THE GUASO NYERO 
283 
panicles of lilac flowers, changing into brown seed vessels; 
and other trees, with clusters of purple flowers, and the 
seeds or nuts enclosed in hard pods or seed vessels like 
huge sausages* 
On the other side of the forest we came suddenly out 
on the cultivated fields of the Wa-Meru, who, like the 
Kikuyu, till the soil; and among them, farther down, was 
Meru boma, its neat, picturesque buildings beautifully 
placed among green groves and irrigated fields, and looking 
out from its cool elevation over the hot valleys beneath. 
It is one of the prettiest spots in East Africa. We were more 
than hospitably received by the Commissioner, Mr. Horne, 
who had been a cow-puncher in Wyoming for seven years 
—so that naturally we had much in common. He had built 
the station himself, and had tamed the wild tribes around 
by mingled firmness and good treatment; and he was a 
mighty hunter, and helped us in every way. 
Here we met Kermit and Tarlton, and heard all about 
their hunt. They had been away from us for three weeks 
and a half, along the Guaso Nyero, and had enjoyed first- 
rate luck. Kermit had been particularly interested in a 
caravan they had met, consisting of wild spear-bearing 
Borani, people like Somalis, who were bringing down scores 
of camels and hundreds of small horses to sell at Nairobi. 
They had come from the north, near the outlying Abyssin¬ 
ian lands, and the caravan was commanded by an Arab of 
stately and courteous manners. Such an extensive cara¬ 
van journey was rare in the old days before English rule; 
but one of the results of the ‘‘Pax Europaica,'" wherever 
it obtains in German, French, or English Africa, is a great 
increase of intercourse, commercial and social, among the 
