178 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA part ii 



zebra-hide sandals, and mounted upon a boulder. Then, with 

 his hands together before him, he began to pray. I could not 

 understand all he said, but sufficient to know that he thanked 

 Allah for having enabled him to come where neither native 

 nor white man had ever been before, and to stand on the edge 

 of the great white fields he had seen with Dachi-tumbo from 

 afar. He assured Allah that he was now more anxious 

 to return in safety to the coast than he had ever been 

 before, so that he might tell his friends of the wonders he had 

 seen. 



After the prayer was over, I told Fundi to go on to the 

 glacier. He went a few steps farther, and then, with a pleading 

 look, said, " No farther, master ; it is too white." 



There we lighted a fire, and boiled the thermometers, 

 obtaining data which placed the altitude at 15,580 feet. As 

 soon as the instruments had cooled, I prepared to continue the 

 ascent. But Fundi, whose curiosity was now satisfied, begged 

 to be allowed to return. He complained that his head was 

 aching, that his stomach was very bad, that he felt very sick, 

 and that his legs would not do what he told them. It was 

 obvious he was suffering from mountain sickness, and it was 

 not fair to take him farther. I therefore added his share of the 

 load of instruments, firewood, and " pitons " (or pegs on which 

 to fasten the rope) to my own, and let him go back. Before 

 doing so, I fear I completely ruined any reputation for sanity 

 I might have had left, by executing a Masai war-dance on 

 the snout of the glacier, and then pelting Fundi with -snow- 

 balls. 



I had hoped to ascend by the right moraine of the glacier, 

 but this was tbo risky, owing to the falls of snow and rock 

 that thundered down on to it from the face of the cliffs on the 

 north. I was therefore obliged to continue along the left or 

 south moraine, until above the icefall of the glacier. The snow- 

 field here extended to the south, and as it would have taken 

 too much time to skirt it, I risked a traverse across to the 

 main south arete of the mountain. The snow was in fairly 

 good condition ; and the few crevasses were marked by " droop," 

 and so could be avoided if not easily crossed. The ascent along 

 the arete was less easy. The ridge rose gently till it reached 

 the point above a cliff, v/hich stands out in the middle of the 



