TSETSE AND LACK OF GAME ON ATHI EIVEE. 235 



many of my donkeys were already dead, I had hoped that 

 when those that had suffered most from ' fly ' in passing 

 through the Tana valley* had succumbed, the remainder 

 would keep healthy ; for I did not then know that Laiju 

 was one of the most deadly places in Africa for domestic 

 animals, not excepting the generally hardy ass. But on 

 my return now I found that all were either dead, dying, 

 or sick " (p. 28). 



On the south hank of the Athi Biver, above its junction 

 with the Tsavo, May, 1895. — "It is pleasant to get on 

 the banks of this river (for which I always retain an 

 affection), with its green willows and fresh scent, and 

 its wide, though shallow and rather muddy, stream, and 

 to have an unstinted supply of good sweet water. . . . 

 The river runs through the same barren, scrub-covered 

 country — in some parts gravelly ridges, in others sandy 

 flats bordering its banks. . . . One thing that strikes 

 me about this country is the scarcity of game ; for 

 even along the banks of the river there is marvellously 

 little — a very few waterbuck at intervals, an occasional 

 lesser koodoo or two, a little lot of impala, sometimes, 

 at one particular point, and rarely an odd bushbuck, are 

 all that is seen, without counting the diminutive paa, and 

 now and again a rhino, giraffe, or hippo spoor. Formerly 

 there was a sprinkling of buffalo in small herds ; but these 

 the cattle-plague swept off. The other game, however, 

 was always scarce. It is easy to say that the conditions 

 are not suited to its requirements — too much scrub and too 

 little grass — but one cannot help wondering why some 

 species have not become adapted to the land. Here are 

 great stretches of uninhabited bush country with a peren- 

 nial river running through it, and hardly any animals, 

 though plenty of birds and of ' fly ' (Tetse) " (pp. 141-142). 



July, 1895. — Tsetse " very numerous " in thick bush to 

 the north of the Tana (approximate geographical position, 

 from the author's map, 0° 10' S., 38° 10' E.) (p. 161). 



July, 1895. Laiju to northern extremity of Jamheni 

 hills. — "The number of my donkeys was reduced some- 

 what, as one by one they succumbed to the effects of the 

 ' fly ' we had come through ; the numerous streams, too, 

 caused much delay and trouble with the pack-animals ; 

 * [A "wide shallow valley full of monotonous dense scrub" (p. 10).} 



