JOURNEY UP FROM MOMBASA 



line or he will be seen and shot at ; all the same, 

 even now some lucky people can see a lion from 

 the train as it passes through the game reserve. 



Hundreds of zebra, many ostriches, jackals and 

 various species of buck including hartebeeste. 

 Grant's gazelle, Thomson's gazelle, little duikers 

 and a big bison kind of animal called wildebeeste 

 or gnu are to be seen in great numbers. 



We were lucky enough to see a pack of wild 

 dogs, playing about with each other amongst a 

 herd of zebra. Later we came upon a large herd 

 of hundreds of these animals all mixed up together, 

 and a flock of about thirteen ostriches. 



The train passes through a station called Simba, 

 meaning "lion," which, as its name implies, used 

 to be a place frequented by many lions. While 

 the railway was being constructed lions caused a 

 great deal of inconvenience by walking off with the 

 coolies working on the line. The engineers and 

 others connected with the making of the line, as 

 also the early officials, reaped a rich harvest of 

 trophies of all sorts, far beyond the wildest dreams 

 of the keenest sportsman at home ; in fact it 

 amounted to useless slaughter. Machakos at one 

 time was the headquarters of the King's African 

 Rifles, but as the camp was so far from the railway 

 it was moved to Nairobi. Stony Athi is still noted 

 for its lions, and many men take a couple of days' 

 leave and go there to try and get one. On the left 



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