TO LAKE BARINGO Vi� MOUNT KENIA.

Pushing for an hour through the steep, wooded slopes of the gorge of the Kekup�, we crossed that stream as it tumbled down in babbling music over coarse volcanic [203] agglomerate. I was surprised to observe that it was distinctly steaming. Putting my hand into the water, I was still more surprised to find it quite warm. My curiosity thus aroused, I continued up the stream, and soon I was charmed beyond description by emerging upon a delightful nook, surrounded by picturesque precipices and rocks bedecked with the most profuse vegetation. It was an exquisite illustration of the inimitable felicity of Nature’s "art,"–the grim and cragged faces of the rocks becoming quite sunny and charming in their marvellously rich drapery of leaves and fronds and flowers. The central object of the whole, however, was a grandly rugged rock–basin, in which the Kekup� welled up in living waters, sending off a silvery sheen of steam, which condensed on the overhanging leaves till they shone with diamond–like drops. So romantic was the spot that, as I stood entranced, I should not have been astonished to have been saluted by some ethereal water–nymph, or to have heard some syren notes. Poetical raptures, however, are generally transient in Africa. The charm was gone when I remembered I was the leader of the Royal Geographical Society’s Expedition, and soon, on scientific cares intent, I was making the welkin ring, shouting for Songoro to bring my thermometer. On applying this test I found the spring to have a heat of 105� Fahr.

Our route should have been nearly west, but it was impossible to climb the precipices. We were, therefore, compelled to keep almost due north, along a secondary line of fault, in one of which the Kekup� rose. There were several of these lines of upheaval (or depression), which produced most varied and picturesque effects, assisted as they were by a cap of compact lava–beds overlying coarse agglomerate, that, again, being crowned by fine trees. Finally, about mid–day, we emerged from the shattered sides of the escarpment and stood on the billowy expanse of the plateau at a height of 8400 feet. We camped shortly after in a dense grove of junipers, in which we found a deserted village of Andorobbo–the hunting tribe of the Masai country. The district is called Dondol�, which, I am informed, means "everybody’s (that is to say–no man’s) land," from the incessant quarrels for possession that have taken place between the Masai of Kinangop and the Masai (Wa–kwafi) of Lykipia. Shortly after camping I spied a herd of buffalo, and after a dangerous hunt shot two, a cow and a bull. In crossing a wooded gorge an animal bounded [204] from some dense cover, which my men declared was a lion. I did not see it myself.

Matters thus improved, we once more set forth. We were in a somewhat anxious mood, however, as we expected to meet with the Masai. That meeting would very much determine our fate; the passage of the "Mlango" (door or gate) of a district is always the most ticklish matter. We had some idea that the Masai were near, and we proceeded with great caution, as we wanted to get to a camping–place before the news spread, so that we might unmolested get our boma constructed. On our way we were greatly astonished to observe the dried carcases of numerous cattle which dotted the entire district. They showed no signs of death by violence, and only some parts had been eaten by hyenas and other carnivora. We came to the conclusion that some disease must be raging in the land. After some time we sighted a Masai kraal. Skilfully keeping out of sight, we came pretty near it, and finding a small stream (the headwaters of the Murundat) we camped, and in a surprisingly short time we were surrounded by a strong fence. We then made our presence known by firing a gun. We were highly pleased to find that the kraal was one of El–moruu (married men). Our pleasure, however, was quickly dashed on learning that there was a big El–morans’ (warriors’) kraal quite close, and that they would soon be forward for their hongo. These bloated young scapegraces in a short time began to arrive in large bands. At first they greeted me most ceremoniously, and in a few minutes they transferred a considerable layer of odoriferous grease and clay to my hand. Finding me harmless though phenomenal, they began to [205] cross–examine me. Where was I going? Where did I come from I What did I want? and why had I so few goods? These and a thousand other questions were poured upon me. I told them that I was the white lybon of the Lajomba (Wa–swahili)–that I was visiting the country to find out for the traders by occult means where ivory was to be got. Mbaratien (their chief lybon) was a fraud in comparison to me "Could any one but a great medicine–man have a skin like mine, or hair like mine?" "Now, you there!" I said, "come to me, and I will take off your nose and put it on again. Come! you need not be afraid. Ah! very well. Just look here for a moment, and I will show you a thing or two. You see my teeth? Observe how firm they are" (here I tapped them with my knuckles). "You see there is no fraud there. Just wait then till I turn my head. Now look! they are gone!" Here every one shrunk back in intense amazement, and the whole party were on the point of flight. Reassuring them, I once more turned my head, put [206] matters to rights in a twinkling, and, bowing and smiling to my wondering spectators, I once more rapped the teeth. Here let me inform the gentle reader (in the strictest confidence, of course) that I have a couple of artificial teeth, which at this juncture were perfect treasures. These I manipulated to the astonishment of the Masai, and as they thought I could do the same thing with my nose or eyes, they hailed me at once as a veritable "lybon n’ebor" (white medicine–man).

After this they asked alternately for presents and medicines, though the regular black–mail had been paid. They pestered me horribly, dinning eternally the same persistent demand for beads, &c. I was actually pulled about as if I was a toy to be played with. They grasped my arm, pulled my hair, and took off my hat. If I went into my tent, they would squeeze themselves after me, until everything was filthy. They gloried in frightening my men by making a show of stabbing them, and roars of laughter greeted their piteous terror. Cooking food, under the circumstances, was out of the question, and I had to be content to sit and munch some boiled Indian corn. On my asking for a guide to take me on next day, they laughed derisively. "What!" said they, "do you not know that our cattle are dying in hundreds on all hands I You are a great lybon; you must stay with us and stop the plague." Here was a pretty fix! In fact, I was regularly "hoist with mine own petar." My appeals were made in vain. Stop I must. For two days I was detained, and my wits were exercised to the uttermost to invent excuses and reasons why I should go on to spread the blessings of my infallible cures over the country. The cure, I told them, was not to commence while I was in their neighbourhood, and not till ten days after I left, Through the day I had to make an hourly exhibition of my teeth– drawing, and during the night we had to be incessantly on the watch, as continual attempts were made to steal. The people were indeed in a very dangerous mood, as the horrid disease was threatening to cut off all their cattle. Round about the kraals the scene was simply fearful–hundreds of animals dying and in all stages of decomposition. No attempt was made to bury these, or drag them away. The consequence was that a fearful stench prevailed, and the people were in helpless distress. To thwart them in any way was to throw them into a fury, and I verily believe we should have been murdered, but for the lingering belief that I had some power to stay the disease. They chanted from morn till night an [207] incessant prayer, in the form of " A–man Ngai–ai; A–man Mbaratien" (We pray to God; we pray to Mbaratien). The women, painted in a curious fashion, with white clay on the face, danced in a ring, as they invoked Ngai or Mbaratien in their own fashion. The country seemed to be full of lamentations and despairing cries. Finding, at last, they could not extort anything more from me, and beginning to believe in my protestations that it was necessary for me to leave in order that my medicines might take effect, they let me go.

Next morning I had the supreme satisfaction, on looking out of my tent, to see the grass covered with unmistakable hoar–frost. This phenomenon astonished my men [208] beyond measure; it was the first time they had seen it. They could not, however, get up an enthusiasm for it, neither could they comprehend mine. They had cursed the cold in unmitigated terms throughout the live–long night, as they toasted their sides alternately before roaring fires, quite unable to sleep. We had again to wait a couple of hours till the sun warmed up the air, and there, within a mile of the equator, I had to warm up my booted feet by the fire as I stood enveloped in an overcoat, with hands crammed into my trouser pockets.

A short distance from camp I was attracted by a sound like the low roaring of a buffalo, near the top of a steep, wooded slope. As we were short of food, I set off to hunt it up. Peering about for some time to try to spot the exact locality of my game, I was nearly thrown on my beam–ends by a savage growl from a dense patch of tall grass and bamboos. Looking towards the spot, I saw a fine leopard a few feet in front of me, showing its teeth in a ferocious manner, and crouching as if it would spring upon me. Before I could fire it had bounded out of view. Rushing to the top of the ridge to get sight of it again, I was suddenly arrested by an object which fairly took my breath away. Before me, in the foreground, lay a splendid interchange of grove and glade, of forest and plain, stretching in billowy reaches down to the marshy expanse of Kop�–Kop�. Beyond rose abruptly and very precipitously the black, uninhabited mountains of the Aberdare range. These features, however, were not what had fascinated me. It was something more distant. Through a rugged and picturesque depression in the range rose a gleaming snow–white peak with sparkling facets, which scintillated with the superb beauty of a colossal diamond. It was, in fact, the very image of a great crystal or sugar–loaf. At the base of this beautiful peak were two small excrescences like supporters to a monument. From these, at a very slight angle, shaded away a long glittering white line, seen above the dark mass of the Aberdare range like the silver lining of a dark storm–cloud. This peak and silvery line formed the central culminating point of Mount Kenia. As I stood entranced at this fulfilment of my dearest hopes, I drew a great sigh of satisfaction; and as I said to Brahim, "Look!" and pointed to the glittering crystal, I am not very sure but there was something like a tear in my eye. But now, even while I stood and gazed, a moisture–laden breeze touched the peak, wove a fleecy mantle, [209] and gradually enshrouded the heaven–like spectacle. In a few moments there but remained a bank of clouds over the wooded reach of Settima. But I had beheld a vision as if from the Unseen to lure me on.

Continuing our way, after the men had cut up the meat, we passed through a glorious coniferous forest by a delightful cattle–road, though the amenities of the situation were not improved by the numerous decomposing bodies of cattle. These increased in number as we pushed on, showing that we were approaching Masai kraals. After more than an hour’s tramp we emerged from the forest and entered the great Angata Bus, a fine treeless plain which stretches in unbroken monotony along the west side of the Aberdare mountains, as [210] far as the bamboo forests of Kikuyu. Skirting the forest a short distance, we reached a charming glade or forest niche, through which ran a crystal stream. Here we camped, and, as usual, we encountered much annoyance from the Masai, though, fortunately, there were few warriors.

Next day, as the Masai were quarrelsome about my having fired my gun, I was compelled to stop in camp. The men, however, must have food. Fixing at last upon a bullock apparently fairly healthy, we contrived to buy it for an exorbitant price. On killing it and opening it up, we all shrank back as a horrid stench assailed our nostrils. We were not to be beat, however, and my men, less sensitive in their organs, and ravenous for food, worked away. We found that the heart had become greatly enlarged, and seemed a revolting mass of dirty, yellow fat. Both sides of the ribs and the back–bone had all the appearance of being [211] rotten, and many of the bones were so far decayed that a push with a stick was sufficient to make them crumble up. The beef had a fearfully sickly appearance, and even my men turned away with screwed–up faces expressive of the utmost disgust. The hind legs, which were the healthiest part, were taken possession of for my use, but my stomach had received such a "turn" that I could not bring myself to touch the meat, though I told Songoro to have a bit cooked. Towards nightfall I contrived to cram a small morsel down, and next morning, the edge of my repugnance being taken off, I got on somewhat better.

The reason we gave to the Masai was that I had seen a sign which made it clear that it was a bad day to travel. The actual explanation of our conduct was the fact that the Masai consider the death of a Swahili on their land a personal outrage upon themselves and a danger to their country, which can only be wiped out with the heaviest penalties. Moreover, they will on no account allow a human body to be buried, as they consider that it poisons the soil–a belief which cremationists may note as showing that "niggers" have some advanced notions after all. The consequences of the discovery of this death in our midst would have been of the most disastrous kind. In the first place the body would have had to be thrown out to the hyenas and the vultures. Then we should have been [212] mulcted to an extent which would have meant utter ruin. Finally, we should have had to turn back in our steps, as further progress would have simply been impossible. It was therefore from no callousness of ours that the porter was thus summarily stowed away. In the dead of night the men worked with a will, and by means of an axe and their hands they soon duo, a grave in the heart of a dense brake. There the poor fellow was reverently laid, and all trace of his grave effaced.

Being thus allowed to depart in peace, we shortly after reached the Ururu (so named from the thundering sounds it raises) a couple of miles to the north, where it forms a splendid waterfall. At the point where we crossed, the river [213] spreads out on both sides as a great marsh Kop�–Kop�. through which rush a series of swift streams over bouldery channels. After passing these with difficulty, we felt comparatively safe, as the Masai on the two sides of the Kop�–Kop� are not on good terms; besides, there were none in our immediate neighbourhood.

Shouting to Brahim to stop his headlong career, we held a consultation as to what was to be done. Meat must be got. The bull was badly wounded, and he was in that bush; ergo we must get him somehow. All! but how? To follow a vindictive old buffalo bull into such a dense bush was as bad as putting our heads into a lion’s mouth. We prospected round about, but could see no opening except one, and that could only be traversed on hands and knees. To be charged in such a rabbit’s hole was certain death; but we were desperate with hunger, and we determined to run the fearful risk. The bush was so dense, so leafy, and so much branched, that we had literally to crawl on our bellies. We could not see a couple of yards before us. Taking a long breath, and interchanging glances which spoke volumes, we got down on our knees–Brahim behind me Pushing my head well in with breathless care, I stared into the gloom, and listened for a sound. Nothing rewarded me but the sight of the blood–bespattered bush, and the loud beating of my heart. My gull was then pushed forward, and I, in my prostrate [214] attitude, dragged myself after it. Inch by inch we increased the danger. We were literally worming ourselves into the jaws of death. A few feet were passed. The gloom deepened; the suspense was fearful; and yet we saw not our enemy. As every sense was strained to the uttermost, I was suddenly frozen by feeling Brahim nervously grasp my leg. A cold shudder convulsed me from head to foot. Recovering myself, I glanced round and saw Brahim’s eyes glance with demoniac passion, while the great beads of perspiration burst from his swarthy skin. His eyes moved, and I followed their direction. They fixed on a dense mass of sticks, and I did not require to be told that he had spotted the bull behind the bush, and within three yards of us. I stared and stared again, but I could see nothing. On looking again at Brahim, I saw that he was quite mad with the danger and excitement, and was inwardly cursing me for my stupidity with all the savage intensity of his nature. Again I tried to penetrate the gloom, while I thought my heart would burst. At last a dark something was discerned; but which was head and which was tail I could not make out. The crisis, however, had come, and giving Brahim a kick and a look, I made him draw back and leave the passage clear. With a nervous clutch and suppressed breath, I raised the rifle, and aimed at the dark mass. As the gun broke the stillness with a terrific roar, I let it drop from my hand, and, tearing my way on all fours with astonishing speed, I reached the clearing and was on my feet in a trice. Almost simultaneously a great black hulk crashed out of the forest. I fled towards the open, while Brahim made for the bush. To my great relief I found that it was he that was the hunted. He was too adroit for the buffalo among the widely–scattered bushes, and soon we were recovering our breath and equanimity together.

With blood now heated, and quite certain that had fatally wounded the brute, we resolved not to give him up. Getting on his trail once again in a more open reach of undergrowth, we soon sighted our game standing among the bushes, looking excessively vicious, and up to any wickedness. Again I fired, and my shot was followed by another charge, as we fled for our lives. Fortunately for us the buffalo had a great repugnance to venturing beyond the verge of the forest. For the third time, therefore, he gave up the chase and returned to cover. We were not to be beat; and like bloodhounds we renewed our attack. The [215] leathery behemoth, however, had got as much as he cared for, and this time he went off towards the heart of the forest. Taking up the trail, we started off like dogs on the scent.

Next day, as we dared not advance till we had prospected [217]

Illust. 34 The Thomson Falls, River Ururu.

[218] the country ahead, I despatched a small party for that purpose, and then set off myself down the Ururu to visit its falls. On reaching them, I was impressed mightily by the stupendous thundering of the waters which in magnificent mass plunged down several hundred feet without a break into a fearful gloomy gorge. The rock is a very compact lava with a tendency to a columnar arrangement, forming near the falls precipices of a very imposing character. The crevices give support to a splendid drapery of creepers and bushes, the spray from the waters yielding the necessary sustenance. Among other plants wild bananas are to be seen. A short way down the gorge the walls become less precipitous, and recede at a high angle The –Gorge and falls have been formed by a gradual cutting back through the lavas of Settima which run some distance north and then turn west. The aspect of the great Angata (plain) Bus suggests in a very striking manner the theory that at one time it was a lake which has been thus drained by the surplus waters gradually cutting the transverse ridge away. The marshes of Kop�–Kop�. are doubtless the remnant of this lake. After photographing the fails, and naming them the "Thomson Falls," I proceeded through the forest in the hope of shooting something. I failed in my expectations, and had to return to camp, to find an empty larder and hungry looks, though no one grumbled. The men sent out to prospect came back in the evening, and reported that the Masai were a considerable distance off, and that from the cautious way we had to travel we should not be able to reach their kraals in one march.

Leaving the Ururu next morning, I went off ahead, in the hope of shooting, something, as we were at the starvation point. We had not proceeded far, when, on our passing a clump of bush, a buffalo sprang out. As it lumbered off, I seized my gun and nearly knocked the brute down by a ball which partly smashed the pelvis. It succeeded, nevertheless, in finding refuge in the bush beyond, and then, as usual, the dangerous work began. We were reckless, however, and after some very narrow escapes we succeeded in killing our game. I found that I had given it one ball in the pelvis, two balls in its skull, one in its horns, one through the shoulder–blade, one in the stomach, and two through the heart. What other animal could have stood that amount of lead? We were all delighted by our good fortune, and in a twinkling the meat was cut up. The horns proved to be four feet from bend to bend, and somewhat over six feet round the curve. [219]

The shoe leather–like buffalo beef became exhausted, and [220] we had to resume life on the diseased meat. Here also the epidemic was raging with great fury; and yet, in the midst of it all, the warriors had been gorging themselves with the best of the cattle for weeks, preparatory to going to war, while many of the poor men and women were literally starving. "Medicines" had to be made here for the warriors, to make them brave and successful. This I did by simply photographing them, the pretence of making a dawa (charm) being a capital and the only opportunity of transferring a likeness of the Masai to my collection.

I thus starred it as a second Cagliostro; but I was not happy. We were unable to get away, or to go out hunting, though we were subsisting on the most revolting food imaginable. I was plundered of almost everything. The warriors were quarrelsome, and the slightest accident at any moment might have been the signal for a massacre. The Masai in front ordered us not to come near them till they [221] had discussed all the pros and cons of my case. Only a few miles lay between me and the base of Kenia, yet it seemed as if I would never reach it.

At the opening of the glen of the Gobit, in the plains of the Guaso Nyiro, we camped near a village of the hunting [222] tribe known as Andorobbo. A day had to be spent here, and then with hearts brimful of thankfulness and pride we found ourselves camped in a bend of the Guaso Nyiro, and though we did not see Kenia, we knew that we were at its base, and that behind the bank of cloud reposed its silent majesty, bathed in bright sunlight though hidden from thoughtless mortals. Our work was accomplished, and now that we could look back on our horrid path, and trace the manner in which we had had to bore our way through manifold opposition, we could afford to smile at it all as, upon the whole, somewhat amusing.

We were now at an altitude of 5700 feet, which may be taken as the general level of the plain from which Mount Kenia rises. Kenia itself is clearly of volcanic origin, and may be considered to be a counterpart of the Kimawenzi peak of Kilimanjaro. Unlike Kilimanjaro, its volcanic [223]

[224] forces have not changed their focus of activity, and hence it now stands as a simple undivided cone. Up to a height of 15,000 feet (9000 feet above the plain) the angle of slope is extremely low, being in fact only between 100 and 12% a fact which would seem to show that the lavas ejected must have been in a much more liquid condition than those of Kilimanjaro. The angle in the latter is much higher, indicating that the ejections were more viscid, and consequently did not flow so far from the orifice.

On the side where we were–the west–there are no inhabitants, if we except the Andorobbo, who live near the bottom of the mountain, and roam its pathless forests in pursuit of the elephant and buffalo, on which they largely depend for their food, while by selling the ivory of the former they obtain the beads and iron wire which form their ornaments. On the southern aspect of the mountain there are Wa–kikuyu On the eastern the inhabitants, the Wa–daicho, are a very difficult and dangerous race to deal with in their [225] enormous forests–the worst traits of the Wa–kikuyu being fully developed in them.

I had thus got to the base of Kenia; but I had not been many hours there before I became impressed with the fact that the sooner I was clear of the Masai the better, and that all thought of ascending the mountain must be abandoned. Our goods were utterly exhausted, and the warriors proportionately difficult to manage. Eno’s fruit salt and a couple of artificial teeth were no longer novelties; my tormentors were also becoming a trifle too importunate in ordering me to cut off my nasal organ and clap it on again. One warrior humiliated me insultingly by seizing it with vice–like grasp, [226] in the belief that it would give way. On my assuming a severely indignant expression, and threatening to bring the wrath of the gods upon him, he slunk away, leaving me to wash off the greasy finger–marks. They were also in an ex. cited condition over their projected raid, and they even talked about impressing me into their service. On inquiry I learned with great satisfaction that between Kenia and Baringo there were no inhabitants, so that if we could once get fairly away we should be safe.

We were now in a very peculiar position. Through a wilderness infested by roving bands of Wa–suk and Masai, we were ordering our steps for Lake Baringo, which our [227] guide of the previous day had pointed out as being somewhere in a particular direction. The country was covered with a trackless forest, and food we had none. Yet we were all in the highest spirits after our life of worry among the Masai. Game was plentiful, and the entire country was a network of sparkling streams. We voted the whole adventure quite delightful, and, heedless of everything, we light–heartedly whistled and sang or cracked jokes till the very welkin rang. Buffaloes turned up their noses and snorted astonishment; rhinoceroses, like evil spirits exorcised, fled, blowing off wind like a steam–engine.

The following day proved to be a very trying one, though deserving to be marked with a white stone. Leaving camp, we passed down a small gorge by which the Teen escapes from the valley. We had not gone far before we got a "facer," by reaching a second gorge running at right angles, into which the Teen precipitates itself, a depth of over 400 feet, by a series of most picturesque falls. It seemed for a time as if we were to be beat; but at last, to our great joy, we discovered a place where with some danger we could descend. On reaching the bottom, we found that the other [228] side was quite as difficult and dangerous to ascend. But Nil desperandum! was our cry, and we reached the top safely, though only to find that, after about four hours’ hard work, we had. not got more than a quarter of a mile from camp.

I have now looked upon many striking and wonderful lake scenes in Africa. I have viewed Nyassa from the [229] mountains to the north, Tanganyika from the south, the east, and the west, Lake Leopold from the Fipa Mountains. But not one of these spectacles approaches in beauty, grandeur, and variety the landscape that now spread out before me on the edge of the Lykipia plateau. Imagine, if you can, a trough or depression 3300 feet above the sea–level, and twenty miles broad, the mountains rising with very great abruptness on both sides to a height of 9000 feet. In the centre of this depression lies a dazzling expanse of water, glittering like a mirror in the fierce rays of a tropical sun.

Almost in its centre rises a picturesque island, surrounded by four smaller islets–a group of nature’s emeralds in a dazzling setting of burnished silver. Round the irregular shaped lake appears a strip of pale green, which indicates a marshy border, and in an outer circle extending up to the mountains, spreads a very dark green area which you know to be table–topped acacia–trees. A remarkable assemblage of straight lines, wall–like extensions, and angular outlines produces an impressive and quite unique landscape. It speaks eloquently, however, of igneous disturbances; –for there you observe numerous earth movements, faults crossing each [230] other at right angles, and other features, which are clearly not modelled by surface agents, all of them so recent in origin as to remain comparatively untouched by the hand of time, which seems to abhor anything approaching a straight line.

Though quite unarmed and alone, I was not alarmed, and thinking I should strike upon their pathway farther ahead, I [231] started off. The country was most horrible, with sharp angular boulders hid by grass and thorns of the most fearful description. The afternoon was now far spent, and after tramping along in that dangerous waste for about an hour and seeing no sign of a place where my men could descend, I began to get a little uneasy in my mind. Not a soul could be seen, and buffalo and rhinoceros were in great numbers, starting up indeed in more than one instance quite close to me. I shouted, but a mocking echo alone answered me. My courage gradually oozed away, and I was feeling something like a panic taking possession of me. Seeing that there was no chance of falling in with Makatubu, I at last hurried back, in the hope that my attendants had followed me. I shouted with renewed energy, but the only effect was to further unhinge myself. I was tired and extremely hungry, for I had been on my feet for ten hours in the roughest region I had yet met, climbing up precipices, crushing my way through dense bush, stumbling over hidden boulders, scratching myself with wretched thorns. Night was approaching, and I had come to the conclusion that I was beyond all doubt lost, without food or means of defence. I was casting about for a convenient tree in which to stow myself for the night, but before finally succumbing I gave one long halloo. No sound came back to me but the reverberation of my own voice, though long I stood breathlessly listening for some welcome note. In the awful silence my heart sank within me, Just m I turned away in despair the bang of a gun came as music to my ear. With joy I rushed away in the direction of the sound. Bang went another shot, and a few minutes later I was on an eminence, yelling out like a madman to three men, who I saw at a glance were Brahim, Songoro, and my cook. They after all had followed me, but in some queer fashion we had missed each other.

Though tired and footsore, we now made a grand spurt in the hope of emerging from the narrow valley, in which we were, to the plain around Baringo. Leaving the former, and following a fine stream which we knew must go to Baringo, we entered a gorge of the narrowest and wildest description. Every available foot of ground was covered with the densest of thorn–bush. We had a terrible time of it, pushing our way along, the game tunnels eternally crossing and recrossing the river. Darkness came on at last, and it had been raining heavily for some time. We were therefore compelled to halt in the narrow gorge. With buffaloes and rhinoceroses in [232] great numbers, we were in no small peril. By a good deal of groping about we contrived to gather some firewood together, but then to our dismay we had only three matches and these bad, while we could find nothing but damp grass. Before venturing to strike we held a consultation as to who was the best at striking a light. Brahim was chosen. The scene was very strange as we gathered round him in breathless interest, in the almost pitchy darkness of the night, with great sycamores overhead, and dense bush around haunted by wild beasts. The mountain torrent roared and tumbled over its rocky channel, and the night–wind sighed along the face of the hill, or brought a weird sough from the gorge below. The first match was struck, there was a faint flicker, and then darkness. With an imprecation Brahim threw it savagely aside, and we all indulged in expletives, each "after his kind." The second attempt was watched with further excitement, but it went like the other. The last match was taken in hand. To our unspeakable relief it caught. Nursing it as if it were divine fire, I kept leaves of my note–books burning till some twigs ignited. In a short time we were drying ourselves before a glorious fire, and under its genial influence we were, quite prepared to think our situation a piece of rather good fun, as we each munched about a mouthful of Indian corn, a very little of which we had been able to get from a friendly Masai at Guaso Nyiro. The rain fortunately stopped, and, setting a watch, we were able to enjoy a snatch of sleep, only broken at intervals by the movements of some buffalo or rhinoceros whose nightly rambles had been disturbed by our blazing fire.

Next morning we were off with the dawn, expecting every moment to emerge from the gorge. After a two–hours’ fearful scramble, during which we crossed the large stream over thirty times, and got our clothes and our skin. sadly torn, we were taken aback by reaching a precipice which could not be surmounted, and there was nothing for it but to ascend the mountain. This would have been impossible, so densely was it covered with thorns, but for the sword of Brahim, who literally cut a way for us. It required six hours’ hard work over the worst country I have ever traversed before we reached the grazing–grounds of the Wa–kwafi of Njemps, and, accosting some herdboys, were directed on our way. Crossing a fine stream by a rude bridge, we reached Njemps Mdogo (the little), and here Muhinna met some friends of former days. An hour more and we neared the [233] confines of Njemps Mkubwa (the big). Our last cartridge was fired, and before long we had crossed the Guaso Tigirish, and entered our encampment, to find a nice house under a cool sycamore, and Martin and the men all well and hearty, though full of anxious misgivings about our safety. We had been thirty–four hours without food, but we were soon feeding like princes on–to us–rich dishes of "animated mire"(for Burton’s description of certain fish might well be applied to those of Baringo), and a kind of porridge formed from a species of millet. This was indeed glorious fare after the old shoe–leather–like beef of the buffalo and the more juicy than savory messes of diseased Masai cattle, on which we had been regaling for the last month. As for Makatubu and the thirty men, they wandered about for two days longer, utterly lost and almost starved, trying to find a way down. After leaving me, they had found themselves in a cul–de–sac. 

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