THE END OF THE TRAIL 289 



buckets, boxes, riffraff of tools, old knives that had 

 accumulated and various other kinds of material. 

 It was all auctioned off with a total retiun of over 

 six hundred shillings for which cash was paid. 



My assistant, John Wilshusen, helped us get away- 

 some days later. I'd like to say here that John 

 was one of the most satisfactory safari companions 

 I've ever had. He was a wonderful mechanic and 

 could fix anything from a watch to a threshing mach- 

 ine. He was an old flying man, having been to South 

 America with the Hamilton Rice expedition. He 

 was a great lad to speed ; he figured he was standing 

 still if he was making less than sixty miles an hour 

 on a fair road. He even siuprised George Blowers, 

 who had hitherto been the speed king of Nairobi. 

 When he saw John whisking around in our fine 

 Willys-Knights he told me I'd better get the lad out 

 on the Athi Plains as life was no longer safe in 

 Nairobi. 



We set out a week behind the wagons we had sent 

 ahead with some of oiu" stuff. We crossed the Kai- 

 soot Desert as fast as the cars would travel. Cer- 

 tainly if any cars ever had a test, ours did, between 

 rocks and mud and grades. 



In Meru we got word of Carl Akeley's death. 

 This was a big shock because Carl spoke our language 

 and was one of the finest men that ever lived. His 

 versatility had always astonished me. He was a 



