FIRST VIEW OF KENYA 



and then waited for the lions to return to the body of the 

 donkey they had killed. They followed the third, however, 

 and as they did not catch it till it had run some distance from 

 camp, they devoured it at leisure. 



As a result of this disaster, we had to rearrange loads. It 

 was not fair to add to the men's burdens, for we had many 

 double marches ahead of us ; so the skulls and many of the 

 skins of the zebra and antelope shot at Njemps had to be 

 left behind. 



We marched to the southern end of the plain of Alng'aria, 

 and then turned eastward to traverse the parallel ridges of 

 Subugu (the Marmanett Mountains of von Hohnel). The 

 highest pass proved to be at the level of 6950 feet, and from 

 this we began the descent towards the undulating steppes of 

 the typical portion of Laikipia. 



Shortly afterwards the guide suddenly stopped, and point- 

 ing ahead said, " People ! " He could not say whether they 

 were Masai or Wanderobbo, so I went forward with him to 

 scout, leaving the caravan to follow slowly. An hour later we 

 came to the edge of the woods, and I could see in the far 

 distance several columns of smoke. These, the guide said, were 

 at Lari lol Morjo. I could see no other signs of natives, so we 

 marched on to the plains and camped, waiting, however, till 

 after dark before we lighted fires. 



Next morning we enjoyed our first view of Kenya, which 

 the porters called Meru. We saw it a few minutes before 

 sunrise, just as we were preparing to start. It was eighty 

 miles away from us, but it stood out sharp and clear on the 

 eastern skyline. There was a look of fascinating mystery 

 about it, as its dark jagged outline suddenly appeared above 

 the dull gray mist. There was no time, however, for senti- 

 mental reflections or aesthetic rapture. I hastily traced its 

 outline, and read the bearing of the central peak through my 

 prismatic compass. Before I could repeat the observations, the 

 mountain had disappeared in a gray expanse of mist. 



The view cheered us all immensely. Some hills we had 

 seen the day before had' shown the men that we were now 

 only level with Lake Kibibi, and had thus made very slow 

 progress. Our food supply was running low, and we feared 

 that we could place but little reliance on our crazy guide. 



