Peaks of the Central Group. 



towards the valley was precipitous. They ^\■elv therefore 

 oblio'ed to o-o down to tlie lakes. 



Soon after midday tlie little party, leaving a portion of its 

 loads on the col so as to move more rapidly, started afresh, and 

 first skirted the western slope at the same level, very little 

 under the pass hut alcove the forest of senecios, in order to 

 reach the ridge of the south-west spur of Kiyanja. 



From here they descended towards the lower of tlie two little 

 lakes. The descent was steep, tlie mud was slippery, and their 

 way led through a forest of senecios and clumps of helichrysum, 

 which the guides cut and broke with blows of their ice-axes to 

 clear a path. There were great smooth slabs to be avoided, 

 which here and there stuck out of the ground and were 

 too steep to walk upon. The porters kept striking theh loads 

 against the low and dense ramifications of the senecios, slipped 

 on the big stones, stuml)led among the dead trunks and 

 branches which lay half-buried in the mud, and had to 

 be incessantly encouraged and urged to proceed. They were 

 overhung by the precipitous sides of Kiyanja, which threatened 

 them with stone falls. As they neared the bottom of the 

 valley, they were surprised to find a vast tract of senecio 

 forest, where the trunks and branches were bare, blackened, 

 and partially carbonized by recent fire. There was no sign 

 to indicate the passage of man, nor was it probable that the 

 inhaljitants of the valleys would have pushed so far up 

 M^thout cause ; hence it must ]je supposed that the fire was 

 either spontaneous or caused by lightning. The dense mantle 

 of dead leaves which hangs downwards around every branch of 

 the senecio under the terminal bunch of green leaves, and which 

 is one of the chief features in the strange aspect of this 

 curious plant, offers abundant fuel for fire and is as easy to 



171 



