360 AFRICAN CAMP FIRES. 



addicted to opium. This was the only man to 

 be formally kibokoed on the whole trip a good 

 testimony at once to C.'s management, the dis- 

 crimination we had used in picking them out, 

 and the settled reputations we had by now 

 acquired. 



After C.'s return we prepared to penetrate 

 straight back through the great rampart of 

 mountains to the south and west. 



We crossed the bush-grown plains, and en- 

 tered a gently rising long canon flanked on 

 either side by towering ranges that grew higher 

 and higher the farther we proceeded. In the very 

 centre of the mountains, apparently, this canon 

 ended in a small round valley. There appeared 

 to be no possible exit, save by the way we had 

 come, or over the almost perpendicular ridges a 

 thousand feet or more above. Nevertheless, 

 we discovered a narrow ravine that slanted 

 up into the hills to the left. Following it we 

 found ourselves very shortly in a great forest 

 on the side of a mountain. Hanging creepers 

 brushed our faces, tangled vines hung across 

 our view, strange and unexpected openings 

 offered themselves as a means through which 

 we could see a little closer into the heart of 

 mystery. The air was cool and damp and 



