The name of the valley was Lengeetoto.
>From the great mountains flowed many brooks of clear sparkling
water, that ran beneath the most beautiful of open jungles, to
unite finally in one main stream that disappeared down the canyon.
Between these brooks were low broad rolling hills, sometimes
grass covered, sometimes grown thinly with bushes. Where they
headed in the mountains, long stringers of forest trees ran up to
blocklike groves, apparently pasted like wafers against the base
of the cliffs, but in reality occupying spacious slopes below
them.
We decided to camp at the foot of a long grass slant within a
hundred yards of the trees along one of the small streams. Before
us we had the sweep of brown grass rising to a clear cut skyline;
and all about us the distant great hills behind which the day
dawned and fell. One afternoon a herd of giraffes stood
silhouetted on this skyline quite a half hour gazing curiously
down on our camp. Hartebeeste and zebra swarmed in the grassy
openings; and impalla in the brush. We saw sing-sing and
steinbuck, and other animals, and heard lions nearly every night.
But principally we elected to stay because a herd of buffaloes
ranged the foothills and dwelt in the groves of forest trees
under the cliffs. We wanted a buffalo; and as Lengeetoto is
practically unknown to white men, we thought this a good chance
to get one. In that I reckoned without the fact that at certain
seasons the Masai bring their cattle in, and at such times annoy
the buffalo all they can.
We started out well enough. I sent Memba Sasa with two men to
locate the herd. About three o'clock a messenger came to camp
after me. We plunged through our own jungle, crossed a low swell,
traversed another jungle, and got in touch with the other two
men. They reported the buffalo had entered the thicket a few
hundred yards below us. Cautiously reconnoitering the ground it
soon became evident that we would be forced more definitely to
locate the herd. To be sure, they had entered the stream jungle
at a known point, but there could be no telling how far they
might continue in the thicket, nor on what side of it they would
emerge at sundown. Therefore we commenced cautiously and slowly
follow the trail.
The going was very thick, naturally, and we could not see very
far ahead. Our object was not now to try for a bull, but merely
to find where the herd was feeding, in order that we might wait
for it to come out. However, we were brought to a stand, in the
middle of a jungle of green leaves, by the cropping sound of a
beast grazing just the other side of a bush.
