20 
MOMBASA TO NAIROBI. 
FROM VOI TO KAPITI PLAINS. 
The country north of the Uganda Railroad from Voi to Makindu, 
two hundred and fifty miles from Mombasa, is a jungle of plains broken 
by grassy hills, and is but preparatory to the fresher stretches of the 
Kapiti plains and the At hi district. From Tsavo to the Kapiti plains, a 
distance of one hundred and fifty miles, there is no white settlement. 
North of the track and beyond Kapiti the settlers are widely scattered 
through a belt of forty miles. 
Occasionally, on the trail, a safari will pass a native village, the 
chief of which usually attempts to hold up the head man for “hongu,” 
which may be interpreted as either blackmail or presents—according to 
the manner of the chief or the temper of the head man. The Roosevelt 
party, and all other expeditions which expect to do much traveling 
afoot, laid in a good stock of trinkets in order to save vexatious conten¬ 
tions with these persistent chiefs, and also to be prepared to barter them 
for the agreeable articles of food as may often be obtained of the native 
villagers—articles both of native raising and compounding. Aromatic 
honey, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, pumpkins, Indian corn and the ever 
present banana are not to be despised on a long “safari,” when the party 
is a little short of provisions of its own. Better still, the white cook 
may pound the corn into a meal, fry it in butter and make a really appe¬ 
tizing cake. The natives themselves often mash and boil the green 
banana, which, although uninvitingly black and mushy to look at, is 
wholesome and pleasant to the taste. Mr. Roosevelt and his expedi¬ 
tion did not reject this sticky looking mess entirely—but, as a rule, they 
preferred food whose appearance was a better recommendation for 
its flavor. 
THE GREAT HUNT STARTED. 
Mr. Roosevelt and his party left Mombasa for Kapiti Plains at 2:30 
P. M., April 22 nd, accompanied by Acting Governor Jackson, their im¬ 
mediate destination, after they left the railroad, being the splendid 
ranch of Sir Alfred Pease on the Athi River, in the midst of the beauti¬ 
ful Kapiti Plains. It was in the prime of the season for lion hunting. 
The big rains were well over; the plains were waving with short crisp 
grass, and such cool breezes were playing through it th'at the lions roved 
freely abroad, instead of seeking cover to escape the tropical sun. Al¬ 
though Sir Alfred’s place is called the Theki ostrich farm, from the very 
