THE THOWA RIVER 
15 
we could hope for no supplies, as the country was reported 
to be quite uninhabited as far as the banks of the Tana, except 
for hunting parties of Galla and Ariungula. We did not, 
however, meet a human being from the day we left Mutha 
to the day we got back. 
At sunrise on the following day we set out, a safari of fifty 
men in all, and reached Tulima, where a small pool of surface 
water was found. Tulima, as its name infers, is a little hill 
composed of granite-gneiss and is the most easterly of the 
great north and south dykes that constitute the hills of the 
Kitui district. Eastward the country was quite flat, with a 
straight and uninterrupted horizon of brown scrub. 
At Lane’s Camp we first struck the Thowa, which was 
found to be about eighty yards broad, with a dry and sandy bed. 
Water of an excellent quality was, however, found at a depth 
of one foot. Up to this point the bush had been very thick, 
and, though we had followed an old track, considerable cutting 
was necessary before porters with loads could pass. The 
river banks were low and fringed with gigantic acacias known 
to the Akamba as * Mimina.’ In places a few rocks were 
exposed, and these consisted of banded gneisses and other 
Archaean rocks, all very hard and compact. Owing to the 
existence of so much bush and the entire flatness of the country, 
exposures of rock were quite insufficient for anything like a 
geological survey of the country. Judging from the sand and 
soil I think one may safely say that all the rocks belong to the 
Archaean Age, and that they lie for the most part in a practically 
horizontal position. Nowhere did we come across sedimentary 
rocks of any kind, except a few very recent river and lake 
deposits. A few loose fragments of phonolite were found lying 
about, but not seen in situ. These rocks I have also found 
north-east of Endau. 
The third day after the Thowa had been crossed and left 
on our right, we encountered more open country and had 
no difficulty in following a track which had been kept more or 
less open by the passage of elephants. This led us into quite 
a hospitable-looking country, well provided with pools of water. 
It was by the side of one of these, known to the hunters as 
Eyani Mutumbi, that the camp was pitched. This pool was 
