r base. The
usual varied foothill country led us through defiles, over ridges, and
by charming groves. We began to see Masai cattle in great herds. The
gentle humpbacked beasts were held in close formation by herders afoot,
tall, lithe young savages with spears. In the distance and through the
heat haze the beasts shimmered strangely, their glossy reds and whites
and blacks blending together. In this country of wide expanses and clear
air we could thus often make out a very far-off herd simply as a speck
of rich colour against the boundless rolling plains.

Here we saw a good variety of game. Zebras, of course, and hartebeeste;
the Roberts' gazelle, a few topi, a good many of the gnu or wildebeeste
discovered and named by Roosevelt; a few giraffes, klipspringer on the
rocky buttes, cheetah, and the usual jackals, hyenas, etc. I killed one
very old zebra. So ancient was he that his teeth had worn down to the
level of the gums, which seemed fairly on the point of closing over.
Nevertheless he was still fat and sleek. He could not much longer have
continued to crop the grass. Such extreme age in wild animals is, in
Africa at least, most remarkable, for generally they meet violent deaths
while still in their prime.

About three o'clock of the third afternoon we came in sight of a long
line of forest trees running down parallel with the nearest mountain
ranges. These marked the course of the Narossara, and by four o'clock we
were descending the last slope.

FOOTNOTES:

[22] See "The Land of Footprints."

XXXVIII.

THE LOWER BENCHES.

The Narossara is really only about creek size, but as it flows the whole
year round it merits the title of river. It rises in the junction of a
long spur with the main ranges, cuts straight across a wide inward bend
of the mountains, joins them again, plunges down a deep and tremendous
canon to the level of a second bench below great cliffs, meanders
peacefully in flowery meadows and delightful glades for some miles, and
then once more, and most unexpectedly, drops eighteen hundred feet by
waterfall and precipitous cascade to join the Southern Guaso Nyero. The
country around this junction is some of the roughest I saw in Africa.

We camped at the spot where the river ran at about its maximum distance
from the mountains. Our tents were pitched beneath the shade of tall and
refreshing trees.

A number of Masai women visited us, laughing and joking with Billy in
their quizzicall