Chapter Ten 
KENYA (1) 
N my first trip to Kenya I arrived at Mombasa on Christmas 
Eve, 1932. I had previously called at the port but was not 
then greatly impressed, for its population, comprised mostly of 
Indians, Arabs, Goannese, and natives, with a very small per- 
centage of Europeans, was too cosmopolitan to be of interest to 
me. Now that I had time to become familiar with the bird-life, 
the place took on a different air. But my objective was the far 
interior where I could seek out some of the numerous species 
confined to the highlands. 
With this object in view, I took the train to Nairobi some three 
hundred thirty miles inland. It was rather disappointing that the 
only daily train left Mombasa late in the afternoon, so that all 
the low bush country was passed through at night. The country 
rises gradually on leaving the coast, and some two hundred eighty 
miles inland the train reaches an altitude of about five thousand 
feet. We awoke to find that the bush country had been left 
behind and we were now starting to cross the Kapiti and Athi 
Plains, an enormous stretch of open country where one can see 
for miles and miles, and which is (or was) a sanctuary for wild 
animals. It was an impressive sight and one never to be forgotten. 
On both sides of the line were vast herds of antelope, the com- 
monest being kongoni, Thompson’s and Grant’s Gazelles, wilde- 
beeste, also wild ostriches and Burchell’s Zebra. Lions could be 
seen occasionally, but this was a matter of luck, and giraffes were 
plentiful on the coastal side of the plains, where there was plenty 
of bush for them to feed on. Of course, this type of country is of 
no great interest to one wishing to see tropical bird-life at its best, 
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