270 IN AFRICA 



madding crowd. Thomas Cook and Son have not 

 yet penetrated that district with schedules and time 

 cards and luggage labels; so if your purpose in 

 traveling is to get a grand assortment of stickers 

 on your trunks and hand-bags, it is useless to in- 

 clude Mount Elgon in your itinerary. 



There will be days of marching through high 

 grass, often so deep as almost to bury yourself and 

 your horse ; hours of delay at marshy rivers densely 

 choked with a tangle of riotous vegetation, and 

 much groping about in a trackless waste for a suit- 

 able course to follow. 



Owing to intertribal warfare the Elgon district 

 has been closed for some time and it has only been 

 during the last year or so that hunting parties have 

 again been allowed to enter. Since that time a num- 

 ber of parties have been in, the Duke of Alba 

 among the first, and later Doctor Rains ford, Fred- 

 erick Selous and Mr. McMillan, Captain Ashton, 

 the Duke of Penaranda, Mr. Roosevelt, and a few 

 others. Colonel Roosevelt went only as far as the 

 Nzoia River, but most of the others crossed and 

 swung up along the northeastern slopes of the 

 mountain where elephants are most frequently 

 found. 



Our party decided to take the southern slope, 

 notwithstanding we were warned that we might 

 find the natives troublesome and treacherous. We 

 were also warned that we should be going through 

 an untraveled district where there were no trails 

 and where native guides could not be secured, 



