I 



THE UNKNOWN LAND 



sight pass through which we could see other distant 

 blue mountains. We crossed the arid plain and 

 toiled up through the notch pass. 



The latter made very difficult footing indeed, for 

 the entire surface of the ground was covered with 

 smooth, slippery boulders and rocks of iron and 

 quartz. What had so smoothed them I do not 

 know; for they seemed to be ill-placed for water 

 erosion. The boys with their packs atop found this 

 hard going; and we ourselves slipped and slid and 

 bumped in spite of our caution. 



Once through the pass we found ourselves over- 

 looking a wide prospect of undulating thorn scrub 

 from which rose occasional bushy hills, solitary 

 buttes, and bold cliffs. It was a thick-looking 

 country to make a way through. 



Nevertheless somewhere here dwelt the kudu, so 

 in we plunged. The rest of the day — and of days 

 to follow — we spent in picking a way through the 

 thorn scrub and over loose rocks and shifting stones. 

 A stream bed contained an occasional water hole. 

 Tali aloes were ablaze with red flowers. The 

 country looked arid, the air felt dry, the atmosphere 

 was so clear that a day's journey became — visu- 

 ally — but the matter of a few hours. Only rarely did 

 we enjoy a few moments of open travel. Most of 

 the time the thorns caught at us. In the mountain 



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