FIRST EXPEDITION TO EAST AFRICA 87 



from the Victoria Nyanza, and had to wait at 

 the station until 3 p.m., as the train was delayed; 

 but the long wait at the station was not specially 

 irksome. About a tumblerful and a half of lime- 

 juice and water was all that passed my lips in 

 forty-seven hours, and in the preceding sixteen 

 hours I had eaten very little. As already said, 

 however, the fast caused me surprisingly little 

 inconvenience; but the discomfort of the two 

 cold, damp nights upon the ground was very 

 great. 



After settling up matters with Bird at N aivasha 

 and saying good-bye to him on the 25th of March, 

 I moved camp to the Elmenteita railway station, 

 and hunted the plain there for some days. At 

 Elmenteita I made the acquaintance of Mr. 

 Chamberlain, a colonist who had a large grant 

 of land in the vicinity, and who kindly gave me 

 permission to shoot upon his ground. In one 

 part of the estate which he indicated Mr. 

 Chamberlain had, as he informed me, come upon 

 several lions in the grass. They stood and looked 

 at him for some time ; and, as he was entirely 

 unarmed, it was an unpleasant adventure. But 

 eventually they moved off. In dry weather 

 the place probably was a favourite haunt for 

 lions, as it was low-lying and the cover was dense, 

 and the Elmenteita plain, upon which there was 

 much game, was within easy access. When I 

 was there, however, the rains had begun and the 

 ground was partly flooded, and the lions had 

 evidently sought drier quarters. I hunted the 

 ground carefully, two or three times, but saw no 

 signs of them. 



