VII 



TRAVELS IN EASTER IV AFRICA 



313 



a single village, and that not the richest of the Ren- 

 dile villages. There were said to be twenty villages ; 

 so that one might say the Rendile possessed, in round 

 numbers, 80,000 camels. In former days they had 

 possessed many cattle, but these had been very much 

 reduced in number by plagues, so that their herds, at 

 the time of our visit, consisted of but 1000. Of don- 

 keys, they were said to possess thousands upon thou- 

 sands, and it was reported that their flocks of sheep 

 and goats were countless. 



From conversations with these people, we gathered 

 that there must be 20,000 Rendile, not counting the 

 many thousand Samburu and Berkenedji living with 

 them. It was said that when the Rendile were 

 camped in one long line, it took six hours' hard 

 marching to pass from one end of the line to the 

 other. 



Their huts were said to be made of camel saddles 

 similar to those used by the Somali. They had been 

 encamped two months at Kome, where we found them; 

 but, as the pasturage was now nearly exhausted, they 

 were on the point of moving. They said they wan- 

 dered from Marie, to the north of Lake Stephanie, as 

 far south as the northern extremity of the Leikipia 

 plateau. In former years they had encamped near 

 Marsabit and the northern end of the General Mat- 

 thews range ; but five years previously they had suf- 

 fered defeat at the hands of the Turcana, who robbed 

 them of thousands of camels, and killed many of their 

 tribe. Many years ago they inhabited the plain to the 

 south of Lorian called Kirrimar; but owing to the re- 

 peated raids of the Somali from Kismayu and the 



