188 AFRICA SPEAKS 



later, its victim is racked with pain, weak, and helpless, 

 a sacrifice to its deadly sting. This hazard of the 

 jungles, the forests, and swamps, of the bush and hills, 

 is omnipresent to jeopardize all those who seek to wTest 

 secrets from Africa's mysterious depths. Man escapes 

 claw and fang and the weapons of primitive tribes 

 only to succumb to the bite of a tiny insect. And so 

 it was with me I 



For several days following the second spearing, we 

 filmed scenes to fill in parts before and after the lion 

 charges, in order to make a smooth-running story. On 

 a wonderful morning of blue skies, with gorgeous cloud 

 formations which gave a finish to every composition, 

 we completed our work with the Nandi. This was 

 indeed a stroke of luck, for although conditions were 

 perfect until about two o'clock in the afternoon, sud- 

 denly a tremendous storm burst upon this dream day. 

 While the lightning flashed, Thor released his heavy 

 artillery and shattered the ominous thunderheads. 

 Rain then fell in torrents, deluging the camp and wash- 

 ing everything that was loose downhill. The Serra 

 Nyiro became a river impossible to cross. 



As I knew there would be a continuation of rain and 

 the ground was now too soft for further operations, we 

 decided to break camp, intending to return after the 

 short rains were past. 



We left early next morning, hoping to reach Narok 

 that same night, but the spirit of bardo kidogo once 

 again interfered; once again made us realize that a 

 plan in this country is only a futile dream. Halfway 

 to the mine, while pulling up the side of a very steep 

 donga, a rear spring was broken. We had no extra 

 spring because our trucks had already depleted the 



