WITH FLASH-LIGHT AND RIFLE 



ing the compass, and no one has succeeded in so 

 doing. 



Long before the first Europeans set out to explore the 

 "Dark Continent," the Arabs had traversed it for cen- 

 turies with their caravans, trading in goods and slaves, 

 and had estabhshed beaten tracks, which later were fol- 

 lowed by the Europeans. 



One often finds native carriers and caravan guides 

 who know the topography of Eastern Africa from the 

 coast to the Congo: the paths, the drinking-places, the 

 settlements of the natives, the food which may be pur- 

 chased of them — in short, they know everything a trav- 

 eller wants to know. In w^ell - watered parts of the 

 country, or in arid districts during the rainy season, 

 one does not run much risk, but elsewhere and during 

 the dry season it is suicidal merely to follow the mag- 

 netic needle without competent guides. On my ex- 

 peditions in the Masai highlands, which are little known 

 even to the native guides, I was more than careful not 

 to get too far aw^ay from a watering-place before I had 

 made sure of another ahead of me. 



Sometimes in the rainy season, or at any time in the 

 mountainous regions, the sky pours its treasure too 

 liberally on the traveller and his caravan. I passed 

 many a stormy night in the high mountain districts of 

 the Masai-Nyika. Merely to think of them makes me 

 shiver. For never in my life did I witness such a power- 

 ful combination of elemental forces — wind, water, and 



,^82 



