five straight off! My porters had been most willing, and had
kept up with me all through, so I offered to camp where I
was for the night, and go on to Melindi next day.
But all were keen to go on, so after a hasty meal of tea, and
biscuit and potted meat we pushed on at 5 p.m. It got so
dark before we arrived that we ended by losing our way,
eventually getting into the outskirts of Melindi and having to
retrace oUr stops along the beach, finally reaching our camp-
ing-place at 7,30 p.m. Helped to pitch my camp by lantern-
light and sat down; to dinner at 8:30 p.m. It had been a hard
day’s work, as we were marching, steadily for a good eleven
hours with Only, one hour’s rest. We must have walked
considerably over thirty miles, I was very pleased with my
people. They had kept up most bravely all through this
burning hot day. I told them how satisfied I was, and gave
them double posho (food allowance) as a. reward. The next
day, after seeing the Liwali and the Company’s officer, I
returned to the shambas. The grain harvest was now well on,
and the first time I was present at the reaping of one of our
metamah fields, I was rather taken aback by all the estate
women, the moment work was stopped, suddenly making; a
demonstration in my honour by forming themselves in a sort
of procession and running round me waving small flags made
of red cloth, and screaming shrilly. This was an ovation that
I was not prepared for!
I was startled a few days afterwards by being told that
a gun and the mutilated fragments of a human body had been
found about a mile down the road I had recently cleared
to Sabaki. The unfortunate man had been pulled down by a
lion. My people were greatly alarmed, and declared that
every year many people were killed by lions, and that this was'
their season.for coming down. A case was related of a lion
actually trying to claw a woman out of a hut on an adjoining
shamba, her leg being badly hu r t; another of a man being
carried off from Shamba Baraka the year before. My cook
was in a great state of alarm and begged for a gun, but I told
him he had a door to his house, while I slept in an open shed,
and I thought the lion would visit me first! The next day
we wpre told that a donkey had been killed outside Melindi,