CHAPTER XVI 



IN THE TALL GRASS OF THE MOUNT ELGON COUNTRY. 



A NARROW ESCAPE FROM A LONG-HORNED 



RHINO. A THANKSGIVING DINNER AND 



A VISIT TO A NATIVE VILLAGE 



MOUNT ELGON is one of the four great mountains 

 of Africa. You can find it on the map of the dark 

 continent, standing all alone, just a little bit north 

 of Victoria Nyanza, and surrounded by names that 

 one has never heard of before. 



The mountain is distinctly out of the picture- 

 post-card belt in fact, the only belt that one will 

 find around Elgon is the timber belt that encircles 

 the mountain, and perhaps also a few that the local 

 residents wear on Sundays and national holidays. 



The function of the latter class of belt is to keep 

 up a gay appearance. It is worn for looks, not 

 warmth. 



The traveler who goes to Mount Elgon will not 

 be distracted by sounds of civilization, except such 

 as he takes with him. He will travel for days 

 without seeing a sign of human life beyond his own 

 following. The country west of the Nzoia River is 

 uninhabited and is abandoned to the elephant and 

 the giraffe and other animals that care not for the 



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