126 IN AFRICA 



small detachment of askaris, or native soldiers, who 

 are necessary to enforce the law, repress any native 

 uprising, and collect the hut tax of one dollar a year 

 that is imposed upon each household in the district. 



Other names on the map may look important, 

 but will prove to be only streams, or hills, or some 

 landmarks that have been used by the surveyors to 

 signify certain places. In our five weeks' trip 

 through Trans-Tanaland we found only two bomaSj 

 Fort Hall and Embo, and three or four ranches 

 where one or more white men lived. In our expe- 

 dition to Mount Elgon we encountered only two 

 places where the mark of civilization showed El- 

 doma Ravine and Sergoi. In the former place the 

 only white man was the subcommissioner, and in the 

 latter there was one policeman, and a general store 

 kept by a South African. A number of Boer set- 

 tlers are scattered over the plateau, trying to re- 

 claim little sections of land from its primitive state. 



Between Sergoi and Londiani, on the railroad, 

 ninety miles south, there is one little store where 

 caravans may buy food for porters and some of 

 the simpler necessities that white men may require. 

 All the rest of the country for thousands of square 

 miles is given up to the lion and zebra and the vast 

 herds of antelope that feed upon the rich grass of 

 the plateau. 



Yet in spite of the sparsity of settlement the na- 

 tive runner manages to find you, even after days 

 of traveling, without compass or directions to aid 

 him. 



