LETTERS FROM UGANDA. 181 



hot springs, and special cases of skin disease are brought 

 hither from the countries beyond the hills to try the same 

 treatment. 



I was agreeably surprised here to receive a letter from Dr. 

 Junker, announcing his safe arrival in Uganda ; it is to be 

 hoped that he will also be fortunate enough to reach home 

 safely. Along with this, came greetings from my old acquaint- 

 ance Idi, formerly secretary to Mtesa, and now a frontier chief 

 of Uganda ; also an official communication from ISTubar Pasha, 

 and a very friendly letter from the Sultan of Zanzibar. I had, 

 therefore, every reason to be pleased with the results of my 

 expedition. I had accomplished the end for which I had under- 

 taken it, viz., the despatch and receipt of letters by post. 



Before starting on the return journey, however, I resolved 

 to complete my labours by ascending the mountain chain 

 on the east of the lake. Twelve minutes' walk from my tent, 

 diagonally across the village, brought us to the real foot of 

 the range. At that spot the aneroid registered 27.80 in. 

 at 73 Fahr., against 27.85 in. at 73° Fahr. near the huts (at 

 8.35 A.M.) The ascent led at first over blocks of stone and 

 sharp-edged pieces of rock, and was very steep. The narrow 

 path was, in fact, so thickly strewn with sharp fragments of 

 rock and stone as to make the shoes of our own manufacture 

 a very insufficient protection to the feet. The side of the hill 

 was quite bare ; neither animals exist nor plants grow on the 

 naked stone, which is washed clean by the rain, and baked and 

 cracked by the fierce rays of the sun. Such was the slope up 

 to the first terrace, where we rested in order to take bearings. 

 The steamer lay almost immediately below us, proving that we 

 had climbed up in a straight line. The aneroid registered 

 27.45 m - a t 77° Fahr. The surface of the terrace on which 

 we stood was a long flat ridge, almost destitute of stones, and 

 clothed with a soft carpet of grass. 



Above us lay the second terrace, which also was reached by 

 a steep path, so that on arriving at the top we were glad to 

 pause and recover breath. Here again the steamer lay im- 

 mediately below us; the aneroid now gave 27.06 in. at 81 . 

 The narrow rain-gutter, which had served for our path upwards 

 from the lower terrace, was in several places almost barred by 



