Snow on the Equator by H.W. Tilman

Author:H.W. Tilman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Vertebrate Publishing
Published: 2014-06-16T00:00:00+00:00

– Chapter Ten –

The Gold Rush

‘The narrowing lust of gold’

– Tennyson

Until 1931 the search for precious metals in Kenya had attracted little general interest. The accepted theory seemed to be that, in the Highlands at any rate, any valuable minerals that might exist were buried deep beneath great deposits of volcanic soil, so that to look for them was a waste of time. No doubt a few enthusiasts were not so easily put off, but generally more attention was paid to the neighbouring territory of Tanganyika, which was comparatively rich in minerals, and where promising alluvial diggings were already being exploited. In Kenya in 1923 gold was found in the Lolgorien area south of the Sotik, and a mild ‘rush’ took place to peg claims. In view of the later history of this particular area, it is difficult to understand why this interest so soon evaporated; the majority who went down there returned disgusted, and in only two places was serious development work undertaken. Ten years later it was becoming apparent that those who took part in that rush were as blind as they were easily discouraged.

Early in 1931 reports of rich finds in the Kakamega district, near the north¬east corner of Lake Victoria, began to circulate. At first the stories met with the usual scepticism, in spite of the fact that the Colony was then sinking fast into the trough of the depression when people were more inclined to snatch at straws, most of them being in a fair way to financial drowning. The stories continued, losing nothing in the telling, and interest spread so rapidly that in a year or even less there were few people in the Colony who had not either been to Kakamega or joined some syndicate which was prospecting there.

Napoleon has been fathered with a great many trite aphorisms, so no harm will be done in attributing to him another – ‘Fortune is a fickle jade, so when she knocks at the door be quick to open’ – a saying which S. and I sometimes think we neglected to our cost. A friend whose farm was not far from S.’s was one of the syndicate which made the original discovery at Kakamega, so that during my periodic visits to S. we used to hear a good deal of what was being found there, and still more of what might be found. In our foolishness, or possibly wisdom (for every seeker was not a finder), we accepted these tales with some reserve, chaffing the enthusiastic teller about holes in the ground and the futility of throwing money down them. It was right and proper enough to desert our respective farms for several weeks of mountaineering, but we simply could not afford to waste a week playing at prospecting.

So in a superior way we remained unmoved, even pitying the poor boobs who left their farms to try their luck. In 1932 the excitement became intense, the ‘strike’ seemed to be extending, and the rush was no

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