GLIMPSES OF EAST AFRICA AND ZANZIBAR 



lurking in the shadows. No sign of human habita- 

 tion black or white could be seen, as although the 

 Kikuyu use that part as a high road to Nyeri, and 

 the slopes of Mount Kenia, they hurry over it as it 

 is too cold to please a native, at that high elevation. 

 We descended for a little, and then along a flat 

 stretch till we came to a clear stream of good re- 

 freshing water, which Mr. Grogan is trying to turn 

 into a trout stream ; we watched the young fish 

 lying and swimming about in the cool and shady 

 pools. We finally decided to pitch camp not far 

 away, a little above on a hilly piece of ground, as 

 the next water was too far off". In a hut there we 

 saw a lovely pair of elephant tusks shot by a man 

 in that neighbourhood a month or two back, and 

 guarded by a policeman. 



After the porters had joined us and we had had 

 tea, Baruku came up to say that the new Kikuyu 

 we had taken on had all decamped ivith their 

 blankets. That stopped our going forward, as we 

 had not enough porters for our loads ; it was a very 

 awkward position to be in, as we could not afford 

 to leave a box of provisions behind nor the men's 

 beans, nor our tents. We sent two porters to look 

 for them, but it was useless, as the men were well 

 on their way to Nyeri. We ourselves took a two 

 hours' walk towards Nyeri, till we could look down 

 on the other part of the Aberdare Range and see 

 the road winding its way across the piece of plain. 



156 



