VALLEYS ON RUWENZORI. 89 



elephant grass. It was a nasty place, and while 

 going slowly through it, I just caught a glimpse 

 of a lioness and four cubs disappearing. It was 

 far too much of a snapshot to fire, and I got 

 some natives to track, and spent four hours 

 marching through a swamp by the road they 

 were said to have gone. We were supposed to 

 have chased them into a dense place at the end, 

 and took our places in perfect silence and in- 

 tense excitement while this was being driven 

 out, but nothing appeared except a particularly 

 vocal " black Ibis " ! 



From Kasagama's I also visited the charming 

 little lakes of Vijongo. One of these is a perfect 

 cone with a beautiful blue crater lake inside, 

 and there is a row of four or five similar cones 

 beside it. 



I had another attack of fever, and told Kasa- 

 gama I would die if I did not get up to the hills, 

 so I at last started and set up my camp at Kivata, 

 at about 6,615 feet, just above the Msonje river. 



In two days we built a nice little fort of stick 

 and elephant grass, thatched with banana leaves, 

 which ran round two sides of a triangle ; and 

 though the chief, Makwenda, told me that if a lion 

 or leopard felt the desire to jump in, he would 

 have no difficulty in doing so, this gave a feeling 

 of security to my men. As soon as this was 

 ready, I had another fever attack. 



It rained every day, turning the floor of my hut 



