OUR RACE TO PARADISE 23 



any hardship; and, except once in a while when our 

 expedition seems threatened with failure, we sleep 

 like tops. 



After weighing in, we drove on, I leading, Osa at 

 the second wheel, Abdullah at the third, through the 

 plains country, rising a little now as we came into 

 the Moimt Kenya district. From then on we came 

 into the real country, the Africa we love. We were 

 now about six thousand feet above sea level and game 

 began to appear in droves. Hitherto we had seen 

 only occasional prowlers; but here hartebeeste the 

 common striped zebra, and the dainty Grant's 

 gazelle, galloped over the high plains. Flocks of 

 ostrich, black-plimied cocks and brown females, fed 

 quietly imtil we came abreast. Then they would 

 start running parallel with us imtil we put on more 

 power, when, as if challenged, they would spiu"t and 

 gain — we simply could not keep up with them — until 

 they were a hundred rods ahead. Satisfied then that 

 they could beat us, they would leave the softer 

 ground by the road, tiun, and cross in front of us, 

 often awkwardly sprawling in the rockier road bed. 

 If they went through this programme once, they 

 went through it fifty times. Osa and I laughed 

 until we cried; for lovely as they were in flight, they 

 were absurdly grotesque when they doubled on us. 



We were going through magnificent coimtry all 

 these last days of the trip up to Isiolo. Sometimes 



