288 
IN AFRICA 
Our first impression was one of gasping wonder¬ 
ment. We seemed to stand upon a great stage of 
an immensity which words can not describe. It was 
a stage proportioned for giants. The rock pros- 
scenium arched above us seventy feet and the stage 
was nearly two hundred feet wide. As an audience 
chamber one could look out over twenty-five thou¬ 
sand square miles of Central Africa. 
The dimensions and the imposing magnitude of 
the place almost took one’s breath away. Two regi¬ 
ments of soldiers could have marched upon that 
stage. There was even room for a squadron of cav¬ 
alry to manoeuver. Upon the well-beaten floor w T ere 
the tracks of cattle, showing that from time im¬ 
memorial the cave people had driven in their herds 
for shelter or for safety in times of tribal warfare; 
and in places the solid rock was worn smooth and 
deep by the bare feet of centuries of naked people. 
And yet, in spite of the titanic proportions of the 
cave, there was something quite homelike about it. 
It almost suggested a prosperous farm-yard. There 
were chickens walking about, with little chickens 
trotting alongside. There were wickerwork gran- 
eries standing here and there, while around the in¬ 
ner edge of the great entrance hall were little mud 
and stick woven houses five feet high, which gave 
the effect of a small village street. 
From the front of the stage back to the row or 
little houses was a distance of about one hundred 
feet. By stooping down one could enter one of the 
little openings, to be surprised to find himself in an- 
