BRITISH EAST AFRICA 229 



we made him take it back, though it was very 

 fascinating. 



Whilst in this camp we had some heavy rain. 

 I never fully realised before the meaning of the 

 verse : " Thou sendest a gracious rain upon the 

 earth, and refreshedst it when it was weary." The 

 ground revived like a living thing and. smelt deli- 

 ciously clean and fragrant ; whilst between the 

 showers, sky and hills held the most lovely indigo- 

 blue tints. When the rain first began it was hard 

 to see the young grass, though in the distance one 

 could detect a faint shimmer of green. A few days 

 later, as though by magic, the whole country was 

 clad in a mantle of green, on which the herds of 

 game, and sheep and cattle pastured royally. The 

 word by which the Masai designate their ruling 

 spirit is the same word as that which means rain ; it 

 is easy to follow the connection. The Masai guide 

 their flocks by whistling, the shepherd being usually 

 a picturesque-looking figure armed with a long spear. 



The Sugari flowed through a big swamp. I went 

 down its edge on the first evening we camped there 

 with Hassan and a new Masai guide. The other 

 guides had left us at Rumuruti. This man was 

 a good-looking fellow, but with about as much idea 

 of hunting as a guinea-pig. He walked straight 

 out into the middle of a plain covered with dried 

 grass, stunted mimosas, and horrible loose stones, 

 and never went near the swamp until I made him. 

 We had not been there a minute when two large 



