THE LAND OF FOOTPRINTS 



transporting Government goods; wild-eyed staring 

 shenzis from the forest, with matted hair and goat- 

 skin garments, looking ready to bolt aside at the 

 slightest alarm; coveys of marvellous and giggling 

 damsels, their fine-grained skin anointed and shin- 

 ing with red oil, strung with beads and shells, very 

 coquettish and sure of their feminine charm; naked 

 small boys marching solemnly like their elders; 

 camel trains from far-off Abyssinia or Somaliland 

 under convoy of white-clad turbaned grave men of 

 beautiful features; donkey safaris in charge of dirty 

 degenerate looking East Indians carrying trade goods 

 to some distant post — all these and many more, go- 

 ing one way or the other, drew one side, at the sight 

 of our white faces, to let us pass. 



About two o'clock we suddenly turned off from 

 the road, apparently quite at random, down the 

 long grassy interminable incline that dipped slowly 

 down and slowly up again over great distance to 

 form the Athi Plains. Along the road, with its 

 endless swarm of humanity, we had seen no game, 

 but after a half mile it began to appear. We en- 

 countered herds of zebra, kongoni, wildebeeste, and 

 *^ Tommies" standing about or grazing, sometimes 

 almost within range from the moving buckboard. 

 After a time we made out the trees and water tower 

 pf Juja ahead; and by four o'clock had turned intq 



37S 



