2 5 6 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
here came across a few men loitering about the 
route, who, I believe, were some of his scouts; 
but we passed through unmolested, and I afterwards 
heard that he only attacked Swahili caravans, being 
deterred from annoying those belonging to Europeans 
from fear of incurring the displeasure of the English 
Consul. 
We arrived at Mkuyu (the place of the sycamore- 
tree), at the foot of Ndara, on April 25 th, and after 
resting an hour or two here, the caravan marched on 
to Jo via, while I mustered up enough energy to climb 
the mountain and examine its inhabited plateau. I 
must say that I was strengthened in my determination 
by the idea that this route, apart from being new to 
me, would be somewhat shorter than the tedious march 
of eight miles round the foot of this range. I never 
made a greater mistake, for, to begin with, there was 
a stiff climb of about 1500 feet by a rocky and difficult 
path to be negotiated, and then, after crossing the un¬ 
dulating slopes at the summit, came the track leading- 
down to Jovia, which proved to be the very worst road 
that ever I met with in the whole of my wanderings 
in Africa ; slippery rock and loose boulders every yard, 
the latter for the most part hidden by long grass, and 
the whole intersected here and there by mountain 
watercourses. However, I was fully rewarded for my 
pains by the magnificence of the view of the surround¬ 
ing country to be obtained from the summit of the 
mountain. The flowers, too, by the wayside were many 
and various, and some sweet-scented, but I came across 
