THE BIG GAME OF AFRICA 



intending to shoot any at that time, I finally had to kill a 

 charging bull, whom I had given a chance to save his life 

 by " changing his mind," until he was within ten yards of 

 my camera. What happened then will be later described 

 in the chapter on rhinos. 



Following the Guaso Narok farther up, the path leads 

 to a very large swamp, formed by the river and all over- 

 grown with papyrus. Toward the northwest end of this 

 swamp is a Protestant American mission station, where in 

 1909 Mr. and Mrs. Barnett and two fellow-laborers were 

 doing a splendid work among the Masai people. They 

 were highly commended by the British Commissioner of 

 that district for their untiring efforts for the betterment of 

 the natives. 



At the extreme western end of this large and, strange 

 enough, not unhealthy swamp, lies the government 

 boma Rumuruti, where Mr. Collyer, a most able and 

 kind-hearted official, in 1909-10 represented the British 

 Government in the Laikipia Masai reserve. By the time 

 this appears in print, the Masai of this reservation may 

 have been already shifted away to join the rest of their 

 tribe in the southern Kedong Valley and the Sotik and 

 Loita plains, and the Laikipia plateau opened up for 

 white settlements. This would mean, as everywhere else 

 where the white man settles, the diminishing, and finally 

 the complete disappearance, of the big game from the 

 district. 



From Rumuruti there are three paths to take. One 

 goes in a north-northwest direction down toward Baringo, 

 a lake swarming with crocodiles and hippos, but as this is 

 one of the most unhealthy parts of British East Africa, 



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