304 RETURN FROM LAKE BARINGO TO THE COAST 



a miniature shield made of bark, and a wooden spear, took them 

 out of his hands, flung the beads round his neck in payment, 

 and ran proudly off with his purchase to the goats, which had 

 meanwhile strayed into the wood. Though it is generally said 

 that all negroes are but grown-up children, there is no real 

 childhood in Africa. 



Leaving the wood, we entered a park-like district overgrown 



OUR LITTLE GOATHERD. 



with tall steppe grass. On the east we had an extended view 

 of a vast steppe sloping gently towards the low chain of the 

 Ulu mountains, which were our next goal. Heavy clouds, 

 which our gaze strove in vain to pierce, obscured the land- 

 scape in the direction of Kenia, but far away in the south rose 

 up a massive form of gleaming whiteness, which we recognised 

 as the familiar Kibo. More than 120 miles still separated us 



