246 STALKS ABROAD 



boughs of some huge tree, whose moss-covered limbs 

 were hung with trailing lianas and clusters of fern. 

 An occasional gleam of sunshine speckled the moulder- 

 ing leaves which strewed the ground with strange 

 yellow patterns. Little red, blue, and white flowers 

 peered timidly out from the surrounding green. 

 Wonderful hot-house scents, overpowering in their 

 strength, puffed fitfully in one's face. 



" Do you know the steaming stillness of the orchid-scented glade 

 When the blazoned bird- winged butterflies flap through ? " 



The lines recurred continually to my mind. 



Occasionally we came on the remains of some old 

 Wa 'Ndorobo dwelling, hollowed out of the trunk 

 of some enormous tree. Up, ever up, we went until 

 the magnolias and evergreen shrubs began to give 

 way to scattered clumps of bamboos. A broad beaten 

 path wound through the long grasses which led to 

 them, visible proof that elephants had been abroad. 

 Thicker and thicker grew the bamboos until they 

 extended into one vast, quivering sea of delicate 

 leaves. Through the closely growing stems we made 

 our laborious way, following, when practicable, the 

 wide flattened highway which the elephants had 

 left. Huge, round footprints showed plainly here and 

 there ; some, so Hassan said, made but a few hours 

 previously. A rumble of distant thunder caught 

 my ear and we all stood to listen. The rumble came 

 again. Following it, a shrill trumpeting rang out 

 and echoed among the bamboos. Then I knew that 



