NATIVES MAKING A CLEARING 



301 



had been on his way there when he met our party. So they 

 all went back together. 



The new Samaki struck us as being a very intelligent, well- 

 informed man. He lent a willing ear to our assurances that 

 we were altogether averse to war, and seemed to realise the 

 advantages which might accrue to the Wakikuyu if they gave 

 us a passage through their country. In a long interview we 

 put before him the aims of our journey, and told him how 

 many miles we had already accomplished in peace, adding 

 that our weapons were, in the first instance, beads and stuffs, 

 but for those who molested us we had fire-spears ! We begged 

 him to tell his people this, and gave him and his escorts some 

 presents. Kijanja begged Teleki at the close of the shauri to 

 give the land a little rain at once, so as to set a seal on our 

 friendship with the Wakikuyu, and, most opportunely, it 

 actually did rain that same night. 



On September 9 we were off again, full of anxious expecta- 

 tions as to what would befall us by the way. Half an hour's 

 march through a dense wood brought us to a ravine, forming 

 part of the frontier line of Kikuyu, down a stream bordered 

 with wild, varied, and luxuriant vegetation, flowing in a south- 

 easterly direction. The banks were so steep and slippery that 

 a zig-zag track had to be cut before the men could get down 

 to the water, the crossing of which took more than an hour. 

 The most noteworthy trees here were water palms and a 

 beautiful variety of dracsena (?) with much-forked stems from 

 about 31 to 37 feet high, surmounted by a massive bushy 

 crown of leaves. 



Another ten minutes' march brought us to a new-made 

 clearing, round about which natives were attacking the 

 primaeval forest with fire and axe, many charred and still 

 glowing trunks lying strewn about in wild disorder on the 

 smoking ground. Here Utahaj Uajaki and a large number of 



