The Rediscovered Country

In 1910-11 Mrs. White, R. J. Cuninghame, and myself, with a small safari of forty men, took the usual route via the Kedong valley, Mount Suswa, Agate’s Drift to Vandeweyer’s boma on the Narossara River. At this point we diverged from the usual route and pushed for some distance south into the Narossara Mountains. We found ourselves eventually confronted by a barrier range which we could not then cross, owing to lack of time, lack of men, and lack of provisions. Inquiries among the Masai elicited very vague descriptions of high mountain ranges succeeded by open country.


When we had returned to civilization we discovered, to our surprise, that we could find out little or nothing of what lay beyond those mountains. They ran in a general northwesterly direction approximately along the Anglo-German border, so that their hinterland would naturally fall within the German protectorate. But whether the large triangle was plains, hill, or dale; whether it was watered or and; whether it was inhabited or desert; whether it was a good or bad game country, we were unable to find out. No Englishman or American had been in there, and as far as we could find out only the German military reconnoissances of many years previous possessed even the slightest knowledge of what the country might be like. This intrigued our curiosity. We resolved to go in.


In the meantime both Cuninghame and myself tried every possible source of knowledge, but in vain. As far as we could find out no sportsman or traveller had ever traversed this territory save the two or three officials mentioned. The net results of the latter’s efforts—for the outside world—were in two maps, which we procured. They were of great assistance, and were in the main quite accurate for the line of route actually trodden by their makers. Outside of that they were to be trusted only in general. To all intents and purposes we were the first to explore the possibilities of this virgin country. If not its discoverers, we were at least its rediscoverers.


I think this was the very last virgin game field—of any great size—remaining to be discovered and opened up to sportsmen. There are now no more odd corners to be looked into.