FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND ACRES 167 



walls of vegetation. Most of the bushes are black- 

 berry and are thorny. 



The elephants in their centuries of travel about 

 the slopes have made trails through this dense bush, 

 and it is only by following these trails that one can 

 reach the upper heights of the mountain. Above 



Following the Trail 



the bush belt comes the great forest belt, sublimely 

 grand in its hugeness and beauty, and above this 

 belt comes the encircling band of bamboo forest 

 that reaches up to the timber line. There are prob- 

 ably five hundred thousand acres of forest country 

 in which the Kenia elephant may live and wander 

 and bring up his children. He has made trails that 

 weave and wind through the twilight shades of the 



