3°6 
ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA 
CHAP. 
cent millet (now nearly ripe) in their rich alluvial mud. 
Though one would have thought the natives here must have 
plenty of grain, nothing was offered to us for sale with the 
exception of a few green ears—like bunches of small grapes— 
for which an exorbitant price was asked. 
At last, on ist January 1896, we reached Kere, which I 
intended should be the end of our long journey, at all events 
for the present, and our headquarters for some time to come. 
The march was through dense scrub most of the way, but there 
was a passable path which was parallel with the river, at times 
close to the bank or skirting one or two large lagoons which 
border its course. After about five hours of this, the scrub 
ends abruptly, and, emerging into the open, the metropolis of 
Kere, a large fenced village, is before us on a slight rise over¬ 
looking the river, a few smaller villages, constituting the 
kingdom, not far off. The vicinity of the town did not look 
inviting as camping-ground : behind and around open veldt, 
yellow with dry grass ; in the immediate environs bare baked 
ground, sending up clouds of dust under the frequent passage 
of flocks of goats and little herds of cattle ; not a tree to give 
shade from the glaring heat. I resolved to seek a cooler, 
cleaner, and more secluded camp on the river-banks, where 
groves of fine and shady trees presented an inviting contrast. 
But first we had to exchange greetings with a party of 
young warriors—fine, tall, well-made fellows many of them, but 
black as the ace of spades,—who had come out, spears and 
shields in hand, to see who the intruders were. “ Beni ! ” (friend) 
would cry one, to attract your attention ; of this a responsive 
grunt is the correct acknowledgment. “ Na ! ” shouts he : 
“Faya!”- you reply. He—“ Na ! ” you—“Faya!” “Na”— 
“Faya,” “Na”—“Faya ”—ad lib. To be polite, you must 
now accost your friend with “ Beni! ” and, after his “ nn,” take 
up the “ Na ! ” while he chimes in with “ Faya! ” and so on 
“ Na ”—-“ Faya,” “ Na ”—“ Faya,” etc., as before. 
I had some trouble in finding a suitable camp. The 
