AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



about us; the breeze wandered lazily up from the 

 distant Indian Ocean. Directly before our tent 

 door the slope fell gently away through a sparse 

 coconut grove whose straight stems panelled our 

 view, then rose again to the clear-cut outline of a 

 straight ridge opposite. The crest of this was sen- 

 tinelled by tall scattered coconut trees, the "burst- 

 ing star" pyrotechnic effect of their tops particularly 

 fine against the sky. 



After a five hours' tropical march uphill we were 

 glad to sit under our green dome, to look at our 

 view, to enjoy the little breeze, and to drink some of 

 the coconuts our friends the villagers brought in. 



88 



