worsted. The Rendile, however, at least once a year,
sent trading parties to the Jombeni range. These
always consisted of aged men and women; for, had
young men been sent, they would have met with a hostile
reception from the mountain people. He also said
that the articles taken for barter by the Rendile consisted
of goats, sheep, and the partly tanned skins of
these animals. Motio’s wanderings along the Guaso
Nyiro had taken him but little farther than the point
we had by that time reached. He assured us, however,
that after one long day’s march to the eastward we
should reach a high plateau, and said he had been told
by his fellow-tribesmen that from the top of this plateau
the vast expanse of Lake Lorian could be seen. With
all this information at our disposal, the hopes of both
Lieutenant von Hohnel and myself rose to a high pitch,
and we felt that we were about to make a great geographical
discovery.
As we advanced, the going seemed to become worse
and worse. The surface of the soil was almost paved
with sharp, jagged lava blocks, and our feet were fast
becoming swollen and painful from continued marching
over such material. The desert on our side of the
river gleamed to such a degree that the eyes suffered in
consequence; and the only redeeming feature to be
found in the landscape was the narrow strip of verdure,
from which sprang palm trees and acacias, stretching
along and following the river.
The course of the Guaso Nyiro is ever-changing, and
the character of the soil through which it flows presents
a great variety. A t times the stream forces its
way between impeding rocks, while at others it winds
smoothly and broadly over a shallow bed. Game was
fairly plentiful; yet, as we were pressing on in the hope
of reaching the lake, we rarely stopped while on the
march, but contented ourselves with supplying our
men with what game we could procure after camp
was reached.
For a few days the fish of the Guaso Nyiro proved a
welcome addition to our diet, but at last we were forced
to give them up. We had usually eaten them after
dark, from a table illumined by the flame of a single
candle; so that in judging of their quality we employed
but taste. One morning, however, a large and fine-
looking fish was put before us. Upon cutting it open,
we found, to our disgust, that its flesh was filled with
small worms. Needless to add, we discontinued eating
fish from that time.
All along the Guaso Nyiro, not only were the mosquitoes
troublesome, but we suffered great annoyance
from flies. These were black in colour, shaped like the
ordinary house fly, but with heads of a bright carmine
colour. A bite from one of these insects was a disagreeable
matter; for they inserted the proboscis not so
much for the sake of securing food as to deposit and
hatch their offspring. A few days after the bite was
inflicted the flesh swelled considerably, and a little
later the part bitten would open, and disclose a well-
developed larva, with a black head, about the size of
its progenitor.
Up to this time we had lost but few of our donkeys;
and none of these, so far as we knew, had died on
account of fly-bites. Our horses, however, appeared to
be ailing, particularly Lieutenant von Hohnel’s, which,