78 ON THE UGANDA ROAD part ii 



first rises on the Mission grounds, and then plunges into the lava 

 and flows through a subterranean channel for a couple of miles. 

 It rises again in some pools. In these we caught some fish 

 of two new species : one, a Barbel {Barbus tanensis, Gthr.), 

 occurred also in the Tana and in the Guaso el Narua, south of 

 Lake Baringo ; the other, Oreochromis niger (Gthr,), I did not 

 find elsewhere. In the woods we found some fungi, the 

 remarkable case of insect mimicry, illustrated by the frontis- 

 piece and described on p. 7 1 , and a black variety of a small 

 mammal {Macroscelides rufescens, Pet.). 



It was by far the most successful day's collecting I had 

 had. More can be obtained here in a week than in a year in 

 the open barra. In the forest clearings butterflies of most 

 gorgeous colours occurred in great profusion. But as I had 

 hurt my leg a few days before, I could not run after them. The 

 porters sent out to collect them brought back a good number, 

 but they were all terribly damaged owing to the men's clumsy 

 methods of capture. As Mr. F. J. Jackson had made a large 

 collection during his residence at Kibwezi, I threw all mine 

 away in disgust. 



Next morning the men started ahead of me for the march 

 to the Mkindu river. I followed later with Mr. Watson. Just 

 as we were starting I caught my only glimpse of the snowy 

 dome of Kibo, the higher of the two summits of Kilima Njaro. 

 I was within range of view of this mountain for several weeks, 

 during the journey up and on the return march. This, how- 

 ever, was the only occasion on which I saw it. All the rest of 

 the time the mists and clouds obscured it. It was then visible 

 only for a few moments ; the clouds closed round it again, 

 before I could draw my prismatic compass from its case, though 

 it was slung ready by my side. 



The gravel path across the Mission grounds ended at the 

 edge of a rough tract of lava, which showed the irregular ropy 

 structure that forms only on the actual surface of a flow. It 

 was, therefore, clearly more recent in date than any lava we 

 had previously seen. Sir Gerald PortaP has graphically described 

 the uncomfortable nature of the track across it. The rock was so 

 rough and the edges so sharp that his boots were cut to ribbons, 

 and it is therefore easy to imagine how severe a trial it was to the 



^ Mission to Uganda (1894), p. 64. 



