20 A NATURALIST IN MID-AFRICA. 



one. After passing through the first fringe of 

 forest at the end of the Athi plains (left as a 

 protection against Masai), one enters on a densely 

 cultivated district. Food is so cheap that a man 

 can be rationed for about lj pice a day ; and 

 cattle, sheep, and goats seem to thrive exceed- 

 ingly. Donkeys can be procured in large numbers 

 from the Masai at a price of about six to twelve 

 rupees a head, though I had to pay the I.B.E.A. 

 Co. twenty-five rupees apiece. 



Altogether the prospects of the country seem 

 very bright in the future, particularly now that 

 a colony of Masai and another of Sudanese are 

 settled near the fort, forming a good " buffer- 

 state " to the Wakikuyu. 



All this country from Nzowi and beyond 

 Kikuyu to the Nandi range is well suited to 

 Europeans. The rainfall is sufficient, but not 

 severe, and there is a good bracing cold at night, 

 which is one of the chief requisites in the tropics. 

 I am told that fever is quite unknown amongst 

 Europeans unless they bring it with them from 

 the coast or Uganda. Wheat and English vege- 

 tables can be easily grown, and probably in 

 quantity, and the latter seem to have most 

 abnormal developments. 



Cabbages and cauliflowers become shrubs, and 

 parsnips' are almost as large as turnips at home ; 

 moreover, every conceivable kind of vegetable 

 seems to have grown with great success. Rice 



