MO UNT SE TTIMA 1 5 3 



offer difficulties was the traverse of the " Settima Kette." But 

 a track across this was marked by Mr. Ravenstein on the 

 evidence of Denhardt's report of a journey by Ferhaji of Pan- 

 gani. If a SuahiH trader could cross, so could I. 



As soon, however, as I tried to determine my position and 

 the course of the next march, I was bewildered by being unable 

 to find any one of my three guiding points. The Guaso Narok 

 appeared to end off abruptly, and there was no trace of a 

 double range of mountains to the south ; all I could see there 

 was one great and extremely eroded volcanic dome. Of the 

 valley, five miles broad, which I proposed to enter, I could see 

 no sign, and no help could be got from the guide. I asked 

 him the name of the mountains to the south, and he said there 

 was only one, Settima, the position of which he correctly 

 indicated, though it was then hidden by the clouds. I next 

 told him to point in the direction of Mount Goyito ; he thought 

 for a moment, and then said he could not. I inquired why, 

 and he scornfully replied that there was no such mountain. 

 Then I asked for Mount Kinangop ; but the guide looked still 

 more scornful, and told me I knew nothing about it, for Kinan- 

 gop was a " gopo," or grazing plain, and not a " doenyo " or 

 mountain. Finally, I told him to guide us along the Guaso 

 Narok as far as it went ; he declared that we had already 

 passed its source, and it went no farther. On my saying that 

 it must do so, for it was marked on the map as going for nearly 

 two days farther, the guide flew into a violent rage. He told 

 me I was a fool, for he had been there, and I had not ; that I 

 knew nothing at all about it, and was worse than the idiot 

 Jumbe, for I preferred to believe a sheet of paper which 

 had never been in the district, rather than a man who had 

 lived there all his life. As soon as his rage abated, he sat 

 on the ground and demanded tobacco. Unfortunately, as 

 I do not smoke, I had none, and was accordingly denounced 

 as a hard-hearted brute. As he wanted it to chew, it would 

 have been useless to make him some out of brown paper and 

 tea-leaves, a substitute which might otherwise have served. So 

 there was nothing for it but to leave the guide to recover from 

 his sulks, while I went on with the Askari, Mwini, to recon- 

 noitre. We soon reached the depression in the main Laikipia 

 scarp by which Thomson had reached the plateau. We went 



