travel, as the line was not considered safe. This does not mean unsafe because of natives, although it is in the Nandi country, where there had recently been a rising, though not a serious one.
A curious and interesting sight was provided at each station by the Masai warriors enrolled as scouts and guards. Some had overcoats and rifles, but others merely their spears,shields, and swords, and no clothing whatever. To see their long spears decorated with a tiny Union Jack was certainly novel. We were greatly amused when they told us they were engaged to ‘piga the washenzi’ (‘piga’ means to fight, and ‘washenzi’ means savage or uncivilised natives, a term of reproach. The Masai themselves certainly deserve that title, if any tribe or nation does). At one station a quarrel between Wanandi and Masai had arisen, and four of the former had been killed just before our train arrived.
