VII 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



293 



arrows. Behind them was a countless herd of camels, 

 their tawny hides forming a distinct background to 

 the picture presented by the crowd of dark-skinned 

 natives. 



At first our appearance struck the natives dumb with 

 astonishment, but the silence soon gave way to an ever- 

 growing shout. Arrows were strung in bows, spears 

 were clutched tightly, and, after a moment's hesitation, 

 they advanced, at first slowly, and later at a quick run, 

 We dropped upon our knees in the bed of the stream, 

 and placed our rifles to our shoulders. I turned to 

 the Masai interpreter, and said : " Send forward Mayolo 

 and the other Wanderobbo, to assure these people we 

 come in peace." Instinctively Mayolo understood the 

 command, and with a nod, he threw his bow to the 

 ground, and ran forward, shouting : " Serian ! Serian ! " 

 Peace ! Peace !). The savages halted, and eyed us 

 fiercely for a moment. Mayolo turned to me and said, 

 " Njo gumbao " (Give me tobacco). I handed him my 

 pouch, and with that in his hand he again ran forward, 

 greeted the natives in a friendly manner, and distrib- 

 uted a pinch here and a pinch there. Many of them 

 seemed to know Mayolo, but they did not appear to 

 be filled with pleasure at seeing him again ; neverthe- 

 less, he at length persuaded six or eight of the warriors 

 to come to us and talk. 



By this time my face and arms were so tanned by 

 exposure to the sun that I resembled a negro more 

 than a white man ; so my appearance did not seem to 

 excite much curiosity in the minds of these people. 

 They pointed to my trousers, however, and asked May- 

 olo if we were Borana ; thus indicating that the Borana 



