The Taita Plains and Lake Jipe. 349 
crossing each other at all angles. After a three hours' 
march we still had Jipe on our left ; then, however, it 
began to fall in the rear. Antelopes fled at our 
approach, at intervals of almost every few hundred 
yards ; but the recent footprints of the lion being 
observed in our path for a long distance, the guide 
concluded we should not meet with the buffalo that « 
day, that ferocious animal having gone far enough 
away from a region so lately trod by the king of the 
forest. 
We followed all manner cf paths till we came to the 
edge of a wood, when the Mkugenzi blew off his gun 
in satisfaction of having at last hit upon the beaten 
track. Henceforth woods alternated with more open 
tracts, till we entered what I may term the forest of 
Taveta. Through this forest we made our way in a 
very sinuous course, over fallen trees and other im- 
pediments, perfectly sheltered from the rays of the 
sun, for an hour and a half, when we came to a stand 
before the gate of the city." This was a low Gothic 
arch, formed by such knee-timber as^ is used in ship- 
building, for binding the ships' sides and deck together; 
forked logs of great weight, some half-dozen of them 
planted firmly in the ground one behind the other, 
so as to form a small porch. It was closed on the 
other side by the piling up of a number of other 
logs between it and a couple of huge posts, planted 
on either side for the purpose of keeping the said logs 
in place. It was one of the greatest attempts at 
fortification I had yet seen in the interior of Africa. 
I could not help smiling at this display of African 
skill, particularly as on either side of this preten- 
tious barrier there was nothing more than a little 
