THE RETURN MARCH 



both water and food, for fish of good size and fine flavour were 

 abundant in it. This march reminded me of Emerson's lines — 



" The water-courses were my guide, 

 The falling waters led me, 

 The foodful waters fed me." 



The river came due from the south, and I feared that if 

 we crossed to the east side, it might suddenly turn to the west 

 and leave us. To avoid losing it, we therefore kept along its 

 western or left bank. It increased in volume, and finally bent 

 abruptly to the west-north-west round the ridge of Voroni. I 

 climbed this ridge and scrambled along its top to examine the 

 country before us. The main result was a scare from a rhino- 

 ceros. On my return in the dusk I had taken the wrong ridge. 



(a) 



(b) 



(c) 



Fig. 6. 



-Diagrams showing Relations of Head Streams of the Tana and Athi, 

 after (a) Ravenstein, (b) von Hohnel, and [c) the Author. 



and when hastening down it to get back to the right one, I almost 

 ran against a rhinoceros. It charged, and I had to climb the 

 rocks again ; the result was that I lost myself in the acacia 

 scrub, and did not reach the camp till long after dark. 



After passing Voroni the river-bed changed from gneiss to 

 lava, and the country rose in terraces, over which the river 

 plunged in a series of rapids and one grand waterfall about 

 80 feet high. Then we entered a deep valley, up which 

 we marched until it contracted to a gorge, at the head of which 

 was a series of waterfalls, grander and more picturesque than the 

 lower ones. We climbed the wall to the plateau and found 

 we had now reached the " Kapte " plains, the vast lava prairie 

 that we had crossed on the journey between Machakos and 

 Fort Smith. The hill of Chanjavi rose to the south, and 

 the whole course of the river was now quite plain to me. 



