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ch. xn] MOUNT KENIA: NAIROBI 
tablelands are merely modified forms of the mammals 
of the adjacent lowlands, which have gradually crept up 
the slopes, changing in the process. High on Mount 
Kenia, for instance, are hyraxes, living among the snow- 
fields, much bigger than their brethren of the forests 
and rocky hills below ; and light-coloured mole-rats, 
also much bigger than those of the lower country. 
Moreover, the lack of seasonal change is probably 
accountable for differences in the way that the tree 
zones are delimited. The mountain conifers of America 
are huge trees on the middle slopes, but higher up 
gradually dwindle into a thick, low scrub, composed of 
sprawling, dwarfed individuals of the same species. On 
Mount Kenia the tree zone ceases much more abruptly 
and with much less individual change among the dif¬ 
ferent kinds of trees. Above this zone are the wet, 
cold downs and moors, with a very peculiar vegetation, 
plants which we know only as small flowering things 
having become trees. The giant groundsel, for instance, 
reaches a height of twenty feet, with very thick trunk 
and limbs, which, though hollow, make good firewood ; 
and this is only one example of the kind. 
At Nairobi we learned, as usual, of incident after 
incident which had happened among our friends and 
acquaintances of exactly the type which would occur 
were it possible in North America or Europe suddenly 
to mix among existing conditions the men and animals 
that died out some hundreds of thousands of years ago. 
In a previous chapter I mentioned on one occasion 
meeting at dinner three men, all of whom had been 
mauled by lions ; one being our host, Mr. F. A. Ward, 
who had served as a Captain in the South African War, 
and was now one of the heads of the Boma Trading 
Company. Among our fellow-guests at this dinner 
