146 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 
ment, for I was very impatient to get to the top and 
explore a place where | felt convinced no other 
white man had ever set foot. From the river the 
ground rose gently upwards to the foot of the ridge, 
and was covered more or less Censely with stunted 
trees and bushes, and of course the inevitable 
‘“wait-a-bit” thorns. I was fortunate enough, 
however, to find a rhino path which afforded a fairly 
comfortable and open road, on which we could 
walk upright the greater part of the way. The 
climb up the escarpment itself was a stiff one, and 
had to be negotiated principally on all-fours, but on 
the way up I discovered that there was an enormous 
cleft some miles to the right which would probably 
have afforded an easier ascent. I had not time to 
explore it on this particular day, but I made a 
-mental note to do so on some future occasion. 
After a two hours’ journey from the river we sat 
panting on the summit after our scramble and sur- 
veyed the valley of the Tsavo, which lay spread out 
like a map about five hundred feet below us. Our 
home tents, the bridge, Tsavo Station and other 
buildings were plainly visible, and the railway itself, 
like a shining snake, could be seen for many miles 
winding its way through the parched wilderness. 
Having taken a few photographs of the scene, we 
turned and struck through the N’dungu Plateau. 
Here I found the same kind of xzyzka as that round 
