CHAPTER XXXV THE GREAT RIFT VALLEY AND THE MASAI IN THE heart of the East African highlands, as far south of the Mediterranean Sea as New York is distant from Denver, and as far west of the Indian Ocean as Pittsburgh is west of the Atlantic, I am writing this chapter. Lake Naivasha, which is spread out before me, is in the Great Rift Valley, a mighty trough that runs almost north and south through this part of the continent. This great rift begins, it is now believed, south of the Zambezi and embraces Lake Rudolf on the north. Traces of it are to be found even in Palestine. It is sup¬ posed to have been formed by the earth’s folding up after a stupendous volcanic eruption, which left the craters of Kilimanjaro, Kenya, and Elgon touching the clouds at altitudes of from fourteen thousand to nearly twenty thousand feet.

The valley was named by Professor J. W. Gregory, the famous British geologist, who came out to East Africa in order to explore its system of valleys and to discover their origin. For many months he disappeared. There were rumours that he had been killed and cut to pieces by the Masai. But one day he turned up, looking ill and worn but triumphant. The results of his trip were pub¬ lished in a book now historical, "The Great Rift Valley,” from which this huge trough got its name. To-day one sees everywhere in this part of the country notices of 285