CHAP. VII 
SECOND EXPEDITION 
141 
through the dry scrub under a burning sun—is monotonous 
and hard work. Still the very desert itself has its charms and 
even its advantages. It cuts off the back country and dis¬ 
courages communication, so that one feels fairly launched into 
the wilderness almost from the time of leaving the coast. 
Of game there is little, as might be expected in so water¬ 
less a district. A few Waller’s gazelle—an antelope which 
seems independent of water—may occasionally be seen, and I 
shot a lesser koodoo—perhaps a wanderer from the Sabaki, my 
first buck for the trip and welcome for the pot, being excellent 
meat—while the tiny “ paa ” (Kirk’s antelope) is not uncommon ; 
I also saw a giraffe. After striking the Sabaki (or Athi, as it is 
called above its junction with the Tsavo), the path follows the 
river for three or four days. It is pleasant to get on the banks 
of this river (for which I always retain an affection) with its 
green willows and fresh scent, and its wide, though shallow and 
rather muddy, stream, and to have an unstinted supply of good 
sweet water. It was an old friend of mine, for I had done 
some road-cutting here in 1890 for the I.B.E.A. Co.; and it 
was a comfort, after the narrow, overhung path we had been 
traversing, to find mine still quite open, with the exception of a 
branch here and there or a fallen tree. When I cut this path 
first, I was told the stumps ought to be dug up ; but, having 
had some experience in South African road pioneering, I 
merely cut the trees and bushes close to the ground, and the 
result proved I was right, for they almost all died ; whereas, 
had I dug up the soil, it would have had the effect of cultiva¬ 
tion to encourage the growth of rank vegetation. 
The river runs through the same barren, scrub-covered 
country—in some parts gravelly ridges, in others sandy flats 
bordering its banks. There are quartz veins in places, but I 
could never get a colour of gold, though I have tried. One 
thing that always strikes me about this country is the scarcity 
of game ; for even along the banks of the river there is 
marvellously little—a very few waterbuck at intervals, an 
