x PREPARATIONS FOR AN EXPEDITION 125 



before I left England that this was a duty I should 

 have to undertake. 



Soon after my return from the expedition to 

 the Kitui district, I received explicit instructions 

 to find, if possible, a well-defined eastern boundary 

 to the Reserve, somewhere about the 38th degree 

 east longitude, and I accordingly began to make 

 preparations for a trip through this unknown wil- 

 derness. At the same time I intended to report on 

 the number and variety of the game seen, make 

 maps of my daily route, take notes of the various 

 tribes met with, and jot down the general char- 

 acteristics of the territory traversed. I could get 

 but very little information about the country or 

 the people, beyond the fact that the entire region 

 was practically foodless and waterless. Some of 

 the tribes were believed to be hostile, and it was 

 rumoured that a raiding party of Somalis from the 

 Ogaden borders were contemplating a foray on the 

 Rendile and Samburu; if these fanatics were en- 

 countered I was told that but short shrift might be 

 expected from them. 



As I knew that I should be away for some three 

 or four months, very careful preparations had to be 

 made for this expedition through the nyika. I 

 could not expect to obtain any food-stuffs on the 

 way, as there was a famine at the time in the 

 Kenya Province, through which the safari would 



