Here Our Journey Was Slow, As
Every Now And Again We Stopped To Inspect The
Permanent Works In Progress; But
Eventually,
towards dusk, we arrived at our destination, Tsavo.
I slept that night in a little palm hut which had
Been built by some previous traveller, and which
was fortunately unoccupied for the time being.
It was rather broken-down and dilapidated, not
even possessing a door, and as I lay on my narrow
camp bed I could see the stars twinkling through
the roof. I little knew then what adventures
awaited me in this neighbourhood; and if I had
realised that at that very time two savage brutes
were prowling round, seeking whom they might
devour, I hardly think I should have slept so
peacefully in my rickety shelter.
Next morning I was up betimes, eager to make
acquaintance with my new surroundings. My first
impression on coming out of my hut was that I was
hemmed in on all sides by a dense growth of
impenetrable jungle: and on scrambling to the top of
a little hill close at hand, I found that the whole
country as far as I could see was covered with low,
stunted trees, thick undergrowth and "wait-a-bit"
thorns. The only clearing, indeed, appeared to be
where the narrow track for the railway had been
cut. This interminable nyika, or wilderness of
whitish and leafless dwarf trees, presented a
ghastly and sun-stricken appearance; and here
and there a ridge of dark-red heat-blistered rock
jutted out above the jungle, and added by its
rugged barrenness to the dreariness of the picture.
Away to the north-east stretched the unbroken
line of the N'dungu Escarpment, while far off to
the south I could just catch a glimpse of the
snow-capped top of towering Kilima N'jaro.
The one redeeming feature of the neighbourhood
was the river from which Tsavo takes its name.
This is a swiftly-flowing stream, always cool and
always running, the latter being an exceptional
attribute in this part of East Africa; and the
fringe of lofty green trees along its banks formed
a welcome relief to the general monotony of the
landscape.
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