304 IN AFRICA 



tic spot I have ever seen. Even the religious 

 grandeur of Nikko's cryptomeria aisles was in- 

 comparable to this. 



One afternoon our column found itself hope- 

 lessly lost in a jungle growth so dense that one 

 could penetrate it only by cutting a tunnel through, 

 and for hours we hacked and hacked and made 

 microscopic progress. At last the head of the col- 

 umn came to an abrupt drop of a couple of hundred 

 feet which seemed an effectual bar to all further 

 progress. The cliff fell off at an angle of sixty 

 degrees, with the slope densely matted with heavy 

 scrub and underbrush. It was necessary either to 

 retrace our ste^s through that long and heart-break- 

 ing jungle or else find a way down the cliff. The 

 water was gone and the horses must be got to water 

 before night. 



Then followed the most dramatic episode of our 

 trip. We simply fell over the cliff, plunging, 

 caroming, and ricocheting down through the masses 

 of vegetation. How the horses got down I shall 

 never know and shall always consider as a miracle. 

 And how the burden-bearing porters managed to 

 get their loads down is even more of a mystery. 



Somewhere down below we heard the cry of a 

 baby! 



That meant that there must be human habitation 

 near and, of course, a mountain stream, and per- 

 haps guides to lead HS out of the mountain fastness. 

 A few moments more of falling and sliding and 

 plunging, and the advance guard came into a tiny 



