THE COUNTRY AND ITS HISTORY 11 



founding of the Imperial British East Africa Company 

 he proceeded, in 1889, on an expedition of exploration for 

 the company to Uganda. The old caravan route was taken 

 from Mombasa to the Kikuyu country westward across the 

 Rift Valley to the southern slopes of Mount Elgon and 

 thence to Uganda. During his long residence in East 

 Africa he has devoted much of his time to shooting expe- 

 ditions, which have given him a wider experience and knowl- 

 edge of the game of East Africa than that possessed by any 

 other sportsman. In the Badminton Library, Big Game 

 Shooting, he has given us the most comprehensive and 

 accurate account which we have of the field natural history 

 of the large game animals. To his zeal as a collector 

 is due the discovery of many of the described species 

 peculiar to East Africa. The large hartebeest, Bubalis 

 jacksoni, which was named for him by Oldfield Thomas, was 

 discovered during his first Uganda expedition. Later he 

 discovered an allied species in central Uganda, Bubalis in- 

 signis. The first specimen of the bongo, a pair of horns, 

 which reached Europe were obtained by Jackson from 

 Wandorobo bushmen, but they were unfortunately erro- 

 neously assigned by Sclater to the nyala of South Africa. 

 Later Isaac, for whom the species was named, obtained more 

 complete specimens from the Wandorobo, which enabled 

 Thomas to discover the really close affinity of this rare for- 

 est species to the West African bongo. The white-bearded 

 wildebeest and the Kilimanjaro red duiker were further 

 discoveries based on Jackson's collections. To his efforts 

 are due also many discoveries of new species among the 

 smaller mammals and birds of East Africa. 



The Tana River and the desert region of East Africa were 



