200 STALKS ABROAD 



quite capable of murder if they thought they could 

 gain anything by it, but not talking Swahili it was 

 rather hard to get to the bottom of the matter. The 

 Masai and Wa Kikuyu place big hollow wooden drums 

 and tubs in convenient trees and wait for a swarm of 

 bees to settle there. Any bees which come are the 

 property of the owner of the tub. I have seen as 

 many as sixteen of these tubs in one tree. The 

 honey is excellent when strained, and has the dark 

 appearance of heather honey. There are two kinds 

 of bees, the best honey being obtained from small 

 black ones. 



As the Commissioner persisted in his accusation 

 we thought the best thing to do would be to go 

 into Rumuruti, a two days' march, and let him in- 

 vestigate the matter. This we accordingly did. On 

 the way, I shot a nice impala and saw some more 

 rhino, though I didn't shoot any. One had a' number of 

 rhinoceros birds clinging to his back and sides. Every 

 time he tossed his head, which was frequent, they 

 would fly up in a little cloud and then re-alight. 

 I have seen these birds on eland and also oryx. 



In the early morning guinea-fowl were usually 

 in evidence. They always reminded me of a fairy 

 story I once read about some strange beings who 

 were made of cardboard. They looked very fat side- 

 ways, and could hardly be seen end on. It isn't 

 quite as bad as that with guinea-fowl, but they 

 shrink considerably. When flying against the sky 

 they resemble black-game. 



