284 IN AFRICA 



leathery-limbed old matrons, inclusive, were not 

 above a feminine curiosity in things which doubt- 

 less interested them, but didn't concern them. The 

 standing army of the Ketoshians sat around all day 

 wearing out the grass and being frequently stum- 

 bled over. 



If we asked a sultan if there were any elephants 

 in the neighborhood it meant at least fifteen min- 

 utes of loose conversation through a relay of inter- 

 preters, with the final answer boiled down to a "no" 

 in English. For a language that has only a few 

 words like shauri, backsheesh, apana, and chukula 

 the native lingo is a most elastic one. 



There were two or three things that we had come 

 to Mount Elgon for and about which we desired 

 information. The first was "elephants," and we 

 found, after hours of talk, that there was none in 

 the vicinity. Secondly, we wanted to get food for 

 our men, and thirdly, we wanted guides to take us 

 up to the ancient cave-dwellings in the mountain 

 and more guides to take us up to the top of the 

 mountain itself. 



It seemed almost impossible to get satisfactory 

 information upon either of the last two subjects. 

 The natives didn't want to part with their grain, 

 while for their cattle they asked outrageous prices. 

 We were almost tempted to boycott them by stop- 

 ping eating meat for two months. They also 

 seemed reluctant to let us have guides to take us up 

 to the caves and none of them seemed to know the 

 trails that led up into the forests and the heights of 



