178 SPORT IN ASIA AND AFRICA 



and neck. My men, on one occasion, said that they 

 had seen the forms in the grass of a number of 

 lions, but we did not see nor hear anything of 

 these animals, and the shooting on this part of the 

 journey was not attended with any adventures. 

 After halting and shooting in the plain country 

 for some days, we continued our march to 

 Meru. 



At the Station we met Mr. Home, the District 

 Officer, and his assistant. Seeing that some of 

 our porters were hefty fellows, Mr. Home 

 challenged us to a tug-of-war with his Merus. 

 Our men readily accepted the challenge, but they 

 were no match for the stalwart Merus, who 

 hauled them over the line easily enough. The 

 Merus, owing doubtless to the fact that they 

 reside at a high altitude and in a cool climate, 

 are fine specimens of the negro race, and their 

 affability was overpowering, every man we met 

 being anxious to shake hands with us. Sir 

 Charles Elliot, in his book on the East African 

 Protectorate, which was published in 1905, says 

 that the natives north and east of Kenia are 

 less friendly than the natives in most parts of 

 Africa. In 1909-10, however, we found the 

 natives both at Meru and Embu most friendly, 

 and had no trouble with the inhabitants of the 

 country in any part of our journey. 



From Meru we marched northwards, following 

 one of the tributaries of the Guaso Nyiro, and 

 struck the river at the place where it is crossed 

 by the road or track leading to Marsobit, on the 

 Abyssinian border. 



There were numerous herds of Baisa Oryx 



