have a look at that part of the country with a view of extending
cultivation, at the same time ordering him to send me up
ten good men with guns, and a Nakoa in charge of them to
whom he was to give his own Snider. I had only received my
instructions in the afternoon, and by the time I had made my
necessary arrangements, it was too late to start that evening.
A t daybreak the next morning I was on the road, my small
force numbering twenty-five people, as follows—■
Ten armed men with one Nakoa.
Eleven porters carrying my kit and food for the people,
Ramazan, my cook, and servants.
I had ascertained that a direct path from the interior existed
on the south side of the river coming down from Makongeni
to Mombrui, and that a path to Magarini branched off from it.
This was the road generally taken by fugitive slaves on their
way to Makongeni, and by the Arabs in their various
expeditions to attack the runaway-slave settlements, so I
thought it most probable that the caravan I was in search of
would follow this route.
I therefore started off with my people along this pàth, and
after passing over many low swampy grass flats, we stopped
to obtain a supply of water irom a hole at about an hours
distance from Magarini, as further on, I was told, the water
was brackish. I was the object of much curiosity to the
Wanika of â village close by, being, I believe, the first
European who had passed that way.
After passing chiefly through open country with intervening
belts of forest, I joined the direct Mombrui path near a
large pond of brackish water, and about eight to nine miles
distance from Magarini. Here I halted to snatch a brief meal
and rest my people. We then continued in perfect silence, I
leading with the armed porters, Ramazan and the other porters
following a little behind. Further on the country became
more undulating with thicker forest and occasional open
glades;’ a good many of the hollows looked as if they were
flooded during the rains, the soil being a stiff black loam.
About four miles further on we came upon a shallow lake
with good water, lying to the left of the path, and got a good
view across it of Sekoki Hill and Jelori. This lake must be