened to strike a match, and the “elder” was so interested that I
gave him one or two, with which he promptly burnt his fingers. But this
did not in any way interfere with his friendly attitude, and he im-
mediately told us that he wanted to sell us some elephant tusks. He
insisted, however, that we should at once “eat muma,” or go through
the rite of blood-brotherhood with him. He declined to do this with
me, but said ary of my men would serve as a substitute. Ramathan
was selected, and the two men sat down together upon the ground,
the Askari’s rifle and the native’s bow being placed side by side upon
their heads. Each of the men made a slight incision on his arm, and
the blood thus obtained was mixed together, and each of them
smeared half the mixture on to one of his fingers and licked it off.
Meanwhile Alli, a porter who knew some Masai, drew a knife back-
wards and forwards along the weapons upon the men’s heads, singing a
wild Masai incantation, to the effect that the Mzungu and the Wander-
obbo were thus made friends and brothers.

330 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part in

I gave the elder a present of some wire, and insisted on his giving
me one of his arrows in exchange. When he knew I wanted it asa
keepsake and not for use, he took it back, and rapidly and adroitly
carved a rough design upon it with the head of another arrow (Fig.
20). I was delighted to see him do this, for skill in wood-carving
and love of design are very characteristic of these Negrillo
people.

The elder left us at sunset, after arranging that some of
his people might travel under our escort to the Kikuyu
country to purchase food. I readily consented to this,
hoping on the journey to find out more about them. I
learnt, however, very little. They live in the recesses of
the forests in small families or clans, scattered over an
enormous extent of country. Their culture and habits are
quite primitive. The pottery they have they buy from the
Kikuyu, for they do not know how to make it. They do not
cultivate anything, but live on wild fruits, roots, and the
produce of the chase. They also collect honey and keep it
in bags made from skins. They do not fish, and have no
domesticated animals. Their only weapons are bows, arrows,
and knives. Their dress merely consists of loose sheets of
undressed skin, hung over the shoulders, but they are often
prettily ornamented by designs of beads. ‘Their personal
ornaments are very simple, and they have none of the leg-
rattles or finger-guards of the Masai. Earrings are worn in
both the upper and lower lobes of the ear, and constitute
their most elaborate adornments. The young men each
had a ‘“‘kipule”! formed of a string of ten white “ pound-
beads.” One of the women who came with us, who was not
a pure bred Doko, wore earrings in both lobes; in the
5 upper was a string of red and white beads, from which hung

rnamented : . : :
Doko Arrow, 2 loop of iron chain, and from the lower a disc of coiled
brass rod two inches in diameter was suspended by a
leather belt. The elder of the clan had a pair of earrings, each made
of two brass knobs on the ends of a bent piece of brass rod bound
with iron wire.

I did not discover in this tribe any trace of independent religious
ideas. Their term for God is that of the Masai, and the rite of blood-
brotherhood they have apparently acquired from the coast traders, for
they know it only by its Suahili name.

My interpreter, Ramathan Aperti, who had spent some time among
the Wanderobbo of Rangatan Nyuki, on the western side of the Rift
Valley, said the tribe has a language of its own, though they always use
Masai when speaking to strangers. He said they would not allow any

FIG. 20.

1 The word means a dangling earring in the upper lobe; a ‘‘kipini”’ is a stud-like
ornament inserted in the same part.

CHAP, XVII (CILMCLGS 331

foreigner to hear them talk in their own tongue, and added that the
language was very simple, needing the help of signs to such an extent
that the people cannot understand one another in the dark. ‘This
story is also told about the Aduyahs of Fernando Po by the late Colonel
Ellis! Ramathan could only tell me one word of their language,
which was “lovoi” for water. ‘The Masai term for this is ‘“ngare.”
* Lovoi” has a certain resemblance to the words for water in other
dwarf languages; thus Stanley? says that the Bakwa word for this is
“libo”; while Stuhlmann ? records the term in four dwarf languages as
O-ll, U-u, ut, and owt.

I listened attentively in the hope of hearing the men use clicks like
the Bushmen, unpronounceable sounds that have been compared to
those made by coachmen to quicken the pace of their horses. The
Bushmen have six such clicks, which have to be represented in writing
by conventional signs. ‘Thus ‘‘/ kamap” is the word for fox, ‘‘/” indicat-
ing the “cerebral click”; ‘‘t” represents the “ palatal click,” which may
be imitated by pressing the tip of the tongue against the palate beside
the gum and then suddenly withdrawing it; “§” is the “labial click”
made when a word is spoken, while the tongue is being rapidly moved
as in flute-playing. Clicks have been found among some of the
equatorial dwarfs, but in spite of the closest attention I could not
detect any trace of them in the speech of these “ Doko.” The clicks
have, however, probably been lost from the languages of most of the
equatorial dwarfs. It is a well-known law in philology that languages
tend to throw off sounds that are difficult of pronunciation ; thus in
English the / in psalm is silent ; 4 has become mute in French, and in
Italian has been lost even in the written language.

When we reached the Kikuyu country, and the Doko guides had
obtained from us all the protection they needed, they suddenly dis-
appeared. I was disappointed to have found out so little about them.
But it is quite evident that they are neither Bantu-speaking Masai,
nor Hamitic people who have adopted a negro tongue. Though some
of them were clearly mongrels of a Masai or Wa-kwafi parentage, the
pure bred ones belonged to the dwarf Negrillo race.

Stuhlmann, however, has recently met with some ‘“Wanderobbo,”
and says they belong to the Hamitic race, and in appearance are much
like the Masai.4 Mr. Scott Elliot also saw some men called by
the same name, and says they were tall and slim, and _ therefore
were probably Wa-kwafi. The name ‘‘ Wanderobbo” is a Masai word
meaning “ poor fellows,” and it is very likely applied by the Masai to any
of the neighbouring tribes who live among the woods and have no
cattle. It is only a term of contempt, analogous to that of “ Washenzi”

1 A. B. Ellis, West African Islands (1885), p. 76.
2-H. M. Stanley, Darkest Africa, vol. ii. App. B, table facing p. 442.
3 F, Stuhlmann, 17z¢ Emin Pasha, p. 459.
4 Stuhlmann, of. cz¢. p. 845.

$32 NATIVES OF EASTERN BIITISH EAST APRICGA PART

or “savages,” which the Zanzibari apply to any up-country natives. It
is consequently of no scientific value, and must be discontinued as a
tribal name.

I could not learn from the people the name by which they call
themselves, and therefore suggest that they should be called the ‘ Doko,”
for they agree in habits, appearance, and position with the tribe thus
named by Harris and Avanchers. The Doko were said to occur on a high,
cold, misty plateau, in the neighbourhood of great bamboo forests ; their
home is about six weeks’ march from Mombasa, and between a snow-
covered mountain called Obada and Lake El-Boo or Baro. The
mountain must be Kenya,! and the lake Baringo. Hence it seems
safe to conclude that the Doko or Wa-berikimo of Harris, Avanchers,
Krapf, and Rigby are the elephant-hunting Negrillo on the plateau of
Laikipia and the district to the north.

The use of the term Negrillo for these Doko raises the question
of its scientific value. ‘The first striking point in connection with the
African pygmies is their occurrence in numerous small, scattered,
isolated colonies. This may be explained in two ways. ‘‘Discontinuous
distribution” such as this is usually regarded in biology as suggestive of
great age, and this has led to the view that the dwarfs are the survivors
of a race that once occupied the whole continent south of the Sahara.
On the other hand, it is possible that they may have arisen independ-
ently by degeneration from different negro tribes. The latter view is
supported by Sir William Flower? from a detailed description of some
Akka skeletons sent home by Emin, and he accepts for the dwarf tribes
Hamy’s® name of Negrillo, regarding those of Africa and Polynesia as
‘parallel ethnical elements.” Dr. Schlichter,* however, in a masterly
review of the literature of the whole subject, expresses his belief that
the skulls in the College of Surgeons Museum, with which those of
the Akka were compared, are possibly not those of pure Bushmen.
StuhImann’s® admirable photographs of the dwarfs from the west of
Ruwenzori show that the “steatopygy” characteristic of the Bushmen
is well marked in some of the equatorial dwarfs, and this removes
another strong objection to the theory which regards them as the
African aborigines. This theory has also been recently supported by

1 Kenya is not a native name for the mountain. Obada may possibly be based on
Ebor or Ebar, which is the Masai name of Kenya. ‘The fact that Léon des Avanchers
inserts both El-Boo and Baharingo on his map suggests that the former should be
regarded as Basso Narok; but his Baharingo is the Victoria Nyanza, and his El-Boo
cannot be Basso Narok, for he says it is surrounded by Wa-kwafi, and Baringo is the
only lake of which this is true.

2 W. H. Flower, ‘‘ Description of two Skeletons of Akkas, a Pygmy Race from
Central Africa,” Journ. Anthrop. Instit. vol, xviii. (1888), pp. 3-19, Pl. i.-iii.

3 Hamy, ‘‘ Essai de coordination des matériaux récemment recueillis sur l’ethnologie
des négrilles ou pygmées de l'Afrique equatoriale,’’ Bz/7. Soc. Anthrop., Paris, sér. 3, t.
ii. (1879), p. roo.

4H. Schlichter, ‘‘ The Pygmy Tribes of Africa,’’ Scott, Geag. Mag. vol. viii. (1892),
Pp- 289-301, 345-356.

> F, Stuhlmann, 1/zt Emin Pasha, Pl. xvi. xvii.

B35.

CHAP. XVII DWARFS AND BUSHMEN

the discovery of clicks in the language of some of the tribes.! No
doubt the colonies have long been isolated, and have been forced
to live in situations where the conditions of life are unfavourable ;
thus considerable differences between the various tribes have been
developed. Nevertheless the several descriptions agree in three
points. First—the people are small in stature, the measurements
that can be relied on giving them a height of from 34 to 5
feet. Second—they are lighter in colour, being described either
as olive brown, yellowish brown, or chocolate-coloured. Third—their
habits and mode of life are of extreme simplicity. Reports that go
into greater detail, moreover, show that the dwarf races have large
rounded heads, are prognathous (¢.e. have protruding jaws), and have
short legs.

It is accordingly claimed by some ethnologists that the equatorial
dwarfs agree with the Bushmen of Cape Colony in physical features,
colour, sounds, and mental characteristics, and therefore belong to the
same race group. ‘The earliest writers on the subject attributed the
origin of these light-coloured, primitive Bushmen to a settlement of a
colony from over the sea. This is improbable, for whatever the Bushmen
are, they are not sailors. It is far more likely that they entered Cape
Colony by a migration from the north, for there is historical evidence to
prove that they (and their half-breed allies, the Hottentots) once lived
much farther toward the north than they do at present. Now they are
limited to the south of a line leaving the western coast in latitude 22°
S., which runs northward to the Zambesi valley in lat. 17° S. long. 20°
E., and then turns southward, and passing Lake Ngami and through
Bechuanaland, reaches the eastern coast near Port Elizabeth. In the
eighteenth century, however, both they and the Hottentots were met
with much farther to the north, as in 1767 a Dutch ship under
“Corporal Thomas Hobma” found them all along the west coast up
to 12° 47’ Philology affords further evidence of this fact. Thus the
Bapedi call the country to the west of them ‘‘ Boroa,” which means the
“country of the Bushmen,” though at present the district is inhabited
by Bantu people.* Fritsch,‘ in fact, in his great monograph on the
South African races, concludes that the Bushmen once extended
throughout South Africa up to the Zambesi, and perhaps beyond it.
Beke would carry them farther, for he compared the drawings with
which they ornamented their rock shelters to the hieroglyphs of the
Egyptians, and placed them among the Hamites as relatives of the
Copts. Others, on no better grounds, made them close allies of the
Semitic Phoenicians, or even of the Jews. The drawings of the Bush-

1 For example, the tribe reported by Serpo Tinto from the region between the
Kuando and the Kubango, two of the head streams of the Zambesi.

2 A. Merensky, Bettrage zur Kenntniss Sud-Afrikas, p. 77.

° Ratzel, Volkerkunde, Bd. i. (1887), p. 118, and Merensky, of. ci¢. p. 78.

+ Gustav Fritsch, Die Eingeborenen Sud-Afrikas, Ethnographisch und Anatomisch
(Breslau, 1872), p. 386.

334 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part iI

men, however, far more nearly resemble those made by the aborigines
of Southern Australia than they do those of Egypt,! and similarities
in the folklore of the two races have been frequently recorded.?_ For
example, the Australians say that light originated by an emu’s egg
being thrown into space; the Bushmen have the same legend, except
that a man Is substituted for the egg. In the Milky Way, the Austra-
lians see the smoke of fires of the old race that preceded them, and
the Bushmen smoke made by a girl throwing wood ashes into the sky.
The Magellan clouds, according to both races, are a pair of animals ;
but the Australians call them birds, and the Bushmen steinbock. The
star Arcturus supplies both people with food, giving the larva of the
wood-ant to the Australians, and rice to the Bushmen.

Moreover, the physical features, weapons, and domestic implements
of the Bushmen and the equatorial dwarfs are similar to those of the
aborigines of Malaysia. Some anthropologists, such as Professor
Keane, regard this as so well established, as to give valuable support to
the theory of the existence of the hypothetical continent of Lemuria
over the site of the Indian Ocean, and even to show that this land area
must have been contemporary with man. According to this view a
pygmy race once extended throughout Africa, south of the Sahara, and
through India, Malaysia, and Australia, from which the natives of the
Andaman Islands, the aborigines of Australasia, the Akka of the
Congo, the Doko of Laikipia, and the Bushmen of the Cape are all
descendants.

This is no doubt a very attractive theory, for it offers a simple
explanation of the resemblances between the aborigines of Africa and
of Polynesia. Should it be proved that the main physical characters
of all these dwarf races are the same, then the theory will probably
meet with ultimate acceptance. But if, as Sir William Flower maintains,
the skulls of the Akka are those of degenerate negroes, and differ
fundamentally from those of the Bushmen and of the Polynesian
Negrito, then the theory cannot be upheld. In that case, the group
proposed by Hamy for the tropical African dwarfs under the name of
Negrillo must be retained. It will rank as a section of the African
negroes, instead of being kept as a distinct group, or being included
with the Bushmen and Polynesian pygmies, in one great aboriginal race
—the Negrito.

SECTION C.—THE NEGRO Races
The term Negro is defined in Walker’s Dictionary as “a native or

1 Compare those shown in illustration of the recent paper by R. H. Mathews,
“« Aboriginal Rock Paintings and Carvings in New South Wales,” Pvoc. Roy. Soc. Vict.
new ser. vol. vii. (1895), pp. 142-156, Pl. viii. ix. ;

2 See, for example, W. H. I. Bleek, ‘‘On Resemblances in Bushman and Australian
Mythology,’ Cape Monthly Mag. new ser. vol. viii. (Feb. 1874), pp. 98-102.

CHAP. XVII WHAT IS A NEGRO? 335

descendant of the black, woolly-headed races of man in Africa,” a
definition which probably correctly expresses the popular significance
of the term. This is not, however, the sense in which it is used by
most ethnographers. As popularly understood the term includes the
Bushmen, who are Negrillo, and the inhabitants of Madagascar, who
are Malays; while it excludes all people not inhabitants of Africa,
except the descendants of the slaves in America, and the “Sidi”
colonies of India. But in ethnology the term Negro is used in three
different ways. (1) One school restricts it to a group of tribes which
inhabit a comparatively narrow belt of Africa, that stretches with
certain breaks from the mouth of the Senegal river (18° N. lat.) on the
west coast of Guinea, to near the Equator on the Upper Nile. Their
most striking features are a long narrow head, black woolly hair, dark
brown or sometimes black skin, and thick lips and broad nose. But
the tribes are not united, either by their features or languages, into a
homogeneous group. (2) Ratzel distinguishes by the name all the
dark, woolly-haired Africans from the light-coloured or long-haired races,
such as the Bushmen of the Cape, and the inhabitants of Northern and
North-Eastern Africa.1 (3) A third use of the name, and the one
which I have followed, includes under it all people with very dark-
coloured skins, frizzly hair, and protruding jaws, and most of whom
have also broad noses and thick lips.

According to the use of the term here adopted, the people included
as Negro are divided into two groups—the frizzly-haired Papuans of
Polynesia, and the Negroes of Africa. The former may be at once
dismissed, as they are unrepresented in Africa; the latter can be
divided into four sub-groups—

The North-Western or Soudanese.
The Southern or Bantu.

The Negroid.

The Negrilloid.

The Soudanese group includes the typical tribes of Negroes, to
which Keane and some other ethnographers restrict the term. The
members of this group have certain physical characters in common,
although these are not easily defined. The languages, however, are
extraordinarily numerous, and belong to many distinct groups. This
division of the Negro race need not concern us, for although repre-
sentatives of it are met with on the western bank of the Upper Nile,
none are known to occur in Eastern British East Africa.

The second group, or the Bantu, occupies nearly the whole of
Africa south of a line drawn from the Cameroons to the mouth of the
Juba. Here and there in this vast area occur isolated tribes who are
not Negro at all. Some of these, like the Bushmen and the dwarfs, are
remnants of the aboriginal inhabitants; others are Hamitic invaders

AO NH

1 Ratzel, Volkerkunde, Bd. i. p. 129.

336 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part 11

from the north. Unlike the Soudanese group, the Bantu is charac-
terised by the intimate relations of all its languages, while the physical
features of the people are diverse. The Bantu group is therefore based
on linguistic, and not on physical grounds; whereas the Soudanese
group is physically simple and philologically complex. The Bantu is
the most important race group in British East Africa, including such
tribes as the Wa-kamba, Wa-taita, Wa-nyika, Wa-pokomo, and Suahili.
To it also belong the Kaffirs of the Cape, the Zulu, Matabili, Mashona,
and various tribes around Nyasa, and most of the natives of the Congo
basin.

The two remaining groups are purely artificial. ‘They contain races
which are mongrel between either the Soudanese or Bantu, and various
non-Negro elements. The first group, or the Negroid, results from
intermixtures of Negro and Hamitic races. Its most important repre-
sentatives are combinations of Hamites and Soudanese, such as the
Nuba of the Nile Valley, and the Fulah of the western and the Haussa
of the central Soudan. Corresponding mongrels of Hamites and
Bantu are common in British East Africa, and include the Waganda
and Masai.

The Suahili of the eastern coast ought perhaps also to be included
among the Negroids ; altogether the foreign element is Semitic instead
of Hamitic. But as the amount of Semitic blood in the tribe is small,
it is most convenient to leave it with the Bantu.

The fourth or Negrilloid group includes the tribes which are inter-
mixtures of Negro and Negrillo. They are far less important than the
Negroid, owing to the comparative rarity of the Negrillo element in the
continent. The Hottentots of the Cape are the best known repre-
sentatives, but the Wambuba and some other less known tribes, and
some of the “ Wanderobbo,” have a similar origin.

(2) THe Bantu oF BritisH East AFRICA
1. Zhe Suahili

The Bantu people constitute the basis of the population of British
East Africa, and, with the exception of a sprinkling of Negrillo or
dwarf races, were probably at no very distant period the only inhabitants
of that region. ‘The number of tribes in the country is still considerable,
though their power has been broken and their range reduced by the
invasion of the Negroid Masai, and of the Hamitic Galla and Somali.

The first of the Bantu people with whom the traveller comes in
contact are the Suahili, a hybrid race, resulting from the intermixture
of Arab colonists with the Bantu natives of the eastern coast of Africa.
For centuries, probably for tens of centuries, a steady stream of
immigration has flowed from Arabia to East Africa. The Arabs
intermarried with most of the tribes on the coast, and with many of
the people from the interior who were carried there as slaves. The

CHAP. XVII PREALS BORIC, COLONTISATION 337

offspring of these unions are the Suahili. In some cases they are
normal half-breed Arabs; from this type a gradual transition can be
traced to that of the children of parents of different Bantu tribes, in
one of whom an obscure trace of Semitic blood occurs.

As to the date of the first entrance of the Arab settlers there is no
sufficient evidence. I had, however, owing to the kindness of Mr.
Bird Thompson, the pleasure of meeting at Witu an old Suahili named
Sherifu ben Abdullah, who had been secretary to the Sultan of Witu,
and had long been interested in the past history of his race. In a
series of conversations, in which Thompson acted as interpreter, he
told me some of the current traditions about the various settlements on
the coast. According to his information there were three main intro-
ductions of outside influence. Originally the coast was occupied by
natives of whom Sherifu knew nothing. They were no doubt Bantu,
and probably spoke Ki-ngozi, an archaic form of the Suahili language
now used only in poetry. Then, most likely long before the Christian era,
the Arabs opened a trade with Africa, and their vessels sailed down the
coast. According to Bent it was an Arabian race that erected the
ruined buildings of Zimbabwe, and first worked the gold mines of
Mashonaland. That traces of this influence still survive in that district
is shown by the fact that the natives still ornament their utensils with a
crescentic and herring-bone design of a characteristically Arabian type.
Bent’s conclusion has not passed unchallenged, though the evidence in
its favour is very strong. If it be accepted, then it is possible that the
Arab settlements on the eastern coast were made in connection with this
trade. There is, however, no doubt that Phoenician and Egyptian
merchants sailed down the Red Sea and along the African coast several
centuries before the time of Christ. They were either preceded or
soon followed by Arabian traders, who established settlements along
the coast. The first of these were probably in what is now Somaliland,
whence they gradually extended southward.

The second stage in the history of the East African coast was
entered about 700 years ago, when a settlement took place of which
traditions are still current, confirmed it is said by manuscripts in
the possession of some of the old Arab families at Lamu. ‘There
was a great fight in Muscat between two factions, one of which,
the Nabahani, was defeated and its members expelled. Under their
leader Saif the exiles settled on the island of Patta, opposite Lamu.

A couple of centuries later the Portuguese began to colonise the
district. They worked their way along the coast from the south, and,
finding Lamu a convenient point whence to sail eastward to India,
they made their first permanent settlement on that island. They
built a station, which is now the town of Shella, by the entrance to the
harbour. An old church, now used as a mosque, and some ruined
buildings still remain as relics of this occupation.

The Portuguese were finally expelled from the coast by the united

Z

338 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part ul

efforts of the Mazrui (the leading family of Arab settlers), the natives of
the coast, and fresh bands of Asiatic emigrants. The Portuguese had,
however, left their mark on the language, and, if my informant be
correct, in some places also on the physical character of the people.
Sherifu knew that the Suahili language was indebted to the Portuguese ;
thus before they came there was no word for “ table,” and the Portuguese
meza was therefore adopted. He also said that the people of Siyu, an
island of the Lamu group, were really Somali, changed by intermarriage
with the Portuguese settlers.

After the expulsion of the Portuguese, the whole coast gradually
became subject to the Sultan of Muscat, or (as he is more correctly
named), the Iman of Oman, and it continued to receive fresh contingents
of Arabian settlers.

There were thus three periods in the growth of Semitic influence on
the coast—the long prehistoric immigration; the settlement of the
Nabahani ; the conflict with the Portuguese, and the final rule of the
Iman of Oman.

One of the proofs that the rise of the Arabian power dates back to
pre-Mohammedan days is supplied by the religion of the Suahili, which
is Islamism of a modified and very tolerant type. My friend Sherifu
told me that for a long time the east coast Arabs declined to accept
Islam, although at the cost of a desperate struggle with their fanatical
compatriots. When at length they bowed the knee to Mohammed,
they introduced many modifications into the creed, and have ever acted
up to their motto, ‘‘ Kafiri akufaze, si Isilamu asiyekufaa” (Better a
useful infidel than a useless believer).

The following are the chief points of difference between Arab and
Suahili Mohammedanism :—

1. If a slave woman bears a child to an Arab owner, the child only
is free, whereas both the woman and child are free according to
Suahili law.

2. If an Arab touches a European when on his way to mosque, he
has to wash his face and hands before entering, whereas a Suahili
regards this as unnecessary.

3. The Suahili will eat with Europeans, and take food killed by
them, though not by a native of another tribe. A Muscat Arab, how-
ever, will not take any food unless killed by 2a Mohammedan.

4. The Suahili, on the other hand, are more particular over contact
with dogs. If an Arab touches one, he is purified by washing once ;
whereas a Suahili has to wash six times in water and then once with
sand.

5. When travelling, the Suahili merge the middle day and after-
noon prayers into one, and also those at sunset and at eight o’clock.
But after staying in a place for eighteen days, the Suahili have to
make the four prayers separately ; whereas the Muscat Arabs do not
revert to the ordinary ritual until their return to Muscat

CHAP, XVII WISTS, SOUZA ALI 39

| Oo

6. If a Suahili free a slave who subsequently becomes rich, upon
the death of the slave the property passes to his old master ; whereas
that of a slave freed by an Arab is at the absolute disposal of its owner.!

Sherifu said there were other differences, but that these were the
chief. He laughingly added that even these were only matters of
ritual, and it was absurd to make so much fuss about them. He said
that the two sects are excessively bitter against one another ; they both
claim to be the true interpreters of the Koran, and say that the others
are liars. They carry this sectarian bitterness to such a length that
they will not worship in the same mosque, and would even prefer to
allow a European to enter one than a member of the rival sect.

A point of some interest in connection with the Suahili race is the
belief on the east coast that marriages between them are either barren,
or productive only of one or two children, who are themselves invari-
ably sterile. This was told me by several residents, whose evidence
is especially reliable, as they were not aware of its bearing on any
biological theories. The statement was first reported to me by Bird
Thompson, and subsequently by Herr Wurtz of Ngao. ‘The races,
however, in the towns of the coast zone are so mixed, that the true
light-coloured Suahili are scarce, and such marriages are unusual. The
people. who call themselves Arabs are generally half-breeds, and it is
very rarely that either parent of a Suahili is of pure Arab origin. It is,
however, asserted on the coast, that if the child of an Arab by any of
the coast women (ze. a true Suahili) marry one of the offspring of a
similar union, then the marriage is either barren or the offspring are
sterile.

If this could be proved, it would have an interesting bearing on the
question of the unity of the human species, for the main argument in
support of this is, that all the races of mankind are capable, when
crossed, of yielding fertile offspring.

The most interesting point, however, about the Suahili is their
language, the Zngua franca of Equatorial Africa, a knowledge of which
enables a traveller to make himself understood by most of the Bantu
tribes of the interior, and even as far west as the Congo Basin and
the Atlantic coast. The language, indeed, is more important than the
race, being one of the six great languages spoken at the present day.
It may therefore be advisable to refer to the three main characters by
which it differs in structure from the languages of the Indo-European
group.

The first peculiarity of the Bantu language is its use of prefixes,
instead of suffixes, in declension. As an example take the word for
“good.” In Latin the various forms of the word are donus, dona,
bonum, bont, bono, etc. In Ki-suahili they are xgema, njema, jema,

1 Tt should be remembered that these rules are not now strictly obeyed, owing to
European interference and native religious indifference.

340 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART UL

muema, wema, mema, pema, chema, vyema, and kwema. ‘The root is
here the final, instead of the first syllable. Any one used only to
European languages would at first think ngema, pema, and vyema to be
altogether different words ; and, on the other hand, from analogy with
bona, bont, bono, would expect mta, mitt, mto, mtu to be different forms
of the same root. But m/a means “town,” m7z “tree,” mo “river,”
and mfu “man.” ‘Thus it is the ending -ema, -ta, -tz, -to, -tu that is the
fixed and essential part of the word, while the first syllable is variable
and less important.

The changes in the first syllable serve several purposes. They
express number in nouns, bring adjectives and pronouns into agreement
with the words they qualify, and indicate the moods and tenses of
verbs. Thus m/z means ‘‘a man,” and watu “men”; mii “a tree,”
mitt “trees”; Ailemba “a turban,” vilemba “turbans”; chombo “a
dhow,” wyombo ‘‘dhows.” Again, kupaza is the infinitive mood of “to
get” (&u being the preposition “‘to”); mapaza is the present tense of
this verb, zafaza the past, and ¢afaza the future.

Another set of prefixes are abbreviations which enable ideas to be
expressed in one word, which in English require several. Thus J/-
prefixed to the root of the name for a district is short for mt, and
means a native of the tribe which occupies it; WWa- is an abbreviation
for watu, and means two or more of the natives; similarly the prefix
U- attached to the root indicates the name of the country, and Az-
either the language of the tribe or the adjectival form of the name.
Thus U-kaméa is the name of a district in East Africa; Wa-kamba is
the name of the tribe which inhabits it; J/-kamba that of a single
member. <Av-kamba is either the proper adjective relating to the tribe,
or, as a noun, is the name of its language. Similarly U-nxyzka is the
Nyika country, the Wa-nytka the people that dwell therein; an
M-nyika is one member of the tribe, and Az-zyzka its language.

In other divisions of the Bantu the same variations are expressed
by similar, though sometimes slightly different prefixes. - Thus Zszzulu
is the Zulu language. u-ganda is the name of the country generally
known in England as Uganda; a native of the country is an AZ-ganda,
of which /Va-ganda is the plural, and Zu-ganda is the language.

The adjectives, numerals, and pronouns, and in some cases the verb
also, have to agree with the noun. ‘They are all consequently declined
in accordance with a set of rules known as the ‘‘concord,” which is a
second interesting feature in Ki-suahili. The nouns are divided into
eight classes, according to the formation of the plural. All the vari-
able parts of speech are declined in the same way as the nouns, though
this is sometimes masked by contractions. This is shown by the
following examples :—

Mtu mema=‘‘a good man.” Mti mwema=“a good tree.”

Watu wabili wema = “two good Miti mibili mema=“two good

men.” trees.”

CHAP. XVII THE SUAHILI LANGUAGE 341

To take a longer case, ‘‘ My good child must have food” is
Mtoto mema mangu mana jocula.
Conversion into the plural changes it to
Watoto wema wangu wana jociula.

This concord, though it makes the grammar rather difficult, renders
the language musical by its adoption of “apt alliteration’s artful aid.”
This is also increased owing to every word ending in a vowel, a rule
which is even applied to words of foreign origin ; so that a “ man-of-war”
becomes manowari, and a “gin” jint.

A third feature in the language strange to a European is the method
of agglutination or combination of several words into one, so that a
sentence is sometimes converted into a single word, as in the Suahili
riddle, Hausimikt, hausimamt. A more instructive case is such a
compound as WVitakipataje, meaning ‘how shall I get it,’ which is
constituted as follows :—

Ni- ta- ki- pata- ie
sign of
I future it get how.
tense

The pronominal inflections, concord, and agglutination shows that
Ki-suahili is a language that has undergone many changes, but it is of
interest to note that it still shows many traces of a primitive condition.
Thus it is essentially a spoken language, for although it has long been
written in Arabic characters, this has not affected its structure. Hence
there are no degrees of comparison, for these can be expressed by
modulations of the voice. Thus mda’ means “far”; but mdbalz, pro-
nounced slowly, with a strong emphasis on the middle syllable, implies
“very far”; if, again, it be spoken in a high-pitched voice, it means
“fa very great distance away.” Similarly msurz, when applied to food,
means “nice”; msiri is “‘ very nice”; and if the word be said with a
smack of the lips and a rolling of the tongue it means “ delicious.”

The language in this respect is poor, as it is also in terms; but in
some cases it is richer than English. Thus it has three words for
“handful ”—Zonz2, the amount that can be grasped in the hand; wkufi,
that which will rest on one ; and chopga, that which will lie on both hands
together. The precision in the use of these terms is, however, only a
result of the crudeness of the native system of weights and measures.

The abundance of imitative words is also a primitive character.
Thus “ fly” is z¢z2, the sound of which is a suggestion of its buzz; kuku
is “fowl,” and ¢ufu-tufu is “boiling.” Xzboko, the hippopotamus, reminds
one of the short, deep grunt of this animal, just as jaa does of the
bleat of the small antelope, of which it is the native name. Uma (to
ache), -avana (gentle), and -ororo (soft), are less obvious illustrations of
the same type.

The frequent reduplication of words in order to emphasise their
meaning or to express the plural is another primitive feature, which in
English is preserved only in such survivals as ff. for “ pages,” and the

342 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Parr 111

double / for “laws” in the symbol LL.D. od is “slow,” but so sluggish
are the habits of the ordinary Suahili that the word is nearly always
used in its more emphatic form of poli-poli. Kupasuka is “to be torn”
(ku being the infinitive preposition “‘to”); Aupasukapasuka is “to be
torn into shreds.” ale is “that”; padepale means “that one there.”
This reduplication is like that of the Zulu, in which £uw/u being “ great,”
nkulunkulu, “the great-great,” is the name for God.

Cases of repetition of either one or several syllables in a word are
almost innumerable, such as mkoko, ‘the mangrove,” or mgurugurit,
the native name of a species of lizard.

The homely baby words which occur in every language are, of
course, met with in Ki-suahili. Adadz, “my lord,” is the same as the
“abba” of many Oriental languages. Jama for “mother,” and “itz
for ‘‘a nipple,” remind us of the use of these words in English ; ha
lala, ‘to go to sleep,” and ku kwenda tata, ‘to toddle” (Au being
the preposition “to” and kwenda the verb “go”), also agree with
English usage ; but in Ki-suahili /a/a and /a/a are the formal words and
not merely baby language. In other cases, however, these primitive
sounds have different meanings in English, and these are suggestive of
differences in the social customs of the people. Thus dada means
“a sister,” which is an indication of the importance of the elder girls in
the nursery. 4707 for “ grandmother” reminds us that, owing to early
marriages and to women sharing in the hard labour of the field, grand-
parents play a more active part in the care of children than they do in
England. 4aéa stands for “father,” while Jaga is a “shark,” the
meaning of which is not obvious.

The language of this people is therefore worthy of at least passing
consideration, for it introduces us to a type of grammatical structure
which is strikingly different from that of the Indo-European group, and
it retains so many primitive features as to afford suggestive illustrations
of the growth of language and of grammar.

2. The Wa-pokomo

In striking contrast to the Suahili of the eastern coast are the Wa-
pokomo of the valley of the Tana. While the former have been
affected by many foreign influences, the latter, living in their swamp-
surrounded homes, have preserved their primitive simplicity. In spite
of the proximity of the tribe to the coast, very little has been written
about it. Krapf! published a vocabulary of the Ki-pokomo in 1850,
and New? in 1873 gave a short list of words in the language, and a
brief description of some of the villages nearest the coast. Fischer ®

1 J. L. Krapf, Vocabulary of Six East African Languages (1850).
2 C. New, Life, Wanderings, and Labours in Eastern Africa (1873), pp. 526-527.
8G, A. Fischer, ‘‘Die Sprachen im siidlichen Gala-Lande,” Zez¢t. fur. Ethnol. Bd:

x. (1878), pp. 141-144.

No. XVIII. TWO WA-POKOMO OF THE TANA. Page 343.

CHAP. XVII POKOMO WOMEN 343

in 1878 gave a more reliable comparative vocabulary, which showed
that the language is closely allied to Ki-suahili.

The Wa-pokomo may be at once distinguished from their neigh-
bours by their powerful physique. They are taller than the Suahili,
and their massive herculean frames are strikingly different from
those of the thin-limbed Somali and Galla (compare Pl. XVIII.
and XIX.), The second feature in the people that impresses itself
upon a visitor is their affectionate, kind-hearted, happy-go-lucky
nature. They seem far more attached to one another than African
natives usually are, and the domestic virtues are developed in them to
an unusual extent.

The position held by women in the tribe is exceptionally favour-
able. According to Bird Thompson! the Wa-pokomo are actually
monogamous. In some of the smaller villages this really appears to
be the case; but it is probably owing to the paucity of women, from
the extent to which they have been carried away by raiding parties of
Somali and Suahili. Herr Wirtz of Ngao assured me, however, that
a man may have as many wives as he can buy, while many men are
compelled to be polygamists against their will, owing to their inherit-
ance of the wives of a deceased brother. Most of the elders in the
villages on the Lower Tana appear to have the right to treat the
wives of their sons as concubines. ‘The morality of the tribe is, there-
fore, not so high as has been stated. The position of the women in
other ways is, however, undeniably superior to that of other tribes.
The girls are often betrothed when six years old, and their lovers then
begin to make presents to them; but marriage does not take place
until the women are adult. In some districts early marriage is pre-
vented by the rule that no man may marry until he has killed a
crocodile, and given a part of the flesh to the woman to eat; but this
does not seem to be enforced in the villages of the Lower Tana. The
Wa-pokomo say that it is owing to the late date of marriage among
them that they are so much stronger than the Suahili.

The women spend most of their time in the villages and do not
work much, either in the fields or on the river. During the pressure
of work at sowing time and harvest they help the men; but the latter
do most of the hard work, such as hoeing the ground, while the
women sow the seeds or transplant the young plants. When travelling
in canoes, the paddling is left to the men. A point still more to the
credit of this tribe is that the women share the pleasures of the men.
Thus they join in the dances on equal terms, and take their meals with
the men, in spite of Drummond’s remarkable assertion? that ‘no African
would ever demean himself by eating with a woman.”

1 Mr. Thompson's opinion on this point has been previously quoted by E, Gedge,
‘‘A Recent Exploration up the River Tana,’’ Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc, new ser. vol. xiv.
(1892), p. 516.

2 Tropical Africa, 4th ed. p. 59.

344 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part it

The valour of the Wa-pokomo is, however, not equal to their
domestic virtue. A more cowardly race of men it would be difficult
to find. Their timidity was impressed on me owing to the trouble
I had to get into communication with them, and then to allay their
suspicions and fears. They have for so long submitted to being
raided and oppressed by the Suahili, Somali, and Galla, that. they
appear to have completely lost any idea of how to fight. They have
spears, but these are only used as paddles and against crocodiles,
reed-rats, lizards, and fish. In spite of their great personal strength,
they apparently never attempt to use their weapons in self-defence.
When a Somali raiding party appears on the Tana, it orders the Wa-
pokomo to provide “maus” or canoes; and though the Wa-pokomo
know that these will be used against themselves, they weakly obey.
But it is hardly fair to expect men who do all the manual labour of
the tribe to show the same military prowess. as those who specialise
in war and the chase, and leave all the work of the village and of the
fields to the women. An animal cannot be both a war-horse and a
dray-horse, and the constant danger of slavery, death, or famine is the
price the Wa-pokomo women pay for the lack of specialisation in
labour, or, as it might otherwise be expressed, the equality of the
SEXES.

The Pokomo religion is a fetichism of which very little is known,
for the rites are secret. Each man carries about with him a charm,
and most of the villages have a little shed built to protect some small
article, such as an empty bottle, a used cartridge case, or an old meat
tin, which is buried in the ground, as a protection against the Somali.
Herr Wurtz of Ngao has found out most about the religion of the
people, and the following information was mainly given me by him.
The Pokomo god is named ‘“Auri mwantya dsongo ngombe auri
kinemu”; but this name is secret, and Herr Wiirtz has never been
able to find out its meaning. ‘The god is always spoken of as the
“Old Man of the Woods”; he is held in great horror, and formerly
no young M-pokomo would go into a forest for fear of him. The
elders of the village are the priests, and form an order, Ngadsi, the
members of which are all sworn to secrecy. In each village there
is a small oblong hut, very different from the beehive-shaped houses
of the people. I asked at Vuju what it was, and being told that it
was the prison I went inside. It was quite empty, and there seemed
nothing in it to explain why the crowd of natives should have fled
screaming to their canoes and to the swamps. It appears, however,
that this hut was ‘‘ Ngadsi,” and no one but the most sanctified priests
ought to have been allowed to enter it.

The Lutheran missionaries at Ngao say that this order is the only
real governmental power in the Pokomo, so that they do not care to
destroy faith in it. The elders, however, certainly greatly abuse their
trust. The people are compelled to place contributions of food in

CHAP, XVII RELIGION AND ARTS 345

“* Ngadsi” for the “Old Man of the Woods,” who is supposed to come
at night and fetch them. In this way the priests live in plenty, even
during periods of famine. They are certainly conscious impostors,
for by means of a peculiarly-shaped drum, which is beaten and blown
at the same time, they make a noise described as louder than the roar
ofalion. This they say is the voice of the Old Man of the Woods.

Bird Thompson told me that the Wa-pokomo have a certain idea
of immortality. One evening, as he was chatting with his canoemen
round the camp fire, he asked them respecting one of their number
who had been killed during the day by a crocodile. The men said
that their dead comrade knew that they were sitting round the fire
and were thinking of him. ‘Their ideas of the future life, however,
were very hazy; they said their friend was very uncomfortable, and
that the present life is better than the next.

The Wa-pokomo are fond of singing, and have many songs which
are a mixture of Arabic, Galla, Ki-suahili, Ki-pokomo, and Ki-boni.!
They have also a number of sacred songs, called the songs of Gadsi,
which are, however, kept strictly secret.

As regards social government, the Pokomo system is patriarchal.
Mkururu, my old friend at Ngatana, claimed to be the chief of the
Lower Tana Wa-pokomo, and said there were three other men of
equal power farther up the river. He seems, however, to exercise no
authority except in the villages of his immediate neighbourhood ; and
even in these it is very restricted. A village consists usually of about
five families, each of which has a headman. ‘These with the Wa-
gangana, or “medicine men,” form the members of Ngadsi and rule
the village. At Ngao, which is a large settlement, there are nine
families, including too men, and a larger number of women; but in
this case there are only four elders.

The knowledge of arts among the Wa-pokomo is rudimentary.
The dress consists only of a narrow cotton loin-cloth in the case of
men, and a short petticoat, made of several flounces, for the women. The
principal ornaments used are articles made of brass wire and neck
laces of large white beads. A man who has killed a crocodile wears
for some days afterwards a long strip of the skin. ‘To supplement
their limited clothing, and to protect themselves against the cold and
wet, the natives rub their bodies with castor-oil ; while they often stain
themselves bright red by mixing ochre with the oil. The hair is
thick, and dressed with mutton fat and castor-oil into curls about three
inches long, which hang round the head like the ends of a mop.

The principal food of this tribe consists of the banana, plantain,
beans, cassava, pumpkin, sugar-cane, and maize. The castor -oil
plant and tobacco are also extensively cultivated, but the latter is
used only as snuff. The people have few manufactures. Their iron

1 A collection of these songs has been issued by Wiirtz (‘‘ Lieder der Pokomo,” Zez¢.
afrik. ocean. Sprach. Bd. I. Ht. 4) as these pages pass through the press.

346 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part 1

spear-heads, hoes, and knives they buy from the coast. The principal
industrial achievement is the carving of their maus or canoes. These
are made of the wood of the sycamore,! a tree known to the natives
as the mkuyu. The canoes are keelless, and are simply made by
burning and digging out straight portions of tree trunks.

From the figs of the sycamore the natives make an intoxicating
beer, of which they are very fond. At the season when the fruit is
ripe, all the inhabitants of a village are sometimes found in a state
of drunken stupor.

The Wa-pokomo suffer severely from skin diseases. One, which
the Suahili call leprosy ? (wkoma), is very prevalent. I once went for
some hours down the Tana in a canoe with eight natives, five of whom
were disfigured by this malady. The Somali who ought to have gone
with me refused to enter the canoe, as they said the natives were
unclean, and we should catch the disease.

The Wa-pokomo are fond of dancing and singing, but do not play
at the more elaborate games popular on the coast. The children
amuse themselves with “seki,” which consists of knocking over two
opposite rows of grass stalks, by spinning a teetotum made of a
piece of gourd rind fastened on a wooden peg. Ina game I watched
at Ngao, supposed to be a fight between Galla and Pokomo, the
four grass stalks on each side represented the chief, a headman,
an ox, and much cattle. The children were surrounded by a circle
of adults, who cheered every success of the Pokomo champion, and
failure of that of the Galla.

As to the affinities of the Wa-pokomo, there can be no doubt
that the tribe is a branch of the Wa-nyika, which occurs along
the coast opposite Mombasa. The Wa-pokomo now occur in a
narrow belt on each side of the Tana from Kidori (1° S.) to within
ten miles of the sea at Charra (2° 30’ S.) No doubt at one time
they occurred to the mouth of the Tana, and extended for some
distance along the coast in either direction. One colony of them
still lives in two or three villages at Wasagu, on the island of Pemba;
while a creek named Pokomoni at the back of the island of Manda
indicates their former extension to the north.

3. The Wa-kamba

The study of the Suahili and the Wa-pokomo is subject to the
disadvantage that neither tribe has been allowed to develop naturally
along its own lines. The Suahili have been affected, both physically
and intellectually, by external influences ; the Pokomo spirit has been

1 This is the true sycamore (Zicus Sycomorus, Linn.), not the maple, to which the
name is given in England.

2 Most of the people in the coast towns who are said to be lepers are only suffering
from leucodermia, ‘True leprosy, however, also occurs.

CHAP. XVII THE WA-KAMBA 347

crushed by centuries of oppression. The tribe of the Wa-kamba is
therefore of interest, as it illustrates a third type of Bantu character,
for it has kept comparatively free from foreign blood, and has been
sufficiently powerful to maintain its independence.

The tribe is reported to have entered British East Africa from the
south. Stanley has referred to the existence of a district named
U-kamba to the east of Tanganyika, and this is possibly a former home
of the tribe.! At present it occupies a somewhat pear-shaped tract of
country in British East Africa, including the basins of the Athi and the
Tiva, and a small strip of country in that of the Tana. Much of this
area is uninhabited, and the Wa-kamba are mainly grouped in three
districts — Kikumbuliyu on the south, the Iveti Mountains on the
north-west, and Mumoni and Kitui on the north-east. The population
of Kikumbuliyu is very limited in number; the late Dr. Charters of
Kibwezi estimated that the inhabitants of the district around that station
only numbered about 600 ; and the two other divisions of Kikumbuliyu
(namely Masongaleni or Kikumbuliyu Chakati, and Kikumbuliyu
Mwesho) probably do not together contain more than twice as many.
The district of Mumoni and Kitui is larger in area, but the population
is reported to be sparse, and at present the Iveti Mountains form the
main home of the tribe. This section has been carefully studied by
Mr. Ainsworth, to whom I am indebted for most of the following
information,

The Wa-kamba of the Iveti Mountains are the most powerful and
warlike of the British East African Bantu. But in spite of their
courage and strength, they are not able to keep their country to
themselves. A generation or more ago a colony of the Kikuyu
succeeded in establishing itself in the very heart of the Iveti Mountains
at Kilungu, and the site of the station of Machakos was occupied by
Masai. There are men still living who took part in the struggle which
expelled the latter from the district. The Wa-kamba surrounded the
Masai kraals by night, and stormed them at daybreak. The Masai
rallied on the banks of a stream, and there a battle raged all day.
Two thousand of the Wa-kamba were slain, including the brother of
the present chief Nzibu, who fell after performing prodigies of valour,
which the natives still remember with pride. Enraged by his death,
the Wa-kamba warriors made a final charge; the ranks of the
defenders were broken, and a massacre of men, women, and children
cleared Machakos of Masai.

The Wa-kamba, however, still dare not cultivate the open meadows
that are exposed to attack. The shambas occur only on the hills that
form an amphitheatre around Machakos, and the fertile meadows on
its floor lay fallow until the British East Africa Company built a
station and planted a garden there; for though the Masai have made
no attempt to re-establish themselves in the district, they continually

1 How I found Livingstone (ed. 1890), pp. 275-276.

B40 NATIVES OFMEASTERN BRITISH BEAST APRICA PART M1

send raiding parties to attack it. Two months after I had passed
through Nzaoi on the journey into the interior, a large force of El-Moran
dashed into the valley and obtained a rich booty in cattle, and in the
following year (1894) a Masai party attacked the British fort ; so that
it is still hopeless for the Wa-kamba to attempt to use the rich plains
upon their frontier.

If they could do this, the population would no doubt materially
increase. Mr. Ainsworth estimates that of the Iveti Mountain district
(ze. the rectangular area between Nzaoi, Kavaluki, Machakos, and
Maka) at about one million, giving an average of only 150 to the
square mile. This is more than the average for Africa, which is
estimated by Ravenstein! at 12 to the square mile, but it is far less
than the country could support.

The political system of the Wa-kamba is based on the family.
The people live in kraals or villages, each of which contains, as a rule,
about fifty inhabitants, and is ruled over by an elder or mzwanto mere.
Each kraal contains practically a single family, and several are grouped
together under a chief. Some of the chiefs have only two or three
kraals, but others have more. Nzibu, for example, who is the JZzanto
Mineni, or big chief, of the Machakos district, is lord over fifty.

Each kraal has its own plantations, the boundaries of which are
marked by hedges, banks, ditches, or occasional heaps of stone.
The ditches also act as irrigation channels, which are especially
necessary for the fields of sugar-cane. The whole of the produce
is the property of the kraal, and each member has a share of food
served out from the common stock. ‘The surplus supplies are sold,
and the goods received in exchange belong to the kraal. There is
apparently no definite ownership of private property, except clothes
and weapons. ‘The industrial system is therefore socialistic rather
than patriarchal. The family is certainly the unit, but the head
of the family has less absolute power than in typical patriarchal
communities.

Order is kept in the tribe by the enforcement of a kind of comman
law, the unwritten rules of which are applied by a jury of elders. th
trials for crime, precedent is rigidly followed. Capital punishment is
apparently only inflicted for a second act of rape. The accused is
tried by a jury of his fellows, before a judicial committee of elders.
The latter sit on their stools in a group; the warriors or mwwanthi
stand round in a circle. The accused is confronted with his accuser,
and is allowed to make any defence he can. If the crime is proved,
the elders ask the mzwanztki if the sin is bad, and they reply “ Very.”
The elders then ask if the man deserves punishment. ‘‘ He does,”
say the mwanzki, and the elders tell the warriors to flog him, an order
which is carried out until some of the criminal’s bones are broken.
For a second offence, the man’s throat is cut.

1 Tn J. S. Keltie’s Partition of Africa, 2nd ed. 1895, p. 521.

CHAP. XVII ARTS AND CRAFTS 349

At present the Wa-kamba are an agricultural race, though they
keep as many cattle as they dare. ‘They are, moreover, fairly expert
huntsmen, and kill the hippopotamus in the Thika-thika and the Athi,
and the rhinoceros on the Kapte plains. Their staple food is grain,
such as dhurra, wimbé, maize, and millet (Panicum ttalicum), and also
beans, bananas, and pumpkins. ‘They grow tobacco, which they use
as snuff, though a few of the people have learnt to smoke. They
possess a few iron hoes, but most of the agricultural work is done
with wooden implements; the ground is first dug up by young men
with hard pointed poles ; the women then break the clods with curved
sticks, while the children gather the grass and weeds into heaps.

Other arts are more advanced, especially metal-working. This is
done by special smiths or fund. ‘The iron ore is collected from the
beds of streams, and smelted by charcoal in small forges of the
“Catalan type.” ‘The iron is then wrought into swords, spears, arrow-
heads, and knives. There is, therefore, little demand for iron wire,
which is the main source of iron to such tribes as the Kikuyu and the
helot races subject to the Masai. Working in brass is more advanced
than in iron, though the raw material is obtained as wire from the
coast. This is heated and hammered out by an iron mallet on a
stone or iron anvil. Many of the brass ornaments are pretty and
elaborate. A small circle is frequently worn in the middle of the
forehead, or let into the centre of a stool. Rings are made by
twisting brass wire round a core of either brass or iron. ‘The aprons
of the married women are generally covered with large brass beads,
which are made by the native smiths. The husband gives the smith
the necessary amount of brass wire and a goat as payment for the
work ; the wire is cut up into short lengths, hammered into thin oblong
strips, which are bent into cylindrical tube-like beads. Earrings of
many different designs are worn, but brass rings are the commonest.
Lip and hair ornaments are not in fashion, but the hair is greased and
dressed.

Clothes consist either of cotton cloth obtained by purchase, or of
leather aprons made from roughly tanned skins. The men, however,
often wear only a flap of skin over the shoulders, in order to protect
the lungs. The clothes are frequently stained with red and white
earths. The body is generally kept rubbed with oil and decorated
with streaks of paint ; the commonest design is a white band, stretching
across the face from ear to ear, and surrounding the eyes. The upper
incisor teeth of boys are filed into pointed fangs at the time of
circumcision, which is performed at the age of about seven or eight.

Pottery for cooking purposes is made from coarse clay, and
baskets of plaited glass are used for many domestic purposes. String
is usually made from the fibres of the leaves of the aloe and the
Sanseviera ; a superior quality, of exquisite finish, which is used for
binding arrows, is made of plaited zebra hair.

350 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA. PART Ill

The Wa-kamba are very keen business people, and not only enjoy
bargaining with passing caravans, but themselves conduct expeditions
to the coast. ‘They carry down grain, tobacco, ivory, and gum, and
drive with them herds of cattle, goats, and sheep. These native
caravans go to Melindi or Mombasa, where they exchange their goods
for beads, brass, and cloth. During this trade they have acquired a
good many customs and ideas from the Suahili. ‘Thus they use the
“mkono” or hand, ze. the length from the elbow to the finger-tip,
as their unit of measurement. They count up to ten, but always
use the graphic symbols at the same time; thus the numbers from
one to five are counted on the fingers of one hand, the figures from
six to ten are shown by clasping the extra number of fingers in the
other hand.

The language of the tribe, or Ki-kamba, is very imperfectly known.
A dictionary by Krapf! was issued by the Church Missionary Society,
from information supplied by a native at Mombasa. This man
first gave Krapf a Ki-taita vocabulary, and was then urged to continue
with Ki-kkamba. He appears to have supplied one out of his imagina-
tion. Mr. Ainsworth can get no recognition of the words from the
natives of his district, and he points out that many of them have a
suspicious resemblance to Ki-taita. ‘The language is Bantu, and the
following comparative list of geographical terms (generally among the
most primitive words in a language) show that Ki-kamba is very
different from Ki-suahili, Masai, and Kikuyu :—

Ki-suauILt. Ki-KAMBA. KI-TAITA. Kikuyu. Masal.
Mountain . miima kiima mugondibwa ngongo doenyo
Hill : . kilima kitundwa — shungol ngongo narol
River. . mto utzi mweta luyi guaso
Spring . . chemchem kithima nizio luyi lunini njoro
Plateau . : Sec ulu 506 mwer rangatan

In some respects the language is rich, as shown by the following
list of names of the different stages of man, supplied me by Mr.
Ainsworth :—

Kana. Baby.

Evezi. Lad.

Mwant’ o’ theli. Middle-aged man.

Mwaniki. Warrior,

Mwanto mere. Elder.

Mvinto. Fashionable young lady who has had no children.
Gungu. Woman who has had one child.

Mwintu maka or kibeti. Elderly woman who has had more than one child.

The religion of the Wa-kamba is primitive and indefinite. They
have a certain hazy notion of a god, whom, like the Masai and
Kikuyu, they call gaz; but they know little about him, and very
seldom invoke his aid. If they want rain they place offerings of

1 Comparative Vocabulary of East African Languages, 1850.

CHAP. XVII MIEWE WAGGO SAG 351

banana, grain, and beer under trees; but that is apparently their only
religious rite. Circumcision is practised, but possibly only for sanitary
reasons.' The natives possess charms, but no idols. They do not
protect their fields by the elaborate fetiches used by the Wa-nyika and
Wa-giriama of the coast. Nor do they, in dealing with strangers,
insist on the complicated religious observances practised by the
Kikuyu.

They appear to have some idea of immortality, though I could learn
nothing at all definite upon this subject. The dead bodies of chiefs
are not thrown to the hyenas as with the Masai, but they are carefully
buried. A householder is always buried under his hut, and his wife
in front of the door, after which the hut is abandoned. The bodies
of less important members of the tribe are simply thrown to the
hyenas.

The Wa-kamba make very plucky soldiers. Armed only with
inferior spears, and trusting mainly to bows and poisoned arrows, they
hold their mountain fastnesses against the Masai and Somali, of whom
the latter are beginning to press them from the north. The Wa-kamba
themselves at times undertake raids upon their inveterate foes, the
Masai and Kikuyu, and also upon the inoffensive and defenceless
Wa-pokomo of the Tana. But as a rule they are peaceful law-abiding
people, who prefer cultivation and trade to war and pillage. If only
granted adequate protection they will no doubt steadily increase in
numbers and wealth, furnish an inexhaustible supply of cheap food
and efficient labour, and become one of the most important agents
in the development of the eastern portion of our East African
dominions.”

(6) THE Necro Races
1. Zhe Kikuyu

The Kikuyu occupy a narrow belt of hilly forest country extending
from the southern slopes of Kenya, south-westward to the edge of the
Rift Valley at the hill of Ngongo Bagas. ‘They thus serve as a buffer
state between the Wa-kamba and the Masai of the district of Naivasha.
They are usually regarded as normal Bantu ; Stuhlmann,® for example,
places them with the Wa-kamba and the Wa-taita in the “ Younger
Bantu” group. They appear to me, however, to be more nearly
related to the Masai, and to be a race containing both Bantu and

1 It should be noticed that this is entire and not performed as in the Masai and
Kikuyu. As the natives have continually to ford streams and wade through swamps
abounding in the larva of Bi/harsia hematuria, the rite no doubt lessens the danger of
incurring heematuria.

2 The Wa-taita, Wa-daicho, Wa-nyika, Wa-giriama, and their allies, are the principal
remaining groups of Bantu in Eastern British East Africa. Respecting these I have

* nothing material to add to previous descriptions.

3 F, Stuhlmann, 1/z¢ Emin Pasha, p. 848.

352 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITASH EAST APRICA) PART

Hamitic elements. They are therefore here included among the
Negroid races.

Von Hohnelt has given such an admirable account of this tribe that
I do not propose to describe them in detail, but only refer to the
points that serve to indicate the infusion of Nilotic blood.

Their physical features are in many ways intermediate between the
Masai and Bantu; the chin, for example, is less prognathic than in the
latter. In their mode of life they more resemble the Bantu, as they
are mainly agriculturists. ‘They have some food plants, which are
not possessed by the ordinary Bantu tribes, and which they cannot
apparently have acquired from these. Thus they grow a millet which
Schweinfurth identifies as Panicum ttalicum, L., and which he thinks
must have been introduced from India before the time of Mohammed.
It is true that the Wa-kamba now also cultivate it, but it is possible
that they obtained it from their Kikuyu neighbours.

In their arms and equipments they resemble the Masai more than
the Wa-kamba. In fighting they trust more to the spear and shield than
to the bow and poisoned arrow, though these are used by the natives
of the southern part of their country, who have much intercourse with
the Wa-kamba. Kikuyu spears differ in shape from those of the Masai,
for they are ovate rather than linear-lanceolate ; they agree in this, how-
ever, with the Njempsians, who are certainly Nilotic Hamites and not
Bantu. Their shields, swords, and trinkets are almost the same as
those of the Masai. ‘They dress in the same manner, the women
being clad in roughly-tanned skins, and the men wearing flaps of
leather over the shoulder, or hanging like a tail behind. The
method of circumcision—a point of great systematic importance
among these tribes—is the same as that of the Masai.?

Another point by which they differ from most of the inland Bantu
tribes in East Africa, and resemble the Negroid and Soudanese races
of the west coast, is that they have an elaborate series of religious
rites, to which they attach considerable importance, and the obliga-
tions of which they scrupulously fulfil. Some of these are described
in Chap. XI. (pp. 189-194).

The Kikuyu language is very little known. It is certainly not
Bantu, and is allied to Masai. The list of geographical terms on
page 350 shows how different the language is from either Masai or
Ki-kamba.?

The temperament of the people, with their excitable, irritable
ways—their thievish propensities, their hostility to strangers, and their

1 Zum Rudolf-See, pp. 386-395.

2 It has been described in a Latin footnote by H. H, Johnston, 7he A7lima-Njaro
Expedition (1886), pp. 412-413.

® Von Hohnel quotes one of the elders as addressing his comrades as Wa-kekoyo.
The Wa- is generally a Bantu prefix, but is also Hamitic. In this case it may have
been attributed to the language by a misunderstanding, or been adopted from Suahili
caravans,

CHAP. XVII THE MASAI 353

loyal devotion to pledges when ratified by blood-brotherhood—all
remind one of the Masai rather than of the Bantu tribes, such as the
Wa-kamba and Wa-pokomo. ‘The more complex social organisation,
the higher authority of the chiefs and elders, and the very inferior
position of women in the tribe, are further points in which the Kikuyu
differ from the Bantu of this part of Africa.

2. The Masai

One of the minor difficulties that beset the traveller in Tropical
Africa is the frequency of a sudden passage from one tribe to another,
whose language belongs to an altogether different race group. In a
limited tract of country there may be several tribes, whose languages
are all more different from one another than are the extreme forms of
those included in the Aryan group. ‘This difficulty is greatest among
the tribes of the Fulah group of the Western Soudan; but it also
occurs in British East Africa, for this region is crossed by the line of
division between the Bantu and Hamitic races. <A single day’s march
is in places sufficient to carry a traveller from Bantu people to the
kraals of the Nilotic-speaking Masai. Pronominal inflections, concord
and agglutination, are all left behind, and the traveller has to carry on
his intercourse with the natives in a language more different from the
last he used than English is from Sanskrit.

The fact that after traversing the Masai country one can as
suddenly jump back into Bantu tribes, suggests that the Masai are
intruders. There is no doubt that this is the case. ‘The Masai have
entered the country by force, and they are enabled to stay there only
by continual theft. The whole of their elaborate social and military
system, which has been graphically described by Joseph Thomson in
Through Masai Land, is based on the necessity for constant war raids.
The Masai do not till the soil, and they live solely on meat and milk.
As they do not breed sufficient cattle to supply the demand, they are
bound to replenish their herds by seizing those of their weaker
neighbours.

The men in this tribe do no regular work, but simply specialise in
the art of cattle lifting. The women do all the hard work of the kraals,
and carry the household goods from place to place during the migra-
tions rendered necessary by the exhaustion of pasturage; boys herd
the cattle, and members of helot tribes make the spears and chain
ornaments. The young men, or El-Moran, simply learn how to dance,
brag, and bluster when at home, and to conduct raids upon more
peaceful tribes.

The Masai have been described so often that there is no need
here to give any account of them. Reference need only be given to
the careful observations of G. A. Fischer,! the graphic sketch of

1 Mitth. Geog. Ges., Hamburg, 1882-83 (1884), pp. 60-74, 224-236, Pl. iv.-vi.
2A

354 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part il
Mr. Joseph Thomson,! and the discussion of the affinities of the
language by Mr. H. H. Johnston.?

There is now no doubt that they are a mongrel race between the
Nilotic group of Hamites and the Negroes. Their social organisation
and language is Nilotic, but their physical characters indicate a con-
siderable intermixture of Negro blood. It has been suggested that the
Masai ought to be included among the Hamites; but, as in that case
the Njempsians and the Kikuyu would have also to be transferred, it
seems best to leave them all in the intermediate Negroid group.

3. The Nyempsians (Wa-kwaj)

Hopes are held out by some travellers who have had experience of
the Masai, that they may be induced to cease from raiding, to take
service as a native police, and thus help to civilise the regions to which
they are now nothing but a curse. It is not impossible that by firm
and judicious administration this may be done. Mr. Hall, the present
superintendent of Fort Smith, has engaged a force of Masai, which
has settled beside the fort and helps him to keep the Kikuyu in
order. That the Masai may change their habits is also thought
possible from the present condition of the people known as Wa-kwafi,
who are generally regarded as a section of this tribe.

Joseph Thomson ® tells us that they are ‘unquestionably Masai in
race, and only separated from that tribe through the loss of their cattle,
and the consequent necessity of breaking their cherished convictions by
cultivating the soil.” According to this, which is the popularly accepted
theory, the Wa-kwafi, only some five and twenty years ago, were a
powerful clan of Masai, which lived in Laikipia. ‘Then there is said
to have been a war between them and the other Masai, in which the
Wa-kwafi were defeated, deprived of their cattle and pasturage, and
expelled from Laikipia. They are said to have then settled at Njemps,
and adopted an agricultural mode of life.

There seems to be no doubt that in some places, as in the Kilima-
Njaro district, Masai have accepted such a change of life; and where they
have done so they are called Wa-kwafi. It is probable, however, that
this name is applied by the Suahili to several distinct races in the Masai
district, which till the soil and speak languages allied to Masai. In
that case the term, like Wa-shenzi and Wa-nderobbo, has no scientific
ethnographical value. Krapf, moreover, used the term as a synonym
of Masai. The only so-called ‘‘Wa-kwafi” I met were those at
Njemps, and to them I propose to refer as Njempsians, which leaves
their relation to the other ‘‘ Wa-kwafi” an open question.

It is quite possible that the story of the origin of the Njempsians

1 Through Masai Land, chap. x.

2 The Kilima-Njaro Expedition, pp. 446-477, 501-520.
3 Through Masai Land, 4th ed., p. 450.

CHAP. XVII THE “WA-KWAFI” 355
contains an element of truth, for their ancestors may have been
pastoral nomads. But it seems quite clear that this change has not
happened within so recent a period as is supposed. The people now
differ from the Masai in physique, character, habits, and language.

Every traveller who has visited Njemps and recorded his experi-
ences of the people, bears testimony to their friendliness, and frank,
open-hearted ways. Thomson truly tells us that they are “ singularly
honest and reliable,” and again, that they are ‘‘ most pleasing natives,”
characterised by “their honesty, their unassuming ways, and their
charming, unsophisticated manners.” He further describes the people
as physically unlike the Masai; he says they are degenerate, and that
“this was especially noticeable among the women, who had lost their
slender, genteel shape, and acquired the ill-proportioned, unwieldy
contour of the negress.”! The Njempsians are certainly taller and
slimmer than the robust, well-built Masai. Their jaws are more prog-
nathic, and the people are far less intelligent. They have a few
religious prejudices, such as refusing to eat zebra, or to allow any part
of this animal inside their villages, while the seeds of their crops are
in the ground; but they are less particular than the Masai, for they
eat fish and even rats.

Their dialect is also so different from Masai that some of my
men, who knew the latter fairly well, were quite unable to understand
the people of Njemps. If, therefore, the popular theory be true, then
the Njempsians have changed alike their physique, character, habits,
social organisation, and religion, in the course of about twenty or
twenty-five years. A similar view was once held as to the origin of the
Bushmen, who were said to be only Hottentots who had become
degenerate owing to the theft of all their cattle by the Boers? But
the idea that such fundamental changes can take place so rapidly has
long since been discredited.

Fortunately, however, in the case of the Njempsians we are not
left to rely only on general probabilities, as historical evidence is
available. In a memoir by Léon des Avanchers in 1859,° the
Wa-kwafi are said to live around Lake El-Boo or Baro (Baringo),
on the very site of their present home. ‘This map records only the
leading facts in the geography of the interior, as reported on the east
coast by the Suahili traders; it is, therefore, not likely that the settle-
ment of the Njempsians in the Baringo basin was then a recent event.
It is more probable that they preceded the Masai instead of being
descended from them, for, as Thomson’s descriptions show, they have
been more influenced by intermixture with Bantu. They have probably
only been allowed to retain their present home, because its swampy

1 Of. cit. p. 450.

2 W. H. I. Bleek, ‘‘ Scientific Reasons for the Study of the Bushman Language,”
Cape Monthly Magaz. new ser. vol. vii. (1873), p. 149.

3 Léon des Avanchers, ‘‘ Esquisse géographique des pays Oromo ou Galla,”’ Bud. Soc.
Géog. Paris, sér. 4, t. xvii. (1859), map, and p. 164.

356 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part m1

jungles, rank grass, and scrub-covered plains are of no use to a
pastoral people. When, therefore, the Masai invaded the country,
they swept southward past Njemps, to the rich grazing lands around
Naivasha and on Laikipia.

SECTION D.—TuHE Hamitic Races
(a) The Galla

By some authorities the Masai are included in the Hamitic group,
but we have only to compare the features of a member of this
tribe with those of a Galla (Fig. 21) to realise the predominance of
the negro element in the former. The aspect of the pure Hamite
differs altogether from those of the Bantu and Negroid races. The
accompanying portrait of a
Galla presents no correspond-
ence with the conception
usually formed of an African
native. The forehead is high
and square instead of low and
receding ; the nose is narrow,
with the nostrils straight and
not transverse; the chin is

Bie eee Flea ata Galike small and slightly pointed in-
(After Paulitschke. ) stead of massive and protrud-
ing ; the hair is long and not
woolly ; the lips are thinner than those of the negro and not everted ;
the expression is intellectual, and indicates a type of mind higher than
that of the simple negro. Indeed, except for the colour, it could
hardly be distinguished from the face of a European. These charac-
teristics prepare us for the fact that the Galla are not African, but
immigrants from Asia. This was impressed on me at the outset by
their folklore, some of which had been collected by Bird Thompson.
He told me the Galla story of the creation of the first man, whose
name was Zadami—obviously a variant of Adam, so that apparently
they still remember some of the primitive traditions of Western Asia.
The history of the tribe is referred to in the following chapter, and it
is unnecessary to describe the people, for this has recently been done
in an elaborate monograph by Paulitschke.!

1 Ph, Paulitschke, Die Ethnographie des nord-ost Afrikas, Wien, 1893. Some
remarks in New’s Life, etc., in East Africa, p. 274, suggest that the Galla have a
certain belief in Totemism. It does not seem necessary to refer to the earlier theories
in regard to the Galla. The first were stated by C. T. Beke, ‘‘On the Origin of the
Gallas,” Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1847 (1848), pp. 113-118. Speke regarded the Wa-huma
settlers in Uganda as Galla, whereas Emin (quoted by Jephson, lVth Emin Pasha in
Central Africa, 1890, p. 63) thought the Galla the descendants of the Wa-huma.

No. XIX. A SOMALI IN NATIONAL DRESS. Page 357:

(ToBE AND SANDALS, AND ARMED WITH SPEAR AND SWORD.)

CHAP. XVII THE SOMALI 357

(2) Zhe Somali

I had little personal intercourse with the Galla, but I often saw
more than was pleasant of their close allies, the Somali. This tribe
also is of Asiatic origin. It claims descent from a certain Sherif
Ishak (Isaac) bin Ahmed who crossed from the south of Arabia about
500 years ago, and died at Mait, near Burnt Island, where his tomb
is still shown.t Some writers accept this tradition literally; but
others, such as Miles,? regard Sherif Ishak as the leader of the
last of a long series of migrations. Paulitschke quotes the Arabian
historian, Ibn Said, to the effect that in the thirteenth century the
Hawija were settled in fifty villages on the east coast around Merka.
This was earlier than the time of Sherif Ishak, and the settlement was
apparently even then of considerable age.

It has also been stated by no less an authority than Burton that the
Somali race has absorbed a good deal of African blood, and are half-
caste. The head, he says, “belongs equally to Africa and Arabia.” 3
There is, however, no trace of Negro influence in the language,* and
very little in the physical structure of the race. Burton does not, how-
ever, appear to have based his sketch on typical Somali; and parts of
it read like a caricature, though showing, as usual, his remarkably keen
insight into character. He describes them® as having “all the levity
and instability of the Negro character ; light-minded as the Abyssinians,
—described by Gobat as constant in nothing but inconstancy,—soft,
merry, and affectionate souls, they pass without any apparent transition
into a state of fury, when they are capable of terrible atrocities.” In
this, perhaps, Burton was less unjust than he sometimes was. The
behaviour of some of the Somali during the expedition to the Tana
would have justified his severest judgments. Most of the men we had
were passionate, lazy, and impudent, and some of them, despite the
high reputation of the Somali for courage, proved to be contemptible
cowards. Our experience was not exceptional, for all the officers of
the British East Africa Company who had had men of this tribe in
their caravans, disliked them exceedingly. Major Williams told me
that the timidity of one of his Somali gun-bearers excited the ridicule
of the Zanzibari, who are usually themselves accused of cowardice.
Our trouble with the men was possibly due to the fact that they were
all Aden Somali, who may have been corrupted by contact with
civilisation, for travellers in Somaliland who have employed the natives
are often enthusiastic in their praise. During the Tana Expedition
we certainly saw Somali under unfavourable circumstances ; they were

1 F. M. Hunter, Grammar of the Somali Language (1880), p. xiv.

2S. B. Miles, ‘‘On the Neighbourhood of Bunder Marayah,” Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc.
vol. xlii. (1872), p. 68.

°-R. F. Burton, First Footsteps in East Africa (1856), p. 107.

4 See, e.g., A. W. Schleicher, Die Somali-Sprache, th. i. (Berlin 1892), pp. vii.-xiii.

5 Burton, of. cz. p. 109.

358 NATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part ill

taken to a district very different in climate from their own, where
malaria sapped their strength, and mosquitoes soured their tempers.

The men’s fanatical devotion to their religion—a corrupt form of
Islam—increased the difficulty of handling them. A favourite observ-
ance was a weird dervish dance around a fire, which would last until
several of the men had thrown themselves into the flames in a fit of frenzy,
or fallen into them in a trance. These dances had to be suppressed as
they were injurious to the health of the men, but for this a subterfuge
was necessary ; they could not be directly prohibited, as they were said
to be an essential part of the men’s religion, and it had been guaranteed
that this should not be interfered with. The fidelity of the men to
their creed was extraordinary. At first we thought one half of this was
affectation and the other half fraud. The men would not carry a
bottle of whisky from one part of the camp to another, though they
had to lift cases which were full of it; they would continually leave
their work to pray, and seemed to accumulate arrears of prayer and
pay them off whenever an unpleasant task had to be done. But when at
Ngatana some of them died rather than take food which would have
saved them, because it had not been killed according to Mohammedan
rites, we were bound to respect, as well as to regret, their sturdy adhesion
to their faith.

The headman Wasama was also the priest of the Somali. His
chant was the music which marked time at the dervish dances, and his
the exhortations that roused the dancers to their wildest fury. At sun-
rise and sunset he stood on his praying-mat in front of the line of
Somali, and led their devotions. But Wasama would never have pre-
ferred death to defilement ; when I mixed brandy with medicine for
the sick men, he would give them the dose and swear that the
‘‘dowo” contained nothing unholy. He had been for some years an
interpreter on a man-of-war, and there he had learnt not only
“ fo’castle English,” but also the differences between an esoteric and an
exoteric faith, He preached the one, but was always ready to practise
the other, and his sermons were delivered in language of appalling
profanity. I remember once appealing to him when a Somali tried to
shirk some work on the excuse that he was bound to go and pray.
Wasama expounded the orthodox Mohammedan rules for prayer in
language that would have scandalised Billingsgate. Often, when at his
devotions in one corner of the camp, his keen eye would detect a man
doing something that he ought not to do; Wasama would at once leap
from his mat and hurl at the culprit a volley of blood-curdling oaths,
and then drop on to his mat again to conclude the interrupted prayer.
But in spite of his language, Wasama was a man who did high credit
to the Somalirace. He was kind-hearted, devoted, energetic, courageous,
intelligent, and skilful. He and a few others like him did their best
to redeem the character of the rest. Wasama’s brother-in-law, the
famous Dualla Idris (Pl. XX.), is a Somali of the same type; by his services

Aja Achmet Wasama. Dualla Idris.

No. XX. TWO SOMALI HEADMEN. Page 358

350.

”

r
>
ay
_
‘
re
fi

CHAP. XVII ABYSSINIANS 359

in Stanley’s first descent of the Congo, and subsequently as headman
during the James Expedition into Somaliland, Teleki’s march to Basso
Narok, Stanley’s Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, and Lugard’s adminis-
tration in Uganda, he has done inestimable service in the cause of
African exploration. Men such as Wasama and Dualla show that the
Somali character is capable of great development ; and it was impossible
to compare even the roughest of our unruly crew with the Zanzibari
or Pokomo, without feeling that the race has great capabilities. At
first sight the people seem to be truly African in their levity, passion,
and fitfulness ; but scratch the Somali and you find the Arab, with
Arabian capacity for devotion and discipline, and latent powers of
organisation, which promise for the race a great future in the develop-
ment of East Africa.

SecTION E.—THE Semitic RAcEs
The Abysstnians

While the Somali and the Galla represent one type of Asiatic
invaders, the Abyssinians represent another. ‘The two first are
unquestionably Hamitic, while the Abyssinians in the main are Semitic.
There are in the country several tribes representing the Hamitic races,
which occupied Abyssinia before the invasion of the Semites: such
are the Beja of the north, the Saho around Massowah, the Agau of
the Central Plateau,! and the Sidama of Kaffa in the south.? But
the dominant race throughout historic times has been Semitic. Among
the men engaged for the Lake Rudolf Expedition, however, there were
a large proportion of Hamites, since, being mainly drawn from the
shop-boys of Massowah, the Saho were well represented.

True Semitic Abyssinians are probably not yet residents in British
East Africa. The southern Abyssinians raid across the frontier into
the British sphere of influence ; but they do not seem to have founded
permanent settlements there, and it is probably only the Hamitic tribes
that conduct these raids. It may therefore appear superfluous to refer
to these Semites. But as the introduction of Abyssinian porters into
Equatorial Africa was an interesting experiment, which cost the Lake
Rudolf Expedition a good deal of money, it may be as well to record
the result.

Over eighty Abyssinians were engaged at Massowah, but unfortu-
nately there was some misunderstanding as to the terms of their
engagement. They maintained that they had been enlisted to go to
Lamu and thence to India, where they were to act as escort to a native
prince. When, therefore, they were landed on the beach at Melindi,

1 L. Reinisch, Sztz. ber. phil. hist. Cl. k. Akad. Wiss., Wien, Bd. cxxi. (1890) ;
Abh. xii. p. 4.
2 L. Reinisch, ‘‘ Die Kafa-sprache in Nordost-Afrika,”’ 2d7d. Bd. cxvi. (1888), p. 68.

360 WATIVES OF EASTERN BRITISH EAST AFRICA: PART ut

given loads and told to carry them, they professed to be disappointed.
At Witu they struck, and one or two were flogged until they con-
sented to carry loads. No amount of flogging, however, would give
the men the necessary personal strength. ‘They broke down under the
work; malaria at Ngatana found a suitable soil in their weakened
bodies ; they died, or were so enfeebled by disease, that the whole
contingent had to be sent back to the coast, as it was useless to insist
on their going on.

The costly experiment, therefore, failed absolutely ; this was prob-
ably due to the fact that the men were badly selected, but it is very
doubtful whether Abyssinians would ever compete with the Zanzibari in
efficiency, and they certainly could not in economy.

The reason for the employment of an Abyssinian contingent seems
also to have been fallacious. It was thought that, as the expedition
would pass near some of the so-called ‘‘sacred cities” of Somaliland,
the priests might preach a holy war against us, and our Somali escort
refuse to fight. Recent experience, however, seems to show that such
a danger was imaginary. The Somali themselves are tolerant of
Christians, though fanatical in the practice of their own creed. More-
over, the various tribes of Somali are divided against themselves ;
hence an escort from the coast can be relied on, both from friendship
and interest, to make common cause with their European leader, instead
of deserting him at the bidding of their compatriots. In fact, coast
Somali would probably have no more objection to fighting inland tribes
of their own race, than of any other, provided the risks were not
too great and the prospects of booty good. Less, however, was known
about the interior of Somaliland in 1892 than is known to-day; and
the organisers of the expedition did not think it advisable to entrust
the whole defence of the caravan to Somali. Soudanese could not
be obtained; Abyssinians were selected, mainly because they are
Christians, and therefore were expected to be all the more faithful
to us. Later on, however, we found that, as they themselves expressed
it, they were very different Christians from ourselves ; and it is doubtful
whether the religious bond would have counted for anything. They
refused to eat meat we had shot, or to drink beef-tea made from
material prepared in England. Several of them died rather than take
such food, at a time when they were so ill that they could take no
other. In many ways they afforded us an illustration of Buckle’s con-
tention that ‘in every page of history we meet with fresh evidence of
the little effect religious doctrines can produce upon a people, unless
preceded by intellectual culture. . . . The characteristics of the
creed are overpowered by the characteristics of the people; and the
national faith is, in the most important points, altogether inoperative,
[if] it does not harmonise with the civilisation of the country in which
it is established.” 4

1H. T. Buckle, Azs¢. Civilis. England (ed. 1885), vol. i. pp. 261, 266.

CHAP. XVII AFRICAN CREEDS 361

In fact, just as the Somali have introduced into their Mohammed-
anism a mass of pagan practices, and the Suahili have softened their
originally fanatical creed into harmony with their indolent and tolerant
natures, so the Abyssinians have degraded the religion they profess,
until it allows the systems of polygamy and slavery to flourish un-
checked, and permits the retention of barbarous habits and cruel rites.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE NATIONAL MOVEMENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS
OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA

“© Usunye kautsuka hiraka”
(Slavery is not quickly eradicated),
Ki-nytka Proverb (W. E. TAYLOR).

‘* Slavery is not so easy to be abolished ; it will long continue, in spite of acts of
parliament. My friends, I have come to the sad conclusion that slavery, whether
established by law, or by law abrogated, exists very extensively in this world ; and,
in fact, that you cannot abolish slavery by act of parliament, but can only abolish the
name of it, which is very little.”—CARLYLE.

AS we have seen in the introduction to the seventeenth chapter,
the people of East Africa are essentially a race of nomads.
Individuals may be stationary ; settlements may be made and
held for generations ; but slowly, irregularly, and unconsciously,
the tribes themselves are on the move. The predominant
migration is a flow from north to south. The ancestors of the
Masai worked their way along the Nile valley,’ and entered
what is now British East Africa from the north and north-
west. The Somali have spread over the “Horn of Africa,”
and are encroaching from the north-east, parallel to the Indian
Ocean shore. This statement of direction, however, is only
true in a very general sense. Taken in detail the movement
has been spasmodic and erratic, and has travelled in waves
rather than in a direct and constant stream. Here, the back-
wash of a broken wave has enabled a tribe to advance in
the direction opposite to that of the main current; there, an
eddy has thrown another at right angles to it. Occasionally

1 C, W. Wilson, ‘‘ The Tribes of the Nile Valley,” Journ. Anthrop. Instit, vol. xvii.
(1888), pp. 3-25.

CHAP. XVIII MASAI RAIDS 363

a strong position has enabled a tribe to hold its own, as ona
rock, while the flood has swept by it and isolated it from its
fellows. Thus the Wa-kamba have been carried northward from
their old home in the Ugara country, and drawn into their
present position in the British protectorate ; while the Doko
of Laikipia and the Wa-ruguru of Kenya have been left in
their forest homes, surrounded by alien races.

These national movements have in one way lessened the
scientific value and interest of the study of the African natives ;
for they have confused the racial characters and introduced
great uncertainty into the relationships of the tribes. They
compensate for this, however, by serving as a great object in
history, as we can now watch in progress before us a series
of national migrations, similar to those inroads of the bar-
barians which destroyed the Roman Empire.

The movements in the present case are of two types; the
Masai furnish an example of the one and the Somali of the
other. The Masai make continual raids from their main
kraals upon their neighbours, whom they distract and im-
poverish. At last, the position of these victims becomes
unendurable and they move away, leaving their pei cssioh free
to roam over the deserted district.

The Masai raids in British East Africa are made from two
main centres—the district around Lake Naivasha, and the
region of Nyiri and Matumbato to the north of Kilima Njaro.
The raiding parties travel great distances, especially toward
the east.

It is said that they used to go right up to Mombasa and
even send spies into the town to ascertain if caravans were
preparing to start for the interior. In 1889 they certainly
raided within sight of the harbour, and in 1888 they killed a
headman of Teleki’s at the Mwachi river, only a day’s march
from Mombasa. Whole tracts of the Giriama country, a few
miles north of the British East African capital, and almost
close to the sea, are still left uncultivated on account of their
liability to Masai attack. The extent and frequency of the
raids are shown in Fig. 22, in which are marked the principal
war-paths, and the localities where the doings of this tribe
came under my personal observation, between February and
August 1893. South of Merifano on the Tana, Harris and I

364 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART im

found the Galla driving their flocks and herds across the river
to escape the marauders, and saw the smoke of the burning
villages whence the natives had fled. At the Kiboko river I
found the dead bodies of some Wa-kamba who must have been
surprised and murdered in their sleep, as their arrows were still
in their sheaths, and their simés in their scabbards. Two
days’ journey north of this place the road was littered with the
debris of broken boxes captured from a caravan taking stores
to Sir Gerald Portal’s party in Uganda. Again, on the
Kapte plains near Bondoni, during our second march south
from Machakos, we encountered a small party of El-Moran,
who were on their way to attack some Ki-kamba villages.
On the plains of the Thika-thika we met some Kikuyu refugees
from Igeti; their country had been ravaged by the Masai
army which we had seen enkraaled on the shores of Lake
Naivasha, and the district, for two days’ march in length by
one in breadth, had been cleared as if by a hurricane. The
fugitives described the sudden attack, the massacre, the de-
vastation of the plantations, the capture of the cattle, and the
burning of the villages. And yet, as we listened to this
sickening story, we realised that this was merely one incident
in a continuous series of such horrors.

At Nzaoi, in April, on our way inland, we had seen large
herds of cattle, while on our return at the end of July the
valley had been devastated and the herds captured. But on
this occasion the brave old warrior Kiketi, chief of the district
of Maka, told us how, having heard of the raid, he had sum-
moned his fighting men, had attacked and routed the Masai
on the return march, and recaptured the cattle. But victories
such as this are rare, and even old Kiketi dare not cultivate
the fertile lava plain that stretches westward from the foot of
the hills in which he lives. It is only from the less fertile soil
of the mountain fastnesses that his people can hope to reap the
crops that they have sown. Throughout British East Africa,
to the east of the Masai wedge, one can talk to none of the
peaceful agricultural tribes without hearing sad stories of
Masai raids. The people tell you of the impossibility of
cultivating exposed districts—generally the most fertile ones
—and they complain bitterly of the uselessness of keeping
cattle, which serve only as an incentive to Masai attack.

CHAP. XVIII THE UGANDA RAILWAY 365

It is frequently said that the disease which swept off most
of their cattle has broken the Masai power, while during the
past twelve months internal dissensions have destroyed their
unity. The Masai, however, have suffered similar misfortunes
and been engaged in civil war before ; but they have recovered,
and can no doubt do so again. While actually suffering from
starvation, the tribe was doubtless crippled. Starving men
cannot march hundreds of miles, and then patiently wait for
the right moment at which to attack. The Masai were greatly
reduced in numbers by famine and by epidemics, the result of
eating diseased meat; but as soon as the crisis was over, the
scarcity of food probably drove the warriors to greater activity,
and compelled them to make more frequent raids. The
Naivasha Masai had certainly acquired enormous herds of
cattle by May 1893; it was too soon after the plague for
these herds to have been bred, and the majority must have
been captured. Lastly, the threatened attack on the powerful
caravan of the Railway Survey in 1892, and the attack on the
fort at Machakos in 1894, shows that their aggressive spirit
has not been changed; and the recent murder of Dr. Charters
of Kibwezi and Mr. Colquhoun adds one more to the long
list of misdeeds, which make it necessary to curb the power of
the Masai.

It will be noticed in the map that the proposed route for
the Uganda Railway crosses the chief war-roads of the Masai,
and nearly coincides with the main caravan road into the
interior ; it thus naturally runs from one Bantu settlement to
another, for these are the trade centres and food-producing
regions. One of the many incidental benefits that the Uganda
Railway will confer upon the country is that it will enable a
small force of men to watch the roads and protect the peaceful
agricultural tribes from the attacks of their warlike neighbours.

In places the Masai have temporarily ceased from raiding,
and some have even taken service with other tribes as herds-
men. According to the commonly accepted theory, the
Wa-kwafi were originally a tribe of Masai who have per-
manently changed their mode of life, and have become an
agricultural people. Some men who have lived much among
the Masai, as for example Mr. George Wilson, have a high
opinion of their intelligence and capacity for learning. It is

‘sue g-IeM resepy Surmoys ‘vouyy iseq ysuig jo deypy—'‘eez ‘1g
DS 11DINOT fp 49Y7OM

YysMuaessyy Jo gf yseq epnzisuo'T

seco cee Sajj4pd apm josny f0 8394} JUad—d b
Punof 4oyznn yolym uj sa}z1/000] fo sazig }°
0 4 See. TTS t msec rsssss = acs creme Spivd Ipouog
Be Y " TE ee ae aac ae cee syzod avm jmsny
Ly, aoe To fipmy~yy vpunbpy fo azno4 pazoafosg
‘ohablz BR vispuDy xf sunisdualy"t oyorop-ny "y
‘nfinyiy "SB (ny J} STW Han] °9 ‘Nhynqunyly *p)
‘pquinyoyy *}=-P *0}/0}-v/*D ‘owoyod-v/Yy "a

*Saqi4 S09 -e WY *sagi4y poanqjnoj4by

ye
Fins
Mg

A MVOIM4V LSVa

*.

NVWHa9

.

eel

Wes LL» ee!

G OSSD

CHAP. XVIII THE GALLA 367

therefore not impossible that this great tribe may acquire
those habits of peaceful industry, which alone can save it from
extermination. But this is not the view that is taken by most
of the travellers who have seen much of the Masai. Proud
and indolent, with an inherited contempt for honest work, and
an ingrained hatred of steady exertion, it is doubtful whether
the race will be able to accommodate itself to a settled life, or
ever acquire the habits of discipline necessary in European
service. Whether the Masai will be able to adapt themselves
to altered conditions or not, it is certain that they will not do
so until their military power has been broken. In British
East Africa they play the part which was formerly taken by
the Zulu and Matabili in the south, and by the Manyema on
the Congo, a part which is still played by the Somali and
Abyssinians farther north. Each of these held as their sacred
vested interest the right to help themselves to the property
of their weaker neighbours. While this claim is maintained,
there is no hope of security or peace in the regions which they
raid.

The southward advance of the Somali proceeds in quite a
different manner from that of the Masai, for though they make
raids, these have less effect than their slow, persistent en-
croachment upon their neighbour’s territory. The power .of
the Somali is of quite recent growth. In the days when
Vasco da Gama sailed up the coast of East Africa, they had
not reached the Juba, and the Galla lorded it over the whole
country from Abyssinia to Mombasa.

The Galla themselves were no doubt originally intruders
into Africa. They appear to have crossed from Asia in the
neighbourhood of Aden and the Straits of Babel-Mandeb.
Thanks to their superior intelligence, and the skill with which
they use their long broad-headed spears and round leather
shields, they spread southward, driving the former Bantu
inhabitants before them, and further reducing the few remnants
of the aboriginal Negrillo race. Here and there in the Galla
country, tribes of the older people have been allowed to survive,
owing to their skill in managing canoes, as the Wa-pokomo, or
in hunting, as the Walangulo or Waboni. They were, however,
all reduced to the position of helots. But to-day the Galla
power is broken. In the north the raids of the Abyssinians

368 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA? Partin

have destroyed their herds and crushed their spirit; in the
south they have been practically exterminated since 1872, when
their foe, the chief of Kau, called in the Somali to his assist-
ance. The united forces engaged the Galla in a great battle
at Kau, on the Ozi, and after a fight which lasted for three days

Up :

Oe
Lf Jombasa

NATIONAL
MIGRATIONS

4o 50

E== Range of Somali in the 16th & 17th centuries
= Present range of Somali
= Present range of Galla
222) Nilotie tribes
Range of Masai and closely allied tribes
(In south-west corner and in Masai area) Bantu.

FIG, 23.

the Galla forces were annihilated. Krapf, sent in 1858as “a
missionary to the Galla,” found them still the dominant race in
the Tana valley, and estimated their numbers at between six and
eight millions. Brenner estimated the number of the southern
Galla at 20,000; but in 1892, Mr. Edmonds, the Wesleyan
missionary to the Galla, calculated the number in the same
district as only 250 individuals. The first and last estimates

CHAP, XVIII THE SPREADYOF THE SOMALT 369

may have been extreme ; but the Galla of the Tana valley now
live only in weak isolated communities, though they still retain
their old pride, and cherish in sullen impotence the memory
of their former greatness.

The Somali, who have succeeded to their position, crossed
from Asia at a later date, and were at first confined to the
strip of land along the eastern coast of Africa, to the south of
Cape Guardafui. The Somali are certainly closely related to
the Galla; they have similar high foreheads, straight nostrils,
thin lips, and long clinky hair. According to Somali tradi-
tions, the two tribes were cousins; but the Somali accepted
light from Islam when they were offered it, while the Galla clung
to their ancestral paganism. This is not unlikely to be the
source of the present difference between their positions. Their
religion has given to the Somali a power and motive force,
which has enabled them, in spite of lack of cohesion among
the clans, to advance southward and westward. Galla, Wadone,
Wasaniya, Walangulo, Pokomo, have all gone down _ before
their resistless march, and now only the agricultural tribes of
the Wa-kamba and Kikuyu remain as buffer states between
them and the Masai. Unless England intervenes these peace-
ful tribes seem doomed, and then the Masai and the Somali,
left face to face, will commence a fight for the mastery, which
will turn East Africa into an even greater pandemonium than
it is to-day.

It is impossible to travel among the more peaceful tribes
of East Africa and note the pathos of their lot, beneath the
horror of the ever-threatening scourge of barbaric war, without
feeling a keen personal interest in the people, and hoping that
European intervention will prevent the present drama being
played out to its bitter end. The time has passed, however,
when one country could be expected to enter upon a purely
disinterested crusade for the sake of another. No state would
be justified in increasing the burdens of its people by under-
taking the administration of a country without some hope of
securing a return, either as an outlet for its surplus population
or a new market for its goods. Unless British East Africa
offers some prospect of doing one of these, the natives will be
left to cut each other’s throats without the intervention of the
British policeman. They will be allowed to remain in poverty

2B

370 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PART i

without any attempt to improve the resources of the country
by British administration, and to starve in periods of famine
unfed by British charity. It is this feeling which leads me to
devote my last pages to the consideration of how far it would
be right and wise for England to undertake this task.

The first essential for English administration is a climate in
which Englishmen can live. It must be admitted at the outset
that the sanitary record of the country is very bad, and recent
meteorological observations render this only too easy of ex-
planation. The death-roll of East Africa is simply appalling.
When I landed on the coast in November 1892 the Wesleyan
Missionary Society had five missionaries in British East Africa ;
when I returned to the coast in the August of the following
year, there was but one: two had died and two had been in-
valided home. In November 1892 there were seven English-
men in the districts administered from Lamu and from Melindi ;
there are only two left: two have been killed by natives
(Mr. J. Bell Smith and Mr. Hamilton), and three have died of
disease (Dr. Rae, Mr. W. Bird Thompson, and Mr. Edmonds).
When I started from Mombasa in March there were twelve
Europeans on or near the 300 miles of road between the coast
and Fort Smith; before I returned to the coast five months
later, fever had killed three and sent one back as an invalid to
Europe ; of the remaining eight the Masai have murdered one,
and disease has carried away two more, so that only five of the
twelve are left. Moreover, it must be remembered that even
this fearful mortality—a rate of 23 per cent per annum—is the
death-rate of picked men in the prime of life.

Nevertheless, in spite of this terrible record, which has been
impressed upon me by the fact that so many of those who have
died were friends, I believe that the climate is better than the
facts suggest. It is not fair to test a climate by its action upon
men enduring the hardships of camp life. If people in England
slept in swamps and lived on bad food; if, when ill, they had
no shelter but a draughty tent and had to make a daily march
of ten miles or more across sandy plains, the death-rate would
be more than one in twenty. To show the influence of such
conditions on the deadliness of a disease, I may quote the ex-
perience of a friend who had to take a caravan of 300 men from
Uganda to the coast. A few days after leaving the last food

2

cHaP. xvii THE UNHEALTHINESS OF EAST AFRICA 371

centre in Kavirondo, smallpox broke out among the porters.
Every attempt was made to isolate the invalids and check the
spread of the disease, but in vain; it swept through the caravan.
The men had to make long marches every day across a high
plateau, which is generally cold and wet. The only available
food was beans and banana flour, and at night the men had to
sleep in the open air. Under these conditions an attack was
almost necessarily fatal The men died off like flies; the
baggage, including a valuable collection of natural history
specimens and sporting trophies, had to be abandoned, and
only a mere handful of men straggled into the next station on
the road.

A better state of things might be expected in the per-
manent stations ; but unfortunately for the reputation of East
Africa, these are, as a rule, situated in unhealthy places. Most
of the coast towns, such as Lamu and Zanzibar, are built beside
tidal swamps, from which twice a day arise poisonous malarial
exhalations. The inland stations are mostly in the valleys
beside rivers and lakes, and the mission settlements seem
especially placed in unhealthy positions. For example, there
are three mission stations in the Tana valley, and they are each
situated on the river bank and beside swamps. The Wesleyan
station at Golbanti lies in the broadest tract of swamp on the
Tana, and in the rainy season the little island on which it
stands can only be approached by wading waist deep through
slush and water. The temptations of a beautiful prospect,
shady walks, and cool clear springs led to the establishment of
the Scottish Industrial Mission at Kibwezi in the middle of a
forest. It has in consequence proved disastrously unhealthy at
certain seasons of the year. The only station on the Uganda
road which is situated on open moorland, away from swamp
and forest, is Machakos, and this has justified Lugard’s choice
by proving the most healthy station in British East Africa.

There is plenty of ground in the country like Machakos,
where Europeans, with proper precautions, ought to live and
prosper. Open moorland at the height of from 4000 to 5000
feet above the sea offers the best chances of successful European
settlement. At higher elevations, though the air is cooler, the
daily variation in temperature is excessive ; and these heights
are not even free from fever, for Brehme’s recent work on

372 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA Part in

Kilima Njaro shows that it is endemic there at the height of
over 7000 feet.

That the whole of Equatorial Africa is to be lightly dis-
missed as uninhabitable appears to me to be absurd. Dis-
cussions as to whether European colonists can settle and live
there are now purely academic. The fact has been finally
proved by the success of Blantyre in Nyasaland, where a colony
of Scotch planters has founded a number of coffee plantations,
which are in a most flourishing condition. We need only refer
to that bright little journal, the Brztish Central Africa Gazette,
look through its columns of advertisements, and read the reports
of its cricket matches and tennis parties, to realise how well the
district must be adapted to the needs of a British settlement.
As the colony, moreover, rests on an agricultural and not on a
mining basis, its permanence seems assured. Granting, then,
that with proper precautions and the exercise of greater care
in the selection of sites for stations, Europeans can live in
Equatorial Africa, the question remains whether there will be
sufficient temptation to them to do so in large numbers.

The answer to this depends in the first place on the possible
resources of the country, and in the second on the existence of
an adequate supply of native labour. In discussing this sub-
ject East Africa is frequently compared with India, but the
countries are so absolutely different that the comparison is
useless. India has always teemed with inhabitants, most of
whom are peaceful, industrious, and skilful, while in point of
civilisation they stand nearer to the European than to the
African. India has always been a country rich enough to
tempt foreigners to enter it for loot, and has maintained many
native arts and industries. When Englishmen went to India
they found there an established civilisation, abundant agricul-
tural and mineral resources, and an unlimited supply of cheap
labour. The country only needed pacification and organisation.

Eastern Equatorial Africa, on the other hand, is poor, the
population is thin, the natives are generally on the verge of
starvation, and for the most part ignorant and indolent.. The
only district which can at all compare with India is Uganda,
and the higher civilisation and greater intelligence of its people
are due to the infusion of Hamitic blood. Uganda, however,
is only a small area, and its power was on the wane and its

CHAP, XVIII AGRIGUEMRORALE PROSPEGLS 373

population decreasing when Stanley first visited it. Since
then it has lost ground materially. The East African Nyika,
which occupies the largest proportion of British and German
East Africa, resembles Beluchistan rather than India; and
the Beluchistan protectorate is not usually regarded as a very
important addition to the wealth and strength of the empire.

The natural products of British East Africa are neither
numerous nor valuable. Corn and barley have been proved to
grow well on the inland plateau, and maize is one of the staple
foods of the country. Average wheat and barley are worth re-
spectively 100s. and 107s. the ton ; while freight from Mombasa
to London is 25s. a ton, whereas from Chicago to Liverpool it
is only 22s. 9d. So even when the railway is made to the coast,
there will be little chance of competition with the grain-fields of
America."

The rice-fields of the delta of the Tana are extensive and
prolific, and could easily be made to yield sufficient for local
consumption ; but they would hardly compete with Egypt and
India in European markets. Fruits grow well, and something
might be earned by preparing chutnee from the mangoes and
tinning the pine-apples which are now wasted. The extensive
grazing plains of the interior might be utilised for cattle ranches ;
but it is very doubtful whether these would pay at a time when,
in spite of their superiority in climate and position, so many
ranches are bankrupt in La Plata and the United States. In
East Africa, moreover, cattle disease of a very bad type sweeps
periodically through the country ; and until its nature is under-
stood, its ravages will continue and add greatly to the
uncertainties of African cattle farming.

The only products which at present appear to pay for
export to Europe from East Africa are ivory, rubber, orchilla
weed (the lichen used for dye), copra (the dried kernel of the
cocoa - nut), kichi-kichi (the seeds of the oil palm), chillies,
and cloves. Cloves and copra are the most important, and
could be increased indefinitely, but their growth is limited to
the coast lands. The only important article of commerce from
the interior is ivory,and the supply of this is uncertain. Fibre-

1 The prices of the grain are taken from the Mark Lane Express, 2nd Sept. 1895 (vol.
Ixxiil. p. 307). For the rates of freight I am indebted to Messrs. Gray, Dawes, and Co.,
and to Mr. J. W. Young of Messrs. Simpson, Spence, and Young.

374 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PARt iit

yielding plants abound all over the country, but the amount
used is insignificant. Cotton, coffee, and tea are grown on the
German plantations in the Witu protectorate, in German East
Africa, and in Nyasaland. The British East Africa Company
attempted to grow cotton, but the effort did not succeed, though
the causes for this failure are preventible. The cotton from
the German plantations at Ras Tchagga, in the British pro-
tectorate, is a very good staple, but the quantity raised is very
small, and the amount exported from Zanzibar to Europe in
1893 was worth less than 43. There are, however, in the
interior, wide tracts of country well adapted for cotton planta-
tions, but it is difficult to see how this cotton could compete
with that from the Southern States of America.

Still, the success of the settlement at Blantyre shows that
some areas in Tropical Africa can be made to yield a consider-
able quantity of produce of sufficient value to pay for carriage
to England. The profits are not likely to be great, and, so far,
it is only Scotchmen who have succeeded in this enterprise ;
but the Blantyre colony has proved that men who have
sufficient farsightedness and capital to be able to work and
to wait, and to be contented with “small profits, slow returns,”
may reasonably hope for ultimate success.

Patience and perseverance, however, are indispensable to
the development of the agricultural resources of the country,
and the only chance of sudden prosperity in East Africa is the
discovery of one or more of the precious metals or minerals in
considerable quantity. I have no intention of making any
definite prediction on this subject, for I did not go to Africa
as a mineral prospector ; and having no time to search properly,
I thought it better to leave this work alone than to risk
prejudicing the country by misleading negative results. The
difficulties of discovering metalliferous veins and of estimating
their value without extensive borings are so great, that a five
months’ traverse of so wide an area can furnish no ground for
an opinion. Mining predictions are proverbially erroneous,
and the value of negative evidence and superficial scraping in
a hasty traverse is shown by the two following instances.

Climbing one afternoon, in 1891, over the moraines of the
upper Arkansas River, I tried to fix the position of one
group of boulders by a bearing from the spire of the town-hall

CHAP, XVIII MINING PROPHECIES 375

of Leadville. I was using a geological map, on the com-
paratively large scale of four miles to the inch, which had
been prepared by the United States Geological Survey.’ It
had only been issued in 1878, nevertheless Leadville was not
marked in it. It was not till I recognised that a group of
ruined shanties at the entrance to California Gulch marked the
site of Oro City, that I could determine the position of the
wealthiest town in the Rocky Mountains. The country had
been surveyed by the official geologists of the United States,
and a number of practical miners had lived for years in the
district, without discovering that beneath the very slope on
which their camp was pitched, lay what is now the most
productive silver mine in the world.

The history of the Comstock Lode? is even more
instructive. Some alluvial gold was found beside it in 1850;
in 1851 colonies of miners settled in the district and worked
there ; but it was not till 1858 that it was accidentally dis-
covered that they were living beside a silver lode, which
subsequently proved to be the richest metalliferous deposit
known in mining history.

It would therefore be absurd at the present time to express
any opinion on the mineral resources of British East Africa.
As gold is one of the most universally distributed of metals, it
will no doubt be found. Many of the quartz reefs look promis-
ing, but most of the rocks which have been described as such
are really quartz pegmatite veins. Silver is more likely to occur
in the volcanic region, for in the United States it is generally
associated with the “propylites,” which are very extensively
developed in East Africa. Silver and lead exist in the hills
near Mombasa, where some trial borings and shafts have been
made, and I found some thin seams in the Sabaki valley.
Graphite is widely distributed, and near Tzavo it is common ; in
one place I found a few crystals of cassiterite or tinstone, but
it is not probable that either mineral is sufficiently abundant
to pay for working. Iron ores occur in considerable quantity
all over the country, but there is no proper fuel with which to

1 «Geol. and Geog. Surv. of Territories,"’ Geol. and Geog. Atlas of Colorado, United
States.
2 A good summary of the history of this lode is given in the fourth chapter of Ed.

Suess’s Die Zukunft des Silbers, Wien, 1892, pp. 67-82. ‘The standard authority is
Lord's Comstock Miners and Mining.

379 FURORE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST APRICAPARTAM

work it, and except for limited local purposes it is valueless.
Some of the tribes collect grains of hematite from streams,
and smelt it by charcoal in furnaces of the “Catalan ” type.
But except in a few places, the native smiths cannot compete
even in their own villages with iron from Birmingham, brought
up country by trading caravans in the form of wire. I am
indebted to my friend Professor Tate, late of the Royal College
of Science, for assays of three iron ores collected by Mr. Scott
Elliot in Usoga, which yielded respectively 61.69, 41.08 and
43.21 per cent of iron. But the richest ore contains so much
phosphorus and sulphur that it is useless, and Mr. Tate states
that the poorest ore is really the most valuable, as it might be
used as an ochre.

The second factor on which the successful administration
of East Africa depends is the supply of native labour, and the
outlook here is not generally considered hopeful ; the contempt
in which men like Burton and Cameron held the African, and
their failure to make their men work properly, still influences
English opinion. We are repeatedly reminded that the
African will not work, and cannot be made to work, except
in slavery. For my own part, I take a more favourable view
of the prospect, and consider it definitely good.

It has been repeatedly shown that the possibility of
inducing the African to work is simply a question of tact and
management. The average Bantu is lazy, but he likes to be
comfortable. His vanity is easily roused, and his capacity for
imitation is marvellous. Few people can be taught to want
more easily, and his good-nature and great physical strength
render him a most devoted and useful servant. His habits of
indolence, it is true, are deeply ingrained, and cannot be over-
come at once. Stanley’s first efforts to make the natives of
the Congo undertake regular work were failures. But he
succeeded at last, and the Congo Free State has now over
100,000 native porters in its service, with an army of several
thousand men enlisted from some tribes which were formerly
the most degraded and ferocious savages in Africa. On the
other side of the Continent a similar success has been gained,
though on asmaller scale. Mr. Ainsworth at Machakos has so
won the confidence of the Wa-kamba, that he has entrusted
them with the defence of the fort, and the postal service for

CHAP. XVIII THE LABOUR MARKET 377

half the journey to the coast. On passing the Taita hills on
my way inland, I found that Mr. George Wilson had just
settled there, and was determined to persuade the natives to
help him to make his road through their country. The mission
station there had just been withdrawn on the ground that the
Wa-taita are “an awful lot of sweeps,” and the commander of
a caravan had recently hung a few of the people as a warning
to the rest. I therefore went up country pitying Mr. Wilson
in his hopeless task. When I met him again on my return,
I found, to my amazement, that his tact and patience had been
successful ; a couple of hundred Wa-taita were merrily working
on the road, and as many more as were wanted could be had
for the asking.

Patience, however, is indispensable. It required years of
persistent labour by a band of self-sacrificing enthusiasts on
the Congo to enlist the natives of that district, and in British
East Africa the population is now extremely sparse. The
sketch-map on p. 366 shows how large a proportion of the
country is uninhabited, or occupied only by a few nomads.
Yet granted security and peace, the suppression of war raids,
and a guarantee that the crops will be reaped by the sower, then
the Bantu will multiply like the rabbit, and spread throughout
the land. I believe the problem of converting the next
generation into steady, capable workmen is only a question of
patient administration by men whose hearts are in their
work, and who know how to treat the natives with tact and
sympathy.

The present condition of the West Indian islands shows
that the negro can be made to work as a freeman, and that
the permanent retention of slavery is unnecessary. But the
history of these islands during the first half of the present
century also shows how much harm can be done by the reck-
less suppression of even so great an evil as that system. The
sudden emancipation of the West Indian slaves furnishes a
useful warning; it resulted not only in the temporary ruin of
the colonies, but in the enormous increase of the slave-trade.

T. Fowell Buxton,’ one of the foremost advocates of the
Emancipation Act of 1833, confessed, six years after it had
passed, that “the number [of slaves] annually landed in Cuba

1 T, F, Buxton, History of the African Slave Trade (1839), p. 173-

378 FULURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST APRICA PARTI

and Brazil, etc., is 150,000, being more than double the whole
draught upon Africa, including the countries where it had
ceased, when the slave-trade controversy began! Twice as
many human beings are now its victims as when Wilberforce
and Clarkson entered upon their noble task; and each indi-
vidual of this increased number, in addition to the horrors
which were endured in former times, has to suffer from being
cribbed up in a narrower space, and on board a vessel where
accommodation is sacrificed to speed.” To quote Alison’s
summary of Buxton’s admissions: “ Thus the effect of the eman-
cipation of the negroes has been to ruin our own planters, stop
the civilisation of our own negroes, and double the slave-trade
in extent and quadruple it in horrors throughout the globe.” ?
We have already twice experienced in East Africa the
disastrous effects of precipitate interference with slavery. The
revolt in the Soudan, the rise of the power of the Mahdi, the
massacre of Hicks Pasha’s army, the loss by Egypt of the
whole of her equatorial provinces, and the death of Gordon,
are now generally recognised as the result of our attempts to
suppress slavery before supplying anything to take its place.
We tried to destroy that which was an integral part of the
social system of the ruling race, without realising how vast a
cavity would be produced and how fatal it would seem to them.
Similarly the guerilla warfare, which has continued in British
East Africa ever since the British occupation of Witu, is mainly
due to the same cause. It is true that the fighting began by
an expedition which was sent to avenge the massacre of a
party of German traders. But the power of the Witu rebels
was largely due to the secret assistance of the coast Arabs.
They foresaw the ruin of their plantations through a continuance
of British efforts to suppress slavery, emphasised as it was by
the action of the missionaries, who afforded shelter to runaway
slaves in spite of their promises to the contrary. The British
officials at Zanzibar and Mombasa, and especially that states-
manlike officer, Captain Rogers of Lamu, are fully alive to the
possibilities of an Arab rebellion.” At Melindi, at Mambrui
and Magarini, in fact all along the coast, extensive plantations

1 A, Alison, History of Europe, Continuation, vol. v. (1864), p. 54.
? Since this chapter was ‘written, the simmering discontent has broken out into a
serious rebellion.

CHAP. XVIII TELE SAOYSH TT OUM, (OVER ASIEZA WARS, 379

are being abandoned owing to the impossibility of obtaining
sufficient labour. The Arabs see their property being ruined,
and are naturally hostile to British rule. Here and there one
of them has raised the standard of revolt, and expeditions, such
as that now in progress against Mbaruk bin Rashid, have
continually to be undertaken. Our power of punishing the
rebels is very limited. If we bombard the coast towns, we only
destroy the property of our peaceful subjects, the Hindu
banyans, who live there. If we storm the rebel stronghold, the
chief escapes and builds another on the next forest-covered
hill. If we ravage his plantations, we are really punishing the
Indian banker at Zanzibar to whom they are mortgaged.

It is no doubt utterly distasteful to British sentiment to
tolerate slavery in one of our protectorates, even for a time,
with the knowledge that it is lessening. Our feelings are so
strong on this point that we may easily be hurried into a course
of action which will cause far more injustice and more suffering
to the innocent than will be saved. British opinion on this
question is a survival from the time when slavery was in force
in the Southern States of America, in Cuba, and Brazil. There
negroes were compelled to work under European masters, with
European regularity and rigour. Much cruelty was no doubt
used in these countries to force.the negroes into compliance
with methods of work for which they were constitutionally unfit.
But African slavery as it exists in the British protectorate is a
very different matter. The slaves cannot be bought or sold,
and can only be transferred by direct inheritance from father
to son. Their children are free. The slaves can hold private
property, and it is not at all rare for a man who is a slave to
own other slaves himself. They have two days a week on
which to work for themselves. The owners cannot force their
way unbidden into the slaves’ houses, cannot flog them, and is
bound to provide them with food, clothes, and lodging. The
masters themselves are very indolent ; and as there is no attempt
to run plantations at high pressure, the slaves are not over-
worked. They have a much easier time than the freemen who
work for a monthly wage in a European caravan, and they
generally appear contented and happy. The system is certainly
not slavery if we accept Cicero’s definition as true— Slavery is
the obedience of a broken, abject spirit, deprived of free choice ”

380 FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA PARTI

(Servitus est obedtentia fractt animé et abjecti et arbitrio suo

carentis). It is vain to search in an ordinary East African:

plantation for a broken, abject spirit in the slaves. The system
is simply a serfdom, and it has been as necessary in the
development of East Africa as feudalism was in Europe.
Under the laws now in force the slaves will gradually die out
and be replaced by freemen, and the change had far better
come slowly than by a sudden revolution. It is objected that
these laws have been in existence for years, and if they had
been enforced slavery would now be extinct, and therefore all
existing slaves should be freed at once. But the fact that the
laws have not been enforced in the past, under native rule, is
no proof that they will not be so, now that the country is under
direct British administration.

Reference need only be made to the recent report of Mr.
D. Mackenzie, the Special Commissioner sent to East Africa by
the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, to show that the
practical grievances to be redressed have become both com-
paratively and actually small. The Commissioner has no
sensational stories of diabolical wickedness to relate. Instead
of finding that the slave-owners are Legrees, he describes them
as benevolent-looking old gentlemen, who are good friends with
the naval officers engaged in the suppression of the slave-trade ;
they received him with open hospitality, and their only act
of unkindness was occasionally asking awkward questions.
The only case quoted, except on rumour, of cruel treatment of
slaves, is one of imprisonment for trivial offences; and the
Commissioner tells us that his evidence as to the nature of the
offences was the statement of the prisoners themselves. If a
slave-owner of Zanzibar asked the inmates of Newgate why
they were there, he would probably conclude from the answers
that justice in England is blind indeed. The Commissioner
appears to have been aided most. ungrudgingly by the local
authorities, both by the British officials, “whose kindness and
attention during my stay in Zanzibar surpassed anything I
could have expected,” and the officers of the Sultan of Zanzibar,
who “furthered my plans in every possible way.” It was
apparently only the missionaries who did not help, and the
Commissioner’s account of their attitude is one of the most
significant things in his report. A few years ago some of the

CHAP. XVIII THE MISSIONARIES AND SLAVERY 381

missionaries did serious injury to the British cause by their
injudicious and illegal interference with the slave-trade. Mr.
Mackenzie now complains that “it does not appear to me that
missionary societies engaged in missionary work in Africa give
that help which they might do to forward the cause of freedom.” ?
He also expresses great disappointment at his interview with
Mr. Piggott, who as the Administrator of the Company which
has purchased the freedom of thousands of slaves, and as the
Treasurer of the Financial Committee of the Church Missionary
Society’s headquarters at Freretown, is not likely to be accused
of lack of sympathy with the natives. But the Commissioner
reports Mr. Piggott as saying” that “the British East Africa
Company had liberated a good many slaves, but the result was
unsatisfactory, as they would not work. He was opposed to
the abolition of slavery, as the slaves seemed to be perfectly
happy, and in his opinion they seemed only fit for bondage.
This tale was poured into my ears on several occasions. Mr.
Piggott assured me that many missionaries were of his way of
thinking, and from what I heard some of them say, his asser-
tions were correct as to their opinion.”

The missionaries, in fact, seem now to recognise that
domestic slavery is not the unqualified evil they once thought
it, and that it is better by the enforcement of existing laws to
eradicate the system gradually, rather than by a sudden social
revolution to risk the horrors of an East African mutiny. They
seem also now to realise the truth that slavery may be regarded
as a larval appendage, necessary in a certain stage of national
development, and, later on, to be absorbed like the lobes of a
larval star-fish, or thrown aside like the shell of a bird’s egg.
Rudely to tear off the bands of the young star-fish is fatal to
its development, and to help an immature chicken by breaking
open its shell is not likely to add to the happiness of the
creature, whom the action was intended to aid.

I regret, therefore, that I cannot represent British East Africa
as a land flowing with milk and honey, rich in precious metals,
and crowded with a capable and industrious population. On the

1 4 Report on Slavery and the Slave Trade in Zanzibar, Pemba, and the Mainland
of the British Protectorates of East Africa (1895), p. 22.
1 O}, chs jo Uh

go2 MULORE PROSPECTS OF BRHUSH EAST AFRICA PARTMME

contrary, I must admit that no great commercial prosperity
can be immediately expected. In this, however, East Africa
is not exceptional. I am not aware that any purely agricultural
colony has been a financial success in the first or second
generation. The United States were founded as a refuge from
oppression ; the Cape of Good Hope was occupied for stra-
tegical purposes as a half-way house to Batavia; Australia
made no important progress until it began to yield gold.
There is no reason, therefore, why we should expect from
Equatorial Africa what these richer countries of the temperate
zone have failed to do. The development of the country must
proceed slowly and tediously, and will require to be carried on
with caution, perseverance, and self-sacrifice. But it is not a
task to be shirked by the country which has succeeded in the
more difficult feat of ruling India and of spreading her colonies
over the globe. England ought at least to beat any rival in
this field. She has the best opportunities, the truest colonising
instincts, and by remarkable good fortune has secured the
most promising districts in Africa. No one who has travelled
through the German and British protectorates in East Africa
has failed to be struck by the fact that in the partition of this
region England has obtained the better share. British East
Africa includes more fertile, healthier, and more thickly
populated districts than those of the German sphere; and in
Uganda England holds the most important strategical position
in the Continent. German East Africa contains nothing so
rich as the Kapte plains or so fertile as the Tana delta, and
has no such intelligent and comparatively civilised people as
the Waganda. The fact that more progress has been made in
the German protectorate than in the British, speaks volumes
for the energy of our rivals and the wisdom of her administrators.

England, however, can well afford Germany her start, for
our position is a strong one, and the construction of the Uganda
Railway will secure our unrivalled supremacy in Central Africa.
The French attempts in the Niger and on the Congo have so
far led to nothing but heavy burdens and light glory. The
successes achieved in the German sphere are hardly com-
mensurate with the enormous sacrifices of men and money.
The Congo Free State has certainly lost ground since the
dismissal of the English staff. Of all the countries which have

CHAP. XVIII OUR HOPES FOR EAST AFRICA 383

joined in the recent “scramble for Africa,” England alone has
so far gained materially from her African possessions.

With Canada crippled by the competition of the United
States, and Australia passing through a serious commercial
depression, South Africa is to-day the most flourishing of all
our colonies. As it has only attained this prosperity after
seventy years of steady work in a healthy invigorating climate,
it would be absurd to be disheartened by slow progress on the
Equator. But if we cannot reasonably anticipate an immediate
return for our expenditure, we may hope to brighten the lives
and secure the greatest happiness of the greatest number of
the downtrodden inhabitants of our East African dominions.
England may at once put a stop to the horrors of barbaric
tribal warfare, as well as to the cruelties of slave raids,
and by the gradual substitution of free labour for the present
wasteful system of domestic slavery, arouse more enterprise,
independence, and intelligence among the people. If England
only continues her work in this region also, she will change
chaos to order, transform swamps into fields, and irrigate
deserts into gardens. Having found the inhabitants ignorant,
oppressed, and poverty-stricken, she will give them industrial
training, fixity of tenure, and freedom from disturbance. And
when Britain’s services to human progress are finally added up,
the civilisation of her East African possessions will be counted
as not one of the least important of her contributions to the
happiness and order of the world.

oP

ww =

| i

' =
? fond
en
ae
: A‘ ™@ cf

3
a { yi it iad

Je leis INDIE ers

Ne ee Nex

LIST OF LITERATURE ON EXPEDITION AND ITS
COLLECTIONS

Baker, E. G.—“‘A new Tree Senecio from Tropical Africa,” Journ.
Bot. vol..xxxii., 1894, pp. 140-142.

“African Species of Lobelia § Rhynchopetalum,” zéz@. pp. 65-70,
pls. 340-341.

Beddard, F. E.—‘‘ A Monograph of the Order Oligocheta,” Oxford,
1895 (p. 612, Polytoreutus gregorianus, etc.)

Bell, F. J.—‘“‘Note on three Species of River Crabs of the genus
Thelphusa, from Specimens collected in Eastern Africa by
Dr. J. W: Gregory, Mr. Ht Hi. Johnston; C:Bs and Mr
F. J. Jackson,” Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, p. 166.

Boulenger, G. A.—‘“ Third Report on Additions to the Batrachian
Collection in the Natural History Museum,” Proc. Zool. Soc.
1894, p. 646, pl. xl.

- Butler, A. G.—‘On a Collection of Lepidoptera from British East
Africa, made by Dr. J. W. Gregory between the months of
March and August 1893,” Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, pp. 557-
593, pls. xxxvi. XXxvil.

Godwin-Austen, H. H.—‘‘ Notes on Trochonanina and other Genera
of Land Mollusca, with Reference to the Generic Position
of Martensia Mozambicensis and other Species,’ Proc.
Malacol. Soc. vol. i. pt. 6, 1895, pp. 281-287, pl. xix.

Gregory, J. W.—‘ The Natural History of East Equatorial Africa,”
Nature, vol. xlix., Nov. 1893, p. 12.

“An Expedition to Mount Kenya,” Fortnightly Review, Mar.
1894, Pp. 327-337:

‘‘Mountaineering in Central Africa, with an Attempt on Mount
Kenya,” Alpine Journ. vol. xvii., 1894, pp. 89-104.

“On Zoological Distribution in Africa,” Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894,
pp. 165-166.

388 APPENDIX A

Gregory, J. W.—‘ Contributions to the Physical Geography of British
East Africa,” Geog. Journ., Oct.-Dec. 1894, vol. iv. pp. 289-
315, 408-424, 505-524.

‘Contributions to the Geology of British East Africa.” Part I.

“The Glacial Geology of Mount Kenya,” Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.
vol. 1., 1894, pp. 515-530.

‘Expedition in East Africa,” Geog. Journ. vol. 1., 1893, pp. 456-
457; vol. ll. pp. 326-327.

“The Natives of East Africa,’ Phonogr. Quart. Rev. vol. 1.,
1894, pp. 8-13, 72-82.

Giinther, A.—‘‘ Report on the Collection of Reptiles and Fishes made
by Dr. J. W. Gregory during his Expedition to Mount
Kenia,” Proc. Zool. Soc. 1894, pp. 84-91, pls. viil.-xi.

Hahn, F.— ‘“‘Gregory’s Reise zum Baringo-See und _ Kenya,”
Petermann’s A7#th. Bd. xli., 1895, eel. p. 168.

Moore, Spencer Le M.—“ New Acanthacez from Tropical Africa,”
Journ. Bot. vol. xxxii., 1894, pp. 129-139, pl. 343.

Rendle, A. B.—“ A Contribution to the Flora of Eastern Tropical
Africa,” Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. vol. xxx. pp. 373-435, pls.
XXX1.-XXXIY.

“New African Convolvulacese,” Journ. ot. vol. xxxiv. pp.
36-39.

Schlechter, R., and Rendle, A. B.—‘‘ New Tropical African Asclepiads,”
Journ, Bot. vol. xxxiv. pp. 97-99, Pl. 356.

Sharpe, R. B.—‘‘On Birds from Mount Kenia,” Bud/. Brit. Orn. Club,
vol. ill. p. ix.

Smith, A. L.—“ East African Fungi,” Journ. Bot. vol. xxxiil., 1895,
PP: 340-344.

Smith, E. A.-—‘‘A List of the Land and Freshwater Mollusca collected
by Dr. J. W. Gregory in East Africa during his Expedition
to Mount Kenia, with Descriptions of a few new Species,”
Proc. Matlacol. Soc. vol. i., 1894, pp. 163-168.

Thomas, O.—‘ Descriptions of two new Species of Macroscelides,”
Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, vol. xiii., 1894, pp. 67-70.

“Description of a new Species of Reed-Rat (Aulacodus) from
East Africa, with Remarks on the Milk-Dentition of the
Genus,” Azz. Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 6, vol. xili., 1894, pp.

202-204.

Jee SIN DIO Gas 8}

CML AEOGUE ORABEANDS COLLECTED

PART I.—POLYPETALA:

By Ea G. BAKER, EaG.S:

Species. Author. Locality.
RANUNCULACEA,
Clematis simensis Fres.
var. dentata Oke Ndi, Taita Mts.
Ranunculus pinnatus waz. Poiret Maji Chumyi, nr. Mombasa

Thalictrum rhynchocarpum

CRUCIFERAE.

Cardamine Johnstoni

ee africana

Arabis albida
Crambe hispanica

CAPPARIDEA.
Cleome aff. ciliata
Gynandropsis pentaphylla

VIOLACE&.

Viola abyssinica

POLYGALACE.

Polygala Petitiana
a abyssinica

| Dill. and Rich.

Oliv.
Ie

Steven

L.

Schum. & Thonn.
IDX.

Steud.

A. Rich.

| 1 18ye,

Upper Alpine Zone, Mt. Kenya

Kenya at lower edge of Bamboo
Zone, and on terminal moraine in
Lower Alpine Zone

Kenya, terminal moraine in Lower
Alpine Zone

Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

Kikuyu Scarp of Rift Valley

S. bank of Kiroruma
Ndi, Taita Mts.

Kenya

Ndi, Taita Mts.
Ndoli, Iveti Mts.

APPENDIX B

390
Species. Author. Locality.
CARYOPHYLLACE#.
Drymaria cordata Willd. Kithungulu, Kikuyu
Stellaria af. media L. Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya
Cerastium sf. % .
PORTULACACE,
Talinum cuneifolium Willd. Sabaki Valley, by Second Stockade
Portulaca aff. pilosa Te: Ndara
TAMARISCINEA,
Tamarix gallica L. Salt River, Nyika
HYPERICACE#,
Hypericum intermedium Steud. Maka, Iveti Mts.
16 Schimperi Hochst. G, Nairotia, Laikipia
MALVACE#.
Sida Schimperiana Hochst. Rift Valley, Kikuyu Scarp, and G.
Malewa
;, rhombifolia IL Ndi, Taita Mts.
> ry) var. 3 Ndi, and steppes N. of Kiroruma
55 grewioides G. and P. Marungu, N. of Kiroruma
Abutilon asiaticum G. Don. Ngatana
», indicum We Njemps Mkuba
Pavonia arabica Hochst. Ngurunga Kifaniko, Tzavo ; Njoro
Larabwal, nr. Baringo
», Schimperiana es
var. tomentosa BA Kithu-Uri, Kikuyu; Maka, Iveti
| Mts.
Pavonia zeylanica Cav. Sabaki Valley
> propinqua | Garcke Lake Dumi, Tana Valley
Hibiscus af. crassinervis Hochst. Kilungu, Iveti Mts. ; Lanjoro on
Kapte Plains
»» cannabinus 1G Mwatchi; Ngurunga Kifaniko, nr.
: Tzavo
»> micranthus Tana Valley at Lake Dumi, Gol-
banti and Kau; Sabaki Valley
at Tanganyika ; Nyika at
; Maungu
ye gossypinus Thunb. G. Nairotia, Laikipia; Maka,
ae Iveti Mts.
», vitifolius Ii N. of G. Thegu, Laikipia
TILIACEA,
Grewia populifolia | Vahl Witu
Triumfetta flavescens Hochst. Lake Kibibi, Rift Valley

99 Sp. Nov.

Ngomeni, nr. Tzavo

ROEMPETAL ZA

391
Species. Author. Locality.
LINACEZ,
Linum sf. G. Laschau, Laikipia
GERANIACE,
Geranium simense Hochst. G. Mairi, Laikipia ; Lanjoro, S. of
G. Thegu, Kikuyu
Oxalis aff. punctata L. Second Swamp, Kikuyu
Pelargonium glechomoides Rich. Mkuyuni, Foot-hills of Kamasia
Erodium sf. 702. 466 Kapte Plains, W. of Maka
Impatiens micrantha Hochst. Kenya, Bamboo Zone
RUTACE.
Clausena inzequalis Benth.
CELASTRINE,
Gymnosporia 7. sp. G. Nairotia, Laikipia
AMPELIDEA,
Vitis Labrusca Ly Witu.
SAPINDACE&,
Cardiospermum Halicacabum | L. Ngatana
LEGUMINOS#,
Crotalaria glauca var. Willd. Ndi, Taita Mts.
95 senegalensis Bacle Witu
Parochetus major Don. Kenya, lower margin of Bamboo
Zone
Trifolium Johnstoni | Oliv. Kenya, Lower Alpine Zone
_ repens lel Kithungulu, Kikuyu
Indigofera sf. N. end of Lake Losuguta
Tephrosia purpurea Pers. W. shore of Baringo
ee var. 8B pu- | Baker Ndara, Taita Mts.
bescens
» af. Hildebrandtii | Vatke Kilungu, Iveti Mts.
»» (aff. sp. from Shire) | 355 Mto Mkindu, Nyika
Eschynomene Telekii | Schwf. Kenya
Stylosanthes mucronata Willd. S. of Kiroruma River
Clitoria ternatea Ie; Lava Plains, N. of Kiroruma River
Centrosema virginianum | Benth. Ngatana
Glycine javanica L. Kikuyu Scarp of Rift Valley;
Alng’aria, Laikipia ; Kithungulu,
Kikuyu
Rhynchosia flavissima 35 | Ngatana
Derris uliginosa Benth. Witu

APPENDIX B

392
Species. Author. Locality.
Eriosema polystachyum Baker Alng’aria, Laikipia
Ceesalpinia pulcherrima L. Witu
Cassia aff. Hildebrandtii Vatke Maka, Iveti Mts.
Acacia arabica Linn. Sabaki Valley
Bauhinia Volkensii Taubert Kalungu, Iveti Mts.
ROSACE#,
|
Alchemilla Johnstoni | Oliv, Kenya, on terminal moraine in
: | Lower Alpine Zone; Hohnel
Valley in Upper Alpine Zone
a argyrophylla 36 Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya
5 pedata Engl.
var. gracilipes (?) Zi Ndoro, at W. foot of Kenya
CRASSULACE&.
Crassula af. corymbulosa Link. Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya
Tillzea aquatica MWe re of Bs
LYTHRACES. |
Ammania salicifolia Mont. Kenya, lower margin of Bamboo
Zone
CUCURBITACE&.
| |
Cephalandra indica | Naud | Ngatana
Momordica Charantia We | Ngatana and Witu
a trifoliolata | Hook. fil Negatana
|
UMBELLIFER. |
Caucalis infesta | Curt Kikuyu Scarp in Rift Valley
|

PART II.—MONOPETALA:

By James Britten, F.L.S.

|
Species. | Author. Locality.
RUBIACEZ. |
Pentas carnea | Benth. Magarini Hills, nr. Mambrui
Pentodon decumbens Hochst. Lake Dumi, Tana Valley
Diodia sarmentosa Sw. Marungu, steppes of the Kiroruma
Anthospermum lanceolatum | Thunb. G. Laschau, Laikipia
Galium Aparine L. Mid. of Bamboo Zone, Kenya
»> simense Hochst. (?) Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

MONOPETALA 393
Species. Author. Locality.
COMPOSITA.
Ethulia conyzoides 1%, Ngatana
Vernonia cinerea as ”
aA demulans Vatke Witu
an pauciflora Less. Nzaoi, Iveti Mts. ; Wakilomi, in
Maka, Iveti Mts. ; (?) Ndara, Taita
| Mts.
Ageratum conyzoides eles Mkonumbi; Ngatana; Kapte Plains ;
Foot-hills of Kamasia
Dicrocephala latifolia DC. Foot-hills of Kamasia; G. Thegu,

Conyza Newii

Tarchonanthus camphoratus
Pluchea Dioscoridis
Achyrocline Hochstetteri

glumacea
Schimperi

Helichrysum foetidum

cymosum

oe)

29 >)

pactum
Helichrysum Meyeri-Johannis
95 nudatum
Polycline gracilis
Astephania africana
Aspilia Holstii
Melanthea Brownii

Spilanthes Acinella

Guizotia abyssinica
Chrysanthellum procumbens
Senecio discifolius

», keniensis
Tripteris Vaillantii
Arctotis Ruppellii
Lactuca capensis

Sonchus Bipontini
var. pinnatifidus

CAMPANULACE,

Lobelia Gregoriana

var, com-|

Oliv. and Hiern.

Iu
1DXG;,
Sch. Bip.

Oliv. and Hiern.
Sch. Bip.

1D

Less.
Engl.
Less.
Oliv.

99
O. Hoffm.

| Sch. Bip.

les

Cass.
Pers.
Oliv.
Bak. fil.
Decaisne

O. Hoffm.
Thunb.

Asch.

Bak. fil.

Laikipia

Mto Ndangi, Ukamba; G.
Laikipia

G. Narok, Laikipia

Ngatana ; Makongeni, Sabaki

G. Thegu and Lanjoro, S. of G.
Thegu, N. Kikuyu; Steppes of
Jiroruma; Wakilomi, in Maka,
Iveti Mts.

Foot-hills of Kamasia

Maji Chumvi, nr. Mombasa ;
Thegu, N. Kikuyu

G. Nairotia, Laikipia; Wakilomi,
in Maka, Iveti Mts.

G. Laschau, Laikipia

Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

Narok,

G.

Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya

Gopo lal Mwaru, Laikipia

Kapte Plains, W. of Maka

Wakilomi, in Maka, Iveti Mts.

G. Thegu, N. Kikuyu

Mkonumbi ; WNgatana ;
Mkuba

Foot-hills of Kamasia; G. Mairi,
W. foot of Kenya

G. Mairi, W. foot of Kenya

Mto Kiboko, Ukamba

Kithungulu, N.E. Kikuyu; Steppes
of Kiroruma

Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya.

Ndi, Taita Mts.

Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

Ngatana; Lake Dumi, Tana; G.
Mairi, W. foot of Kenya; E. of
Mangea

Njemps

G, Thegu, N. Kikuyu

| Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

Locality.

Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

Mt. Mbololo, Taita Mts.

Kilima Meza, E. of Lake Elmetaita ;
Kapte Plains, W. of Maka; Mt.
Mangea, Giriama ; Mkonumbi

Kikuyu Scarp of Rift Valley

Sabaki Valley

Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

oH) che} ’
Nzaoi, Iveti Mts. ; Kamasia

Nzaoi, Iveti Mts. ; Kamasia

Lake Dumi, Tana Valley

Marungu, Steppes of Kiroruma
Alng’aria, Laikipia; Lokenya, Kapte

Alng’aria, Laikipia
Njemps Mkuba

G. Nagut, N. of Elmetaita; Bondoni,
Kapte Plains

3904 APPENDIX B
Species. Author.
Lobelia Telekii Schweinf.
2) olstit Engl.
,, fervens | Thunb,
Cyphia glandulifera Hochst.
Lightfootia, sf.
ERICACE.
Erica, 5p. 72.
Bleeria, sf.
PLUMBAGINE&,
Plumbago zeylanica L.
PRIMULACEA&,
Anagallis serpens var. Hochst.
OLEACE.
Jasminum abyssinicum Br. Mambrui.
SALVADORACE.
Salvadora persica L.
ASCLEPIADE&,
Gomphocarpus fruticosus IRs Tehe
Plains
var. angustissimus Engl.
Gomphocarpus cf. rhino- | K. Schum.
phyllum
Pentarrhinum abyssinicum Decne.
Kanahia Delilei =
Deemia extensa IR, 184, Kamasia
Baseonema Gregorii Schl. & Rendle

GENTIANE,

Seba trachyphylla

Exacum quinquenervium
Swertia pumila

>> schimperi

Limnanthemum indicum

| Griseb.
| Hochst.

| Griseb.

Kinani, E. Ongalea Mt.

G. Mairi and Lanjoro, S. of G.
Thegu, at W. foot of Kenya
Nzaoi, Iveti Mts.

Lower edge of Bamboo Zone,
Kenya

Upper and Lower Alpine Zones,
Kenya

Mkonumbi

MONOPETALAE 395
Species. Author. Locality.
BORAGINEA. |
Trichodesma zeylanicum | Br. | Witu ; Nzaoi, Iveti Mts.
Cynoglossum micranthum Desf. Kamasia; G. Narok, Laikipia ;
Wakilomi, Iveti Mts.
Heliotropium zeylanicum Lam. Mkonumbi; Lake Dumi, Tana
| Walley; G. Morendat and G.
Nagut, Rift Valley; Steppes of
Thika-thika; W. of Lugard’s
| Falls, Sabaki River
op strigosum Willd. | Ndara, Taita Mts. ; Steppes of
Thika-thika
CONVOLVULACE.
Ipomcea tuberculata Roem. & Sch. | Lanjoro, nr. Lokenya, Kapte Plains
BA ovalifolia Chois. Lake Dumi, Tana Valley
aH ofr. cordofana an or -
a ophthalmantha Hallier Magarini, nr. Mambrui
oh tenuirostris Chois. Bank of Kiroruma
Pe carnosa Br. Lake Dumi, Tana Valley
oe Britteniana Rendle Ngatana
- blepharophylla Hallier
var. cordata Rendle Marungu, Steppes of the Kiroruma
55 cfr. tambalensis Baker Nzaoi, Iveti Mts.
Merremia Gregorii Rendle Golbanti, Tana Valley
Aniseia calycina Chois. | Njemps Mkuba
Hewittia bicolor be Banks of Kiroruma
Convolvulus sagittatus Thunb.
var. macroglottis | Baker G. Mairi, W. foot of Kenya
Convolvulus malvaceus Oliv. Wakilomi, Maka, Iveti Mts.
Evolvulus nummularius L. Sabaki Valley
SCROPHULARIACE#.!
Veronica, sf. 70v. a Kenya
Craterostigma pumilum Hochst. | Nr. Lokenya, Kapte Plains
99 Sp. 1200. os° 9 ”” ”
Diclis ovata Benth. Lower edge of Bamboo Zone, Kenya
Ilysanthes gratioloides Gorge of Thika-thika
Striga senegalensis 3 Lake Dumi, Tana Valley
sy aed G. Laschau, Laikipia
Alectra, sp. : G. Mairi, W. foot of Kenya ;
Cycnium Herzfeldianum Engl. Kithungulu, Kikuyu
he tubulosum ~ Kikuyu Scarp of Rift Valley; G.
Mairi, W. foot of Kenya
Sopubia ramosa Hochst. Gopo lal Mwaru, Laikipia
», kituiensis | Vatke Steppes of Thika-thika
son itrliida, Ham. G. Mairi, W. foot of Kenya ; Waki-
| lomi, Maka, Iveti Mts.
ACANTHACE.? | ;
Homilacanthus Gregorii |S. Moore Lower edge of Bamboo Zone, Kenya

1 The Solanaceze, Selagineze, and Verbenaceze have not yet been identified.
2 The Acanthaceze are taken from the paper by Mr. Spencer Moore.

APPENDIX D:

Species. Author. Locality.
Thunbergia Gregorii S. Moore Kilungu, Iveti Mts.
Dyschoriste Hildebrandtii 5
50 var. mollis 3p Steppes of Thika-thika
Ruellia megachlamys 39 Negurunga Kifaniko, Taita Mts.
Crabbea velutina 5
Asystasia linearis 59 Mwatchi, nr. Mombasa
Ecbolium amplexicaule 99 Sabaki Valley
5 striatum Balf. fil. Ngatana

Justicia leikipiensis S. Moore Gopo lal Mwaru

i Gregoril ss Mkuyuni, Foot-hills of Kamasia

LABIATZ
Moschosma polystachyum Benth. Kau; Lake Dumi, Tana Valley
Hoslundia verticillata Vahl Foot-hills of Kamasia and of Laikipia
Micromeria punctata Br. G. Mairi and Lanjoro, S. of G.
Thegu, at W. foot of Kenya
Leucas Neuflizeana Courb. Ngurunga Kifaniko, S. of Tzavo ;
Bondoni, Kapte Plains

»» hear grandis Vatke G. Thegu, S.W. of Kenya

., oligocephala Hook. fil. Ndi, Taita Mts.

» glabrata Br. (?) Kamasia
Tinnea zethiopica K. and P. Mkonumbi
Ajuga bracteosa Benth. G. Laschau, Laikipia; Marungu,

Steppes of Kiroruma

PART IIJ.—APETALA
By JAMzEs BriTTEN, F.L.S., anp A. B. RENDLE, M.A., F.L.S.

Species. Author. Locality.
AMARANTACEZ.
Erua lanata Juss. Mt. Mangea, Giriama
a », var. oblongata | Asch. Kilima Meza, E. of Kariandusi
» » forma Maungu, Nyika
>, javanica Juss. Makongeni, Sabaki
Alternanthera nodiflora Re By E. shore of Lake Losuguta
Achyranthes aspera L. Kau, nr. Witu; Ndi, Taita Mts. ;
G. Nairotia, Laikipia
Celosia argentea i Njemps Mkuba
5, anthelminthica Asch. G. Nairotia, Laikipia
Pupalia lappacea Mog. G. Tigirish, Njemps
Digera arvensis Forsk.
»> var. perennans Mogq. Lake Dumi, Tana Valley
Amarantus chlorostachys Willd. Negatana, Lower Tana; Banks of

Centema, sf.

29 +)

Kiroruma, or Upper Tana
Witu ; Ngatana
Ngurunga Kifaniko, S. of Tzavo

APETALZ

Species.

Cyathula cylindrica, var.
Pupalia, sf.

CHENOPODIACE&.

Chenopodium fcetidum

55 album
Suzeda monoica

POLYGONE.

Oxygonum sinuatum

Rumex Steudelii

>> . hervosus
Polygonum tomentosum
aff:

29 bP)

LAURACE.
Cassytha, sf.

EUPHORBIACE.

Euphorbia pilulifera
hypericifolia
indica

56 sarmentosa
Phyllanthus maderaspatensis

be)

29

var. Thonningii
Phyllanthus, s/.

THYMELEACE,
Gnidia Vatkeana

BALANOPHORE&.
Sarcophyte sanguinea

Benth. & Hook.

| Hochst.

Vahl
Willd.

29

(lee

be)

| Lam.

Welw.
Wr

Miill. Arg.

| Gilg. and Engl.

Sparrm.

Locality.

Bamboo Zone, Kenya
Kikuyu Scarp of Rift Valley

Kau, nr. Witu; Kilima Meza, E. of
Kariandusi

Kariandusi

Lugard’s Falls, Sabaki

Kinani, Nyika; Malewa R., Rift
Valley

Rangatan Ndari, Laikipia

Ndoli

Ngatana, on Tana

Golbanti, on Tana

Lower edge of Bamboo Zone, Kenya

Nr. Mkuyuni, Foot-hills of Kamasia

Negatana .

Marungu, E. Kikuyu

Ndara, Taita Mts. ; Wakilomi, in
Maka, Iveti Mts.

G. Thegu, N. Kikuyu

Nzaoi, Iveti Mts.

Kibwezi

Eee le el Vi,

MONOCOTYLEDONS, Etc.

By 7A.2B> RENDLE, MLA ELS:

Species. Author. Locality.
HyYDROCHARIDE. | |
Lagarosiphon tenuis | Rendle | Kinani
5 hydrilloides le RARe Kariandusi

398 APPENDIX B
Species. Author. Locality.
ORCHIDE#.
Mystacidium, sf. ae Thika-thika
Habenaria pedicellaris Reichb. "
a ndiana Rendle Ndi
Brachycorythis pubescens Harv. Kariandusi
var. minor Rendle
Disa Gregoriana 5 Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya
H@MODORACE.
Sanseviera cylindrica Boj. Nyika
"e guineensis Willd. os
IRIDACEA.
Acidanthera candida Rendle Kapte Plains
Gladiolus Quartiniano, aff. A. Rich Gopolal Mwaru, Laikipia; Kariandusi
ss watsonioides Baker Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya
AMARYLLIDE#.
Hypoxis laikipiensis Rendle Alng’aria, Laikipia
», Gregoriana a Rift Valley, Kikuyu Scarp
Crinum, sf. Rift Valley, Miviruni, and G. Nyuki
LILIACE.
Asparagus plumosus Baker | Rift Valley, Kikuyu Scarp
5 medeoloides Thunb. “ a
Bulbine asphodeloides Schult. fil. Rift Valley, Kikuyu Scarp; Lake
Dumi
Anthericum acuminatum Rendle Negurunga Kifaniko, nr. Tzavo
53 purpuratum 59 Ag aa 55
a Gregorianum hy Kapte Plains
Ornithogalum Eckloni Schlechtd. Kithungulu, Kikuyu
Gloriosa virescens Lindl. G. Laschau, Laikipia; Lanjoro,
Kapte Plains
COMMELINACE&.
Commelina africana az Foot-hills of Laikipia
0 cf. purpurea | C. B. Clarke Ndoro, Laikipia
mt subulata | Roth. Kinani
‘5 albescens | Hassk. | Mkonumbi
Aneilema sinicum Lindl. |G. Thegu and Kithungulu, Laikipia
cy Clarkei Rendle Lake Dumi
JUNCACEZ. |
Juncus effusus | L. | Kenya, Lower Forest Zone
», Fontanesii J. Gay Ndoro
Luzula spicata DC.
var. simensis Hochst. Kenya, Bamboo Zone
TYPHACE&.
Typha angustifolia | L. Cliffs above Lake Losuguta

MONOCOTYLEDONS 399

Species. Author. Locality.
ALISMACE,
Alisma Plantago L. G. Nairotia, Laikipia
NAIADE#.
Aponogeton abyssinicum Hochst. Second Swamp, Kikuyu
Naias graminea Del. Kinani
GRAMINE&.
Eriochloa annulata Kunth. Banks of G. Tigirish, nr. Njemps
os AS war. nov. Se Tanganyika, W. end of Sabaki
Panicum brizanthum Hochst. Ndoli, Iveti Mts.
As fenestratum 5 Ndara ; Ngomeni
3 controversum Steud. G. Nagut and G. Tigirish, Rift Valley
Hi scalarum Schweinf. Njemps Mkuba; Kikuyu Scarp of
Rift Valley
re Schimperianum Hochst. Mkonumbi
oe curvatum ILy Second Stockade, Sabaki
9 maximum Jacq. Kau, nr. Witu
‘a colonum IL, G. Mairi, W. foot of Kenya
5 Crus-galli . Mwatchi, nr. Mombasa
Tricholzena rosea Nees Njoro Larabwal and Gopo lal
Mwaru, Laikipia
59 GE Bien 55 Hombe, Kikuyu
‘Paspalum scrobiculatum L. ii
Setaria glauca Beauv. G. Nagut, Rift Valley ; Foot-hills of
Kamasia and Laikipia
9 Oe 9p 3 Mwatchi, nr. Mombasa; WNzaoi,
Iveti Mts.
Pennisetum ciliare Link. Njoro Larabwal, Laikipia ; Steppes
of Thika-thika
a setosum A. Rich. Mkonumbi; Kau
Tragus racemosus Desf. | Njemps ; Foot-hills of Kamasia
Perotis latifolia Ait. | Mkonumbi
Imperata arundinacea Cyrill. | Ngatana
Andropogon Sorghum Brot. | Shore of Baringo
x Ischeemum Le | Larabwal, nr. Njemps
5 polyatherus Hochst. | Mkonumbi
<5 finitimus a | Larabwal, nr. Njemps
Themeda Forskalii Hack. a 5
so 5 var. punc- np Kapte Plains
tata
Sporobolus virginicus Kth. Witu
Sp marginatus Hochst. Njemps
s spicatus Kth. Kariandusi, Rift Valley
- indicus R. Br. | Larabwal, nr. Njemps
Aristida coerulescens Desf. Ndara
Trichopterix 72. sf. ae Lake Losuguta, Laikipia
Cynodon Dactylon Pers. Mkonumbi; Kariandusi
Chloris abyssinica Hochst. G. Murentat, Rift Valley
5» punctulata 5 Nzaoi, Iveti Mts.

400

APPENDIX B

Species. Author. Locality.
|
Chloris barbata Swartz G. Tigirish, Njemps
Eleusine zgyptiaca Desf. G, Tigirish and G. Nagut, Rift Valley;
Witu
a coracana Gaertn. Maka, Iveti Mts.
Leptochloa filiformis | R. and S. Mwatchi
Phragmites communis | Trin. Lugard’s Falls, Sabaki Valley
Danthonia villosa (vel var.) | Nees Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya
Eragrostis ciliaris Link. Kau ; Ngomeni
.; tenuifolia Hochst. Kithungulu, Kikuyu
39 cf. paniciformis R. Br. Lake Losuguta
a Brownei Nees Alng’aria
Dp megastachya Link. G. Nagut and G. Tigirish, Rift
Valley
CONIFER,

Podocarpus, af Mannii

FILices,!

Davallia Lindeni
Adiantum caudatum
Cheilanthes multifida
a Kirkii
Pellzea involuta

>, nastata

Pellzea calomelanos
Pteris aquilina

Asplenium furcatum
- ceterach
Actiniopteris radiata

Nephrodium dilatatum
Polypodium lepidotum

Hook. fil.

Hook.
IL,
Sw.

| Hook.

Baker
Link.

Link.
L.

Thunb.
ie
Link.

Desv.
Willd.

Bamboo Zone, Kenya

East of Kariandusi

Ndi

Alng’aria

Alng’aria and G, Nairotia, Laikipia

Kapte Plains; Second Swamp,
Kikuyu

Ndi, TLaita Mts. ; G. el ‘Narua, nr.
Njemps; G. Thegu, Laikipia
Kapte Plains ; Larabwal, nr, Njemps
Kithungulu, Kikuyu; Mbololo and

Ndi, Iveti Mts.

Kariandusi, Rift Valley ; Alng’aria,
Laikipia; Lower Alpine Zone,
Kenya

Ndi

Ndara; Kinani; Kikuyu; Larab-
wal, nr. Njemps

Kilungu, Iveti Mts.

Kapte Plains ; Bamboo Zone, Kenya

PART V.—MOSSES, HEPATICS, AND LICHENS

By A. Gppe MAS Eales:

Name. Author Localities where collected. Distribution.
7 ‘
MOssEs. |
Leucobryum cucullatum | Broth. | G. Nairotia, Laikipia Usambara

Leptodontium repens _| (C. Miill.)) Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

Kilima Njaro

1 By William Carruthers, Esq., F.R.S.

MOSSES AND HEPATICS 4ol
t =
Name. Author. Localities where collected. Distribution.
Grimmia calyculata CMe Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya Kilima Njaro
Macromitrium lilipu- 3 G, Narok, Laikipia
tianum
Funaria calvescens Schwae- | Second Stockade, Sabaki Valley | Wide
gr.
Breutelia gigantea Doz.and| E, of Mt. Mangea, Giriama ; | Bourbon, Java
Molk. Kurawa, Khilifi River
Orthodon borbonicus Bory Bamboo Zone, Kenya Bourbon,
Madagascar,
Cameroons.
Bryum pseudotriquetrum | Hedw. | G. Nairotia, Laikipia Cosmopolitan
Braunia Schimperi Br. and |} Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya Abyssinia
Sch.
Lasia producta | Jaeg. Rangatan Ndari, Laikipia; G. | S. Africa
Nairotia, Laikipia
Pterogonium gracile Sw.
var. capense Rehm. | Lari lal Morjo, Laikipia; Mar- | S. Africa
ungu, Steppes of Kiroruma
Pilotrichella (Orthosti- | C. M. Middle of Bamboo Zone, Kenya | Laikipia
chella) sericea
Papillaria africana Jaeg. Lari lal Morjo and G. Laschau, | E. and “S.
Laikipia ; Marungu, Steppes Africa
of the Kiroruma
i patentissima | C. M. | G. Thegana, Kikuyu Usambara
Neckera (Rhystophyl- 2 Lower Alpine Zone, Kenya Laikipia
lum) Hoehneliana
Calyptothecium _—_afri- | Mitt. Snowfields, Kenya Ss and, EB:
canum Africa
Entodon rotundifolius (Ge Wile G. Thegana, Kenya Kilima Njaro
* lacunosus Broth, 29 a Usambara
Hypnum cupressiforme | L. Rangatan Ndari, Laikipia; G. | Cosmopolitan
Nairotia, Laikipia
HEPATICS.
Jungermannia (Chandon- | Web. Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya Transvaal,
anthus) hirtella Bourbon,
India,
Oceania
Fimbriaria Boryana Mont. Rangatan Ndari and G. Nai- | Bourbon
rotia, Laikipia
LICHENS.
Leptogium phyllocar- | Nyl. Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya Wide
pum
Stereocaulon —ramulo- | Ach. Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya;|E. Africa ;
sum Kurawa, Khilifi River Oceania ;
S. America
Cladonia pyxidata | Fr. Snowfields, Kenya Wide
Cladina rangiferina Nyl. Kurawa, Khilifi River Cosmopolitan
Ramalina canaliculata Tayl. | Gopo lal Mwaru, Laikipia Be Africas
India,
Oceania,
Peru

i)
2)

402

APPENDIX B

Name. Author.
Ramalina fraxinea var. | Ach.
as pusilla Le Prev.
Roccella Montagnel Bél.
Usnea_ florida, wav. | Ach.
strigosa
Usnea articulata Hoffm.
», ceratina Ach.
¥ », var, aspera) Eschw.
Usnea cornuta Flot.
,, longissima Ach.
» angulata 5
Parmelia caperata a
5 perforata 5
es perlata ss
KS latissima Fée
» levigata Ach

,, physodes var.

Localities where collected.

Distribution.

G. Thegana and Karati, Kikuyu;
Lower Falls of the Thika-
thika ; Maka, Iveti Hills; E.
of Mt. Mangea, Giriama

Kibwezi; Rangatan Ndari and
G. Nairotia, Laikipia; G.
Thegana, Kikuyu; Upper
Alpine Zone, Kenya; Falls
of the Thika-thika; Ndoli,
Iveti Mts.; E. of Mangea,
Giriama

Common all along Sabaki Valley

Lari lal Morjo and G. Narok,
Laikipia ; G. Thegana, Kik-
uyu; Upper Alpine Zone,
Kenya; Karati, Kikuyu;
Falls of Thika-thika ; Sabaki
Valley.

G. Thegana, N. Kikuyu; Lari
lal Morjo, G. Narok and G.
Nairotia, Laikipia; Upper
Alpine Zone, Kenya

G,. Narok and Ndoro, Laikipia ;
G. Thegana, Kikuyu ; Upper
Alpine Zone, Kenya

Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

G, Thegana, Kikuyu; Voroni,
Thika-thika Valley

G. Thegana, Kikuyu

G. Thegana, Kikuyu; Upper
Alpine Zone, Kenya; Sabaki
Valley

G. Narok, Laikipia; G. Mwari,
Lower Forest Zone, Kenya

Sabaki Valley; Kibwezi and
Mto Ndangi, Ukamba ;
Maka and Ndoli, Iveti Mts. ;
Larilal Morjo and G. Nairotia,
Laikipia; G. Thegana and
Karati, Kikuyu; Falls of
Thika-Thika, Kapte Plains

Lower Forest Zone, Kenya, etc.

Karati, Kikuyu

Kurawa, Khilifi River
Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya

Cosmopolitan

Africa,
Japan,

Java,

India, Java,
Australia
Wide

Cosmopolitan

Zanzibar,
Abyssinia, _
Brazil

iy eAtricas
India,
Europe

Wide

be)

S: Africa;
@hhiniar
Oceania,
Tropical
America

Wide

9

LICHENS AND FUNGI 403
Name. Author. Localities where collected. Distribution.
Stictina limbata Nyl.
var. umbilicarizeformis | Hochst. | Karati, Kikuyu Abyssinia,
Kilima
Njaro
Sticta aurata Ach. G. Thegana, Kikuyu Tropical and
Temperate
Zones
Peltigera membranacea | Nyl. Karati, Kikuyu Wide
Physcia flavicans D. C. Karati and G, Thegana, Kik- | Cosmopolitan
uyu; Upper Alpine Zone,
Kenya ; W. of Falls of Thika-
thika ; Sabaki Valley
»» parietina de Not. | Maka, Iveti Mts.; Upper Alpine | Wide
Zone, Kenya
»» Ciliaris 1D); (Ce Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya ee
», leucomelas Mich. Terraces of Lake Suess, Kikuyu ne
Scarp; Gopo lal Mwaru,
Guaso Narok, and Guaso
_ Nairotia, Laikipia ; Guaso
Thegana and Karati, Kikuyu ;
Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya
»» Speciosa Fr. Rangatan Ndari, Laikipia
- », var. hypo-| Nyl. A rp ie Wide
leuca

Pyxine cocoes

Gopolal Mwaru and G. Nairotia,
Laikipia

Tropical Zone

PART VI.—FUNGI

By Miss A. L. SMITH AND JOHN B, CARRUTHERS,

F.L.S.

Name.

POLYPORE.

Fomes lucidus
Schizophyllum
mune

com-

Polystictus elongatus
P Gregorii

> chrysites

xe sanguineus
55 versicolor
5. velutinus

}
Author.

Localities where collected. Distribution.

Fy. Ngatana; E. of Mangea, Giriama | Wide

e Gopo lal Mwaru, Laikipia 35

Berk. Kibwezi 3

A. L.| E. of Mangea, Giriama

Smith

Berk. G. Narok, Laikipia South
America
and Cape
Town

Meyer | Nr. Makongeni, Sabaki Valley | Wide

Fr. Lugard’s Falls, Sabaki Valley

Ngomeni

.?

be ]

4o4 APPENDIX B

Name. Author. Localities where collected. Distribution.

Polystictus versatilis Berk. E. of Mangea, Giriama Tropics, KE.
and W.
Indies,
Brazil

Trametes Sprucei Be Ngatana Cuba, Brazil

Stereum hirsutum Fr. Rangatan Ndari, Laikipia; | Wide

Negatana
,, lobatum 55 G. Narok, Laikipia; Rangatan a

Ndari, lLaikipia; Upper
Alpine Zone, Kenya ; Makon-
geni, Sabaki Valley

Favolus Rhipidium Berk. Upper Forest Zone, Kenya Asia, N.and8.
America
TREMELLINEZ.
Hirneola — Auricula- Berk. Upper Forest Zone, Kenya; | Wide
Judae Kibwezi
GASTEROMYCETES.
Lycoperdon gemmatum | Batsch. | Kibwezi Wide
PYRENOMYCETES.
Xylaria Hypoxylon Grev. Upper Forest Zone, Kenya Wide

Phyllachora graminis Fuck. Kapte Plains, W. of Maka

99

PART VII.—CYPERACE4!
By © Bi Crarke,, PSRUS. Pres (inn: Soc. etc.

Name. Author. Name. Author.
Kyllinga oblonga C. B, Clarke |Cyperus difformis L.

Ss cylindrica Nees », dichrostachyus Hochst.
var, B major CyB Clarke » aristatus Rottb,
Pycreus flavescens Nees eee CuStans Linn. f.
», forma Abyssinica | 4, bulbosus Vahl
s, nitens Nees oh fissus Steud.

;, Hildebrandtii ©) B. Clarke}! 5 Fenzelianus Ns

», debilissimus, s/. zov. cop rotundus 10
Juncellus lavigatus C.B.Clarke] ,, », var, spadicea| Boeck.

53 minutus, sf. 720v. », vigidifolius Steud.
Cyperus compactus Lam. » exaltatus Retz.

hi Teneriffze Poiret ip », war. dives | C. B. Clarke

5, amabilis Vahl Mariscus leptophyllus 59

a denudatus Hook. fil. | ae concinnus, sp. ov.

1 The localities have not been inserted owing to late date of receipt of the list. Many
of the species were found in several localities.

CVPERACEZ 405
Name. Author. Name. Author.
Mariscus coloratus Nees Scirpus costatus Boeck.
56 psilostachys, sf. 20v. >» quinquefarius Buch. Ham.
aA globifer, sf. ov. », | corymbosus Roth
59 maritimus, sp. 2ov. ||Bulbostylis capillaris Kunth
», hemisphezericus C. B. Clarke} var. trifida C. B, Clarke
3 Gregoril, sf. ov. |Bulbostylis Schimperiana 53
Courtoisia cyperoides Nees |Fuirena glomerata Lam.
var. B Africana C. B. Clarke! 3» 3, var. 8B Andongensis| C. B. Clarke
Eleocharis marginulata Steud, Lipocarpha pulcherrima Ridley
Fimbristylis diphylla Vahl Scleria bulbifera A. Rich.
50 monostachya Hassk. Carex monostachya Hochst.
ier exilis Roem. &Sch.| ,, | Koestlini e
Scirpus setaceus L. », <Athiopica Schkuhr

APPENDIX iC

MAMMALIA

By OLpFIELD THomas, F.L.S.

Name. Author. Localities where collected. Distribution.
Colobus occidentalis Roche- | Forests on Laikipia, and Kenya
brune
Herpestes Kaffir Gmel.
- albicaudatus | G. Cuv. | Kibwezi
Galago sf. mee a
Nyctimonus angolensis | Pet. Golbanti, Tana Valley
AS pumilus Cretz. Ngatana, Tana Valley
Erinaceus albiventris Wagn. | Wakilomi, in Maka, Iveti Mts.
Macroscelides rufesceus | Pet. Kabwezi Melanic var.
Lake Kibibi, Rift Valley ;
Crocidura 2 spf. : Telphusa Swamp, Laikipia ;
sis gracilicauda Ret Karati and Thiriati, N.
Kikuyu
Sciurus undulatus True Witu
Gerbilus leucogaster IPletic Ndaro, Taita Mts.
” pusillus ” ” ce)
Otomys irroratus Bts Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya
Arvicanthis barbarus L. Thiriati, Kikuyu
Mus spp. var. Fort Smith ; Njemps Ndogo ;
Negatana; Karati and Kithu-
Un, N. Kikuyu
Homo sapiens I. ne Skulls of Wa-
kamba dug
up at Tzavo
Aulacodus swindere- | Temm. | Ngatana
nianus
Aulacodus gregorianus | Thos. Guaso Uini, N. Kikuyu
Hystrix galeata ts Various localities
Procavia shoana Gigl. Upper Alpine Zone, Kenya (Skull)
Equus boehmi Matschie| Thika-thika ; Njemps
Kobus defassa Riipp. Njemps
5, ellipsyprymnus Ogilby | Ngatana
fEpyceros melampus Licht. Njemps
Cervicapra arundineum | Bodd. a

1 Most of the remaining zoological collections have been described in separate papers.
(See App. A, pp. 387-388.)

GEOS> hy AND INDICES

“1 "3

aoa oe nae iy, “2 ade

ne , > 7 a - a a ae >
Me Uo en 7 a hake we a a Jah mo A a _— r
pe eee we meas ” i ee Pan %
: Br Pi Alar ead aan ‘ e,
stare ey i hee os Oe ay, : hs A
is, Pe ae
Hy

Cha : nN Wy ba el rn

eae ole Ou
as et Mee oa boa ni Laan
7 7 ran, . y ae On by i Bp "yun 1
Se RE ATs ry, We Aaaw Gant ia wid i ;
E Wise tS At eke Li py iret fi 7 :
ro ie as at : A Cah oon ite Finop =, ee : ms oe 7 Ry i
Are (fain? wt alee ‘ i a) 70 4 c Afi aA " BS) vy a me AFR a a iw i
é ha er, Sura Heart Oly Mm te kay Ws r 7 4 ORR) Ve > al as)
te, EUS Ce Ee ag ee A a? a
) a i we eax, Natit as ey Litas nae a be Hing iy a ae ee “ie ;
‘i Nee. ee » “ou Ss “,)
A ho an Polen |i \ ha ne 7 ; | oe
a a 7 - . < “ee a : uh e * Pie’ | 5 by asl pha a a ve i : wth 7 Pa Tce ‘4 z.
i f aaa rae ae \, me wiki i fue a 3 My , fie eh he Reno | y iL
7 a VAL Pu AR) 7 hy 7 i x a a ss Bai a
a ht ae ye are : aan s a ‘a An , 7 oye ieiy An cae att # ie i oe
: : j : : gt . a oan 2 {4 : a) ' ia . iy +

7 7 h = 7
2) ae reek is 7 om
roe <a aa.
7 Car i. - wer is 4 ae ra 7 >
~ a 7 “y a hate 4
gt | P 7 = Jes
a ee
7 bie 4 A, ° a
a a iy wi hi im
p Sa Sie: a @ i oo
i r : a ‘
| ; 4 . 7 ras ‘ : ae Xe
x ea) iT ae Pee Ve . Ue
a hs, 7.) te Ne Yeu ie Y fhe
4) : 7 e i : : vee. i ernie rt iy ae - he iy i Pre a ; : re t — i Bik.
a Ly Pp. DT Pel! ss dtd « le neve Ce. ae £ ee ee : Se -
7 Se Pane Pie sks : it) a OR! Te Se i A
mae 7 oy a >a f vt 7 ye fh! —_ ae], 7 Per Wer ih ‘dis a a
: cP mw ang 7 al aye ¥ = 1 t i 4 ner 7 age — NP Ue 2 ae
: : ie 7 7 oe "hme heh io (au a aN ae ° ra 9 oF a5 _. a
Las i aoe : 4 ae» : Ase Ay

ae at sata 7 ye

be
a ath « ro vn’ 4

+) ee ae
i > : 7 _
oe \ 7 , 7 e

| ii My Dh de eS
i iF F works L

3

ia
is Aes Mabie a

GLOSSARY OF NATIVE WORDS AND
| TECHNICAL TERMS

[Those which are explained in the context are excluded.

The following abbreviations

are used: Bot. =Botany; Geol. =Geology; Hind. =Hindustani ; Mt. = Mountain-

eering ; Suah. = Kisuahili]

A gelomerate (Geol.), a volcanic rock com-
posed of coarse blocks of lava and tuff
Alluvium (Geol.), a muddy deposit of
recent age, such as that which forms
river deltas and plains of rivers

Andesite (Geol.), a lava, intermediate in
character between basalt and trachyte.
There are many varieties. "The name was
given to them owing to their abundance
in the Andes

Aréte (Mt.), the ridge leading to the sum-
mit of a peak

Askari (Suah.), a sergeant in a caravan of
Zanzibari

Barra (Suah.), open grass-covered country,
in contradistinction to cultivated areas
and forests

Basalt (Geol.), a lava, dark in colour

_ (generally black), heavy in weight, and
containing a small percentage of silica

Bergschrund (Mt.), a great crevasse across
a glacier, generally occurring between
the unconsolidated snow (or névé) of the
collecting fields, and the solid ice of the
lower course

Boma (Suah.), a stockade or zeriba, gener-
ally made of thorn bush

Bwana (Suah.), master

Chit (Hind.), a paper, generally meaning
a cheque or promissory note

Col (Mt.), a high mountain pass

Corrie glacier (Geol.), a small glacier rest-
ing on a ledge on a mountain face

Cwm (Mt.), a type of valley

Domo (Suah.), a door, used also by Zanzi-
bari for a mountain pass

Lxosmosis (Bot.), the escape of water from
a cell by gradual passage through its
walls

Fault (Geol.), a break in the continuity of
a bed of rock by downward movement
on one side of a fracture

Ghee (Hind.), a native butter

Gnetss (Geol.), a rock composed of the
same minerals as granite (viz. quartz,
felspar, and mica), but in which these are
arranged in regular layers

Gogo (Masai), open grass steppes

Hongo (Suah.), tax levied by a tribe for
right of passage through their country
Hlornblende (Geol.), a dark-greenish or
brown mineral, the commonest of the
amphibole group. It is a constituent of

syenite, hornblende-schist, etc.

Zgneous (Geol.), a class of rocks formed at
high temperature, whether underground,
such as granite, or on the surface, such
as lavas

Jemadar (Hind.), native officer acting as
adjutant or sergeant-major to Indian
troops

Kanzu (Suah.), the long robe worn by
Arabs and better-class Suahili

Kiringozt (Suah.), the guide of a caravan

Kiroboto (Suah.), the name of the Arab
and Beluchi soldiers in the army of the
Sultan of Zanzibar

| Mastka (Suah.), a rainy season

410

Mau (Suah.), a canoe

Mhogo (Suah.), cassava, the root of native
arrowroot

Munipara (Suah.), a native headman

Mvita (Suah.), one of the native names of
Mombasa. The term means ‘‘battle”’

Obsidian (Geol.), a volcanic glass

Pegmatite (Geol.), an igneous rock which
occurs as dykes

Permo-Carboniferous (Geol.), the period in
the earth’s history in which were de-
posited the Mountain Limestone, the
Coal Measures, and the Magnesian Lime-
stones

Phonolite (Geol.), or ‘‘clinkstone,” a lava
the thin slabs of which are resonant when
struck

Porphyritic (Geol.), a term applied to
those igneous rocks in which one of the
constituents occurs in much larger crystals
than the rest

Posho (Suah.), a day's food allowance

Potiss (Suah.), a native food made of
boiled flour

Quartz (Geol.), rock crystal, the crystalline
form of silica, and one of the commonest
rock-forming minerals

Quartzsite (Geol.), a rock formed of granu-
lar quartz, generally formed by the
alteration of sandstones

Rhizome (Bot.), the creeping underground
stem of a plant

Roches Moutonnées (Geol.), rock surfaces
which have been rounded by the flow of
a glacier across them

Safari (Suah.), a journey or a caravan

Santdine (Geol.), a glassy mineral belong-
ing to the group of felspars found in
some lavas

GLOSSARY OF NATIVE WORDS

Schist (Geol.), a rock composed of alter-
nate layers of two different minerals.
The schists are produced by alteration
of other rocks; they are of considerable
geological antiquity, and are mostly
(according to some geologists, always)
of Archean age.

Sedimentary (Geol.), a group of rocks, in-
cluding those formed by the deposition
of sediments, such as limestones, clays,
sandstones, etc.

Shadda (Suah.), ten strings of beads, a
Suahili measure of value

Shale (Geol.), a rock composed of clay,
which splits readily into flakes

Shamba (Suah.), a plantation or cultivated
field

Shaurt (Suah.), a conference

Silica (Geol.), a compound of silicon and
oxygen, which occurs as quartz, flint,
etc., and in combination with other
materials in rocks

Taenda (Suah.), the order to ‘‘start”’

Talus (Geol.), loose, fallen material, that
collects at the foot of cliffs and in gorges

Trachyte (Geol.), a lava rich in silica

Transpiration (Bot.), the evaporation of
water from the surfaces of leaves

Traverse (Mt.), a term used in mountain-
eering for a climb across the face of a
slope from one ridge to another

Tuff (Geol.), a rock formed of small frag-
ments of volcanic ashes and lava

Waschenzit (Suah.), a term applied by
Zanzibari to up-country natives. It
means ‘‘savages.”’ It is sometimes used
in a more limited sense for a tribe near
Bagamoyo

Yambo (Suah)., the common Suahili

greeting

POE OL NUiHORS AND: PERSONS

AINSWORTH, J., 9, 84, 86, 176, 204, 237,
347, 348, 350, 376

Alison, Sir A., 378

Amalitzky, Prof. W1., 229

Anderson, H. J., 257

Ascherson, Dr. P. F. A., 240, 280

PSHE RE Vane Lees LO

Avanchers, Pere Léon des, 327, 332, 355

BAIN, A. G., 213
Baker; J; G., 280
E. G., 280, 389-392
Sir S. W., 2, 214, 278, 280, 316
Baldacci, L., 214
Bateman, C. S. L., 326
Bates, H. W., 133, 247, 278
Battel, Andrew, 325
Baumann, Oscar, 3, 214, 280, 316
Beker C-ndiey) S50
Bell, Prof. F. Jeffrey, 155
Benett-Stanford, J., 15, 23, 24, 32, 37,
41-44, 46, 56, 300
Benth J. dh337
Beyrich, Prof. H. E., 214
Blanford, Dr. W. T., 214, 238, 245
Bleek, W. H. I., 334, 355
Blundell, H. Weld, 242
Bocking, Rev. Herr, 30, 33
Bonney, Prof. T. G., 214
Borelli, Jules, 258, 326
Boteler, T., 326
Boulenger, G. A., 263
Brehme, 372
Brenner, R., 368
Britten, James, 280, 392, 396
Buckle, H. T., 317, 360
Burton) sin Rs He, 2575952; 235) 223, 204,
297, 322, 357
Buxton, Sir T. F., 377

CAMERON, V. L., 297, 322

Carruthers, J. B., 403
Wm., 291, 400

Carthew, Rev. Mr., 208

Casati, Major G., 326

GecchiwAy, 326

Chanler, Astor, 7, 143, 164, 205, 269

Charters, Dr. D5 77; (205, 206; 237, 347;
365

Glarke; (@> By 2404:

Comet) eid:

Coryndon, R. T., 267

Cumming, Gordon, 265

Cust Drs RaeNa oto

Czetwertynski, Prince Boris, 301

DALE, Sir Langham, 322

Day, F., 249

Decken, Baron C. C. von der, 7, 240, 280
Denhardt, Cl., 7, 146

Dent Gries

Dick, A., 206

Dixon, C., 247

Draper, J. W., 317

Drummond, Prof. Henry, 2, 298, 343
Dualla Idris, 358 (Pl. XX.)

Dundas, Capt. F. G., 164, 166
Dupont, E., 324

EBERT, T., 214

Edmonds, Rev. Mr., 31, 63, 65, 368, 370
Elliot, G. F. Scott, 214, 227, 280, 331, 376
Ellism@olwAl B.,.93

Emin Pasha, 143, 214, 284, 326, 332, 356
Engler, Prof. A., 280, 283

Erhardt, Rev. J., 316

Evans, Sir John, 324

BKyre, A., 267

FELKIN, Dr. R. W., 316 :

Fischer, Dr. Gustav, 2, 7, 8, 280, 316,
328, 342, 353

Fitzgerald, W. W. A., 44

Flower, Sir W. H., 274, 316, 332, 334

Foa, Edouard, 264

Britsch; (G:, 333

Fundi Mabruk, 79, 90, 113, I14, II5,
124, 148, 173-178, 188

A412 INDEX OF AUTHORS AND PERSONS

GAHAN, C. J., 274

Galton, Capt. F., 3

Gedge, E., 9, 240, 266, 316, 328, 343

Geikie, Sir Archibald, 216

Gepp, A., 290, 400-403

Gibson, Walcot, 214

Giraud, Lieut. V., 278 and Pl. I.

Gooch, W. D., 322

Grant, Col. J. A., 213

Grenfell, Rev. G., 326

Grey, Sir George, 322

Giinther, Dr. Alb., 80, 155, 239, 248, 249,
251, 256, 267

HAACKE, Dr. W., 245

Hall, Mr., 354

HMamyneh a BJs) 30332). 934:

Harris, G. F., 229

(Cajon, Wa (Cay S27s, See
W. H., 16, 30, 32, 37, 41-44, 46, 56, 363

Hart, sit. Cr 262

Hildebrandt, J. M., 214, 280, 316

Hobley, C. W., 9, 56, 60, 80, 164, 166,
173, 209, 230, 301

Hohnel, Lt. Ludwig von, viii., 3, 7, 8,
27 LAG, LA mel Ghee OA Sano,
200, 205, 214, 242, 266, 270, 280,
284, 316, 323, 352

Hooker, Sir Joseph D., 240, 280

Hore, Capt. E. C., 249

Howorth, Sir H. H., 268

Hull, Prof. Ed., 253, 257

Hunter, Capt. F. M., 357

Hyland, Dr. J. S., 214

IsN BATUTA, 52
Iyutha, 196

JACKSON, F. J., 9, 78, 89, 265, 269

Jephson, A. J. M., 356

Johnston, (Sir) H. H., 240, 280, 298, 316,
352, 354

Jousseaume, Dr., 324

Junker, Dr. W., 214, 326

KEANE, Prof. A. H., 317, 334, 335

Keltie, J. S., viii., 348

Kirby, W. F., 274

Kirk, Sir John, vii., 280

Kizizi, I2I, 125 J

KrapfReveyes (es, Wille, 75) O45 SLO, 32775
332, 342, 350, 368

LARTET, Prof. L., 257

Lewis, Prof. Henry Carvell, 173

Livingstone, D., 7, 135, 213, 214, 242

Lomweri, 125, 131, 133

Lovatelli, Count G., 16, 23, 32, 38

Lugard, Capt. F. D., 9, 72, 86, 91, 214,
316, 359

M‘DERMOTT, P. L., viii.

Macdonald, Major J. R.L.,9 «
Macfarlane, D., 380, 381
Mackay, Rev. A. M., 316
Mackinnon, Dr. A. D., 16, 31, 38, 41,
43-44, 89

Sir William, 52, 206, 207
M‘Mahon, Gen. C. A., 243
Macquarie, Mr., 14, 39
M‘Queen, James, 327
Madan, Rev. A. C., 316
Major, Dr. C. J. Forsyth, 252
Martin, James, 9, 56, 59, 92, I19, 207
Mathews, R. H., 334
Merensky, A., 318, 333
Meyer, Dr. Hans, viii., 176, 316
Miles, Capt. S. B., 357
Moloney, Dr. J. A., 209
Miiller, C., 280

J., 280
Murchison, Sir R. I., 2, 213
Mwini Mharo, 80, 312-314

NATHAN NYUKI, 190-192

Nelson, Capt., 84, 91

New, Rev. Charles, 240, 280, 316, 342,
356

Nzibu, 347

OLDHAM, R. D., 245

Oliver, J. W., 240, 280

Omari ben Hamadi, 40, 58, 69, 89, go,
93; 100) 1025) Ens, 48, L50); r57-
I59, 166, 183, 194, 198, 199, 202,
203, 209, 301, 303, 309

Oswell, W. C., 265

PATTISON, Mr., 77

Paulitschke, Dr. Phil, 223, 316, 325, 328,
356

Penning, W. H., 322

Peters, Dr. K., 9, 147, 164, 316

Petherick, J. and B. H., 248

Piepers, C., 274

Piggott, Je te Wen O38 LS 45 O Oss
173, 214, 298, 381

Portal, Sir G., 78, 80, 81, 364

Pringle, Major J. W., 9

Purkiss, J., 91-93

QUATREFAGES, Prof. A. de, 316, 326

KYUNDS IDids ah, Ce Sve

Ramathan Aperti, 75, 159, 330
Rankine, D. J., 316

Ratzel, Prof. F., 326, 333, 335
Ravenstein, E. G., 153, 164, 200, 348
Reade, Winwoode, 322

Rebmann, J., 7, 164

Reinish, Prof. L., 326, 359

Rendle, A. B., 280, 290, 396, 397-400
Richard, A., 280

Richthofen, Baron F. von, 216

INDEX OF AUTHORS AND PERSONS 413

Rusby Cm ba 6 s259 27332
Rogers, Capt. A. S., 14, 378
Rohlfs, Dr. G., 242

Rose, Gustav, 214

Rosiwal, Dr. A., 214

Roth, R., 214

Roy, Prof. C. S., 187

SADEBECK, A., 214
Sanderson, J., 322
Schlechter, Dr. R., 274
Schleicher, Dr. A. W., 357
Schlichter, Dr. H., 316, 325, 326, 332
Schweinfurth, Prof. G., 214, 280, 290,
316, 325, 326
Sclater, Dir Pe. (238,267,
scott, Prof W. 1B. 247
Seton-Karr, H. W., 324
Sharpe, Dr. R. B., 241, 276
Sheldon, M. French, 316
Sherifu ben Abdullah, 337-339
Smith, Andrew, 265
Miss A. L., 403-404
Dr. A. Donaldson, 258
Be AY, 255
Major Eric, 9, 89, 92, 107, 143, 207
J. Bell, 19, 45, 237, 370

Sokoni, 143
Speke, Capt. John Henry, 2, 7, 135, 213,
214, 316, 356

Stairs, Capt. W. G., 209, 280

Stanley, H. M., 2, 214, 249, 303, 316,
326, 331, 347, 359, 376

Steere, Rev. Ed., 316

Stephani, F., 280

Stuhlmann, Dr. Fr., 143, 214, 240, 280,
316, 326, 331, 332, 351

SUCSS MELO Fa Oy 204. 2055220, 237,
232, 252, 375

TATE, Prof. A. W., 376

Taylor, Rev. W. E., 51, 88, 280, 316,
328

Teall; J: J: Wi, 228

\
\

Teleki, Count Samuel, 3, 7, 8, 57, 84, 147,
£63, £65; 17%, 240, 240, 265; 266)
280, 308, 359

Menne Cs As, 204:

Thomas, Oldfield, 406

Thompson, R. Bird, 14, 23, 26, 28, 164,
173, 277, 328, 337, 339, 343, 345,
356, 370

Thomson, Jos., viii., 3,7, 8, 57,65, 66, 95,
PLO} 124, 127,) L290, Te5-136,, 1405
152, 153, 154, 165, 214, 249, 280,
297, 316, 354, 355

Thornton, R., 214, 228

Tichborne, Sir H., 15, 18, 20, 22, 32,
41, 42

Tiedemann, Lieut. von, 164

Tinto, Serpo, 333

Toula, Dr. F., 214

Tristram, Canon H. B., 261, 262

Tutschek, C., 328

VOLKENS, Dr. G., 240

WADI HAmis (Kiringozi), 104, 124, 128-
129) 50345 300

Wadi Sadi, 170

Wakefield, Rev. T., 7, 316

Wallace, Dr. A. Russell, 245

Wasama, Aja Achmet, 23, 38, 41, 358
(Pl. XX.)

Watson, Mr., 77, 79, 206, 273

Weaver, Mr., 45

Werner, J. R., 278

Whymper, Ed., 185-187, 243, 247

Williams, Major, 107, 119, 143, 232, 357

Willoughby, Sir J., 56

Wilson, Rev. C. T., 316

Syn, Wop ese
George, 72, 91, 206, 365, 377

Wissmann, Major H. von, 214, 326

Wolf, L., 214, 326

Wood, Sir Evelyn, 302

Wiirtz, Rev. F., 33, 328, 339, 343) 344, 345

ZITTEL, Prof. K. von, 242

[INDEX ORE OC Air Ss?

ABABA MTS., 223

Abbaja, L., 258

Aberdare Mts. (see Settima), 152-154

Abyssinia, 223, 240, 248, 259-262, 291,
359

Afar, 259, 260

Akiluma (39.42 E., 3-28 S.), 208

Albert Nyanza, or Mwutan Nzige (31.0 E.,
2.0 N.), 2, 232, 233, 258-259, 284, 326

Alng’aria (36.20 E., 0.10 N.), 151

Andes, 242, 247

Arabah Wadi, 256-258, 259

Athi (38.22 E., 3.0 S.), 9, 90, 200, 202, 248

BARDERAH (42.20 E., 2.18 N.), 7

Baringo, L. (36.6 E., 0.43 N.), 2, 127,
136, 232, 236, 258, 260, 265, 266, 278,
288, 326

Basso Ebor=L. Stephani (37.0 E., 44.0
Na) Sone

Basso Narok=L. Rudolf (36.0£., 3.0N.),
2, 8, 9, 131, 231, 232, 233, 242, 258,
284

Bechuanaland, 242, 333

Belezoni Canal (40.20 E., 2.33 S.), 31

Blantyre, 372

Bondoni (37.16 E., 1.40 S.), 364

Boo, El, or Baro (see Baringo), 332

Borabini, or Golbanti (40.8 E., 2.28 S.),
31, 34, 44, 284

Borana (38.0 E., 4.0 N.), 13, 17

Bura Mts. (38.21 E., 3-24 S.), 223

Burnt Island, 357

Butchuma (39.1 E., 3-44 S.), 67

Bwinzau (37.53 E-, 2-17 S.), 79, 223

CAMEROON MTs., 240, 326

Cape of Good Hope, 242, 243
Ceylon, 245

Chamgamwe (39.38 E., 4.2 S.), 222

Changabuba (37.13 E., 0.48 S.), 198, 224

Chanjavi (37.16 E., 1.9 S.), 200, 202

Chanjega (37.8 E., 0.44 S.), 196

Charra (40.18 E., 2.33 S.), 31, 284

Chibchangnani (35.27 E., 0.56 N.), 131,
259

Chimborazo, 242, 243

Comstock, 375

Congo, 214, 228, 324, 326, 376

Coroa Mombaza (39.42 E., 3.59 S.), 208

Cyprus, 223

DAGORETI (36.41 E., 1.14 S.), 73, 91

Darwin Glacier (37.29 E., 0.14 S.), 173

Dibbe (40.8 E., 2.20 S.), 33

Dika. See Thika-thika

Doenyo lol Daika (37.10 E., 0.20 N.), 146,
224

Dondole Mts. (36.21 E., 0.20 S.), 108

Drakenberg Mts., 223

Dsundsa (40.5 E., 2.24 S.), 34

Dufilé, 284

Duruma country (39.25 E., 3.55 S.), 64

EGERI, DOENYO= Kenya, 142

Biassi, L., 3

Elgeyo (35.35 E., 0.40 N.), 125

Elgon (m.) (34.36 E., 0.56 N.), 9, 233,
240, 259, 290

Elmetaita (36.16 E., 0.25 S.), 107, 108

Equator Peak (36.5 E., 0.), 109

Erythrean R., 258-259

Esdraelon Gap, 253, 256

Etwa (37.32 E., 1.45 S.), 83

FOREL GLACIER (37.29 E., 0.14 S.), 173,
ISI
Fort Smith (36.44 E., 1.15 S.), 91-93
Freretown (39.42 E., 4.3 S.), 208, 381
| Fuladoya (39.39 E., 3-25 S.), 208

1 Owing to the confusion existing in respect to East African geographical names, the longitude

and latitude of localities in British East Africa is given.
as a contribution to a complete index of British East African place-names.

It is hoped that the list will thus be of use
In the case of rivers

the latitude and longitude are given either for the mouth (m.) or for the principal ford (f-)

INDEX OF LOCALITIES 415

Fungozambo (40.39 E., 2.20 S.), 2I, 23

GEITAITA (37.6 E., 0.36 S.), 190, 192

GilgiliRes ((¢6924Et8(0:36)S.),. 206, 207,
323

Giriama (39.45 E., 3.30 S.), 207-208, 280

Givoni (37.22 E., 1.39 S.), 85

Golbanti (40.8 E., 2.28S.), 31, 371

Gonjeni (39.34 E., 3.58 S.), 63

Goyito, 152-154

HEIM GLACIER (37.29 E., 0.14 S.), 173;
181

Himalaya, 243, 245

Hobley Valley (37.31 E., 0.14 S.), 173,
180

Hohnel, Mount (37.28 E., 0.16 S.), 172-
174

Hohnel, Lake and Valley, 173

IGETI (37.4 E., 0.56 S.), 364

Ilyaini R. (m.) (37.26 E., 0.44 S.), 195

India, Central and S., 234, 245, 261

Ithamba (37.14 E.,.0.56 S.), 224

Iuni (37.20 E., 1.41 S.), 205

Iveti Mts. (37.20 E., 1.40 S.), 81-86, 205,
224, 227, 289, 347

JALUD, 255

Java, 245

Jilore (39.50 E., 3:8'S.), 277
Jordan R., 249, 256, 259, 260-262
Juba R., 7

KAHAMISI (39.38 E., 3.9 S.), 208

Kajabe (36.35 E., 0.53 S.), 97

Kakuak Mts., 258

Kamasia (35.47 E., 0.28 N.), I10, 120,
136-138, 231

Kamasia, L. (extinct), 235

Kambu R. (38.3 E., 2.34 S.), 206

Kapte Plains (37.0 E., 1.20 S.), 88-91,
205, 215-218, 224, 230, 266, 270, 323

Karagwe (31.15 E., 2.0S.), 228, 234

Karati (37.4 E., 0.34 S.), 196

Kariandusi R. (f.) (36.19 E., 0.27 S.),
I07, 108

Karroo, 229

Karthuri (37.4 E., 0.49 S.), 158

Kasai, 326

Kau (40.28 E., 2.28 S.), 20, 32, 368

Kavaluki (37.21 E., 1.24 S.), 203, 348

Kedong, Guaso (36.35 E., 1.5 S.), 94, 232,
233, 323

Kenya Mt. (37.30 E., 0.14 S.), 7, 8, 151,
162-188, 224, 232, 235, 240, 243-244,
267, 272, 283, 290, 291, 294, 296, 332

Kibibi, L. (36.10 E., 0.4 N.), 109, 323

Kibo, 78, 233

Kiboko, Mt. (37.44 E., 2.12 S.), 80, 364

Kibwezi (37.56 E., 2.25 S.), 76-78, 205,
224, 273, 371

Kikumbuliyu (38.0 E., 2.30S.), 76, 233,
347

Kikuyu (36.50 E., I.0S.), 91-93, 220, 232,
271,270, 283; 285, 323), 35

Kilima Njaro (m.), 7, 78, 163-164, 176,
224, 233, 235, 240, 241, 243, 272, 280,
291, 294, 296, 372

Kilindini (40.0 E., 4.4.S.), 51, 55

Kiloluma= Upper Tana (37.30 E., 0.40
S.), 199

Kilungu (37.30 E., 1.45 S.), 81-83

Kinangop (36.30 E., 0.40 S.), 152-154

Kinani (38.16 E., 2.47 S.), 75, 207

Kipini (40.30 E., 2.32 S.), 20

Kirimanda R. (m.) (40.28 E., 2.29 S.), 32

Kiroruma R. = Kiloluma, 199

Kisauni=Freretown, 237, 285

Kismayu (42.40 E., 0.15 S.), 13, 14

Kithunguli (37.6 E., 0.41 S.), 195

Kithu-Uri (37.13 E., 0.47 S.), 196

Kitui, in Ukamba (38.6 E., 1.0 S.), 163

Kitui, in Kikuyu (37.7 E., 0.43 S.), 196

Koma (37.15 E., 1.18 S.), 88

Kornu (37.4 E., 0.38 S.), 196

Kulall Mt. (36.40 E., 2.35 N.), 224

Kurawa (40.8 E., 2.40 S.), 273

Kwazome (37.24 E., 1.38 S.), 85, 227

Kyulu Mts. (37.50 E., 2.40 S.), 82, 233,
235

LADO, 233, 259, 284

Lagobuya, L. (39.44 E., 3.10 S.), 208

Laikipia (37.30 E., 0.), 9, 146-156, 161-
162, 184, 218, 231, 266, 268, 280, 288,
308

Lamu (40.54 E., 2.16 S.), 13-15, 285, 337,
371

Larabwal (36.15 E., 0.20 N.), 149

Lari lol Morjo (36.25 E., 0.8 N.), 151

Latuk Mts., 258

Leadville, 375

Lebanon, 259

Lekakisera (34.36 E., I.30 N.), 233

Levant, 252

Lewis Glacier (37.30 E., 0.14 S.), 173, 177

Loango, 325

Lobat (36.4 E., 0.40 N.), 131, 323

Lokenya (37.5 E., 1.29 S.), 88, 202

Lolbogo (36.8 E., 0.20 N.), 134

Loldibo Mt. (36.45 E., 2.6 N.), 224

Longari, Doenyo (36.57 E., 0.29 S.), 156

Longeyu lol Mwaru (36.21 E., 0.14 N.),
150

Longonot Mt. (36.27 E., 0.54 S.), 94, 97-
98, 233, 235

Lorian, L. (39.25 E., 1.0 N.) 7

Loroghi Mts. (36.34 E., 1.0 N.), 146, 224

Losuguta, IL. (36.8 E., 0.15 N.), 7, I10-
II5, 269, 323

Lubikwe, Doenyo (35.44 E., 0.32 N.), 137

Lugurumut, Doenyo (36.6 E., 0.16 N.),
IIo

416
Luiji Reru (37.5 E., 0.35 S.), 190
Lukrum (36.7 E., 0.31 N.), 127

MACHAKOS (37.18 E., 1.31 S.), 86, 204,
227, 348, 371

Madagascar, 229

Magarini Hills (40.0 E., 3.4 S.), 45, 229,
378

Magogoni R. (40.28 E., 2.28 S.), 26

Mait, 357

Maji Chumvi (39.26 E., 3.52 S.), 65

Maji Moto (36.5 E., 0.20 N.), 116

Maka (37.20 E., 1.49 S.), 205, 348, 364

Makongeni (39.36 E., 3.8 S.), 207

Makupe (39.40 E., 4.2 S.), 60

Malay Peninsula, 245

Malewa (36.26 E., 0.40 S.), 105

Malili (37.15 E., 1:44 S.), 202

Mambrui (40.7 E., 3.6 S.), 45, 318, 378

Manda I. (40.56 E., 2.16 S.), 15, 346

Mangea Mt. (39.40 E., 3-16 S.), 208

Manyara, 3

Maranga (37.10 E., 0.44 S.), 192, 196

Marareni, 44, 285

Marmanett Berge (36.24 E., 0.10 N.), 151

Maseras or Gonjeni (39.34 E., 3.58 S.), 63

Mashonaland, 337

Masongaleni (38.0 E., 2.32 S.), 76, 347

Mataliko (Kambu) (38.3 E., 2.34 S.), 206

Matthews Mts. (37.20 E., I.30 N.), 224

Matumbato, 74, 363

Mau (36.5 E., 0.30 S.), 220, 283, 290

Maungu (33.46 E., 3.39 S.), 67-68

Mawenzi, 235

Mawiza Matattu (38.52 E., 3.39 S.), 68

Mbololo or Ndi Mt. (38.28 E., 3.23 S.),
69-71

Melindi (40.6 E., 3.12 S.), 24, 378

Merifano (40.1 E., 2.18 S.), 264, 363

Meru Mt., 8

Mesuri (35.47 E., I.25 N.), 131

Meza, Kilima (36.22 E., 0.25 S.), 108

Mkindu R. (37.47 E., 2.16 S.), 78-80

Mkonumbi (40.44 E., 2.18 S.), 15, 18,
299

Mombasa (39.40 E., 4.3 S.), 45-61;
history of, 51-55, 208, 227, 229, 280,
Zot weQoN 375

Mossaro, 326

Mothambi R.
198

Motito Wakalia (38.8 E., 2.42 S.), 207

Mtoto wa Ande (38.8 E., 2.41 S.), 76, 206

Mudoleto R. (36.8 E., 0.20 S.), 134

Mumoni (37.50 E., 0.40 S.), 80, 347

Murendat R. (36.26 E., 0.40 S.), 105

Musaniya R. (33.0 E., 1.30 N.), 232

Muwali, Wadi el, 254-255

Mvita= Mombasa, 52

Mwachi R. (39.31 E., 3-56 S.), 363

Mwaiba, or Kamlekeni (39.40 E., 3.34 S.),
208

(37-005 (Es) ©1418 1S5), ozs

INDEX OF LOCALITIES

Mwangudo R. (39.39 E., 3.27 S.), 208
Mwaru, Doenyo lol (36.19 E., 0.15 N.),

149

NAGUT, GUASO (m.) (36.15 E., 0.24S.),
108 :
Nairobi, Guaso (f.) (36.58 E., 0.32 S.), 157

Nairotia (36.38 E., 0.14 S.), 329

Naivasha, L. (36.24 E., 0.44 S)., 28, 98-
104, 154, 231, 233, 258, 265, 363

Nakuro, L. (36.9 E., 0.20 S.), 107

Nandi Mts. (34.40 E., 0.20 N.), 227

Narok, Guaso (36.30 E., 0.1 S.), 152-154

Narol Gwinia (36.46 E., 0.20 S.), 155

Narua, Guaso el (36.18 E., 0.16 N.), 149

Natron, L., 28

Ndara (38.33 E., 3-32 S.), 68

Ndawi, 206

Ndeo (38.9 E., 1.15 S.), 44

Ndi Mt. (38.28 E., 3.22 S.), 69-71

Ndoro (37.5 E., 0.20 S.), 161, 163

Ndow R. (36.0 E., 0.30 N.), 127

Ngai, Doenyo, 8, 235

Ngao (40.8 E., 2.24 S.), 30, 33, 229, 278

Ngatana (40.1 E., 2.14 S.), 27-30, 35-44,
190, 265, 275, 277, 299

Ngomeni (38.22 E., 2.36 S.), 207

Ngongo Bagas (36.42 E., 1.18 S.), 351

INFeabl (247,27) 155 OS Sh)h Si

Ngusagari (36.10 E., 0.24 N.), 148

Nianam R., 258

Nile, 233, 235, 248, 255, 258-259, 260-
262

Njemps Mdogo (36.4 E., 0.31 N.), 117-
125, 134, 136, 138-145, 265, 354

Njemps Mkubwa (36.3 E., 0.35 N.), 126

Njoro Larabwal (36.14 E., 0.22 N.), 149

Nyasa, L., 2, 231, 248

Nyika (39.0 E., 3.0 S.), 64

Nyiri, L. (38.10 E., 2.34 S.), 74, 363

Nyiro, or Nyuri, Guaso (36.50 E., 0.26S.),
154, 155

Nyuki, Doenyo (36.34 E., I1.0S.), 95, 233,
235

Nyuki, Guaso (m.) (36.8 E., 0.28N.), 144

INZa0in (37432) Bs, 1855, Sa) OL e2O5 od c,
364

Ono R. and Valley, 258-259

Ongalea Mts. (38.10 E., 3.0S.), 223

(OVA IRS (ioe) (Chee) 5, AES! Ke)), elo, Soe
S227 7 S08

PALESTINE, 231, 251-255, 260-262
Pangani, 21

Paragara R. (36.10 E., 0.25 N.), 148
Ratta 1: (45510) E512.0)S)),9337,

Pemba (39.45 E., 5.0 S.), 346
Phonolite Cwm (37.27 E., 0.15 S.), 173
Point Piggott (37.29 E., 0.13 S.), 181
Poroporo (39.41 E., 3.24 S.), 208

Port Reitz (39.37 E., 4.3 S.), 55

INDEX OF EOCALITIES 417

RANGATAN BUSI (36.20 E., 0.15 S.), 155
Rangatan Ndari (36.32 E., 0.12 S.), 155
Rangatan Nyuki (35.25 E., 0.30 N.), 224
Red Sea, 258, 262

Rhodes I., 252

Ribé (39.39 E., 3.54 S.), 208

Ruwenzori Mt., 108, 143, 227, 240

SABAKIR. (m.), 9, 207, 228, 229, 248-276,
284, 325, 375

Salisbury, L. (34.0 E., 1.24 N.), 232

Salt R., 81

Saté, El, 256, 257, 259

Semliki Valley (30.0 E., 1.0 N.), 235

Settima Mt. (36.34 E., 0.36 S.), 7, 146,
152-154, 184, 189, 235, 272

Shella (40.54 E., 2.17 S.), 13

Shimba Mts. (39.30 E., 4.10 S.), 55, 64

Shoa, 327

Sinai, 261-262

Sinikumbe (39.44 E., 3.23 S.), 208

Snake R., 215

Sobat Pass (36.4 E., 0.40 N.), 323

Sofala, 229

Sokoki (39.44 E., 3.24 S.), 208

Somaliland, 229, 259, 261, 262, 265, 324,
357

Somite, 33

Soudan, 242, 336

Subugu (36.22 E., 0.6 S.), 146, 151, 154,
328

Suess, L., 232, 233, 235

Suez, 251

Sukut (36.20 E., 1.40 N.), 128, 146

Summuran (36.10 E., 0.24 N.), 134

Suswa, Doenyo (36.25 E., I.10 S.), 94,

233

TAITA MTs. (38.30 E., 3.30 S.), 9, 68,
223, 247, 289

Tana R., 9, 27-32, 36, 198-200, 248, 276,
277, 284, 342, 373

Tanganyika, L., 2, 5, 248, 249, 296

Taro (39.11 E., 3.46 S.), 65-66, 227, 228

Teleki Valley and Ridge and Tarns, 171-

172, 175

Teleki Volcano (36.20 E., 2.16 N.), 235

Thegu, Guaso (37.2 E., 0.25 S.), 161

Thelphusa Swamp (36.32 E., 0.14 S.),
155, 329

Thika-thika R. (m.) (37.25 E., 0.44 S.),
199, 265, 266, 271

Thiriati (37.8 E., 0.44 S.), 196

Tigirish R. (36.3 E., 0.35 N.), 126

Tuntum, 193, 195

Turquell R. (35.16 E., 2.0 N.), 232, 258

Tututha (37.21 E., 1.38S.), 85

Two Tarn Col (37.284 E., 0.14 S.), 180

Tyndal Glacier (37.29 E., 0.14 S.), 173,
181

Mzavol(S8i28iEs 7 S5l Ss), 731 207m S75

UINI, GUASO (37.6 E., 0.35 S.), 192
Ujiji, 5 ,
Ukamba, (38.0 E., 1.0S.), 285, 347
Ukamba, German E. Africa, 347
Unyamwezi, 296

Ururi, 152, 154

Usambara, 283

Usoga, 376

VICTORIA NYANZA, 3, 231, 233, 250, 258-
259

WoisRa(38533)3,) 3:5: 5.) 09

Voroni (37.25 E., 1.6 S.), 198, 200

Vuju (40.1 E., 2.14 S.), 27, 35-44, 284

WADELAI, 233, 259

Wa-kilome (37.20 E., 1.49 S.), 205
Warabo Valley (39.40 E., 3.30 S.), 208
Wasagu, 346

Weweini (36.10 E., 0.52 N.), 131

White Mts., 242

Witu (40.30 E., 2.22 S.), 18-26, 33, 374

YATTA, or Ndungu (38.30 E., 2.40S.), 68
Yosemite Canon, 220

ZAMBEZI R., 248, 326, 333
Zimbabwe, 337

Zuai Lakes, 258

Zuni (37.28 E., 1.43)S:), 85, 227

2E

SUBJECT

ABYSSINIANS, 16, 40, 41, 359-361
Alpine flora—
methods of distribution of,
245, 246
of Elgon, 240
of Kenya, 169, 241, 291
of Kilima Njaro, 240
of Ruwenzori, 240
Alpine zone, 291
Antelope, sable, 67
Madoqua, 116
shooting, 139
Anthropology of British East Africa—
Bantu races, 336-351
circumcision, 351, 352
classification of African races, 322
colonisation, 337
influence of climatic and geological con-
ditions, 316-320
literature, note on, 316
migrations in East Africa, 362-369
miscegenation and hybrid races, 319
Negrillo races, 325-334
Negro races, 334-351
Negroid races, 351-356
prehistoric races, 322-325
stone implement-using people, 322-325
See also Abyssinians, Galla, Kikuyu,
Masai, Njempsians, Pygmy races,
Somali, Suahili, Wa-giriama, Wa-
kamba, Wanderobbo, Wa-pokomo,
Wa-taita
Arabs, wish to buy cartridges, 122
introduce fruit-trees, 286
their sense of truth, 123-124
train Zanzibari, 296
suffer by suppression of slavery, 379

241-242,

BAMBOO zone, 290

jungles of, on Kenya, 167
Bantu, distribution of, 335

group based on language, 336
Barometer, a useful, 92
Beheading of river valleys, 250, 253-254
Belezoni Canal, 31-32

INDEX

Birds, of mountain summits, 241, 276
of Tana Valley, 276
destroyed by drought, 276
Borabini, Methodist mission at, 31 ; alarm
at, 34
Botany—
collections of plants, list of, 389-405
flora of British East Africa, 280-295 ;
general characters of, 281-282; de-
fences adopted by, 292-293
’ general distribution, 283-292
influence of geology on, 294-295
literature of, 230
of coast plains, 281, 283-285
of foot-hills, 286
of mountain forest zone, 290
of Nyika, 286-289, 295
See also Alpine flora, Bamboo, Bracken,
Casuarina, Dragon-tree, Euphorbias,
Groundsels, Lobelias, Mangroves,
Palms
Bracken on Mt. Ndi, 71
Bridge built, 115
British East Africa, exploration of, 7-9
British East African Company, 54, 55
British East African Association, 54
Brussels Convention, 122
Buffalo, former abundance of, 265
destroyed by disease, 266
seen by author, 265
Bushmen, affinities of, 333-334
drawing of Burchell’s rhinoceros by,
267

CAIRNS, ancient, 325
Camels, character of, 37
Camp regulations at night, 75
Casuarina (she-oak), 237, 285
Cattle-plague, 139, 266
Clicks, 328, 331
Climate, 370-372

changes in African,

318
death-rate, 370-371
of East Africa, 62

242, 244 - 246,

SUBJECT INDEX

Colobus monkey, 166 ; use of its colora-
tion, 272

Coloration, influence of specific heat, 273

protective, of Colobus monkey, 272 ; of

zebra, 272; of insects, 272-275

Concord in Suahili, 340

Cony (AHyrax or Procavia), 168

Coral rocks of Mombasa Island, 55

Cost of expeditions, 57

Crabs, land, 155

Crocodile, 115, 126, 133, 263; danger
and power of, 277-279; size of, 278

Crocodile River (Palestine), 252

DAGORETI, history of fort, 73, 91
Darwin's comparison of African and South
American mammals, 264
Dead Sea, former outlet from, 256-262
Deserter found, 69
Disease, animals destroyed by, 266
Distribution, Biological—
Abyssinian molluscan fauna, 260
apparently contradictory evidence of
different groups, 238; explanation
thereof, 238-239
Cameroonian sub-region, 241
Dead Sea birds and butterflies, 260-261 ;
plants, 261
Ethiopian fish fauna, its remarkable
distribution, 248-251 ; explanation of,
255-262
importance of fresh-water fish, 248-249
influence of glacial climates, 242-246
mountain floras, two types of, 247
problems of distribution, 237-262, 294,
295
Red Sea and Mediterranean faunas, re-
lations of, 251-253; explanation of
differences, 252-255
Sinai flora, Ethiopian affinities of, 262
Wallace and Haacke’s theory of northern
origin of life, 245-247
Doko. See Pygmy tribes
Dragon-tree (Dracena), 196, 289
Drill, Zanzibari, 74
Drought, animals destroyed by, 268

EAST AFRICA, economic products of, 373-
374
economic prospects of, 373-383
Scottish Mission, 76-78, 205-206
Eclipse of sun, a hidden, and its conse-
quences, 84
Eggs, the native view of, 82
Elephants, a long chase after, 264
damage done by, 271
migrations of, 264
paths on Kenya, 167
tracks of, 157
El Saté, ridge of, 257-258
Erythrean River assumed, 257-262
Esdraelon Gap, its origin, 253-255

419

Euphorbias, two types of, 288
Expedition to Lake Rudolf—
advance guard sent to Ngatana, 26
aims of, 15-17
change of plan, 13
conference at Witu, 32
equipment, 16-17
first march, 18
lands at Lamu, 14
leader leaves it, 38
returns to Mombasa, 43-46
troubles at Witu and Fungozambo,
22-25
warned not to approach Juba, 43
watched by Fumo Omari, 30, 42

FAMINE at Njemps, 117-122, 139
dear food, 144
plans considered in consequence, 143-
144
Faults, referred to, 93
defined, 409
Fire camp, attempt to, 202
Fire-sticks, competition with, 201
Fish fauna, the Ethiopian—
explanation suggested, 255-259
Gunther’s theory of its origin, 249-250
its distribution and occurrence in Pales-
tine, 248-251
Fish of Kibwezi, 78
Flamingoes, 108, 276
Flata, colonial habit, 273-276
Foot-hills, flora of, 286
of Kamasia, march across, 137
of Laikipia, 149
zone of, 222
Foot plateau, 224
Ford, an awkward, 85
of Athi, go
of Karati, 196
of Malewa, 105-105
of Tana, 198
of Thika-thika, 201
of Voi, 69 :
Forest belt of Kenya, 166-168
Fossils in East Africa, 60
accumulations of bones, 268

GALLA, 356
history of, 367-369
numbers of, 368

Geology—
Archean series, 227
Block Mountains, 220-221
Carboniferous series, 64, 65, 228
comparative sequence, 225, 226
Deccan Traps, 216
Doenyan series, 231, 235
earth-movements, recent date of, 221;

influence of, on the people, 318

eruptions, three types of, 219
fissure eruptions, 215-219

420

SUBJECT INDEX

Geology—
fossils at Chamgamwe, 60; of Sabaki, 207
geographical zones, 222-225
glacial geology, 232, 244 ; evidence for,
at Cape Colony, 243
history, 226-236 ; summary of three divi-
sions, 234; table of, 235
Jurassic series, 229
Kamasia foot-hills, 137
’ Kaptian series, 230, 235
Karagwe series, 228
Laikipian series, 231, 235
lakes and terraces, 94, 232
lava plains, 88-89, 215-218
literature on, 214
Magarini Sands, 229
moraines of Kenya, 168-177
Murchison’s theory, 213
Naivasha series, 235
Nyasan series, 231, 233, 235
of Kenya, 175
physical geography, 222-225
plateau eruptions, 215-219
Rift Valley, 219-220
Sabaki shales, 228
sketch-map of, 217
Snake River lava plains, 216
stone implements, 236
Triassic beds, 229
volcanic rock sequence, 235
volcanic series, 230-231, 233, 235
Giraffe destroyed by disease, 266
Glaciers of Kenya, 173, 177
Gnu destroyed by disease, 266
Groundsels, tree, 291
Guide, a Kikuyu, 196
a primitive but trustful Njemps, 125-
126, 130
a starved Laikipian, 141-142, 145, 154;
his fate, 156
a Suahili, 33

HEADMAN, qualifications required in, 58
Hippopotamus, I15, 133
killed by lions, 271
Hohnel, Mount, ascent of, 174
Hongo, 99
Hot springs, 116
Hyenas in camp, 197

Icr, Zanzibari first experience of, 170
Insect coloration, 275-276
mimicry, 273-275

JORDAN LAKE, outlet from, by Esdraelon
Gap, 253-256
by Wadi Arabah, 256-262

KENYA, discovery of, 164
exploration of, 162-184
first view of, 151
names of, 162

Kikuyu, affinities of the tribe, 352
experiences with, 91
meet a party of Kikuyu refugees, 201
superstitions, 189, I9g0, I9I, 194, 197-
198
the tribe, 351-353
trouble with, near Kenya, 157-161
trouble with, 189-197
wars of, 92
Kilima Njaro, view of, 78
Kilungu, unfriendly behaviour of natives
of, 82-84
Kiroboto, uselessness of, 73
Kisuahili, 339-342

LABOUR supply in East Africa, 372, 376-
381
Laikipia, ascent on to, 149
exploration of, 146-147
geology of, 231
march across, 146-161
Lake Baringo, 127-136
Elmetaita, 108
Kibibi, 10g
Losuguta, I1I-113
Naivasha, 98-105
Rudolf, 131
Suess, 94
Lake Chain of East Africa, 2-5
Lakes, two types of African, 3
Lamu, scenery of, 15
Language of Suahili, 339-342
Lava plains, 88-89
Lead mine, 63
Legends and traditions, evidence of, 5, 34
Levant, formerly land, 252
Lions, 89, 139, 140
abundance of, 265
attack camp, I50-I51
exaggerated powers of, 271
kill hippopotamus, 271
Lobelias, tree, 291
Lualaba series, 228

MAMMALS, African, 263-264
accumulations of fossil bones, 268
causes of, 265, 269
influence of disease, 266
list of, 406
numbers reduced, 265

Mangroves, 285

March, rate of, 209

Masai, affinities, 354
attack on Kikuyu, 201
first meeting with, 96
Fort Smith threatened by, 93
habits, 353
night attempt, 104
origin of, 362
previous descriptions of, 353, 354
raiding party met, 205
raids of, 363-367

SUBJECT INDEX 421

Masai, tracks of war-parties, 75-79

unfriendly behaviour of, at Naivasha,

98-105

war dances, 102

Wilson attacked by, 72
Melanism, a case of, 78
Methods of distribution, 257
Mimicry, insect, 273-275
Mineral resources and predictions, 374-

376

Mohammedanism, Somali, 40, 368

Suahili form of, 338-339
Mombasa, arrival at, 43-46

departure from, 60

fort built, 53

history of, 52-55

position and scenery, 51-52, 55

preparations at, 56-59

return to, 208-209
Moraines of Kenya, 168, 177
Mountain ascents—

Etwa, 83

Givoni, 85

Kenya, 162-188

Longonot, 97

Mbololo or Ndi, 71

Meza, Kilima, 108

Mt. Hohnel, 174

Mwaru, Doenyo lol, 149

Nyuki, Doenyo, 95

South aréte of Kenya, 179

Tututha, 85

Voroni, 200

West aréte of Kenya, 181
Mountain forest zone, 290
Mountain sickness, 175, 178, 185-188

NATIONAL migrations, 333, 337, 346, 347,
362
Negrillo races, 325, 334
Negro races, 334-351
meanings of the term Negro, 335
Negroid races, 351-356
Ngao, Lutheran mission at, 30, 34
Ngurunga or water-holes, 66
Nile, former sources of, 259
Njemps, arrival at, 117
famine at, I17-122, 139
stay at, II
Njempsians, Wa-kauvi or Wa-kwafi, 119,
125
affinities, 355
theory of origin, 354
Nyika, 222, 223, 224
entered, 64
flora of, 286-289, 295
scenery described, 65
See Wa-nyika

Omo RIVER, problem of, 258
Ostriches, 116

PALMS, coco-nut, 284
date, 285
Hypheene, 242, 284
Palmyra, 284
Place-names, native, 87
Pokomo. See Wa-pokomo
Porter lost, 152
Porters, collapse, 169, 183-184, 189
quarrel with, at Voi, 69
some of them mutiny, 128-130
sulk at Bwinzau, 79
Portuguese in East Africa, 52-55, 337-338
Primitive mountain axis, 222, 223
Problems of African exploration, difficulty
of, 1-2
Pronunciation of native names, rule for, x.
Proverbs, native, quoted, 11, 17, 47, 88,
155, 189, 237, 362
Puff-adder, 69
Pygmy tribes—
Akka, 332
ancient reports of, 325-326
Doko representatives of
account of, 329-334
Negrillo or Negrito? 332-334
possibly related to Bushmen, 333-334
reported in British East Africa, 326-328
Wanderobbo, 328, 331
wide distribution of, 326

this group,

RANGATAN, 222, 224, 225
flora of, 289
Return to Machakos, 204
Rhinoceros, two-horned (2. ézcornis), 110,
202
adventures with, 113, 270
character of, 266, 267
habits of, 269
square-mouthed or Burchell’s (2. szvzs),
266; Bushman drawing of, 267;
allied species on Laikipia (2. holm-
woodt), 267
Rift Valley, first view of, 93
formation of, 220, 231, 233-234
history of exploration of, 7-9
interest of, 5-6
march along, 93-147
topography of, 2-6
Rills of moon, 6
River systems, changes in African, 248-
262
Rudolf, Lake, nearest point reached, 131
See Expedition to Lake Rudolf

SERVAL, 27
Settima and Aberdare Mts., their structure,
152-155
She-oak (Casuarina), 237, 285
Siyu, origin of people of, 338
Slavery in East Africa, 377-382
Snakes, puff-adder collected, 69
rash capture of a Dendraspis, 80

422

Snow-craft, notes on, 185
Snow-fields, 291
Snow-storm, first, 169
Somali, character of, 357-359
first experience of, 10
history of, 357
one runs amuck, 92-93
raids and encroachment of, 363-366, 369
the escort prove troublesome, 20, 22,
23, 29, 40, 46-47
Songs and verses, native, quoted, 51, 107
Specific heat and insect coloration, 275-276
Spirits, native legends of, 71, 188, 197-198
Stone implements, 322-325, Fig. 19
Suahili, conflict with Portuguese, 338
introductions of Arab influence, 337
language, 339-342
origin of, 336-337
religion, 338-339
supposed sterility in intermarriage, 339

Taira hill-paths, 70
Tana, canoeing on, 30, 34-35
the water turns red, 36
Tanganyika, discussion as to outlet from,
249
Temborari or coastal plain, 222
flora of, 283-285
Temperature on Kenya, 176, 182
Thika-thika, exploration of, 199-201
Topography of Kenya, 171-173
Transpiration, methods of reducing, in
African desert plants, 288
Trees, shapes moulded by wind, 293
Tsetse-fly, 21, 25
Turtle, a water-, 202
Tzavo station, 73

UGANDA railway, 63
necessity for, 365
Uganda road, 62, 67, 207

VOLCANIC chain, the main, 222, 224

WaA-DAICHO, 351

Wa-giriama, 351

Wa-kamba, arts, 349
attempt to fire camp, 203
distribution, 347
importance of the tribe, 351
language, 350
of Iveti, 205
of Kibwezi, 77

SUBJECT INDEX

Wa-kamba, original home, 347, 363
political system, 348
religion, 351
their watch-hill, 81
useful servants, 376
wars, 347

Wa-kauvi or Wa-kwafi.

Wanderobbo, 151, 155
interest of the tribe, 328, 331

Wa-nyika, 351

Wa-pokomo, 28
arts of, 345-346
character of, 343
cowardice of, 344
former greater range, 346
politics of, 345
religion of, 344
songs of, 345
women, 343

Wa-taita, 70, 351, 377 .

Wind, influence on trees, 293

Witu, history of, 19
Somali, mutiny at, 22

See Njempsians

ZANZIBAR, relations with England, and
Lord Canning’s award, 54
Zanzibari, attitude to Somali, 299
dasturi, respect for, 305-306, 308
devotion of, 303, 307, 309
failings of, 304-305
first experience of, 299-300
heroes of African exploration, the, 315
humour of, 309, 311-313
loads, 170, 308
mixed race, a, 302-303
origin of, 296
proverbs, II, 17, 237
psychology of, 314
record, man with a bad, 312-314
religion of, 170, 306
reputation of, 297-299
tribute to, 209
uncertainty as sentries, 89, 145
Zebras, 139, 140, 199
use of coloration of, 272
Zoology. See chap. xiv. pp. 263-279;
App. C, p. 406
See also Birds, Buffalo, Camel, Colora-
tion, Cony, Crocodile, Distribution,
Elephant, Fish, Giraffe, Hippopota-
mus, Hyena, Lions, Mammals,
Rhinoceros, Snakes

Printed by R. & R. CLark, Limitep, Ldinbureh.

MR. MURRAY’S LIST

OF WORKS OF

TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

THE NATURALIST ON THE RIVER AMAZON, with Adven-
tures during Eleven Years of Travel. By H. W. BATES. With
Coloured Plates and Illustrations. Medium 8vo. 21s. Or Abridged
Edition. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.

MISS BIRD’S WORKS

THE GOLDEN CHERSONESE AND THE WAY THITHER.
With Map and Illustrations. Post 8vo. 14s.

UNBEATEN TRACKS IN JAPAN. Including Visits to the

Aborigines of Yezo and the Shrines of Nikko and Isé. Map and Illus-
trations. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.

JOURNEYS IN PERSIA AND KURDISTAN: with a Summer in
the Upper Karun Region, and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs. Maps
and 36 Illustrations. 2 Vols. Crown 8vo. 24s.

“

HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO: Six Months among the Palm Groves,
Coral Reefs, and Volcanoes of the Sandwich Islands. Illustrations.
Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.

A LADY’S LIFE IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. Illustrations.
Post 8vo. 7s. 6d.

GLIMPSES OF FOUR CONTINENTS: Letters written during a
Tour in Australia, New Zealand, and North America in 1893. By the
DUCHESS OF BUCKINGHAM AND CHANDOS. With Illustrations from
the Author’s Sketches. Crown 8vo. gs. net.

PAUL DU CHAILLU’S WORKS
THE LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN. Summer and Winter

Journeys through Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Northern Finland.
Map and 235 Illustrations. 2 Vols. 8vo. 36s.

JOURNEY TO ASHANGO LAND, and Further Penetration into
Equatorial Africa. Illustrations. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d.

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON.

MR. MURRAY'S LIST OF WORKS OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE

THE PAMIRS: being a Narrative of a Year’s Expedition on Horse-
back and on Foot through Kashmir, Western Tibet, Chinese Tartary,
and Russian Central Asia. By the EARL OF DUNMORE. With Maps
and Illustrations. 2 Vols. Crown 8vo. 24s.

LIGHTS AND SHADES OF INDIAN HILL LIFE IN THE
AFGHAN AND HINDU HIGHLANDS. A Contrast. By F. St. J.
GORE, B.A., Magdalen College, Oxford. Beautifully illustrated with 72
Full-Page Reproductions from Photographs taken by the Author, Illus-
trations in Text, and Maps. Medium 8vo. 31s. 6d.

THE VOYAGE OF THE MARCHESA TO KAMSCHATKA
AND NEW GUINEA. With Notices of Formosa and the Islands of
the Malay Archipelago. By F. H. GUILLEMARD, M.D. New Edition.
With Maps and 150 Illustrations. Medium 8vo. 2is.

A WANDERING SCHOLAR IN THE LEVANT. By Davin G.
HOGARTH, Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. With Map and IlIlus-
trations. Crown 8vo. 7s. 6d.

ALONE WITH THE HAIRY AINU, or 3800 Miles on a Pack
Saddle in Yezo, and a Cruise to the Kurile Island. By A. H. SAVAGE
LANDOR. With Map, and many Illustrations by the Author. Medium
8vo. 18s.

AMONG CANNIBALS: An Account of Four Years’ Travels in
Australia, and of Camp Life among the Aborigines of Queensland.
By Dr. C. LUMHOL?TZ. With Maps and 120 Illustrations. Medium 8vo.
24S.

NOTES BY A NATURALIST DURING THE VOYAGE OF
EH.M:s; “CHALLENGER? ROUND, THE WORLD TIN DHE
YEARS 1872-1876. By Professor H. N. MOSELEY. With a Memoir
of the Author. Portrait, Map, and numerous Woodcuts. Crown 8vo. 9s.

THE HEART OF A CONTINENT: A Narrative of Travels in
Manchuria, the Desert of Gobi, Turkestan, the Himalayas, the Hindu
Kush, the Pamirs, etc. From 1884-1894. By Captain FRANK YOUNG-
HUSBAND, C.1.E., Indian Staff Corps, Gold Medalist Royal Geographical
Society. With Maps, Illustrations, etc. Medium 8vo. 2Is.

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON.

‘Je Se UT? Ss oa © ae
i aa ON oe
| i . oo ons eo
ig he sk _ 44
. Se a ae : ; a4 4 a .,
2 % Te 1 Brae iy a | a A apa ier Z 4 a oe. a al as Jae 7 = eet “a : af
a ae a a. ie ae i we" 37 Ss a oo i. ba. be = a 7 “29 r . a

hs
here
a

hi, .

ugh
a

e ' : a le ) =e
— ‘ ~ a F
Me 7* ‘iv 6 : : i ™ 7) a” a.
4 7 :

Ubi

Sa, Sond h
Dap a ge, a
es yy, ) 2 Wy }
NN ~ ee a.
PEST IS Ae

*

ayer be
Save

x
SCAR

OO"

bi Ay

i % 1 wv iF . \

oot pA Sees i) * 213 oo -
sReoan as om

7 A A
tat OTF.
nee: SOs
4 “—

Lee tT 1S Oa 5
DOP HAG Wien ch iS bad Rie
" ry ghisy (2 irs ae z Cori , ys
: aan PHENO N CT 7 3G
LALLY Sa a OF re, 4 ny i.
We " Pia

r
J GC

FF foci.
—~

ene
(9 TZ
Sat a NC :
we Sleds hd ran
2 ESN COPY
4 COS Portas

*
POT Cae
anys";
ae Ny Se iting
The .
a AK
> Ar AT ip y J
tH pte s
ae

1
ah
Aa

a Ta E

00744 2973