VII 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



275 



to be the largest. Before it moved 600 yards, the ele- 

 phant fell. Word was sent to me, and I halted the 

 caravan, having first despatched our guide with two 

 Masai interpreters, to search for water on the slopes 

 of the large mountain pointed out to us. This moun- 

 tain was called Lolokwi, and was then but a few miles 

 distant. The strict Mohammedans absolutely refuse to 

 eat elephant meat, but among my men were many who 

 placed the gratification of appetite far above religious 

 scruple, and it is almost needless to add that the Sou- 

 danese were of this latter number. 



The elephant proved to be a female possessed of very 

 fair tusks (the pair weighing nearly forty pounds), and 

 as it was female ivory, it was worth nearly five dollars 

 a pound. Those of the men who indulged in elephant 

 meat attacked the huge body, and in less than two 

 hours they had added to their already heavy burdens 

 vast chunks of the juicy flesh. Having removed the 

 tusks, we permitted our men to supply themselves with 

 such of the meat as they wanted, and then resumed our 

 march. By 4 p.m. we were encamped on the slopes of 

 Lolokwi. Water we found, but in the smallest possible 

 quantity, near a few huts long before deserted by their 

 former occupants, the Wanderobbo. The Wanderobbo 

 stand in such dread of attack that they build their vil- 

 lages in almost inaccessible spots, and in places well 

 hidden from casual view. They are careful not to 

 make use of one path to and fro, so that it is not until 

 we had quite reached one of their villages, that we were 

 aware of its proximity. My guide was much distressed 

 at finding that these people had gone away. Six weeks 

 had elapsed since he left them, and they had then told 



