MEN OF THE TREES 



for the chassis and springs, which could not be beaten, 

 even though it had been carefully devised. 



The sight of my Morris taking a drop over a steep 

 embankment and landing fifteen feet below in thick 

 bush would have gladdened the eyes of a cinematog- 

 rapher, but the actual experience was an ordeal both 

 for man and car alike. 



I was driving from Lagos to Ibadan in the Southern 

 Provinces of Nigeria, and when rounding a sharp bend 

 on the side of a hill, I met a loaded lorry coming towards 

 me, completely out of control. To my right was a steep 

 drop over an embankment, and to my left, the side of 

 a hill, and, at that portion of the road, it was barely over 

 the width of a single track, so that it was impossible 

 for me to pull to one side. It seemed that nothing could 

 prevent a head-on crash. An instant's delay meant posi- 

 tive disaster, so that almost automatically I decided to 

 take the leap over the sheer edge, and dropped into 

 thick bush fifteen feet below the level of the trail. The 

 African Jehu whose lorry had got out of control, little 

 dreamed as he dashed on down the hill, that he, by neces- 

 sitating the leap of my car over the bank, had created 

 so remarkable an opportunity for proving its worth. 

 It would be impossible to devise a more severe test, and 

 if I had been asked beforehand to make such a dive, 

 nothing would have induced me to attempt it. 



As I was unhurt, and my car intact, I look back upon 

 that adventure with gratification, because it gave me 

 confidence in my car, that it would carry me through 



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