GRAND VIEW OF KENIA AND THE ABERDARE RANGE 405 



was the more bitter as the kixuriant vegetation had made us 

 certain we should soon be able to quench our thirst. We had 

 just decided to push on for the Guaso Nyiro at once, when most 

 fortunately two natives came up who told us there was a water 

 hole twenty minutes' walk off on the north. We soon found it, 

 much to our delight, though it w^as no gurgling spring, but a 

 little pool of muddy water covered with a green film as thick 

 as a finger. We camped beside it. 



We were now at a height of about 5,900 feet, nearly equidis- 

 tant from Kenia and the Aberdare chain, and able for the first 

 time to enjoy a really good view of both. From the top of one of 

 the little hills hard by the two mountain masses appeared doubly 

 grand and lofty, contrasting with the apparently immeasurable 

 undulating plain of Leikipia, which just now looked its best, 

 bathed as it was in gleaming sunshine. Bound us lay the barren 

 sunburnt steppe, whilst far away in the distance rose up the two 

 giant forms, their slopes clothed with woods, their peaks capped 

 with ice. Especially fascinating looked the snow-filled crater 

 of Kenia, and I was sorely tempted to leave the Guaso Nyiro to 

 pursue its unknown course alone and to desert it for the 

 mysterious heights of the unsealed volcano. 



I spent the afternoon at a short distance from the camp at 

 my cartographical work, which I generally preferred doing in 

 the open air, taking with me in addition to the necessary instru- 

 ments a small table and chair so that I might be as comfortable 

 as possible. My two Swahili, Chuma and Baraka, knew all my 

 requirements exactly, and really surprised me by their care and 

 intelligence in the matter. I generally had Chuma with me on 

 these occasions. He was a native of Nyassa, only twenty years 

 old, and really quite a remarkable character. Earnest and quiet, 

 he was rarely known to talk to anybody, and he maintained 

 the same self-possession in face of danger. He had taken 

 great pains to study all my ways, knew how to set up the 



