The
Crossing On Which I Had Decided Had To Be
Approached By A Somewhat Sharp Curve In The
Line, And
In laying this out with the theodolite
I experienced considerable difficulty, as for some
reason or other I could not
Make the last peg
on the curve come anywhere near the tangent
point where the curve should link up with
the straight. I repeated the whole operation
time after time, but always with the same result.
Eventually I came to the conclusion that there
must be some mistake in the table of angles from
which I had been working, so I started to work
them out for myself and soon discovered a serious
misprint. This being rectified in my calculations,
I proceeded to lay out the curve again, when at
last everything came out accurately and to my
satisfaction.
After I had pegged out this temporary
diversion of the line, I thought I richly deserved a few
hours' play, and accordingly determined to try my
luck after lions up-stream towards the source
of the Athi. The river - which runs almost due
north here, before taking a turn eastward to the
Indian Ocean - forms part of the western boundary
of the Athi Plains, and is fringed all along its
course by a belt of thorny hardwood trees. In
some places this fringe is quite narrow, while in
others it is about a quarter of a mile wide, with
grassy glades here and there among the trees.
Every now and again, too, the stream itself
widens out into a broad stretch of water, nearly
always covered over with tall reeds and elephant
grass, while along the banks are frequent patches
of stunted bushes, which struck me as very likely
places for the king of beasts to sleep in after
having drunk at the river.
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