THE RENDILE. 
a5 
Four days we spent among the Rendile. They had 
camels by the thousands, and camels of a far superior breed 
to the Somali animal, and, what was better for us, they were 
anxious to sell their animals. It was fortunate that when 
we needed assistance most we happened upon these good 
people. From the Rusia I bought all the ground durrha 
necessary to feed my boys during their stay on the lake, 
paying for it with a few large carnelian beads. The sixty 
pieces of cloth that I had left after making presents to the 
Arbore were still untouched, so I managed to trade off all 
my tired camels, forty-five in number, with this cloth to 
boot, for thirty-three splendid fresh Rendile camels. These 
thirty-three camels, with my thirty-eight donkeys, carried me 
easily to the coast. The Rendile number, ‘all told, about 
eight thousand souls, and with them were some two thou- 
sand Burkeneji and Sambur ( Masat). 
The majority of their villages were near our camp, sixty 
miles east of Lake Rudolf, while the rest of them lived, I 
was informed, between Marsabit and Mt. Koroli. They 
are nomads, and often wander as far as the Guaso Nyiro, 
a river lying eleven marches to the south. 
When Mr. William Astor Chanler passed along this river 
in 1893, he discovered the Rendile living close to the water. 
Formerly they used to live along the east shore of Lake 
Rudolf, but they were driven away from there by the 
Turkana. They were attacked a few years ago by a large 
force of Somalis from Kismayo, under an old chief named 
Abdi Abrahin, but succeeded in routing their enemies, after 
killing the old chief. They have also been attacked twice 
by natives of Leikipia, but each time came off victorious. 
The Rendile are tall and handsome, with complexions as 
light as the Somalis, and strong Hamitic features. They 
have a language of their own, but their vocabulary contains 
many Somali words. 
