ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER CARAVAN 



217 



direction, across a monotonous tract of country, dotted here 

 and there with trees and bushes in increasing numbers, with 

 patches of recently burnt grass, which reflected the glare in a 

 way which had already caused us so much suffering. But 

 presently, to our relief, we entered a sheltered wood, where we 

 soon camped beneath the shade of some lofty trees rising up 

 like islands from the rest of the wood. This spot was a perfect 

 gem in its way, the trees growing, as Thomson remarked before 

 us, as straight as firs to a height of from 100 to 130 feet before 

 they put forth their wide-spreading crown of leaves, the spaces 

 between the trunks being so filled in with creepers, &c., that we 

 had to clear a space with axe and knife before we could pitch 

 our tents. A soft twilight reigned in this sylvan retreat, and 

 the air was like that of spring in Europe, for neither the rays 

 of the sun nor the cold south-west wind still blowing could 

 penetrate into it. 



We were now already at a height of 4,617 feet above the 

 sea-level and two and a half hours' march from Kimangelia, the 

 farthest outpost of Jagga, on the confines of Masailand. Our 

 camp was at the fork of two little swampy watercourses. It 

 would, of course, have been better to be nearer a village so as 

 to get food easily, but we always had to look out for water in 

 the first instance, so that our march thus far had really been 

 from stream to stream. 



The districts north of the frontier settlement of Kimangelia 

 are inhabited by nomad Masai, who are unable to supply 

 caravans with any food worth mentioning, as they dare not own 

 much cattle for fear of its tempting their powerful neighbours, 

 so that it was necessary to get sufficient supplies here for the 

 twenty -five days' journey to Kikuyuland. 



Another caravan having joined ours here, we now 

 numbered over 450. The conditions on which we admitted 

 the traders and their men to our common camp were 



