16 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
little palm hut which had been built by some pre- 
vious traveller, and which was fortunately unoccupied 
for the time being. It was rather broken-down and 
dilapidated, not even possessing a door, and as I] 
lay on my narrow camp bed | could see the stars 
twinkling through the roof. I little knew then 
what adventures awaited me in this neighbour- 
hood; and if I had realised that at that very 
time two savage brutes were prowling round, 
seeking whom they might devour, I hardly think 
I should have slept so peacefully in my rickety 
shelter. | 
Next morning I was up betimes, eager to make 
acquaintance with my new surroundings. My first 
impression on coming out of my hut was that I was 
hemmed in on all sides by a dense growth of im- 
penetrable jungle : and on scrambling to the top of 
a little hill close at hand, I found that the whole 
country as far as I could see was covered with low, 
stunted trees, thick undergrowth and “ wait-a-bit ” 
thorns. The only clearing, indeed, appeared to be 
where the narrow track for the railway had been cut. 
This interminable zyzka, or wilderness of whitish 
and leafless dwarf trees, presented a ghastly and sun- 
stricken appearance ; and here and there a ridge of 
dark-red heat-blistered rock jutted out above the 
jungle, and added by its rugged barrenness to the 
dreariness of the picture. Away to the north-east 
