The Great Rift Valley. Being the narrative of a journey to Mount Kenya and Lake Baringo. With some account of the geology, natural history, anthropology, and future prospects of British East Africa ... With maps and illustrations

Front matter

THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY A. Gre<],irif, dels. A CLUSTER OF INSECTS GROUPED TO RESEMBLE A FLOWER SPIKE For description see pp. 273-275. THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY BEING THE NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY TO MOUNT KENYA AND LAKE BARINGO WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GEOLOGY, NATURAL HISTORY, ANTHROPOLOGY, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA By J. W. GREGORY D.SC. (LOND. ) F.G.S., F.R.G.S., F.Z.S. OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM (NATURAL HISTORY) ' Or join the caravan in quest of scenes New to the eye and changing every hour. ' John Armstrong, The Art of Preserving Health, 1744. with maps and illustrations LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1 Eo the fHcmotg of MY MOTHER

Preface

In the Presidential Address to the British Association at its last meeting, Mr. Thiselton-Dyer quoted a letter from Sir John Kirk, deploring the neglect of opportunities for scientific usefulness by British residents in West Africa. " Such chances," he said, " never will occur again, for roads are now being made and ways cut in the jungle and forest, and you have at hand all sorts of trees level on the ground ready for study. These bring down with them orchids, ferns, and climbers of many kinds, including rattan palms, etc. But, excellent as are the officers who devote their energy to thus opening up this country, there is not one man who knows a palm from a dragon-tree, so the chance is lost. Strange to say, the medical men of the Government service know less and care less for Natural History than the military men, who at least regret they have no training or study to enable them to take an intelligent interest in what they see around them."

Having felt the same regret on the other side of the continent, I had already divided this book into two parts — one devoted to a narrative of a journey in Eastern British East Africa, and the other to a general account of the natural history of the country visited. I have tried to make the latter sufficiently simple to be intelligible to most readers, and yet oi b

PREFACE.

VIII use to travellers and residents in East Africa, by indicating the nature of the problems on which information is desired, and by suggesting lines of observation and research. This part of the book is entitled " Eastern British East Africa," as attention is almost entirely confined to the part of the protectorate along, and to the east of, the Great Rift Valley. This area has been greatly neglected in comparison with the country to the west, which has been repeatedly described since it was first reached by Speke and Grant from the south, and by Baker from the north. The literature of the Victoria Nyanza basin (including Uganda) is voluminous, while that of the plateau region between it and the sea is scanty. References to most of the works upon it will be found in the text,1 but it may be as well here to mention a few of the most generally accessible authorities.

The principal accounts of exploration in this district are Krapf's Travels in East AJrica (1860), Thomson's Through Masai Land (1885), and von Hohnel's Discovery oj Lakes Rudolf and Stephanie (1892, English ed. 1 894). Lugard's Rise of our East African Empire (1893), though dealing mainly with Nyasaland and Uganda, is indispensable to all students of this country, and gives the best account of its actual politics ; while M'Dermott's British East Africa, and the Blue-books on the Uganda Railway, give its documentary politics. Ravenstein's twelve-sheet map is a complete compilation of all information available at the date of its publication (1889). The history of the growth of British influence in this region is told with masterly clearness and terseness in Keltie's Partition of Africa (1893 and 1895).

For comparison of Kenya with Kilima Njaro, the other snow-clad peak of East Africa, reference may be made to Hans Meyer's Across East African Glaciers (English translation, 1891). 1 See especially pp. 7-9, 214, 280, 316.

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IX Of scientific literature on British East Africa there is unfortunately little to record. There is nothing which can compare with the magnificent series of works issued in descrip tion of German East Africa, such as Stuhlmann's Mit Emin Pascha im Herz von Afrika, Oscar Baumann's Zur Nil-Quellen, and the elaborate monographs in the volumes of Pflanzenwelt Ost-Afrikas, and Die Thierwelt Ost-Afrikas. The anthropo logical chapters in Stuhlmann and Baumann, and the botanical papers of Volkens, show that these authors unite the learning of the scientific specialist with the courage of the pioneer. The only work on Tropical Africa in English that can compare with these in scientific accuracy is The Flora of Tropical Africa, the last part of which was published in 1877 ; but this barely mentions British East Africa.

The last 100 pages (vol. iii. pp. 425-525) include abundant references to Abyssinia, Somali land, Monbuttu, Karagwe, Kilima Njaro, etc. ; but of the 214 species therein described, British East Africa only contributed four. Dr. H. R. Mill has remarked {Knowledge, Jan. 1896, p. 2) that in pioneer exploration England has led the way, but that in scientific geography we have always been beaten by our German rivals. The history of the exploration of Equatorial Africa is one to which Englishmen can look back with feelings of such just pride, that we may ungrudgingly admit the superiority of German scientific work in this region. The Expedition of which the narrative is given in this volume was undertaken in 1892 and 1893. The delay in writing the account of it is due partly to my having returned — thanks to African fever — with lessened powers of work, and partly to arrears of work which had accumulated during my absence. Hence the book has had to be written in scraps at odd hours, generally at the end of days devoted to work on

PREFACE.

X the scenes by the snout of the Lewis Glacier (Nos. VIII. XIII. XV. and XVI.) He has also redrawn, and thus rendered avail able for process reproduction, the view of Kenya from the Kapte Plains, sketched by Mr. Ainsworth. For permission to use the photograph of the southern end of the Victoria Nyanza, I have to thank Mr. Gedge. ' For the Frontispiece, and Plates Nos. I. IX. X. XI. XIV and XVII., I am indebted to my wife, who has taken great pains accurately to interpret my rough sketches ; I also owe her much assistance in the revision of proofs and compilation of indexes. For per mission to reprint Map No. II. and Figs. 3, 6, II, and 13 from the Geographical Journal, and Fig. 4 from the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, I have to thank the Councils of the Geographical and Geological Societies.

The conditions under which the book has been written are partly responsible for the defects in its style ; that these are not more serious than they are I owe to Dr. W. R. Gowers, F.R.S., who has kindly read through nearly the whole of the manuscript, and given me the benefit of many most useful criticisms and suggestions. I must also thank Mr. Murray for his kind interest and advice. The pleasure of looking back to these many acts of kind ness is, however, lessened by the fact that the mortality in British East Africa has sadly shortened the list of those to whom I can express thanks. Bird Thompson and Rae of Witu, J. Bell Smith of Melindi, Edmonds of Borabini, the two brothers Dick of Mombasa, Charters of Kibwezi, and Purkiss of Fort Smith — a terribly high proportion of the few men who held British East Africa in 1892-93 — have all since passed away.

In such countries, as Carlyle said, "how much European heroism has to spend itself in obscure battle, to sink in mortal agony, before the jungles, the putrescences, and waste savageries

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XI can become arable, and the devils be in some measure chained there." Such sacrifices ought only to confirm British interest in the country and deepen our sense of responsibility. For we owe it to those who have perished, "worn -down swiftly in frightful travail, chaining the devils which are manifold," to make sure that their labours be not wasted nor their lives laid down in vain. J. W. GREGORY. 3 Aubrey Road, Campden Hill, W. January 1896. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction .... . . . i

Part I

An Abortive Expedition CHAP. i. Preparing for the Start ... . . 13 2. With the Advance Guard to the Tana . . .26 3. Collapse and Return ...... 36

Part II

To Baringo and Mount Kenya 4. At aMoMBASA — A Second Start . . . . 51 5. On the Uganda Road ...... 62 6. Across the Lands of the Kikuyu and Masai . .89 7. Along the Rift Valley to Baringo . . .107 8. The Stay at Njemps and Excursions around Baringo . 119 9. Across Laikipia ....... 146 10. On the Snowfields and Glaciers of Kenya . . 162 ri. The Return March ...... CONTENTS XIV

Part III

Eastern British East Africa CHAP. PAGE 12. The Physical Geography and the Geology of British East Africa . . . . . . . .213 13. Problems of the Distribution of the East African Flora and Fauna ........ 237 14. Notes on the Fauna of British East Africa . . . 263 15. The Flora of British East Africa .... 280 16. The Zanzibari ....... 296 17. The Natives of Eastern British East Africa . . . 316 Section A. The Stone Age in East Africa . . . 322 ,, B. The Negrillo or Pygmy Tribes . . 325 The Doko of Laikipia C. The Negro Races ..... 334 (a) The Bantu of British East Africa I. The Suahili 2. The Wa-pokomo 3. The Wa-kamba (A) The Negroid Races I. The Kikuyu 2. The Masai 3. The Njempsians (Wa-k-wafi) ,, D. The Hamitic Races ..... 356 (a) The Galla (&) The Somali ,, E. The Semitic Races . . . . .31:9 The Abyssinians 18.

The National Movements and Future Prospects of British East Africa ....... -562 CONTENTS XV Appendices — PAGE A. List of Literature on Expedition and its Collections . 387 B. Catalogue of Plants Collected — Part I. Polypetalæ, by E. G. Baker, F.L.S. . . 389 „ II. Monopetalae, by James Britten, F.L.S. . 392 ,. III. Apetalæ, by James Britten, F.L.S., and A. B. Rendle, M.A., F.L.S. . . . 396 IV. Monocotyledons, by A.B. Rendle, M.A..F.L.S. 397 ,, V. Mosses, Hepatics, and Lichens, by A. Gepp, M.A., F.L.S. . . . .400 VI. Fungi, by Annie L. Smith and J. B. Car- RUTHERS, F.L.S. . . . . 403 „ VII. Cyperaceæ, by C. B. Clarke, F.R.S., P.L.S., etc. . ' . . . 404 C. List of Mammalia Collected, by Oldfield Thomas, F.L.S. . 406 Glossary of Native Words and Technical Terms . . . 409 Index of Authors and Persons . . . . .411 Index of Localities ....... 414 Subject Index ........

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Cluster of insects [F/ata nigrocincta, Walker) grouped to resemble an inflorescence. Fig. I, the colony including green bud-like forms, pink flower-like forms, and lichen-like larvæ, \ natural size. Fig. 2, the pink forms with wings expanded, £ natural size ; Fig. za, female ; Fig. 2b, male. Fig. 3a, a green female form, f natural size, with wings expanded ; Fig. -$b and 3., the same form with wings closed . Frontispiece PLATE I. Two Types of African Lake Shores. (By A. Gregory) . To face page 3 The Southern Shores of the Victoria Nyanza. (From a photograph by E. Gedge) The Western Wall of Tanganyika. (After Giraud) 2. The Old Fort at Lamu. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford) To face page 14 3. The Ruins of the Sultan's Palace at Witu. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford) ....

To face page iS 4. The Garrison of Witu. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford) To face page 26 5. The Zanzibari Camp at Ngatana. (From a photograph by J. Benett- Stanford) ..... To face page 38 6. The Doctor " At Home," a Scene in Camp at Ngatana. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford) . . . To face page 41 7. The Abyssinian Camp at Ngatana. (From a photograph by J. Benett- Stanford) ..... To face page 42 8. The Eastern Wall of the Rift Valley, with the Terraces of Lake Suess. (By A. Hallam Murray) . . . To face page 94 9. Longonot from the Summit of Doenyo Nyuki. (By A. Gregory from a sketch by the Author) .... To face page 97 10. The Crater and Steam Vent of Longonot. (By A. Gregory from a sketch by the Author) .... To face page 98 II. The Southern End of Lake Baringo. (By A. Gregory from a sketch by the Author) .....

To face page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XVIII PLATE 12. Kenya from the Kapte Plains west of Machakos. (By A. Hallam Murray from a sketch by J. Ainsworth) . . To face page 162 13. View in the Hohnel Valley. (By A. Hallam Murray) . ,, 171 14. The Central Summit of Kenya from the Summit of Mount Hohnel. (By A. Gregory from a sketch by the Author) . To face page 174 15. Fundi's Prayer. (By A. Hallam Murray) . . . I76 16. The Lewis Glacier. (By A. Hallam Murray) . . ,, 178 17. The Western Arete of Mount Kenya, with Point Piggott and the Tyndal Glacier. (By A. Gregory from a sketch by the Author) To face page 180 18. Two Wa-pokomo of the Tana. (From a photograph by J. Benett- Stanford) ..... To face page 343 19. A Somali in National Dress. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford) To fate page 357 20.

Two Somali Headmen. (From a photograph by J. Benett-Stanford) To face page 358 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT FIG. PACE i. Map of East African Lake-Chain. (After Suess) . . .4 2. Rift Valleys of. the Moon. Part of the Moon, including Mercator, etc. (From Nasmyth) . . . . . 6 3. Diagrammatic Comparison of Maps of Settima . . . .154 4. The South-Western Quadrant of the Central Part of Kenya . .172 5. Terminal Moraines of the Lewis Glacier . . . .177 6. Diagrams showing Relations of Head Streams of the Tana and Athi . 200 7. Geological Sketch-Map of British East Africa . . . .217 8. Three Types of Volcanic Eruptions . . . . .219 9. Section across Rift Valley ...... 220 10. Section across a " Block Mountain " ..... 221 II. Section across British East Africa ..... 222 12. Maps of Zoological Distribution.

(According to Giinther) . . 239 13. Map of Present and Former Range of Alpine Flora . . . 246 14. Diagrams illustrating the Beheading of River Valleys . . . 254 15. The Neighbourhood of the Esdraelon Gap . . . . 2c;c 16. Diagram of possible former Source of the Nile .... 259 17. A Bushman Rock-Painting of Burchell's Rhinoceros . . 267 18. Ethnographical Map of Africa ...... -,21 19. Neolithic Stone Implements from Masailand .... MAPS XIX PIO. PAGE 20. Ornamented Doko Arrow ...... 330 21. The Head of a Galla. (After Paulitschke) . -356 22. Map of British East Africa, showing Masai War-Paths 366 23. Map showing the Southward Advance of the Somali . . 368 MAPS 1. Map of Eastern Central Africa, showing Route of Expedition, 1 : 5,700,000. 2. Map ofthe Region round Mount Kenya and Lake Baringo, 1 : 1,000,000.

Inset Map — 1. The Central Peak of Kenya, 1 : 125, 000.1 2. The Ridges of the Iveti Mountains, I : 2,000,000. 3. Lake Baringo, I : 500,000. 1 Not 1 : 250,000 as stated on map.

Introduction

In the early days of African exploration the interest of the geographical problems was so absorbing that but little attention was paid to those of other branches of natural science. This restricted range of interest was originally due to the fascination of the problems of the sources of the Nile and the course of the Congo, the exploration of the great lakes, and the discovery of the equatorial snow-capped mountains. It sur vived, however, owing to the once prevalent belief that Tropical Africa would never yield its fair share of help in the ad vancement of science. It was thought that all we had to expect from the exploration of this region was the record of new topographical facts and the removal of the blank spaces from our maps. Some of the problems its natural history presented to us were regarded as too complex to be solved with the available methods of inquiry.

For example, the extent to which the tribes have intermarried and intermingled, have acquired new languages and lost all knowledge of their own, has so confused the race characteristics, that many authorities have sadly confessed it to be absolutely impossible to place African anthropology on a scientific basis. The evidence of this region on the remaining subjects was, on the other hand, regarded as too simple and monotonous to affect the development of scientific principles. Thus, when it was reported that from whatever side approached, in whatever direction traversed, the whole interior of the continent consisted of one vast expanse of gneiss and schist, geologists were ready, with Sir Roderick Murchison, to dismiss Africa south of the Sahara as a continent without a history. B

INTRODUCTION.

2 So long has this view lasted, that even as late as 1891 we find Professor Henry Drummond saying : " Finally, the thing about the geology of Africa that strikes one as especially significant is, that throughout this vast area just opening up to science there is nothing new — no unknown force at work ; no rock strange to the petrographer ; no pause in denudation ; no formation, texture, or structure to put the law of continuity to confusion."1 No doubt it is true that in Equatorial Africa the study of ethnography is attended with special difficulties, the flora of vast areas is poor in species, the rocks are monotonous in character, and the paleontological record is a blank. Never theless the old view has been abandoned. African exploration is now not undertaken only for the sake of obtaining fresh topographical details, of undergoing adventures with cannibals, and of " potting" big game.

Instead of these we look to it to supply us with information on some of the doubtful chapters in the geological history of Europe, to give us insight into unknown or unfamiliar methods in the earth's great workshop, and to exert an important influence on the development of scientific principles. Moreover, when studied from the modern point of view, the topographical details themselves acquire a fresh value. The investigation of the East African lake system has been the branch of exploration in which the widest general interest has been taken, ever since the native reports of the existence of the great inland seas were verified by Burton and Speke's discovery of Tanganyika (1857) and Livingstone's discovery of Nyasa (1859). Probably the most interesting series of journeys in the records of African travel were those made to the lakes of the great eastern plateau, including as it does the many efforts to settle the long controversy as to the position of Tanganyika in the African river system : Speke's two journeys to the Nyanza ; the circumnavigation of this lake by which Stanley proved its unity ; Baker's visit to the Albert Nyanza ; the expeditions in which Fischer discovered Lakes Natron and Naivasha, and Thomson demonstrated the isolation of Baringo ; Teleki and von Hdhnel's exploration of Basso Narok and 1 H. Drummond, Tropical Africa, 4th edition (1891), p. 199.

The Southern Shores of the Victoria Nyanza. (After Gedge.) The Western Wall of Tanganyika. (After Giraud.) No. I. TWO TYPES OF AFRICAN LAKE SHORES. Pa &-, THE EAST AFRICAN LAKE-CHAIN 5 Basso Ebor (Lakes Rudolf and Stephanie) ; and Baumann's recent march past Manyara and Eiassi. The determination of the principal features in the topo graphy of these lakes has, however, done more to stimulate than to satisfy our desire for knowledge about them. Mr. F. Galton,1 in the discussion on Mr. Thomson's paper on his journey through Masailand, pointed out that the great de pression or trough in which Naivasha and Baringo lie, is part of one " which begins with the Dead Sea, extends down the Red Sea, and ends at Tanganyika." This view has often been repeated, but it remained as a hazy speculation until Professor Suess of Vienna recently gave it scientific expression.

To understand this let us examine a map of the lake system (Fig. i ) of East Africa. One of the first points shown by it is that the lakes are developed according to two absolutely different types. Some are rounded in shape, as the Nyanza, and others are long and narrow, as Tanganyika and the Nyasa. If we examine views of these lakes we find that the round lakes have low shelving shores, and that the long ones lie, like fiords, between high precipitous cliffs. The illustrations oh the first plate show this contrast : the upper shows the southern shore of the Nyanza, and the lower, one of the bounding walls of Tanganyika. If we read descriptions of the lakes we learn the same facts. Thus Thomson2 remarks that, "unlike most other African lakes, the Nyanza is not bounded by ranges of mountains.

The ground descends gradually to its shores, and peace fully the water laps the muddy and marshy beach." The map, moreover, shows us that these two types of lakes are not distributed haphazard, but on a definite plan. The long fiord -like lakes occur on two lines, which pass one on either side of the Nyanza and meet at Basso Narok (Lake Rudolf). Thence the line continues northward as a long strip of low land, dotted with lakes and old lake basins, and sinking in places below the level of the sea. This extends to the southern end of the Red Sea, which repeats the structure of these fiord-like lakes on a larger scale : it is long and narrow and, excluding some strips of coast deposits, has high precipitous shores. From its northern end the Gulf of Akaba leads to another valley with similar characteristics, and from 1 Proc.

Roy. Geog. Soc. new ser. vol. vi. (1884), p. 711. 2 Ibid. p. 707. Fig. i. — Map of East African Lake-Chain. (After Suess.) LAKES AND LEGENDS 5 this the Dead Sea and Jordan valley continue the same type of geographical structure, till it ends on the plains of northern Syria. From the Lebanons, therefore, almost to the Cape there runs a valley, unique both on account of the persistence with which it maintains its trough-like form, throughout the whole of its course of 4000 miles, and also on account of the fact that scattered along its floor is a series of over thirty lakes, of which only one has an outlet to the sea. This valley and its lake-chain are so different from anyr thing else on the surface of the earth, that it is natural to ask whether different portions of it have been formed independently, or whether it was all formed at the same time and by the same process.

The final answer to this question must be given by geology, but history affords us some useful hints. All along the line the natives have traditions of great changes in the structure of the country. The Arabs tell us that the Red Sea is simply water that did not dry up after Noah's deluge. The Somali say that when their ancestors crossed from Arabia to Africa there was a land connection between the two, across the straits of Bab el Mandeb. The natives of Ujiji, at the southern end of the line, have a folklore that goes back to the time when Lake Tanganyika was formed by the flooding of a fertile plain, rich in cattle and plantations. And at the northern end of the valley we have the accounts of the destruction of the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah. There is geological evidence to show that great earth movements have happened along this Rift Valley, as it may be termed, at a recent date, which makes it distinctly probable that these traditions are recollections of the geographical changes.

The structure of the Rift Valley has, therefore, very varied interests — geological and geographical, on account of its con nection with the history of the eastern basin of the Mediterranean, and ethnographical, on account of its explanation of some of the best-known stories in our folklore. But it comes in con tact with the problems of science on yet another side. Fig. 2 illustrates the structure of part of the surface of the moon, showing, in addition to the well-known " ring-systems " (usually called volcanoes), a series of long narrow clefts known as

INTRODUCTION.

" rills." If all the air and water were removed from the earth, then the Rift Valley would present much the same aspect to an inhabitant of the moon as some of the larger of the lunar rills present to us. So the exploration of the Rift Valley has the additional attraction of offering the possibility of explaining the nature of some features in the surface of the moon. We are now fairly acquainted with the rough outlines of the geography of most of the line of the great African " rill." Our knowledge, however, of the geological structure of its Fig. 2. — Rift Valleys of the Moon. Part of the Moon, including Mercator, etc. (From Nasmyth.) African course is very imperfect, while one part of it in 1892 had not even been reached by Europeans. This was greatly to be regretted, because its study might be expected to yield much important evidence.

The desire to obtain more precise geological information as to the structure of this Rift Valley was, therefore, the main reason for the journey described in this volume. Before proceeding to the narrative, however, it is advisable briefly to refer to the history of the exploration of the region of British East Africa, in which the route of the expedition lay. NATIVE EXPLORERS 7 The list of travellers who have worked in this area is a fairly long one, but the names of six men stand out pre eminent, — Dr. Ludwig Krapf, Baron Carl Claus von der Decken, Dr. Gustav Fischer, Mr. Joseph Thomson, Count Samuel Teleki, and Lieut. Ludwig von Hohnel. The Rift Valley was not first reached in British East Africa, but far to the south, toward the end of its two main branches. Of these, the western was entered by Burton and Speke on Tanganyika in 1857, and the eastern by Livingstone on the Nyasa in 1859.

These pioneers were soon followed by others, and that district became familiar owing to the explorations and descriptions of many travellers and traders. Our knowledge of the equatorial regions of East Africa was, however, for long allowed to flag. Considerable attention had been previously attracted to them by the discovery there of two snow-capped mountains, Kilima Njaro and Kenya. The first was discovered by Rebmann in 1848 ; the second by Krapf in 1 849. But little work of much scientific value was done till the journeys of Baron von der Decken in 1862-65. After his murder at Barderah on the Juba in 1865, scientific exploration stopped, and the next important additions to our knowledge of the region were based on native information. From time immemorial Arab and Suahili traders have sent caravans into the interior, and they discovered the main facts in its geography.

Their information was collected by T. Wakefield of Mombasa and Clemens Denhardt of Lamu, and maps constructed therefrom. The map issued by the latter was based on thirty-three carefully recorded itineraries. It marked every important lake, river, and mountain in Masailand before a single European had set foot in that country. The outlines of the lakes and the courses of the rivers are often very incorrect, but the amount of information this map gave was enormous, and the facts are often remarkably accurate. In many points the structure of the country and the relations of the rivers are more fully and correctly represented than on the maps of later authors who have actually traversed the country. Thus in 1 881 we find Lake Losuguta (Lake Hannington) inserted, whereas it was omitted from all other maps until that of von Hohnel in 1892. Settima is correctly mapped; and the separation of Lake Lorian from the Tana, proved by Chanler

INTRODUCTION.

J . and Hohnel in 1893, was then shown, though it was not accepted by geographers. The two most fundamental errors in Denhardt's map were the omission of the Rift Valley and the exaggeration of the size of Lake Baringo. These were serious, and most of the minor mistakes in the map result from them. They were corrected by Fischer and Thomson, with whom rests the credit of having first broken down the barrier of mystery and fear that for so long kept Europeans out of the Masai country. To Fischer belongs the honour of having first entered Masailand and demonstrated the occurrence of the Rift Valley in Equa torial Africa. He entered this valley in 1883, west of Mount Meru, near Kilima Njaro, and tracked it northward, past the still steaming volcano of Doenyo Ngai, and along the shores of Lake Natron, until he was stopped by the exhaustion of his food supply, on the steppes to the north of Lake Naivasha.

His valuable ethnographical observations and collections, and his vocabulary of the language of the Masai, were the first reliable contributions to our knowledge of this tribe. His botanical and geological collections, moreover, gave important evidence as to the structure and natural history of this region. Later in the same year Thomson continued the exploration of the Rift Valley still farther to the north. He determined the real size and position of Lake Baringo, discovered the temperate affinities of the flora of the high plateau of Laikipia, and was the first European to see Kenya from the west. He proved, moreover, the occurrence of a double series of volcanic rocks in the district, and gave a geological sketch map of the region. In 1887-88 followed the most important of all the expeditions undertaken in British East Africa.