CHAPTER XX 



A DAY ON THE ATHI RIVER 



IN spite of all our difficulties, rapid progress con- 

 tinued to be made with the line. Each day railhead 

 crept a mile or so further across the Plains, and on 

 April 24 we reached the Stony Athi River, where our 

 great camp was pitched for a few days while the 

 temporary bridge was being thrown across the dry 

 bed of the stream. Still another temporary bridge 

 had to be arranged for the Athi itself, which was 

 some eight miles further on, so I had to make 

 one or two expeditions to this river in order to 

 select a suitable place for the crossing and to make 

 various other arrangements. On one of these 

 occasions I was busy attending to the pitching of my 

 tent after arriving at the Athi late in the evening, 

 when on looking round I was very much surprised 

 to see two European ladies sitting under the shade 

 of some trees on the river bank. As I knew 

 that this was anything but a safe place in which 



