n
slowly sank toward the western horizon and--

The locomotive at this point of the story screeched loudly. The wheels
grated on the track and my official friend leaped off the cow-catcher.

"Here!" I shouted, "what's the finish of that story?"

"I'll tell you the rest the next time I see you," he sang out, and so I
don't know just how the story ended.

CHAPTER IV

ON THE EDGE OF THE ATHI PLAINS, FACE TO FACE WITH GREAT HERDS OF WILD
GAME. UP IN A BALLOON AT NAIROBI

Before Colonel Roosevelt drew the eyes of the world on British East
Africa Nairobi was practically unheard of. The British colonial office
knew where it was and a fair number of English sportsmen had visited it
in the last six or eight years. Perhaps twenty-five or thirty Americans
had been in Nairobi on their way to the rich game fields that lie in all
directions from the town, but beyond these few outsiders the place was
unknown. Now it is decidedly on the map, thanks to our gallant and
picturesque Theodore. It has been mentioned in book and magazine to a
degree that nearly everybody can tell in a general way where and what it
is, even if he can not pronounce it.

Before coming to Nairobi I had read a lot about it, and yet when I
reached the place it seemed as though the descriptions had failed to
prepare me for what I saw. We arrived under unusual conditions. Files of
native soldiers were lined up on the platform of the station to welcome
the new governor, and the whole white population of the town, several
hundred in number, were massed in front of the building. The roofs and
trees were filled with natives and the broad open space beyond the
station was fringed with pony carts, bullock carts, rickshaws, cameras,
and some hotel 'buses. Several thousand people, mostly East Indians and
natives, were among those present. Lord Delamere, who has adopted East
Africa as his home, and who owns a hundred thousand acres or so of game
preserves, read an address of welcome, and Sir Percy, in white uniform
and helmet, responded with a speech that struck a popular note. There
were dozens of cameras snapping and the whole effect was distinctly
festive in appearance.

[Drawing: _In the Back Yard of Nairobi_]

[Photograph: By courtesy of W.D. Boyce. Dressed to Kill]

[Photograph: Courtesy of Boyce Balloonagraph Expedition. The Balloon
Ascension]

[Photograph: Courtesy of Boyce Balloonagraph Expedition. The Norfolk
Hotel, Nairobi]

The town lies on