A CHANGE IN PLANS
The next day Mr. Hampton called the boys and Niellsen into
conference regarding their future course. They had put the country
of the Kikuyus quite definitely behind them in their passage of the
marshy region and now of this river, of which they did not know the
name, although Mr. Hampton believed it to be probably a branch of
the Terywell.
“We are on the fringes of big game country by all accounts,” he
said, “both from what I picked up in Nairobi and from what Wimba
tells me. West of us lies Lake Victoria; east, Mount Kenya.”
“That’s the high one, isn’t it, Dad?” asked Jack.
Mr. Hampton nodded. “Said to be 17,010 feet,” he commented. “Next to
Mount Kilimanjaro, which is also in Kenya Colony, lying southeast of
Nairobi and more than 19,000 feet in height, it is the tallest peak
in Africa.”
“I vote for striking toward Mount Kenya,” said Frank, emphatically.
“We’ll get into higher altitudes and escape from this awful heat.”
“Huh,” grunted Bob. “It wasn’t so hot that night eight or ten days
ago when we couldn’t get enough blankets to keep warm.”
He referred to one of the meteoric changes in temperature which
makes Africa land of extremes, when even the equatorial region a day
of blazing sunshine and suffocating oppressive heat is frequently
succeeded by terrific rains and a freezing night.
Niellsen looked thoughtful. “It’s not such a bad idea to strike for
Mount Kenya,” he said, “if only there’s a chance of getting some
films of animal life. But what are game conditions like over there?”
“Wimba says they’re pretty good,” said Mr. Hampton. “However, he
believes that in the Kavirondo country northeast of Lake Victoria,
they will be better. And if we strike in that direction, we can
replenish our supplies at Kisumu on the lake. It is on the railroad
from the coast, and lake steamers touch there, too.”
“Lake steamers?” Bob cried in surprise.
Mr. Hampton nodded. “The immediate region around Lake Victoria was
developing rapidly when the war halted its progress. Germans,
British, Belgians and Portuguese, all are in this country
hereabouts, you know. Their armed forces of blacks officered by
whites messed life up pretty badly. However, since the end of the
war I was given to understand in Nairobi development has been
picking up again at a great rate. So at Kisumu, which is the trade
center for a big region, although only a little town itself, we
undoubtedly will be able to replenish our supplies. And as we are
beginning to run rather low, I believe it will be wise to do so.”
“Kisumu for me,” said Bob, “and the Kavirondo region. If big game is
to be found there, especially. I want to bag at least one lion on
this trip. And so far we haven’t encountered one.”
“And I want an elephant,” said Jack.
Niellsen laughed. “I want to shoot lions and elephants, too,” he
said. “But with the camera.”
“Looks as if I were outvoted,” said Frank, mopping his sticky face,
for the heat of the day still persisted.
Mr. Hampton regarded him sympathetically. “Don’t worry. Frank,” he
said. “We’ll get into mountainous country up there, and, in fact,
we’ll be out of these Kikuyu plains pretty quickly. That range of
hills ahead form the outposts of the mountains of which Kenya is the
tallest peak, unless I’m much mistaken. We’ll be into them by
tomorrow. And then, even though the weather will continue hot, yet
it won’t be the muggy heat of these lowlands.”
The next morning, accordingly, camp was struck and the expedition
set out for Kisumu, which was reached after a week of uneventful
travel. From their first day after crossing the river, they entered
a populous region. Villages became numerous.
Anxious to reach the Kavirondo country, after first stopping at
Kisumu for a renewal of supplies, Mr. Hampton did not loiter on the
way. And as Niellsen and the boys found little either of topography
or animal life to make interesting pictures, the party pushed on
steadily without any of the customary side expeditions for the
purpose of obtaining pictures of animal life.
Kisumu proved to be a surprise, being far from the traditional
picture of African town, what with its business buildings of
European architecture and its comfortable bungalows where European
residents dwelt. One of the lake steamers was in the town and the
boys sought and obtained permission to board it for inspection. They
were surprised to find it a modern, though small, craft, with
comfortable cabins, well-appointed saloons, and electric lights.
“Not much like the Africa we’ve been through,” said Mr. Hampton,
“and even less like the Africa into which we soon will plunge. But,
then, you fellows must remember that this is a point on the main
travel artery, as the railroad from the distant coast connects here
with the boats to carry travellers across the lake and to the
northern railroad line. Not far from here, I am told, we’ll find the
country wild enough, and the people far more primitive than the
Kikuyus of the plains.”
In the several days spent at Kisumu, while Mr. Hampton was busy
restocking for their further journey, the boys knocked about the
little town and at the Club to which a friend of Mr. Hampton’s
living down country in Nairobi had given them cards for use in case
they came this way, they made the acquaintance of an Englishman who
told them a good deal about the great lake sparkling beyond the
town. He was in Kisumu to convalesce from an attack of jungle fever,
and quite willing to wile away the slow hours with conversation.
Many stories he told them of the furious storms which, rising with
extraordinary rapidity, lash the surface of this second largest lake
in the world. For such is Victoria Nyanza, being roughly speaking
some 200 miles in length by as many in breadth.
“I was out fishing with a friend one day in a native canoe,” he
said, “when the blue sky which had been without a cloud suddenly
changed to an ominous gray. In the twinkling of an eye, the wind
rose and a slashing rain began to fall. We made with all speed for a
neighboring creek to seek shelter. But just as we were about to land
we spotted a crocodile concealed among the reeds. I tell you, lads,
my heart went pit-a-pat as I thought of what might have occurred if,
in our haste, we had leaped ashore before spotting him.”
“What happened?” asked the interested Bob.
“Oh, these lake natives are so used to dealing with crocodiles that
they are undaunted. We went on a bit farther before landing, and
then one of our canoe men sneaked up behind the crocodile and
slashed off his tail with a knife. After the monster was thus
disabled, for his tail is his most effective weapon, you know, the
native finished him off.”
“Single-handed and with only a knife?” breathed Frank, round-eyed.
“Whew.”
Lake Victoria was unknown to the European world until the explorer
Speke discovered it in the middle of the last century. Even Stanley
on his memorable expedition into the heart of Equatorial Africa had
skirted it only a short time before without even suspecting its
existence.
While at Kisumu the boys found such relief from the lowlands heat,
for Victoria lies 4,000 feet above sea level and the climate of
neighboring regions is delightful and salubrious, that they became
imbued with renewed energy. They were here, there and everywhere,
poking into everything of interest to be seen. Thus it was that they
heard of a fleet of native canoes which would set out the morning of
the second day and arose early, along with Niellsen, for the purpose
of obtaining a film of the event.
As the day was clear, what promised to be really excellent film was
obtained. The canoes were of the simplest construction, being
nothing more nor less than hollowed out tree trunks, stoppered at
the ends with wooden plugs set in clay.
“Whew,” said Frank, addressing Ransome, their English friend, who
had come down with them to behold the start of the fishing fleet,
“those things may be safe enough. But I, for one, wouldn’t care to
trust myself in any such craft, especially on this lake which you
say is so treacherous.”
Ransome shrugged. “They are really good boats,” he said. “Even when
tossed by a rhinoceros, they seldom capsize.”
At the end of the second day, Mr. Hampton announced that not only
had their supplies been restocked but also he had obtained the
services of new bearers acquainted with the Kavirondo country who
would accompany them henceforth. The Kikuyus were to be sent back to
Nairobi, where they had been recruited, by train, in accordance with
the contract agreement. He had been fortunate in replacing Wimba as
interpreter and “straw boss,” by a six-foot Kavirondo named Mabele.
The next day, therefore, the expedition put Kisumu behind and struck
into the Kavirondo country, noticing almost at once a marked change
in the character of the country, grassy plateaus and plains being
replaced by lofty hills and dense forests, while the native life
appeared far more primitive than that of the Kikuyus.
It was noted, too, that the natives were none too friendly. When
they entered strange villages, tall warriors would crowd around them
scowling. And their heavy hide shields and twelve-foot spears
created an uneasy impression in the mind of at least one member of
the expedition, namely Mr. Hampton. Then, too, it was no unusual
matter to look up suddenly while following a native trail through
dense forest and behold the eyes of a half-hidden watcher peering
from leafy covert, a matter which occurred not once but many times.
“They told me at Kisumu that the Kavirondos were none too friendly,
and were resentful of the encroachments of the whites,” said Mr.
Hampton, in camp one night. “Yet I was assured we would be safe
enough. However, I can’t understand this continued unfriendliness.
We shall have to push ahead without organizing any side expeditions
that would split our forces, until we reach the territory of Chief
Ungaba which Mabele tells me is only two days’ march away. He is
friendly to the whites, and in his territory we can hunt big game
with both rifle and camera to our heart’s content.”
Care was taken not to give offense to the natives, and Mabele was
cautioned to warn those of his bearers who were members of Lake
Victoria tribes and not Kavirondos to refrain from becoming
embroiled in disputes with the native populace. Guard also was
maintained at night to prevent trouble. For although Mr. Hampton was
of the opinion that the unfriendliness of the natives was not such
as would lead them to attack white men so close to the Lake Victoria
settlements, yet he suspected that if the natives considered them
off guard they would not hesitate to steal whatever they could lay
their hands on.
However, they finally reached the village of Chief Ungaba without
unpleasant incident. And as they drew near late in the afternoon of
a clear day, the chief himself at the head of what looked like the
entire population came put to welcome them.