CHAP. VI THE ASCENT OF LONGONOT 97 



structive. The Masai knew, however, that holding up a tuft of 

 grass was the sign of friendship ; they appeared also to under- 

 stand the powers of a revolver, for they watched mine nervously. 

 They followed at a distance of about a hundred yards for over 

 a mile, and then as I approached camp they withdrew to their 

 cattle. 



The camp was situated on some open moorland, on the 

 summit of the " Longonot Pass," on the ridge that separates 

 the basins of the Kedong and of Naivasha. The pass is at 

 the height of 7200 feet. It is bounded on the east by a rock 

 mass named Kajabe, while to the west rises the great crater of 

 Longonot. This was ascended by Mr. Joseph Thomson in 

 1883 as far as the crater rim, but the actual summit of the 

 mountain on the western wall of the crater had not been 

 climbed ; this I resolved to attempt. It was very cold in the 

 morning, and so wet and cloudy that it was eight o'clock before 

 we were able to start. The lower part of the mountain con- 

 sists of a series of platforms or terraces of lava. The rock is 

 a black trachytic pumice, containing a good deal of obsidian. 

 The mountain is very uniform in character, and lava forms a 

 large proportion of its mass. The cone is in the main composed 

 of lava, instead of fragmentary materials, such as ash and tuff, 

 as is the case with most volcanoes. A sharp scramble of an 

 hour and a half brought us to the rim of the crater, which at 

 the point where we reached it has been worn by zebras into a 

 broad cinder track. The floor of the crater is a large and fairly 

 level plain, covered with acacia scrub ; the walls are usually 

 precipitous, but a descent could easily be made on the southern 

 side. The great surprise was the discovery of a large steam 

 vent on the inner face of the north wall of the crater. 



The actual summit of the mountain is on the western side, 

 and is i 800 feet higher than the rim of the crater at the point 

 where we reached it. We started for it along the northern wall. 

 At first the way was easy, but, as the edge of the crater rose, it 

 became jagged and densely covered with scrub. To avoid some 

 of the teeth, we worked across the inner face of the crater. 

 After a weary scramble of an hour and three-quarters we reached 

 the foot of the final pinnacle. A narrow sharp ridge of volcanic 

 ash led up to it. This was very slippery, and it sloped rapidly 

 down on either side to cliffs of such height, that the two Zanzi- 



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