FATA MORGANA \ A STRANGE EFFECT AS OF A LONG LINE OF BLUISH WATER-SPOUTS 



ON THE HORIZON 



IV 



Masai'Nyika 



WITH what an ever -changing beauty did the Masai- 

 Nyika break upon our view ! The mountain 

 ranges as viewed from the velt seemed almost near 

 enough to be touched, in spite of their distance and 

 vastness. The clear, dustless atmosphere deceived our 

 eyesight. 



In the old days this never-ending velt, with its 

 inhabitants, seemed to the newcomer to be an insoluble 

 conundrum. But to-day, after millions and millions of 

 footsteps have been imprinted on velt and on mountain, in. 

 swamp and in forest, the wanderer has mastered its speech, 

 thus finding new and rich pleasures in the illimitable solitude. 

 The velt does not indeed betray its secrets wholesale. 

 Those who would unravel them must be prepared to search 

 and study. ,*They will succeed only by the sweat of their 

 brow ; and -they must, above all, be fearless of consequences. 

 Thirst, hunger, and the dread of malaria have to be faced 

 in the long run, whether willingly or not. 



42 



