AFRICAN CAMP FIRES 



trate straight back through the great rampart of 

 mountains to the south and west. 



We crossed the bush-grown plains, and entered 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 dark. The occasional 

 shafts of sunlight or glimpses of blue sky served 

 merely to accentuate the soft gloom. Save that we 

 climbed always, we could not tell where we were going. 



The ascent occupied a little over an hour. Then 

 through the tree trunks and undergrowth we caught 

 the skyline of the crest. When we topped this we 

 took a breath, and prepared ourselves for a cor- 

 responding descent. But in a hundred yards we 



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