CHAPTER XXVIII 



WE REACH THE MERU COUNTRY 



As I was very anxious to get back to Nairobi as 

 quickly as possible, I determined to march due 

 south through the fertile Meru and Embu country 

 to the east of Mount Kenya, which was much the 

 shortest route, instead of going all the way round 

 by Rumuruti, through a sterile tract where no food 

 could be obtained for the safari. 



It was absolutely essential that supplies should be 

 forthcoming, as I had only four days' food left for 

 the men, and it was no small worry to me at times 

 to know that I had about a hundred hungry mouths 

 to fill daily for another three or four weeks. 



I was aware that the tribesmen of the territory 

 I intended to traverse were considered by certain 

 officials to be both hostile and treacherous, and that 

 no Europeans were allowed to enter the country 

 for that reason ; but I have always found that if one 

 knows hovv^ to deal diplomatically with the natives 



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