352 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
I have little doubt that they are a mixture of a tribe that 
formerly inhabited the eastern shore of Lake Rudolf, and 
the Somalis of the southeast. 
We were provided with a young Rendile guide, who said 
he would take us first to Marsabit, and then all the way 
south to the Guaso Nyiro. The country to the southeast 
of Lake Rudolf is low, barren, and dry, —a great bushy, un- 
dulating plain for the most part, sloping gradually to the 
mouths of the rivers Jub and Tana. But twenty miles 
southeast of our camp at Rendile rises a splendid mountain 
group called Marsabit, and thirty miles to the northeast 
another large mountain called Koroli. I was informed that: 
the Boran extend as far south as Koroli, and that about 
five marches beyond Mt. Koroli there is a river flowing 
eastward, probably into the Jub. 
We left the Rendile on September the 9th, with our water- 
barrels well filled, as we were told that the next water which 
could be obtained was on the top of Marsabit. The path 
we followed was an old one, leading through a flat country 
covered with stones and pieces of magnetic iron ore; but 
countless animals had worn the road quite smooth. On 
the second day we commenced to ascend the mountain, but 
we did not reach the top until after three marches. I was 
attacked by fever on these marches, and twice had to be 
carried; but the cool bracing air at the top of Mt. Marsabit 
quickly cured me. : 
According to European ideas, nothing could be more 
charming than this Marsabit. Surrounded by a large forest, 
and lying at the top of the mountain, is a lake a mile square, 
clear and deep. The jagged walls of a crater form a 
semicircle about it, while from another side a broad road 
leads out from the forest to the open meadows beyond. 
The atmosphere is moist and cool. In the early morn- 
ing dense clouds are swept along by invigorating blasts 
