OUR SECOND SAFARI 



leaves of the tall bamboo trees, the pretty little 

 wild flowers and ferns in the damp soil below ; and 

 I saw an endless number of curtain poles which I 

 longed to take back for my bungalow in Nairobi, 

 to say nothing of other uses to which I could put 

 the bamboo stems, in my imagination. After toil- 

 ing and slipping up a zig-zig path, we thought we 

 had at last reached the top, and Mark and I were 

 photographed in the most unbecoming glare of the 

 sun, in a small clearing, but the background gives 

 some idea of the denseness of the bamboo forest. 

 But we found after walking along the flat for a 

 while and getting a beautiful view of the valley 

 below, we had yet another peak to climb, and at last 

 found ourselves on the summit, about 13,000 feet 

 above sea level. 



The fresh air was gloriously cool and refreshing 

 as the forest was stuffy and hot, although delight- 

 fully shady, and panting my way up with a bamboo 

 was a very great help. As we gazed in front of us, 

 a magnificent view of Mount Kenia met our eyes, 

 its snow-capped heights towering alone, above the 

 surrounding country ; it was so beautiful in its 

 grandeur that it took one's breath away. 



Stretching beyond, too, we saw another portion 

 of the Aberdare Range, sometimes called the 

 Settima Eange, across a hilly plain. It was a grand 

 sight, that stretch of country that we saw ; one 

 could imagine the elephants and other wild animals 



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