ALONG THE EDGE OF THE PLATEAU 



59 



cypresses, draped with creepers, rising up stiffly from the 

 yellow steppe grass, and here, too, our men gathered round 

 the hastily built up fires. It was startling in the almost 

 frosty atmosphere to see a herd of zebras approach the water 

 towards sunset. A few buffaloes also showed themselves for a 

 moment. 



A rainy night was succeeded by a dull and cheerless 

 mornino;. Heavv autumnal-like clouds obscured the sun, and 

 it would be late before it became light in the wood. The half- 

 frozen men were not up till long after the usual time of starting, 

 but remained sleeping by the scarce flickering fires. At last, 

 however, we were all nnder way once more, maintaining a 

 northerly direction pretty near the western edge of the plateau, 

 with the dark forest at a varying distance on our left, whilst on 

 our right the apparently unbroken plain stretched away to the 

 base of the mountains. As a matter of fact there were many 

 long, narrow, and deep ravines, breaking its monotony, but we 

 did not see them until we were close upon them. These ravines, 

 evidently all the result of faults in the strata, ran parallel with 

 the mountain chain, and in most of them flowed little streams, 

 some in an easterly and some in a westerly direction. 



The only wild animals we saw on the steppe were zebras, 

 probably of the Equics zebra variety, three of which the Count 

 brought down. 



We camped at the bottom of a steep rugged ravine, the sides 

 clothed with a surprising variety of luxuriant vegetation, and 

 although we were now at a height of some 7,700 feet we were 

 much more comfortable than the day before, as we were shel- 

 tered from the east wind which was still blowing. 



A short walk in a westerly direction, which we took in the 

 afternoon, brought us unexpectedly to the edge of the plateau, 

 which here terminates abruptly in rugged, absolutely unscalable 

 precipices, many hundred feet deep. At the base were numerous 



