MEETING COLONEL ROOSEVELT 135 



elephant-hunting compact made many months be- 

 fore at the White House. 



Eleven days of marching and hunting from the 

 railroad brought us to Sergoi, the very uttermost 

 outpost of semi-civilization. Here we found an- 

 other letter in which Mr. Akeley was asked to come 

 to the Roosevelt camp, and which suggested that a 

 native runner could pilot him to its whereabouts. 

 The letter had been written some days before and 

 had been for some time at Sergoi. Whether the 

 Roosevelt camp had been moved in the meantime 

 could not be determined at Sergoi, and we knew 

 only in a general way that it was probably some- 

 where on the Nzoia River (pronounced Enzoya), 

 two or three days' march west of Sergoi, toward 

 Mount Elgon. 



So we started across, meeting no natives who pos- 

 sibly could have given any information. On the aft- 

 ernoon of November thirteenth we went into camp 

 on the edge of a great swamp, or tinga-tinga, 

 as the natives call it, only a couple of hours' march 

 from the river. Many fresh elephant trails had 

 been discovered, and the swamp itself looked like 

 a most promising place for lions. A great tree 

 stood on one side of the swamp, and in its branches 

 was a platform which an Englishman had occupied 

 seven nights in a vain quest for lions some time be- 

 fore. A little grass shelter was below the tree, and 

 as we approached a Wanderobo darted out and ran 

 in terror from us. The Wanderobos are native hunt- 

 ers who live in the forests, and are as shy as wild ani- 



