210 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



in Northern Nigeria, there was no similar example in 

 these hills ; and, as it looked like an ordinary cairn, I 

 supposed that some one must have preceded us there. 

 The natives, however, adhered to their statement that 

 no man had ever climbed the peak. From very 

 ancient times stones have been considered the symbol 

 of stability, and it will be remembered that Jacob 

 and Laban erected a cairn in commemoration of 

 their covenant in Gilead.^ Perhaps, after all, Noah 

 and his sons had made one here in honour of their 

 landing ! 



The sun was setting over the lake, whose open waters 

 stretched away into the distance, while soft, mysterious 

 lights played over the surface and contributed to the 

 spell. On the eastern horizon a dark line of islands 

 was just discernible, but these were so low that they 

 hardly broke the level, and whether it was across water 

 or boundless desert that one looked, no hill rose to 

 dwarf it into scale. 



Time passed, and we dared not linger lest darkness 

 should overtake us. Our hard-earned experience taught 

 us to avoid the part where we had ascended, and for 

 the first twenty or thirty yards we had reason to re- 

 joice in our cleverness. Then our difficulties began, 

 and two or three times it seemed impossible that we 

 could continue, but there was no time to remount and 

 seek an easier way. The prospect of spending the 

 night where we were had little to recommend it, for 

 not only should we be exposed to hunger and cold, but 



1 Genesis xxxi. 44-46 : " Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, 

 I and thou ; and let it be for a witness between me and thee. And Jacob 

 took a stone and set it up for a pillar. And Jacob said unto his brethren, 

 Gather stones ; and they took stones, and made an heap : and they did eat 

 there upon the heap." 



