PREFACE 



faced by a variety of problems as interesting as they 

 are generally complex ; he can only hope, by record- 

 ing the plain and sober facts which he has collected, 

 to create some kind of foundation, as it were, upon 

 which future travellers may build, until our knowledge 

 of such regions is complete. I have not attempted 

 in this book to deal with many of these problems, 

 interesting though they are, since I do not feel 

 qualified to do so. But as far as time and circum- 

 stances permitted, I paid special attention during my 

 journey to the geography, the natives and the natural 

 history of the country I traversed, and my object in 

 presenting the results of my observations in the 

 following pages, is the hope of adding something, 

 however small, to the sum of human knowledge. 



My best thanks are due to Captain R. E. Sal- 

 keld for the valuable assistance he gave me in Juba- 

 land ; to the Hon. K. R. Dundas for his kindness 

 and hospitality ; to the Director of Surveys at 

 Nairobi for providing me with the latest maps and 

 valuable geographical data concerning Kismayu and 

 the adjacent country ; to the Council of the Royal 

 Geographical Society for the loan of scientific instru- 

 ments ; to Mr. F. Elliott for giving me much infor- 

 mation as regards the Somali language and the 

 meaning of native names ; and to my brother-in-law, 

 Mr. Eric Corbett, for reading and correcting my 

 manuscript. 



In Chapter II., I have drawn freely from Captain 

 Stigand's book, The Land of Zinj, for information 

 concerning the early history of Lamu, and I have 



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