THE COUNTRY 363 



any idea of educating or improving him, and is naturally 

 dreaded by the helpless being he so ruthlessly tramples on. 



Can a weak local government, such as this grudgingly 

 supported by Downing Street, successfully mediate between 

 two elements so opposed in tradition and interest ? 



The policy that would seem to offer, "for the present 

 distress" the best prospects of success is one of closed dis- 

 tricts. This plan has been adopted in the case of the 

 Massai and there is some hope that it may be extended so 

 as to shield the far more helpless, and fully as interesting 

 peoples of Mount Elgao and Nzoia plateau. 



The lands reserved for the Massai are closed to every- 

 one, sportsman or traveller, unless he has procured from 

 the lieutenant-governor a permit to enter them; any others 

 found within such boundaries, are subject to arrest. 



If Elgao, Maraquette, Cherangang, N'dorobo, Kam- 

 asea, Suk and Karamojo countries were declared closed, 

 these people would be saved from the Boer intrusion that 

 now threatens them, and the Boers themselves would 

 lose nothing by the limitation, for the land they are crowd- 

 ing into, the finest perhaps in B. E. A., is a "no man's 

 land," and has been for years merely the battle ground of 

 the tribes. 



The country occupied by the tribes I name borders 

 the rich plateau of the Nzoia; just now the plateau is 

 covered with herds of game, more numerous, probably, 

 than anywhere else in Africa. As soon as the land is 

 settled, these herds will disappear, the remnants of them 

 will seek grazing farther from Boer settlements, in the 

 drier, less valuable regions bordering the plateau. If the 

 Boer is allowed, he will surely follow them into such 

 retreats and then most certainly we shall hear of native 

 disturbances. 



Tribes like the Karamojo, Kamasea, and Suk, are 

 still so far away and occupy so rough a country, that just 



