Kenya Diary - Apr. 1904 - Nandi - the only European settlers in the whole of the Nandi country are 2 Boer families called Garvie and Steyn. They have recently come from the Transvaal and are related to the ex-President of the Orange Free State. They all seem terrified of the Nandi and have been applying for a guard of my men. .......... The two families were living in filthy grass huts without any attempt to make them either comfortable, sanitary or weatherproof. There is no excuse for this, as grass is plentiful and the men are not badly off. It is simply the Boer standard of life. ....... These Boers are indeed slippery customers ....….

It is absurd that settlers should be allowed in Nandi at present, as the country is by no means safe. .......... These Boers came up here without anyone's permission and are squatting on Nandi-owned land for which they pay no rent. I asked Mayes if they had any right to be there; he said no and that they squatted at their own risk. Seems to me a pretty poor arrangement.

Habari 2009 - Elgeyo Reserve on the Plateau - 1903 - At that time , a Scot named Donald Sutherland Garvie (b 1873), his wife Cornelia (neé Steyn) and her brother Stephen were also living on the Plateau. Unfortunately, the area was affected by tribal hostilities, resulting in the frequent rustling by the Nandi tribe of cattle belonging to the Van Breda brothers and in the Garvies having to seek protection from the authorities against Nandi agression. The Garvies later moved to Nairobi and Stephen Steyn to the Lupa Goldfields in GEA