CHAPTER XIII 
Westward to Lake Victoria Nyanza 
W EST of Nairobi the scenery is more magnificent than on the 
journey from Mombasa. The train has been ascending the 
high plateau for sixty miles by a series of wooded slopes to 
a height of over 6,000 feet. Then the ground falls away apparently 
more than 2,000 feet, almost like a precipice. Farther than the eye 
can see the Kikuyu Escarpment stretches away as straight as a ruler 
to right and left. The train zig-zags downward along its western face, 
opening vistas of a wonderful panorama. Far below, the level surface 
of the plain is broken by volcanic hills and extinct craters, and in the 
far distance the opposite wall appears dimly like the other side of a 
gigantic trough. 
Lake Naivasha lies on the route, about ten miles square, with the 
rim of a submerged crater making a crescent shaped island in its 
middle. The water is brackish and thronged with wild fowl and hip¬ 
popotami. Ex-President Roosevelt had an exciting experience on this 
lake when he went out in a row-boat to hunt hippos. At some distance 
from the land about twenty cf these monsters surrounded him, and the 
fearless sportsman was in great danger for a time. The enraged ani¬ 
mals charged upon the boat and nearly succeeded in overturning it. 
The native rowers became frightened, and it was the presence of mind 
and courage of Mr. Roosevelt that prevented disaster. He shot two 
of the beasts and succeeded in frightening the rest of the drove away,, 
so that a launch which was sent ouc from shore to their rescue found 
their chief safe and victorious. The bodies of the two victims were 
towed to shore and added to the collection which the party was making 
for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. 
The government stock farm at Naivasha proved to be of very great 
interest. Official experimenters are here crossing breeds to produce 
domestic animals adapted to the climate and country, and at the same 
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