XXVIII WE REACH THE MERU COUNTRY 343 



from him that one of the camels which beloneed to 



Lalla Rookh had died on the return journey from 

 Serah. As I did not wish this handsome young 

 warrior to be put to any loss on my account I sent 

 for him, and very much to his surprise and delight 

 paid him the full value of the beast. He himself 

 protested that he was not in any way entitled to be 

 recompensed for it, as I was clearly not responsible 

 for anything that happened to the camel after it left 

 my safari. He was quite a nice youth, and I 

 was glad to be able to make him amends for his 

 misfortune. 



Here I discharged my two faithful Samburu 

 guides, Papai and Olasegedidi, paying them off 

 with bales of amerikani, brass and copper wire, and 

 beads. I first offered them rupees, but these they 

 laughingly declined, saying that they would be 

 of no use to them in their tribe except to serve 

 as toys for their children. They were delighted 

 with their reward and left me with many hearty 

 handshaker and good wishes for a safe journey. 



On leaving Legurchalan's vianyatta we marched 

 south to a place called Ongata Mariri, where we 

 camped on the banks of a small stream called the 

 Ooldooga. 



Between the Samburu and ]\Ieru districts there 

 is a tract that is quite deserted by natives, both 

 nations being afraid to inhabit it. This neutral 



