JOURNEY UP FROM MOMBASA 



plenty of weavers' nests, and a bird they call the 

 '' silly bird," because it seems to fly and flop about 

 so aimlessly — the bird is very pretty, with red back, 

 black tail and large wing feathers. A kind official 

 visited us in our carriage, which we had to ourselves, 

 and he brought his luncheon basket with him, so 

 we had a very jolly lunch together, drinking though 

 under difficulties, as the train rocks very much. 

 This man, being a very old resident of British East 

 Africa, could act as guide, and told me about the 

 places we passed through, and later the animals we 

 saw. We got out at a station for tea, served in a 

 funny little waiting-room, but it was most accept- 

 able. We saw some pretty yellow flowers, hanging 

 like Chinese lanterns on their stems, and lovely blue 

 water lilies, cocoanuts on the palms, and bananas 

 growing in various stages, and various palms, young 

 and small, which I felt would look so pretty in a 

 drawing-room at home. 



After Samburu till Maungu the land changes 

 from the lower coast belt of tropical vegetation 

 to country covered entirely with scrub, which con- 

 sists of more or less leafless, spiky bushes and the 

 flat-topped, umbrella-shaped acacia tree, which is 

 neither comfortable to pass through nor beautiful 

 to look at. As in South Africa, there is the " wait- 

 a-bit " thorn, about three inches long. 



At Maungu we had quite an excitement, our 

 train came to a stop, for the engine-driver had seen 



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