CHAP. V AFRICAN PLACE-NAMES 87 



My host at Machakos is a keen topographer and a good 

 draughtsman. He has prepared an admirable map of western 

 Ukamba, a reduced copy of part of which he kindly gave me 

 on my return. I was glad to find that the names on his map 

 agreed with those which I had obtained. African place-names 

 are very confusing, though they probably do not vary as much as 

 one would expect. It is true that the people on the opposite 

 sides of a range of mountains often have different names for the 

 peaks, as is also the case in the Alps. This has frequently 

 led to confusion, for a traveller hearing two different names for 

 a mountain or a river has concluded that there are two moun- 

 tains or rivers, and marked them accordingly on his map. In 

 many cases, therefore, the native names have been ignored, and 

 the places called after eminent people at home. As these 

 names are unknown in the district they are useless, and 

 merely burden geography with a set of synonyms. In unin- 

 habited regions, where there are no names, it is necessary to 

 introduce them, and it is open to the first traveller who visits 

 a country to propose what terms he likes. But where there 

 are native names, the advantages of using them are so great 

 that geographers now condemn the old practice. The Euro- 

 pean names are falling into disuse and disappearing from maps, 

 where those of the natives are being substituted in their stead. 



