CH. IV ON THE YATTA PLATEAU 41 



a thicket, but before he could make up his mind as 

 to which of the two was the finer trophy, both 

 disappeared into the bush. However, had he only 

 known it, he should not have hesitated in choosing 

 the buffalo, as we saw but few traces of these animals 

 during our trip, while rhinos were much too numerous 

 to be at all pleasant. 



While at this camp three of my Wakikuyu 

 porters took it into their heads to desert, and so 

 left me with three important loads which had to be 

 carried by hook or by crook. I was luckily able 

 to get three Wakamba to replace the deserters. 

 I have always found the Wakikuyu porter to be 

 most unreliable, and from moment to moment one 

 can never tell when he may suddenly pitch his load 

 aside and disappear into the bush. 



On the evening of the second day the porters 

 returned with only a single bag of beans, but they 

 brought back an improbable tale of how the chief 

 Ngai was collecting food for us, and would himself 

 meet us with it if we marched towards his village. 

 I had very little faith in this story, as I knew that 

 natives will promise anything, although well aware 

 at the same time that there is not the remotest 

 chance of their promises being fulfilled ; nor do they 

 evince the very least shame or contrition when 

 they are proved to be the most flagrant liars. 



In any case, however, we had to pass Ngai's 



