HANSEL And GRETEL 97 



On the following day soon after sunrise Woosnam 

 and I set out for Kiyanja. Instead of following the 

 Mubuku Valley up the wide terrace to the glacier, 

 we turned off towards the west up a small tributary 

 stream, and soon found ourselves In difficulties. 

 Slopes, which from a little distance looked smooth 

 and easy enough, were found on closer acquaintance 

 to be cut up with gullies and water-courses, and 

 clothed in the most disheartening vegetation that 

 ever resisted the footsteps of a climber. We could 

 not complain much about sinking at every step 

 almost to the knees in*moss and black slime ; but 

 through the moss grew, as high as one's head, a 

 tangle of ' everlasting ' bushes as stiff and wiry as 

 broom, through which we had to force our way as 

 best we could. The tall, upright spikes of the lobelias 

 seemed to offer a sure support, but they generally 

 crumbled away at a touch and sent one sliding down 

 the slope again, while the stems of the senecios 

 were too slippery with moss and moisture to be 

 of any use in hauling oneself up the hill-side. It 

 would have been hard work enough anywhere to 

 make much headway over ground of that sort, but 

 at an altitude of about 14,000 feet, where we had 

 not been long enough to have become acclimatized, 

 and where the slightest exertion was a labour, It 

 only needed a word from one to the other of us and 

 we had beaten a retreat. Luckily the word was not 

 spoken, and, after we had lightened our burdens by 

 leaving behind us cameras and all but the most 



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