176 STALKS ABROAD 



case of sickness we had which could not be cured 

 by a large dose of Epsom salts. 



The three smallest members of the safari, in- 

 cluding my friend of the tailless coat, did give a 

 little trouble one night. There was a commotion 

 in the camp ; and I left my tent, to discover the 

 culprits in charge of three paint-smeared warriors, 

 whose weapons gave back dull glints from the light 

 of the blazing fire. They had been stealing corn 

 and were captured in the act. It was a wonder- 

 fully picturesque, though a somewhat ludicrous scene. 

 In the background Kenia, calm and aloof, her peaked 

 top pricking the dark velvety night. Above, the 

 great company of heaven, twinkling and winking 

 in silent glory, and in the foreground, the glowing 

 fire, the naked paint-smeared savages, and the three 

 cowering little wretches in their absurd caricatures 

 of garments. There was no defence ; retributive 

 justice had them fast, and sadder and wiser boys, 

 they retired to the seclusion of their tent after a 

 brief interview with the most stalwart of the askaris. 



The next day we reached Nyeri. It is a dear 

 little place set down among the sloping hollows which 

 lie between the beautiful range of the Aberdares and 

 the snow-capped peak of Kenia. The most prominent 

 object among the surrounding scenery is a hill a mile 

 or so distant, on whose wooded summit dwell a race 

 of giant swine known as " forest pigs." They are 

 much larger than the common wart-hog, and are 

 harder to obtain. But few have been killed so far 



