294 



TO KENIA 



bad several times, and with swords flashing on every side it was 

 impossible to tell friend from foe. One native snatched a 

 bundle of beads out of Qualla's hand, another stole the turban 

 from Maktubu's head, but the warriors themselves caught and 

 flogged the thieves, compelling them to restore the property 

 taken. In the evening our men came back to camp with three 

 days' provisions, consisting this time chiefly of beans, maize, 

 and millet. 



Qualla had met two caravan men who had been left behind 

 here through sickness several years before and had been made 

 slaves by the Wakikuyu. They told liim that we should never 

 succeed in getting through the country, for if the people of 

 the frontier districts let us pass, those living further north 

 would not permit us to set foot in their land. This had been 

 the burden of everyone's song since we left Pangani, but for 

 all that our relations with the natives became daily better, 

 especially as the God of rain was favourable to us and sent 

 several light showers. Daily our men went to the frontier, 

 brook to buy food, often accompanied by Count Teleki. 



I was now getting better, and on Sej)tember 3 was able 

 to leave my bed for the first time. Our preparations for the 

 further journey were by this time so far advanced that we were 

 able to think of starting. We hoped to achieve our purpose 

 without bloodshed, but we did not mean to trust the natives 

 too much, and were prepared for all contingencies. Our forty 

 axes were sharpened and, where necessary, provided with new 

 handles ; all our weapons were overhauled, and ammunition was 

 given out. These were, of course, only precautionary measures, 

 and we represented this to our men. Our one fear was that 

 they would fail us, for we knew well enough what they thought 

 about this further journey. Recently they had been very 

 quiet, and we guessed that their silence boded no good to us. 

 The chances were that they would leave us in the lurch at the 



