CHAPTER XIII 
A SOJOURN AT RESHIAT AND K£r£ 
Among artless savages—Scene of a massacre—Egrets and their hosts—Myriads of 
mosquitoes—A satisfactory morning’s work—Good out of evil—A new antelope 
—A revolting disfigurement—The metropolis of Kere—Exchanging greetings— 
Waifs from a European expedition—New Year’s Day—A melancholy event— 
Pacifying a chief—A consequence of lavish expenditure—Exorcising a marauder 
—-A model in ebony—Getting rid of a nuisance. 
Having reached once more a country with settled inhabitants, 
the first thing to be done was to make their acquaintance. I 
had an interview with the head of the kraal, which was 
satisfactory so far as it went. He brought one of his wives, 
who knew the Masai language, as his interpreter, while I 
employed Mnyamiri, who spoke it fluently. I found these 
satisfactory people to deal with : it is a treat—and a rare 
one nowadays even in Africa—-to meet with simple, unspoiled 
savages. They cultivate nothing but “ mtama ” (millet), and 
even that only to a very limited extent, just along the damp 
margin of the lake. The crops there were in ear and looking 
splendid. It appears that the uncertain rainfall deters these 
not at all energetic cultivators from extending their operations, 
though the soil is alluvial and probably fertile all over these flats. 
It often struck me, while sojourning in Reshiat, that the lake 
water might be used for purposes of irrigation by means of 
windmills, for there is generally a good strong breeze blowing 
from a south-easterly direction. Hills were now visible to the 
northward over the intervening flat country and beyond the 
