242 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



river, sometimes these mountains were directly 

 ahead of us, then magically behind, so that we 

 thought we had passed them by. But the next 

 hour threw them again across our trail. The 

 ideal path would, of course, have cut across all 

 the bends and ridges ; but the thorn of the 

 ridges and the elephant-grass of the flats for- 

 bade it. So we marched ten miles to gain four. 



After days of struggle and deception we passed 

 those mountains. Then we entered a new type 

 of country where the Tsavo ran in canons between 

 hills. The high cliffs often towered far above us ; 

 we had to pick our way along narrow river 

 ledges ; again the river ran like a trout stream 

 over riffles and rapids, while we sauntered along 

 cleared banks beneath the trees. Had we not 

 been making a forced march under terrific heat 

 at just that time, this last phase of the river 

 might have been the pleasantest of all. 



Throughout the whole course of our journey 

 the rhinoceros was the most abundant of the 

 larger animals. The indications of old tracks 

 proved that at some time of the year, or under 

 some different conditions, great herds of the more 

 gregarious plains antelope and zebra visited the 

 river, but at the time of our visit they were absent. 

 The rhinoceroses, however, in incredible numbers 



