xii A NIGHT AFTER HIPPO 133 



and ends. On these occasions I usually took no 

 tent, but bivouacked in the open. We took some 

 bread and a few tinned provisions with us, but I 

 could always depend upon getting a paa, guinea- 

 fowl, partridge or rock-rabbit for the larder on the 

 march. These rock-rabbits are more like big rats 

 than rabbits, and are found in oreat numbers amon<r 



o o 



the rocks along the banks of the rivers. They are 

 not at all bad eating, but the Swahili will not touch 

 them. They call them tupu (shameless, naked 

 things), owing to their lack of a tail, of which indeed 

 they possess not even a vestige. 



Our route lay by the always interesting Tsavo 

 River. Along the banks everything within reach of 

 its moisture is delightfully fresh and green. Palms 

 and other trees, festooned with brilliant flowering 

 creepers, flourish along its course ; all kinds of 

 monkeys chatter and jabber in the shade overhead 

 as they swing themselves from branch to branch, 

 while birds of the most gorgeous plumage flutter 

 about, giving a very tropical aspect to the scene. 

 On the other hand, if one is tempted to stray away 

 from the river, be it only for a few yards, one comes 

 immediately into the parched, thorny wilderness of 

 stunted, leafless trees. Here the sun beats down 

 pitilessly, and makes the nyika of the Tsavo valley 

 almost intolerable. The river has its source at the 

 foot of snow-crowned Kilima N'jaro, whence it 



