starving condition. Numbers had accordingly gone off to work on the railway to obtain their food, whilst others had taken to carrying loads in order to earn a few rupees wherewith to purchase rice or flour. Beads had almost entirely gone out of fashion at Machakos, the Wa-Kamba no longer looking at anything except the silver coinage of the realm, which at Kikuyu also, we found, was being rapidly taken to by the natives. The 100 bags of rice were ready awaiting our arrival, and seven days' issue of food was made to the men. I decided to march to the Kiboko River station on the railway, where we hoped to find more food awaiting us, for which I had wired from Kikuyu to Mombasa, to be sent up for the whole expedition-by rail. The Latuka Sudanese and their women were now to be left at this point, as they were anxious to be enlisted in the East Africa Rifles, and when Macdonald arrived, a few days after we left, he, in conjunction with Colonel Hatch, arranged everything as to their future.

Macdonald reached Kikuyu on the 13th, and wired to know where I was going to halt, so runners were sent off with the information. He was detained for several days at Fort Smith on urgent matters, as the order to break up the expedition had arrived from home, and it was the 18th, therefore, before he left Nairobi and marched to Machakos, where he arrived on the 20th.

Machakos had changed beyond all recognition since Macdonald and I had last seen it, nearly seven years before. The fort was an imposing place now, and fine avenues of blue gum-trees had been planted along the sides of the broad roads which led up to it. The fort itself was enclosed by an outer wall of stone with deep ditch in front, whilst all the Government offices and residences, built of substantial materials, were inside, Gilkinson and Tate being Ainsworth's assistants. Other bungalows of mud and stone were erected outside, and in addition to the lines of the East Africa

Rifles, a large bazaar had recently been established by Parsee and Indian traders. Ainsworth had worked wonders in the place, and had at his own expense imported plants and trees from Australia to improve the station. Behind the fort he had cultivated most extensive vegetable gardens, which are so important a feature in maintaining the good health of Europeans in Africa.

CHAPTER XX

THE RETURN TO THE COAST AND ENGLAND

ON February 15 we left Machakos for the Kiboko River station on the Uganda Railway, to reach which it was decided to proceed by the old safari (caravan) route to Nzawi Peak, and then strike across country. We marched some thirteen and a half miles on that day through the hills to Athomi. The track was a very hilly one, as we crossed numerous valleys and ridges and two large dry river-beds before arriving at the water-parting of the Kaite and Machakos streams, between two ranges of rocky hills. We camped in a fine open valley on the head-waters of the Kaite, which ran south towards Kilungu before swinging east towards the Athi, being joined en route by the Machakos River. The country traversed, though still pretty, was terribly parched for want of rain, and no running streams now existed, which we had formerly remembered so well, and water had to be obtained by digging in their sandy beds. Few natives were seen, as the country had been practically deserted owing to the long-continued drought and famine, whereas formerly these hills were densely populated.

We soon left the hilly track we had been following, next day, and for some ten miles proceeded in a southerly direction along the sandy bed of the Kilungu stream, in which we came at intervals upon small wells, on which the natives and their animals were dependent for their water-supply. We subsequently struck across country to avoid a big sweep the stream made to the east, round a lofty peak,

and passed through large tracts of cultivated ground, the crops being completely destroyed from want of rain. Eventually, after marching some fifteen and a half miles, we struck the broad bed of the Kaite, and camped on the summit of a narrow ridge overlooking it. Bright on rearguard missed our tracks, and did not arrive until after 4 p.m., when men were sent out to hunt up the missing rear-guard.

Another hot march of fourteen miles brought us close to the conspicuous Nzawi Peak, some eight miles before reaching which we passed a small Government food-collecting station on the bank of the Wakufukoa, which we followed. The going had been difficult up to this point, as numerous rocky nullahs, every few hundred yards apart, had to be crossed, rising in the hills to the west of our route. Along both banks of the Wakufukoa large areas of cultivation existed, all of which were utterly destroyed by the drought, and the large population of most interesting natives I so well remembered, who used in 1892 to flock into camp, smartly turned out with white spats of beads, burnished copper coins round the forehead and neck, and so on, were now, seemingly, a thing of the past. The few natives we saw had lost all their former picturesqueness, and were soberly dressed in cloth, and lacked their pristine prosperous air, which much detracted, to my mind, from the previous charm of Ukambani. This neighbourhood used to be one mass of cultivation of all kinds, and in 1892 we had obtained quantities of flour, beans, Indian corn, bananas, sugar-cane, honey, fowls, eggs, sheep, etc., etc., and now the wretched natives were practically starving. It was a sad change. The everlasting hills and the prominent Nzawi bluff, which attains an altitude of some 6,100 feet, were still, however, there, and by them alone could one reconcile one's self to the fact that it really was the same country, of which we retained such pleasant recollections of bygone days.

We now left the old safari road leading to Kibwezi, and made a long cross-country march of some sixteen and a half miles to the Kampi ya Simba railway-station, through generally easy country consisting of open parkland and grassy glades. McLoughlin in front stumbled across two rhinos, one of which he hit very badly, but which disappeared in some dense thorn-bush. We sighted the railway-station some four or five miles before reaching it, from high ground overlooking the valley along which it pursued its course. The sight raised great enthusiasm amongst the porters, who now knew that their days of tramping wearily along with their loads would shortly be at an end, and many silver rupees jingling in their hands to spend on arrival at the coast. They immediately increased their pace, in spite of having already marched some twelve miles, and almost broke into a trot-they were splendid fellows, as we had the survival of the fittest at this stage of the expedition-covering the last four or five miles in one and a half hours. We camped near the railway-station on the bank of the small stream, and when, about 2 p.m., a luggage train whistled, and, appearing in sight, rapidly passed us on its way to the coast, a joyous shout of delight was raised. The few Wasoga and Wa-Kavirondo who had accompanied us from upcountry had, of course, never before seen such a thing as a railway or train, and were considerably impressed by the novel spectacle.

I heard that evening by wire from D. J. Wilson, who said he was at the Kiboko station with the food ordered up from the coast, so informed him we would join him there on the morrow. We accordingly marched along the railway on February 19 for a distance of some eleven and a half miles. We saw plenty of game again, and I was fortunate in obtaining two wildebeeste, one of which possessed the finest head I think I have seen. This I secured by a very lucky shot. He was a magnificent bull, and not less than 350