9



C. S. Webb—Some Notes on a Collecting Trip in Kenya



habit of attacking man are usually very old specimens, who find it

difficult to catch game, and once having sampled a native they seem

to prefer human blood and flesh to any other. The same applies to

crocodiles, although I cannot say if it is a question of age with them,

but it is certain that only a small percentage will attack man.


The country rises gradually on leaving the coast, and having gone

about 280 miles inland, the train reaches an altitude of about 5,000

feet, and we awake to find that the bush country has been left behind.

We now commence to cross the Kapiti and Athi Plains, an enormous

stretch of open country where one can see for miles and miles, and which

is a sanctuary for wild animals. It is an impressive sight and one never

to be forgotten. On both sides of the line vast herds of antelope can

be seen, the commonest being Kongoni, Thomson’s, and Grant’s

Gazelles, and Wildebeeste, also wild Ostriches and Grant’s Zebras.

Occasionally lions can be seen, but this is a matter of luck, and Giraffe

are plentiful on the coastal side of these plains, where there is plenty

of bush for them to feed on. Of course, this type of country is of no

great interest to anyone wishing to see tropical bird-life, although

it is a fine sight to see a crowd of Vultures squabbling over the remains

of some animal which the lions have left after having had their fill.


The clarity of the atmosphere at this altitude is extraordinary and

Mount Kilimanjaro (19,700 feet) with its snow-capped peak can be

seen distinctly at a distance of 100 miles from the train, and from the

Aberdare Mountains where I did my collecting it can also be seen at

about 180 miles distant. After crossing the plains one reaches Nairobi

(5,500 feet), the capital of Kenya Colony. This marks the end of one

plateau, and on proceeding towards Uganda, the train rises rapidly

to the Kenya Highlands where nearly all the white settlers are situated,

growing coffee and maize, etc., and ranching. The line quickly rises

to 7,000 feet and soon one sees the great Rift Valley. This great trough

in the earth, formed in the days when Africa was dotted with active

volcanoes, was evidently caused by the shrinkage or collapse of the

earth’s crust, for a very great distance, and it can be traced for hundreds

of miles, some parts being rather ill-defined owing to subsequent

volcanic action. In some places the Rift Valley is bordered by escarp¬

ments with an almost sheer rise of 1,000 feet, and is about 20 miles



