3 io THE LAND OF THE LION 



rhino cactus stronghold ? This is the land of surprises in- 

 deed. A few hours ago you dismounted from your mule if 

 you were wise, for rhinos seem to have a peculiar aversion to 

 mules, and walked warily in the spiney jungle of Africa 

 proper; footprints of lion and rhino crossed and re-crossed 

 the way, and while from the river sandbank the cruel croco- 

 dile pushed noiselessly into the yellow stream. Here is an- 

 other land, a land where soft green meadows in curving 

 swells press up to the very edges of dense mountain forests 

 as though they were English park lands browsed by the 

 deer. And looking sheer down on you is the brow of as 

 glorious a mountain as there is in the world. 



Mount Kenia was ascended with immense difficulty five 

 years ago. The ascent was made from the southern side 

 shown in the extraordinary photograph by Mr. Binks, a 

 copy of which he has kindly allowed me to publish. The 

 northern side of the mountain as I drew near seemed to offer 

 a much easier approach at least as far up as the great de- 

 pression into which falls the main glacier. From that basin 

 towers aloft the final peak, on this northern face of it surely 

 unscalable. Here a calamity overtook our sefari, when we 

 had almost reached the foot of these northern slopes. The 

 man we had trusted to provision our men failed us com- 

 pletely. The buffalo herds which we had come to seek had 

 been driven away by the Massai cattle. We were out of 

 potio and in almost gameless land; nothing remained for us 

 but to send most of our men back to Laikipia to get food, and 

 while we awaited their return from the journey of seventy 

 miles, we were chained to camp. I enjoyed the ever- 

 changing view of the mountain, but I greatly longed to push 

 nearer and explore its northern side even for a little way. 

 This was impossible; there were not enough men left in 

 camp to move our tents, so I had to content myself by making 

 excursions as far as my mule could carry me in a day. 



I came to the conclusion that the forest belt here was not 



