In the great meridional rift-The Masai again-Naivasha post- Sport on the lake shores-Charming surroundings-McLoughlin discovers an old crater-Off to Kikuyu-Evidences of civiliza- tion-Reach Fort Smith-Scarcity of Food-Hall's difficulties THE RETURN TO THE COAST AND ENGLAND Along the old 'safari' road to Nzawi-Effects of famine-Across country to the railway-March to Kiboko River-Sport en route -Wilson's arrangements-Trip up to railhead-Instructions from Macdonald-Whole expedition concentrated at Makindu- The move to the coast-Tragedy at Voi-Arrival at Mombasa WITH MACDONALD IN UGANDA INTRODUCTION WHILST employed on railway construction work in connection with the Hyderabad-Godavery railway at Secunderabad in June, 1897, I received a telegram from the Government of India asking me whether I felt disposed to accept an appointment on an expedition about to start from England for East Africa, under command of Major (now Colonel) Macdonald, R.E. I had previously served under Macdonald during the years 1890-91 on railway survey work across the Indian frontier-up the Kabul River, and subsequently in the Zhob Valley-and when that officer, towards the latter end of 1891, had been appointed Chief Engineer of the Preliminary Survey for the Uganda Railway, he very kindly offered me a post on his survey staff, which I accepted with alacrity. I knew well, therefore, the excellent qualities of my chief, and the fascinations of the country I was asked once more to visit, after an absence of close on five years, proved well-nigh irresistible. I felt, however, that my present Chief Engineer, Mr. G. P. Rose, who had obtained my services for the construction of a section of the HyderabadGodavery Railway, should have the final say in the matter, as my leaving at such short notice would, I feared, cause him much inconvenience. Mr. Rose most unselfishly agreed that if the appointment now offered me was likely to benefit me from a purely military point of view, he would urge me to go; but that if, on the contrary, the work was likely to be of a civil nature alone, he considered it my duty to remain with him. We could get no details from Simla regarding the expedition, but thirty-six hours later I heard from Macdonald himself, who was then in England organizing the expedition. Although extremely guarded in his letter, I gathered that his brother was also going from India with some thirty Sikhs of the 14th and 15th Sikh regiments, and that the expedition was to be a military one. When I informed Mr. Rose of this fact he readily assented to my accompanying the expedition, and wired my acceptance to Simla. Thus it came about that I was once more to resume my acquaintance with the African continent, for which I had often sighed in vain when bored by the ordinary dull routine of a cantonment life in India. Latterly I had been thinking more than usual of our former African experiences, as Captain Pringle was also at this time in Secunderabad, and he and I had been closely associated together on the Survey for the Uganda Railway in 1891-92. After dinner we used frequently to recall that former life, which now seemed little more than a dim, far-off dream, and wonder if our lot would ever again be cast amongst the naked, but most interesting, tribes we had previously seen. When, therefore, one evening a telegram was handed to Pringle in the dusk, whilst we were discussing a soothing beverage in long chairs after a hot game of tennis, and he slowly began to read out with difficulty, 'Foreign-Department-ask-if-Lieu tenant-Austin-R.E.-is-available-and-volunteers-for -service,' etc., I naturally thought he was trying to 'draw me, and suggested the imitation was good, but not sufficiently genuine to deceive. It was not until the telegram was in my hand that I realized its bonâ-fide nature, and that the long-waited-for opportunity of visiting the old haunts had arisen. Mr. Rose having agreed, as already stated, to |