I04 NAIROBI AND MT. KENYA 



burning question which occupies the minds of the officials, that of the 

 treatment of the natives. Hon. \Vinston Spencer Churchill tells us 

 that: 



"Every white man in Nairobi is a politician; and most of them 

 are leaders of parties. One would scarcely believe it possible, that a 

 center so new should be able to develop so many divergent and con- 

 flicting interests, or that a community so small should be able to give 

 to each such vigorous and even vehement expression. There are 

 already in miniature all the elements of keen political and racial dis- 

 cord, all the materials for hot and acrimonious debate. The white 

 man versus the black; the Indian versus both; the settler as against 

 the planter; the town contrasted with the country; the official class 

 against the unofficial ; the coast and the highlands ; the railway admin- 

 istration and the Protectorate generally; the King's African Rifles 

 and the East Africa Protectorate Police; all these different points of 

 view, naturally arising, honestly adopted, tenaciously held, and not 

 yet reconciled into any harmonious general conception, confront the 

 visitor in perplexing disarray. Nor will he be wise to choose his part 

 with any hurry. It is better to see something of the country, of its 

 quality and extent, of its promises and forfeits, of its realities and 

 illusions, before endeavoring to form even a provisional opinion." 



On August 9, Colonel Roosevelt, with his son Kermit, Edmund 

 Heller, the zoologist of the expedition, and R. J. Cunninghame, the ex- 

 perienced naturalist and guide, set out for Nyeri, a government sta- 

 tion in the northwest of Kenya province. At the same time Dr. 

 Mearns and J. A. Loring, the other members of the expedition, left 

 Naivasha for Nairobi to make preparations for the ascent of Mount 

 Kenya. Of these places we may say that Nyeri is an important trade 

 center of British East Africa. Indian bazaars have been established 

 and there are native markets and a small colony of coast traders. The 

 neighborhood is the headquarters of the Masai tribe, warlike nomads, 

 who inhabit the northwestern plain of Kenya province. 



Mount Kenya is about 17,200 feet in height. It was ascended 

 for the first time by Mackinder in 1899. The mountain supports 

 numerous glaciers, and its timber line is at 10,300 feet. Formerly a 

 volcano, it has long been extinct. Before setting out on this expedi- 



