Jan. 1, 1902.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
471 
that in this region they might increase and mul- 
tiply and preserve their purity of race. From the 
north-eastern buttresses of Mount Elgon, and the 
headwaters of the "Weiwei river on the north, te 
the frontier of German East Africa ou the south— 
a distance of about 240 miles— extended at alti- 
tude ranging between 5,000ft. and 10,000ft. one of 
the most beautiful and healthful districts to be 
found anywhere in the Dark Continent. This 
lofty region lie would style the Nandi plateau, as 
it was mainly inhabited, so far as it had any 
human inhabitants at present races of the Nandi 
stock. Tlie scenery on the Nandi plateau reminded 
the homesick ofiicial and traveller over and over 
again of England, of Wales, of Scotland, This 
beautiful land had not in it a single ugly or un- 
friendly spot, and as it was almost entirely with- 
out native inhabitants it seemed to be awaiting 
the advent of another race which should make it 
a wonderland of wealth and comfort, a little 
England, half a Scotland, or a larcre Wales lying 
exactly under the equator at an average altitude 
of 4,000ft. above the Victoria Nyauza, of whose 
silvery gulfs and ghostly mountain coastline 
strange glimpses at a distance of 90 miles might be 
caught occasionally from some breezy height or 
through the interstices of woods which theni- 
Belves might be in Surrey. He travelled com- 
pletely round Mount Elgon. On its southern as 
on its northern side the awful mountain clifl's 
which marked one of the lower terraces of this 
tremendous crater were honeycombed with deep 
recesses or caverns. 
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JOSEPH THOMSON. 
These were the well-known caves of Elgon, the 
caves whicli were first discovered by Joseph 
Thomson. He visited several caverns, but among 
others the one which was the first cave reached and 
discovered by Joseph Thomson, whose visit the 
natives still remembered vividly. This cave was 
marked by a splendid waterfall. It was the 
descent of the Sasuru river, and he would pro- 
pose to name the waterfall the Thomson Palls. 
It was hardly necessary to add that Joseph 
Thomson left behind him there, as wherever else 
he passed in Central Africa, the most pleasing 
memories, b'ate had ordained that he should often 
travel in Thomson's footsteps, and he had always 
noted that where Thomson had been the first 
white pioneer his admirable treatment of the 
natives had ensured a kindly welcome to those 
who followed. The native inhabitants of West 
Elgou were of the greatest interest. They were 
of rather a mixed stock, but all were of very 
low and ape-like appearance. The greatest in- 
terest they possessed lay in the fact that they spoke 
a Bantu language whieii, of all those discovered, 
possibly came nearest to the original form of the 
Bantu mother tongue. 
THE FIVE-HORNED GIRAFFE. 
From the Sabei country he was obliged to travel 
for 16 days to the ravine station without a road, 
simply guiding his caravan by the moiiand eye. 
From the north-east of Elgon to within sight of the 
ravine station they passed through a land whose 
only human inhabitants were a few wandering 
and fugitive Andoiobo — a land simply swarming 
with big game. They saw large herds of ele- 
phants first, then many rhinoceroses, then literally 
countless hartebeestes, water- buck, reed- buck, 
Cobus antelopes, bastard hartebeetes, and oribi. 
Herds of zebras would follow the caravan, snort- 
ing and kicking up their heels. There were lions 
leopards, warthogs, jackals and many ostriches. 
Last of all, in the middle of the Gwas 'Ngishu 
plateau, wliere forests of acacia still lingered, 
they came upon giraffe, upon that five-horned 
girafie which appeared to be a new species of 
that remarkable animal and apparently the com- 
mon form of giraffe between Elgon ou the west 
and Lake Banngo on the east. Seen from a 
distance, these giraffe appeared, when adult, to be 
black and white, black with white bellies and limbs. 
Here and there monster^ stood ou the tops of 
large anthills or small hillocks, sentries posted to 
warn the feeding herds of the approach of the 
giraffe's only enemies, man and the lion. Yet 
so little had man harassed these creatures during 
recent years, since the plateau was divested of 
its human inhabitants, the Gwas 'JS'gishu Masia, 
by civil wars, that these sentinels seemed to 
have taken little or no notice of their cara- 
van. With the aid of Mr Doggett, he secured four 
specimens— two males and two feliiales— for the 
British Museum. 
THE CONGO FOREST. 
After describing Bvsoga, the Baganda people, 
and the southern part of Unyoro, the lecturer 
paid that he crossea the Semliki Kiver opposite 
Fort Mbeni and travelled for three days in the 
dense Congo forest. He could fully endoise all 
that Stanley had said about the awesome nature 
of those appalling woods. He could only say that 
the whole of his expedition, as well as himself, 
longed to be out of them, although they were 
in search of the now well-known Okapi, and of 
other wonders, some of which were found and 
some of which still remained undiscovered, He 
employed his time in this forest by visiting the 
Pygmies at home and seeing their little settle- 
ments of tiny huts constructed of withies and leave.?. 
He also encountered there those strange prof'na- 
thous ape-liive people who seemed to be a race of 
pariahs dwelling ou the fringe of other tribes. He 
also ascertained that the real gorilla comes pretty 
near lo the Semliki m its distribution. He had 
reasob to believe that other remarkable diseoieries 
of hitherto unknown mammals would be made 
besides that of the Okapi. As it was, in that 
forest they obtained skins of several other beasts 
new to science. He was accorded the ki-idest 
hospitality by the Belgian officials, and given 
every possible facility for visiting that portion of 
the Congo Free State. He found the natives 
everywhere on friendly terms with the Belgian 
authorities, and the excellent roads and well-built 
stations, together with abundant supplies ot the 
comforts and necessaries of existence from Ant- 
werp mei chants, introduced a strange element 
of civilization into those otherwise trackless wi!d« 
Sir Henry Stanley would indeed be amaz. d at the 
change which had taken place in parts of the 
forest which some 12 years ago were to him and his 
expedition moie remote from civilization than the 
NorUi Pole. 
THE DISTRICT OF ANKOLE. 
The south western part of the Uganda Pn 
tectorate consisted of the district of Ankole A 
portion of that noble country rose to heights nf 
8 0uOit. and 9,000ft. and here reappeajfd 'the 
alpine vegetation of Ruwenzori, Eigon a-id the 
Nandi plateau. Amon^' these mountains' were 
scattered almost innumerable crater-lakes which 
provided landscapes of exquisite beauty' Thev 
nearly all contained fish. The scenery round 
these crater-lakes was so extravagantly beautiful 
