I Am Glad To Say That Within A Few Weeks'
Time The Lion That Was Responsible For This Tragedy
Was Killed By A Poisoned Arrow, Shot From A Tree
Top By One Of The Wa Taita.
CHAPTER XVII
AN INFURIATED RHINO
My work at Tsavo was finished in March,
1899, when I received instructions to proceed to
railhead and take charge of a section of the
work there. For many reasons I was sorry to
say good-bye to Tsavo, where I had spent an
eventful year; but all the same I was very glad
to be given this new post, as I knew that there
would be a great deal of interesting work to be
done and a constant change of camp and scene,
as the line progressed onward to the interior.
In good spirits, therefore, I set out for my new
headquarters on March 28. By this time
railhead had reached a place called Machakos Road,
some two hundred and seventy-six miles from
Mombasa and within a few miles of the great
Athi Plains, the latter being treeless and waterless
expanses, bare of everything except grass, which
the great herds of game keep closely cropped.
After leaving Tsavo, the character of the country
remains unaltered for some considerable distance,
the line continuing to run through the thorny
nyika, and it is not until Makindu is reached -
about two hundred miles from the coast - that
a change is apparent. From this place, however,
the journey lies through a fairly open and
interesting tract of country, where game of all kinds
abounds and can be seen grazing peacefully
within a few hundred yards of the railway.
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