146 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. 



ment, for I was very impatient to get to the top and 

 explore a place where I felt convinced no other 

 white man had ever set foot. From the river the 

 ground rose gently upwards to the foot of the ridge, 

 and was covered more or less densely with stunted 

 trees and bushes, and of course the inevitable 

 " wait-a-bit " thorns. I was fortunate enough, 

 however, to find a rhino path which afforded a fairly 

 comfortable and open road, on which we could 

 walk upright the greater part of the way. The 

 climb up the escarpment itself was a stiff one, and 

 had to be negotiated principally on all-fours, but on 

 the way up I discovered that there was an enormous 

 cleft some miles to the right which would probably 

 have afforded an easier ascent. I had not time to 

 explore it on this particular day, but I made a 

 mental note to do so on some future occasion. 



After a two hours' journey from the river we sat 

 panting on the summit after our scramble and sur- 

 veyed the valley of the Tsavo, which lay spread out 

 like a map about five hundred feet below us. Our 

 home tents, the bridge, Tsavo Station and other 

 buildings were plainly visible, and the railway itself, 

 like a shining snake, could be seen for many miles 

 winding its way through the parched wilderness. 

 Having taken a few photographs of the scene, we 

 turned and struck through the N'dungu Plateau. 

 Here I found the same kind of nyika as that round 



