In the Volcanic Region 127 



mass gushes out of the earth, and, flowing from the eruptive 

 funnel, cools and congeals into a cone-shaped, craterless lava 

 mountain. What Beringe and Herrmann doubtless took for 

 crater walls are the broad V-shaped clefts, ' barrancoes,' as 

 they are called, formed by erosion, which in the course of time 

 cut deep into the core of the volcano. The gnawed appearance 

 of the mountain has doubtless given it its name, for in the 

 Ruanda tongue ' Sabinjo ' simply means 'tooth.'" 



After one more day's sojourn we bade good-bye to these cold 

 but beautiful mountain regions, and descended valleywards. 

 The lower we got the more noticeable became the heat, to which 

 we had now become unaccustomed. Then we had to get used 

 again to the heavy marching over the ragged lava, which caused 

 many a sigh. Generally speaking we followed the course of the 

 Mkunga, which flows later on into the Kagera, the chief river 

 of Lake Victoria. The march through this valley offered us 

 quite a pleasant change from the toils of the past week, and 

 the merry singing of the carriers showed that they fully ap- 

 preciated it. Well-cultivated plots covered the country round, 

 provisions were in abundance, and the demeanour of our 

 over-fatigued followers soon altered for the better. We could 

 hardly gaze enough at the glorious scenery. In the early morn- 

 ings and late in the evening, when the vapours and mists 

 floating down below us had dispersed, the peaks of the vol- 

 canoes, amongst them the snow-capped head of Karissimbi, 

 stood out clear and sent a farewell greeting through the valley 

 which lay shut in by the surrounding high mountain tops. The 

 only difficulties which we encountered, and which considerably 

 impeded our progress, were the number of marshy, boggy water- 

 courses which we continually had to cross, and in which the 

 animals sank knee deep. 



We were not destined, however, to enjoy comfortable march- 

 ing in the level valley for long. We had arranged a rendezvous 

 at the Muhembe with the head of the Njundo Mission Station, 

 Father Superior Barth^lemy, who was intimately acquainted 

 with the inhabitants and, in consequence of his long activity in 



