CH. vii] THE GUASO NYERO 153 



waggons swayed and plunged over the twisted boulder- 

 choked trails down into the river-bed, crossed it, and, 

 with lurching and straining, men shouting and whips 

 cracking, drew slowly up the opposite bank. 



iVfter a day's rest, we pushed on in two days' easy 



travelling to the Guaso Nyero of the south. Our camps 



were pleasant, by running streams of swift water ; one 



was really beautiful, in a grassy bend of a rapid little 



river, by huge African yew-trees, with wooded cliffs in 



I front. It was cool, rainy weather, with overcast skies 



and misty mornings, so that it seemed strangely unlike 



' the tropics. The country was alive with herds of Masai 



cattle, sheep, and donkeys. The Masai, herdsmen by 



' profession and warriors by preference, w^ith their gi-eat 



I spears and ox-hide shields, were stalwart savages, and 



( showed the mixture of types common to this part of 



j Africa, which is the edge of an ethnic whirlpool. Some 



I of them were of seemingly pure negro type ; others, 



I except in their black skin, had little negro about them, 



* their features being as clear-cut as those of ebony Nilotic 



j Arabs. They were dignified, but friendly and civil, 



I shaking hands as soon as they came up to us. 



On the Guaso Nyero was a settler from South Africa, 

 1 wdth his family ; and we met another settler travelling 

 I with a big fiock of sheep, which he had bought for trading 

 1 purposes. The latter, while journeying over our route 

 j with cattle, a month before, had been attacked by lions one 

 night. They seized his cook as he lay by the fire, but 

 fortunately grabbed his red blanket, which they carried 

 ^ off, and the terrified man escaped ; and they killed a 

 < cow and a calf. Ulyate's brother-in-law. Smith, had 

 I been rendered a hopeless cripple for life, six months 

 I previously, by a lioness he had wounded. Another 

 \ settler, while at one of our camping-places, lost two of 



