272 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



country ahead, and told me there were plenty of elephants 

 about the north end of the lake, though they had seen no signs 

 of any along the shores in this direction. 



The man who had first come to meet us now said that he 

 would like to turn back with me, as he had some trade goods 

 left which he wanted to try to barter for ivory, though he had 

 been obliged to come away, as the other members of the 

 caravan would not wait. He said that if I would allow him 

 and two or three of his assistants to join my caravan, and 

 would supply them with food, of which, as well as the where- 

 withal to buy more, they were short, he would guide me 

 and assist me in every way in his power. To this I gladly 

 agreed, thinking it a most happy stroke of good fortune to 

 obtain such valuable help from a Swahili who knew the way 

 and all about the natives in the country where we were going, 

 Xor had I ever reason to regret my decision ; for Mnyamiri 

 (such was his name) was of the greatest use to me both as 

 guide and interpreter, being a proficient linguist in many 

 African languages and thoroughly at home in Masai and its 

 kindred dialects, which were the only means of communication 

 we had with the tribes among whom we were going. 



It seemed an especially fortunate coincidence that I should 

 have met with this man here, anxious to accompany me, just 

 where we needed a guide, having reached a point whence we 

 ought to strike across country, leaving the lake for a time, and 

 make a short cut to Alia Bay. I took the opportunity of 

 writing some letters to send to the coast by the returning 

 caravan. I expected they would take months on the road, but 

 knew they would get there some day and that the news of me 

 would be welcome to my friends. I found out, in the course 

 of conversation, that these traders had, on their up journey, 

 taken the route to the eastward of Mount Nyiro, where they 

 had suffered much from thirst, some of their donkeys perishing 

 from want of water. On hearing that we had experienced no 

 sufferings from that cause, they concluded that ours must be 



