ON SAFARI. RHINO AND GIRAFFE 105 



for the white man is to govern, with wisdom and firmness, 

 and when necessary with severity, but always with an eye 

 single to their own interests and development, the black 

 and brown races. To do this needs sympathy and devotion 

 no less than strength and wisdom, and in the task the part 

 to be played by the missionary and the part to be played 

 by the official are alike great, and the two should work hand 

 in hand. 



After returning from Machakos, I spent the night at Sir 

 Alfred's, and next morning said good-by with most genu- 

 ine regret to my host and his family. Then, followed by 

 my gun-bearers and sais, I rode off across the Athi Plains. 

 Through the bright white air the sun beat down merci- 

 lessly, and the heat haze wavered above the endless flats 

 of scorched grass. Hour after hour we went slowly for- 

 ward, through the morning, and through the burning heat 

 of the equatorial noon, until in mid-afternoon we came to 

 the tangled tree growth which fringed the half-dried bed of 

 the Athi. Here I off-saddled for an hour; then, mounting, 

 I crossed the river bed where it was waterless, and before 

 evening fell I rode up to Juja Farm. 



