INTRODUCTION 



this one unexplored part of the Rift Valley. The expedition 

 was ready to start before I had been asked to go. The 

 members left London four days after I had received the invita- 

 tion, and before my application for leave of absence could be 

 submitted to the Trustees. At first I feared that the prolonged 

 leave of absence required would be fatal to my chance of going. 

 But, on the kind recommendation of Sir William Flower and 

 Dr. H. Woodward, the Trustees gave me permission to accom- 

 pany the expedition, on the understanding that the Museum 

 should have its pick of the collections. A week later my 

 hurried preparations were finished, and on 4th November 1892 

 I started overland for Brindisi, to join the others at Aden. 

 Nine days later I arrived at Aden in the early hours of the 

 morning. The Malda was due to leave at 3 A.M., so I tran- 

 shipped at once. I then made my first acquaintance with the 

 Somali ; and this was ominous of my future relations with them, 

 for I had to knock down two at the start. In their eagerness 

 to secure me as passenger, rival crews tried to wrest the 

 chronometers from my grasp. I had nursed these precious 

 instruments throughout the journey with the tenderest care, I 

 had never allowed any one else to carry them, and it was not 

 to be expected that I should entrust them to the rough Aden 

 boat-boys. As language was not strong enough to persuade 

 them to keep their hands off the case, the instruments had to 

 be protected in ways that the natives better understood. 



A few hours later the Malda steamed to the south-east, 

 towards the limestone cliffs of Cape Guardafui (Ras Alula). 

 Having rounded these, the course was altered, and we went 

 southward along the Somali coast towards the roadstead of 

 Kismayu, where arrangements had been made for the expedition 

 to land. 



