PROWLERS OF THE PLAINS 55 



peculiar twists. They love pomp and ceremony; it 

 is part of their lives, so that failed to impress them. 

 Airplanes, radio, telephones, elevators, and automo- 

 biles are all part of the white man's sorcery. He is 

 capable of most anytliing in their estimation, so no 

 matter what the miracle, it is taken more or less for 

 granted. On going to the fair grounds, however, we 

 found the chiefs and the warriors gathered around the 

 water faucets, where they stood by the hour gazing 

 in wonder and amazement. They seemed almost awe- 

 stricken whenever anyone walked up and turned on 

 the tap. Here was a real acliievement of magic I 

 Their women had to walk for miles and fetch water 

 in Httle jars on their heads, while the white man 

 simply went to a stick in the ground, turned the 

 Httle spigot and the water ran out clear and cool 

 in an endless stream. Some of the chiefs asked me 

 where they could get these charmed sticks. I couldn't 

 tell them I 



Early on the morning of October seventh, I stood 

 shivering in a heavy sheepskin coat watching the sun 

 rise from behind the slopes of Mount Kenya. Here on 

 one of the highest points in the Aberdare Mountains 

 it had frozen ice that night, and between me and snow- 

 capped Mount Kenya lay the equator. It was hard 

 to reconcile this to my earher conceptions of equatorial 

 regions. Now Mona, who had been busily supervising 

 our farewell breakfast, came to the door and shouted 

 "Chakula tiari," which, for the benefit of those who 

 haven't yet mastered the Swahili tongue, means "food 

 is ready." As I turned my back on the sunrise, Bud 

 came up saying that the trucks were all loaded, that 

 everything was ready for the start. 



