252 THROUGH MAS AIL AND TO THE BORDERS OF KIKUYU 



indeed, amongst nearly all the people in the districts we visited, 

 of friendship and goodwill. 



I have not half exhausted the manners and customs of this 

 interesting people, but I must not longer delay my narrative ; 

 other characteristics will, however, be noticed in the course 

 of it. 



We should come to no more water till we got to the some- 

 what distant Doenye Erok la Matumbato, which trading caravans 

 generally take two days to reach from here. We resumed our 

 march at ten o'clock on August 7, intending to follow their 

 example. Unfortunately, we had to leave one of our men 

 behind, as he was ill with fever and quite insensible. We gave 

 him into the care of the Masai, paying for his keep in advance 

 with an axe, and they promised to look after him till he was 

 well enough to join some passing caravan. 



Our route led us at first across a flat, sandy steppe, here and 

 there strewn with salt. We then came to a second large pool, 

 the water of which, after the horrible stuff we had had to drink 

 during the last twenty-four hours, seemed to us delicious. We 

 could not imagine why Jumbe Kimemeta would not let us camp 

 here, but when we asked him he gave the usual answer, 6 dasturi, 

 bwana ' (' It is such a bad place, master '). When our people 

 had filled their calabashes we pressed on, in the heat of the mid- 

 day sun, across the gleaming white wilderness, our eyes feasting 

 again and again on what in the deceptive atmosphere looked 

 like beautiful lakes. After another two hours' tramp, during 

 which we noted the change from volcanic to metamorphic 

 formations, we reached two little rugged hills of metamorphic 

 rock rising up like islands from the desert, beyond which the 

 ground became more undulating, and we began steadily to 

 ascend. 



A little before sunset we halted for the night, alas ! to our 

 dismay, where there was scarcely a blade of grass to be seen 



