CHAPTER XVIII 



A MONTH ON THE ATHI RIYER 



(ll) IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 1906 



Fifteen months later, namely, towards the Christmas 

 of 1905, we returned to East Africa, and this year com- 

 menced our operations on the Athi Plains. Riding out 

 from Nairobi, we camped the first evening at " Nine- 

 Mile Spruit," where snipe were abundant, also big fran- 

 colin [Scolopax nigripennis and Francolinus uluensis) ; 



and AV fired the first shot of the expedition at 



pelicans. We reached the Athi River, above " Lone- 

 Tree," the following day. 



Although the East- African brindled gnu, or wdiite- 

 bearded wildebeest {Connochoetes cdhojuhatus), still 

 formed one main objective, yet meanwhile our self-con- 

 fidence — or pride, whichever it were — had induced us 

 to place the lion in the forefront of our programme. 

 The lioness we had already slain : the lion now formed 

 our first ambition. 



The higher plateaux of the Athi Plains usually drop 

 towards the lower levels by the river in a series of broken 

 steps ; but this drop, at the point we had selected, is 

 confined to a single escarpment, fairly abrupt and 200 

 to 300 ft. in height. At intervals of a mile or tw^o, the 

 face of this escarpment is furrowed transversely by deep 

 and narrow ravines, which during the rains form water- 

 courses drainino; the hio;her around , and which also 

 afford at that season, a favourite shelter for lions. 



Four or five such ravines lay within reach of our 

 present camjD, while many more were accessible by shifting 

 its position along the river. 



Now, although lions abound on the Athi, yet neither 



208 



