30 



AT NYEMPS 



■or forfeiting wages. For laziness, impudence, &c., there is no 

 penalty whatever. 



Miwiruni is situated on the northern border of Masailand. 

 The district between it and JSTyemps is uninhabited, and only 

 visited now and then for hunting by the Wandorobbo. No 

 Masai visited our camp, all the moran of the neighbourhood 

 being absent, whilst the moruu were unwilling to leave their 

 kraals, so that the Wandorobbo had things very much their 

 own way, and brought ivory for sale, which was bought by the 

 traders, although they were already overladen. A true Mrima 

 cannot resist the sight of ivory, and buys it as long as he has 

 a string of beads or a coil of wire left, burying it if he cannot 

 take it on at once. Home-going trading caravans often have 

 no articles for barter left, but pay their way with their last 

 rags of clothing, their ammunition, the iron ramrods of their 

 guns, or even the guns themselves, and in Usambara with 

 ivory. 



On the morning of the last day of the year we were off 

 again. The traders marched southwards, taking with them 

 our letters, which reached Zanzibar safely at the end of April, 

 1888, whilst we made for the rugged slopes of the Leikipia 

 plateau, here called Subugia, to seek for the little lake, coming- 

 first to a small lateral valley with a southerly trend, shut in on 

 the east by the steep slope of the plateau, and on the west by 

 a triple row of low, narrow heights with steep, almost perpen- 

 dicular sides on the eastern side only. Then we wandered 

 about a long time, seeking the lake in vain, discovering at last 

 a barren, flat stretch of land at the northern end of the valley, 

 above which rose clouds of dust raised by numerous ostriches, 

 which were disporting themselves there. This was the lake of 

 which Bedue had spoken, but as there was no water in it our 

 interest was gone. We camped at about three-quarters of an 

 hour's distance from it by a little brook flowing from Mount 



