We now made every preparation for attack, and made arrangements for one or the other of us to be on guard all night. I took the first watch from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m., and El Hakim the second from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.; but everything remained quiet, and El Hakim did not think it necessary to call George at midnight, the rest of the night proving uneventful, with the exception that our fox-terrier gave birth to six puppies, of which she seemed very proud.
At daylight we struck camp, and were away before the sun was fairly up. The country was much the same as on the day before, though, if anything, the jungle was more dense. The shambas were filled to overflowing with unripe muhindi and pumpkins, while sweet potatoes and beans were growing in great profusion on every side. Travelling in the early morning was decidedly unpleasant, as the dew collected on the shrubbery was shaken down upon us in showers, wetting us through to the skin. We crossed two or three small rivers, and at midday reached and camped at a place called Materu.
The chief soon put in an appearance, and we purchased a further supply of food, in the shape of potatoes, beans, muhindi, and a little honey. We also obtained further information of the road through the notorious M’bu country which, I must confess, did not seem to have any better reputation the nearer we approached it.
Our Maranga friends, under Koranja, appeared very frightened at their close proximity to the dreaded Wa’M’bu, and intimated their intention of returning to Maranga. We answered that they might go when we gave them permission, but for the present we required their services; with which answer they had perforce to be content.
The next morning we again travelled through much the same densely populated and cultivated country as that hitherto passed, though it seemed to get more mountainous. We had not as yet got a view of Mount Kenia, as the sky had been for days covered with a thick curtain of grey clouds. Koranja informed us that two hours after starting we should reach a river called “Shelangow,” which was the boundary of M’bu. We said the sooner the better.
At midday, after some hours’ steady march, we appeared to be as far from the “Shelangow” as ever, though we had been informed that it was “huko mbeli kidogo” (only just in front) for over three hours. As the men were very tired, El Hakim decided to camp, in spite of Koranja’s energetic protests that the Shelangow was “karibu kabissa” (very near). The country was very wet with the constant drizzle and mist, which made the steep clayey paths exceedingly slippery, while between the shambas the way led through thickets of brambles and stinging nettles, which caused the porters endless discomfort. On halting, we built a boma of shrubs; not that we thought it would be of any use in case of an attack, but to give the men confidence. We wrote letters and gave them to Koranja, on the remote chance that they would get down to Nairobi, and thence to England. (They did get down four months later, and were delivered in England five months after they were written.)
In the evening Koranja and his friends then bade us an affectionate and relieved farewell. They remarked in parenthesis that they would never see us again, as the Wa’M’bu would certainly kill us all; a belief that probably explained why they helped themselves to all our small private stock of sweet potatoes before they left; a moral lapse that—luckily for them—we did not discover till next morning. Our men sent a deputation to us during the evening, pointing out the perils of the passage through M’bu, and saying that we should of a certainty be killed, and most likely eaten. This statement we received with polite incredulity, and dismissed the deputation with a warning not to do it again.
Next morning I was very queer, a large lump having formed in my groin. This is a very common complaint in East Africa and Uganda, supposedly due to over-fatigue and walking, though I think climate and diet have something to do with it. George had two very bad ones on his way down from Uganda. It was my second experience of them, and the oftener I suffered from them, the less I liked them, as they are exceedingly painful. The only cure seems to be complete rest, and hot fomentations applied to the swelling.
We did not travel that day in consequence, but occupied ourselves in buying a little food and getting what further information we could about the road ahead. There were not many natives or villages about—a fact easily explained by the contiguity of the M’bu border. The place where we were camped was a sort of neutral territory, or “no man’s land.”
Next day, soon after daylight, we set out for the Shelangow, which was reached after a couple of hours’ march over very steep country. It proved to be merely a mountain torrent, which we easily crossed. On the other side rose a very steep hill, to the top of which we climbed, and found ourselves at last in the country of the dreaded Wa’M’bu.