“Mokojori, the head-man, said when we started, that he knew the road, and took us to Maranga. After we left Maranga he said that he did not know the road, and took us to some place (of which) we do not know the name. Our food was finished (meanwhile). We asked the head-man if he knew where Limeru was, and he answered that he did not. We packed up and followed the mountain (Kenia)—not knowing the road—till reached Limeru, where we found Noor Adam, who had reached there before us. He had been into Embe, and was beaten by the Wa’embe. He came back and asked us to go into Embe with them. We went, and Jamah was killed. In Limeru we did not get much food, but the head-man said, ‘Never mind, I know the road, and I will take you to the Wandorobbo, and in fifteen or sixteen days you will be able to buy all the ivory you want.’ When we left Limeru to find the Wandorobbo, the head-man took us eight days out of our road to the north of the Waso Nyiro. On the eighth day we found some Wandorobbo, who said they had no ivory. We waited and looked about, and found what they said was true. We then asked the head-man where the ivory was, and he said he did not know; so we came back south to the Waso Nyiro, having to kill three cows on our way for food. When we reached the Waso Nyiro we found the Rendili camped. Then we asked the head-man where was the food and the ivory, and he said, ‘You are like the Wasungu. You want to buy things cheaply and then go away. When Swahili caravans come here, they stop a year or more.... But I know where there is food. If you give me the men and the donkeys I can get food in twelve days.’ We gave him eighty men and seven donkeys, with six and a half loads of trade goods, and they went away to get food. They followed the river for three days, and then went across country southwards. There was no water, and after going one day and one night without water, the head-man halted them, and told them to wait where they were for a little time while he went a little way to see if there was any water in a certain place he knew of. He went away, and did not come back. The other men then went on for three days without water, and on the afternoon of the fourth day after leaving the river they found water. They drank, and then laid down to sleep. While they slept the Wa’embe attacked them, and killed nearly all of them, only six Somalis and ten Wa’kamba coming back. The donkeys and trade goods and seven guns were taken by the Wa’embe. Now all the Somalis are together in one safari—except Jamah, who was killed—and are with the Rendili trading for ivory. Salaam.
“(Signed) Ismail Robli,
“Faragh.”
1. Brindled Gnu.
2. Waterbuck.
3. Oryx Beisa.
4. Congoni.
5. Rhinoceros skull.
FOOTNOTES:
[14] We found afterwards that the caravan referred to was that under Major Jenner, Governor of Kismayu. It is now a matter of history how, in November, 1900, the caravan was attacked during the night by Ogaden Somali raiders, and the camp rushed, Major Jenner and most of his followers being murdered.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE RENDILI AND BURKENEJI.
The Burkeneji—Their quarrelsome disposition—The incident of the spear—The Rendili—Their appearance—Clothing—Ornaments—Weapons—Household utensils—Morals and manners.
This chapter contains a short account of the Rendili and Burkeneji, compiled from a series of disconnected and incomplete notes taken on the spot. They will, however, serve to give the reader some idea of that peculiar people, the Rendili. Their utter dissimilarity from those tribes hitherto encountered, such as the A’kikuyu, Wa’kamba, and Masai, is very striking. Who and what they are is a problem the solution of which I leave to abler and wiser heads than mine.
The Rendili and Burkeneji are two nomad tribes, the units of which wander at will over the whole of Samburuland. They have, nevertheless, several permanent settlements. Von Hohnel speaks of Rendili inhabiting the largest of the three islands in the south end of Lake Rudolph, the other two being occupied by Burkeneji and Reshiat. He also speaks of settlements of mixed Rendili and Burkeneji in the western portion of the Reshiat country, at the north end of the lake, though very possibly the latter were only temporary settlements. The Burkeneji also inhabit the higher portions of Mount Nyiro, where they have taken refuge from the fierce attacks of the Turkana. With the single exception of Marsabit, a crater lake situated about sixty miles north of the Waso Nyiro which is always filled with pure sweet water, there is no permanent water in Samburuland. Elephants were at one time very numerous at Marsabit, but we learnt from the Rendili that they had disappeared during the last few years. The lake is the headquarters of the Rendili, from whence they move south to the Waso Nyiro only when the pasturage, through the scarcity of rain or other cause, becomes insufficient for the needs of their vast flocks and herds.