1 64 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA part ii 



on a bird's-eye view of it from a point thirty miles distant, it 

 was generally accepted. The subsequent expeditions sent out 

 by the Imperial British East Africa Company in 1889 and 

 1 89 1 were unable to contribute anything material to our 

 knowledge of the mountain. Piggott first saw its eastern face 

 early in 1889, and the three Europeans of the Tana expedition — 

 Dundas, Bird Thompson, and Hobley — made a determined effort 

 to ascend it from the south. They failed, however, to penetrate 

 the whole of the forest zone, and had to return from the height 

 of S600 feet. Dr. Peters passed near Kenya in 1889-90 

 with the German Emin Pasha Relief Expedition, and his 

 companion, Lieut, von Tiedemann, has given a sketch seen 

 from the south-south-east ; but they were neither of them much 

 nearer the mountain than Thomson had been. In 1892 

 Lieut, von Hohnel, who had previously accompanied Count 

 Teleki, but had been detained by illness in Ndoro during the 

 latter's ascent, returned to the district with Mr. Astor Chanler, 

 who bore the heavy expenses of the expedition. It was hoped 

 they would together work out the topography of the north- 

 east side of Kenya, and possibly gain the summit ; they carried 

 out some most useful explorations in the Daicho region to the 

 north-east of Kenya, but did not reach the mountain. Their 

 work was stopped by a series of thrilling adventures ; Lieut, von 

 Hohnel was seriously injured by a wounded rhinoceros, and later 

 on the porters mutinied and returned in a body to the coast. 



This forms a complete record of previous exploration of 

 Mount Kenya, so that our knowledge of the mountain is very 

 limited when compared with that of its great southern rival, 

 Kilima Njaro. As this is near the coast, and has in fact occa- 

 sionally been seen from the sea (as e.g. off Melindi in May 1893), 

 as it is accessible by an easy road, and as its natives were once 

 friendly, it has been visited by more than a hundred Europeans 

 and carefully explored. Kilima Njaro has been ascended to the 

 summit, it has been geologically mapped, and its flora and 

 fauna described in some detail. In regard to Kenya, however, 

 our knowledge was most rudimentary. It was not certain 

 whether it had a well-preserved crater, or whether it was a 

 volcano in the last stages of decay ; and the estimates of its 

 height varied from 18,000 feet (Ravenstein) to 23,000 feet 

 (Peters). 



