142 In the Heart of Africa 



orderly. As a matter of fact, these consist mainly of mutton, 

 goat-flesh, poultry, milk, eggs, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, 

 mangoes and -papaya. 



As the rain was coming down in torrents the ascent of 

 Mikeno promised to be very difficult m consequence of the 

 slippery state of the ground. So we decided to take only the 

 most absolute necessities with us, and thus limit the escorting 

 caravan as far as we possibly could. However, we took reserve 

 carriers with us to relieve the bearers of the heavy tent loads. 



Kirschstein declared Mikeno, like Sabinjo, to be a volcanic 

 mass consisting essentially of lava discharges pouring one over 

 the other. Captain Herrmann's declared supposition that 

 Mikeno was possibly the remainder of an imposing crater wall 

 is therefore hardly confirmed. 



Early on the morning of the 6th of October our party was 

 pushing its way towards the small, circular, marshy plain 

 which lies at the foot of Mikeno. A narrow path leads for 

 some distance thence up the mountain slope. This path, which 

 had been made by the missionaries of Njundo when attempting 

 the ascent, at least indicated the way for us, although it was 

 scarcely recognisable, and bearing this in mind Barthelemy had 

 given us his former guide for a help. The latter, however, lost 

 his way quite at the start and it was a considerable time before 

 he became aware of the fact. We were forced, therefore, to 

 retrace our steps downward from the height we had so laboriously 

 climbed, until we regained the marshy plain. After a little 

 while we struck the proper road. 



At first we passed through bamboo, but this soon gave way to 

 a lighter tree zone. The road was very steep, and the innumer- 

 able roots that covered the slippery path hindered us so that 

 we progressed but slowly. Stops were rendered constantly 

 necessary. After ascending for some hours we reached a height 

 of 3,000 metres, and by that time the carriers were utterly ex- 

 hausted and we had to camp. There was not a single spot 

 where a tent could stand, for the mountain side showed an 

 incline of thirty degrees all round. Further progress was out 



