ACCOUNT OF KIKUYULAND 



351 



it by a patli bordered with thick bush, we crossed a clear 

 stream at the bottom called the Ngare no erobi, or the cold 

 brook, and climbed up the further side on to a grass-clad 

 stejDpe, where we found to our surprise some twenty Wakikuyu 

 awaiting us with food for sale. This we found was Ndoro, and 

 we camped here, but it suited us very badly, the water being 

 too far off and the pasture poor, a serious matter for us 

 with all our cattle. So the next day we pushed on for another 

 three-quarters of an hour to the upper course of the Ngare 

 no erobi, which flows through a flat and easily accessible channel 

 bounded on the left by a narrow strip of wood stretching down 

 from Kenia. This was in every respect the very place for us, 

 and we made it our headquarters for the following weeks. 



So we had carried out yet another portion of our programme, 

 having crossed Kikuyuland. For me, worn out as I was with 

 suffering, it was time indeed for the conditions of our daily life 

 to improve, and if we had not now been able to settle down 

 quietly a little and get fresh nourishing milk for me to drink 

 I should have ended my life's journey once for all at Kenia. 

 Before we finally leave Kikuyuland, I will try and give a con- 

 densed account of it and its inhabitants, which are, as I be- 

 lieve, destined to play an important part in the future of East 

 Africa. 



The Wakikuyu, or, as they call themselves, the Wakekoyo, 

 occupy a stretch of land from about eight to eleven miles 

 in breadth, between JSTgongo Bagds and Kenia. As iar as we 

 could make out, the height of the land in the south is from 

 6,000 to 6,500 feet ; in the central portions, from 4,500 to 5,000 

 feet ; and in the north, from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. It is inter- 

 sected by parallel heights trending N.W. by S.E., with valleys 

 of a slope of from 100 to 600 feet, the general inclination 

 being the same as that of the ridges, from the N.W. to the S.E. 

 There is no doubt that the whole of Kikuyuland was once densely 



