WE TERRIFY THE TURKANA 



225 



Nyiro. He had evidently liad a very good time amongst the 

 Turkana, and the only words to describe his general appearance 

 are graceful and elegant. 



At our request the 3^oung man willingly put off his return 

 home and came with us as guide and interpreter. We had 

 expected to have to do without water on this march, and the 

 men had therefore cooked their rations the day before, but our 

 new friend led us to a big well-filled pool of rainwater, where 

 he advised us to make our mid-day halt and supply ourselves 

 with water, as we should only get a little, and that bad, at the 

 frontier village of Turkana. He informed us that the Turkana 

 had plenty of oxen, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys, but that 

 we should get no more dhurra till we came to the Laremett,^ 

 at the mouth of the Kerio river. 



In the afternoon we crossed a low ridge and entered a 

 broad, flat, gradually ascending valley, across which we had to 

 m_arch. But for a row of trees with deceptively luxuriant 

 foliage, marking the dried-up bed of a stream, the valley was 

 almost without vegetation. The first sign that we were 

 apj)roaching inhabited districts was the appearance of a herd 

 of camels, probably on their way home from pasture. We 

 pushed on unnoticed for some distance further, and were just 

 crossing yet another low ridge when the first natives spied us. 

 They were so completely taken by surprise that, in spite of our 

 guides shouting to them to stop, they rushed away in terror. 

 To reassure them and to come to an understanding, lest the 

 whole country should be alarmed, we halted, and presently a 

 native who limped a little in his gait came to speak to us. We 

 assured him of our peaceable intentions, and were just about to 

 resume our march when three warriors came dashing towards 

 us down the hill. They stopped at a distance of some fifty paces, 

 and with ear-splitting shrieks and menacing gestures, flung 



^ Laremett means the district at the mouth of a river. 

 VOL. II. Q 



