232 ELEPHANT-HUNTING [ch. x 



black-and-white fur of the Colobus monkey ; others had 

 plumes stuck in their red-daubed hair. They chanted 

 in unison a deep-toned chorus and danced rhythmically 

 in rings, while the drums throbbed and the horns 

 blared ; and they danced by us in column, sprinoing 

 and chanting. The w^omen shrilled applause and danced 

 in groups by themselves. The JNIasai circled and swung 

 in a panther-like dance of their own, and the measure 

 and their own fierce singing and calling maddened them 

 until two of their number, their eyes staring, their faces 

 working, went into fits of berserker frenzy, and were 

 disarmed at once to prevent mischief. Some of the 

 tribesmen held wilder dances still in the evening by the 

 lio-ht of fires that blazed in a <jfrove where their thatched 

 huts stood. 



The second day after we reached Neri the clouds 

 lifted, and we dried our damp clothes and blankets. 

 Through the bright sunlight we saw in front of us the 

 high rock peaks of Kenia, and shining among them the 

 fields of everlasting snow which feed her glaciers ; for 

 beautiful, lofty Kenia is one of the glacier-bearing 

 mountains of the equator. Here Kermit and Tarlton 

 went northward on a safari of their own, while Cuning- 

 liame, Heller, and I headed for Kenia itself For two 

 days we travelled through a well-peopled country. The 

 fields of corn — always called mealies in Africa — of 

 beans, and sweet potatoes, with occasional plantations 

 of bananas, touched one another in almost uninterrupted 

 succession. In most of them we saw the Kikuyu 

 women at work with their native hoes ; for among the 

 Kikuyus, as among other savages, the woman is the 

 drudge and beast of burden. Our trail led by clear, 

 rushing streams, Mdiich formed the head-waters of the 

 Tana. Among the trees fringing their banks were 



