so UNDER THE AFRICAN SUN 



from fever on his way down the Congo ; broken in heahh he 

 reached Paris, and died. 



Poor Dick ! I felt sorry for him. He was a most energetic 

 and resolute man, so that the Swahilies had dubbed him " Simba 

 uleia," which means " the lion of Europe." He was too inde- 

 pendent a man to get on well with everybody. I was able to 

 render him a slight service, when he was down with fever ; 

 and as I declined to accept payment, he sent all his men, 

 two hundred of them, to work for a couple of days at the 

 place which I was then having cleared for the erection of 

 some Government buildings. I little thought, when he said 

 good-bye to me at Kavirondo, that he was about to join the 

 number of those who have found their grave in Africa. 



For months the Kedong valley bore witness to the dreadful 

 slaughter. When I passed that way some months later, the road- 

 side for miles was strewn with blood-soaked scraps of clothing 

 and with skeletons. These belonged to mortally wounded 

 men who had tried to escape from the massacre, but had 

 succumbed to their wounds. On reaching the scene of carnage, 

 the skeletons, no longer single as alreadv met with by the way- 

 side, lay in some places by the dozen, where frightened and 

 wounded men had huddled together in the vain hope of finding 

 mercy or safety. Last time I passed I shot a zebra here ; and 

 not far from the animal, there lay a human skull, though only 

 a few now remain scattered about. 



At Campi Mbaruk I came upon one of the temporary 

 settlements of these nomadic Masai. The huts, seen from a 

 distance, resemble the baker's familiar tinloaf of bread. They 

 are well plastered over with cow-dung, almost touch each other, 

 and are arranged in circular kraals with an inner free space 

 for penning the young calves. The vast herds these humble 

 nomads own are a sight ! One is reminded of the possessions 

 of Job, of Abraham, and of Israel. The plain was dotted with 

 black patches indicating densely packed herds of thousands of 

 head of cattle, sheep, and goats, and hundreds and hundreds 

 of donkeys. When the tribe shifts its habitation, the donkeys 

 carry the household goods, especially heavy articles such as 

 long poles and bullock-hides. The women carry the more 

 fragile possessions, such as earthenware cooking -pots. One 

 of the men I saw, was evidently an elder and a man of 

 wealth and authority ; he was wrapped in a thick fur-coat 



