348 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



a party of loo natives appeared, mostly young and 

 well-armed men. They had come from the mountains, 

 and were provided with bags in which to take back 

 sulphate of magnesium. Upon seeing us, they halted, 

 and sent forward a few of their number to assure 

 us of their good intentions with respect to our cara- 

 van. They said they were Embe, but this was not 

 the case, as the only language they spoke, even among 

 themselves, was Masai ; which proved them to have 

 come from the Janjy country, in which many Masai 

 have settled of recent years, since their cattle were 

 destroyed by the plague. 



After having exchanged greetings with us, the old 

 men, who appeared to be the leaders of the expedi- 

 tion, advanced to the edge of the crater, and began 

 to implore the protection of the spirit dwelling therein, 

 raising their arms high in the air. While engaged 

 in this prayer, the old men seemed very fervent ; but 

 their younger followers paid little attention to the vica- 

 rious supplication, for during the prayer they chatted 

 among themselves, and occasionally with some of my 

 men. 



We reached the Guaso Nyiro at the place where 

 we had left the loads of food on the former trip, and 

 a search in the hiding-place revealed a fact we had 

 suspected. Mohamadi had removed most of the flour, 

 and what he did not take with him he had scattered on 

 the ground. After crossing the Guaso Nyiro I found 

 game plentiful ; and was much interested in watching 

 a lioness stalking a small herd of water-buck. She 

 was 400 yards distant from me, but I could distinctly 

 make out her movements with the aid of my field- 



