XVIII THE CRATERS OF THE RIFT VALLEY 237 



situated south of tlic Equator (37-20 E. long.). It is a 

 ilenudeil volcano with several peaks, extensive valleys, 

 many lakes, thick forests, and numerous glaciers. 



It seems extraordinary to us, who visit British East 

 Africa to-day, that this magnificent mountain was un- 

 known to Europeans sixty years ago. The missionary 

 Krapf saw Kegnia, or Kenia, December 3rd, 1849, but his 

 reports were not sufficiently convincing to European 

 geogra,phers. Joseph Thomson wrote a brief but 

 admirable description of Kenia, and recognised its 

 volcanic nature in 1883. lie also pointed out that 

 almost the only times at which it is to be seen are the 

 early morning and evening. Everyone who has seen 

 this mountain in the afternoon free from cloud must 

 feel with Thomson that it is " entrancing, awe-inspiring." 

 Kenia has since been visited and explored by a number 

 of able scientific men, including Count Teleki (1889), 

 Gregory (1893), and Mackinder (1899). 



The discovery of each of these glacier-capped moun- 

 tains in the e(|uatorial zone of East Africa has an air of 

 romance : Kilimanjaro was unknown to Europeans until 

 the missionary Rebmann saw its silver-crowned summit, 

 May 11th, 1848. The natives told liebmann that the 

 silver-like stuff, when brought down in bottles, turned to 

 water. The news of the discovery of a snow-covered 

 mountain under the equator was received with incredu- 

 lity by geographers until Thomson's oliservations were 

 published (1883). 



Krapf saw Kenia, as already mentioned, in 1849, and 

 the mighty mass of Ruwenzori filled Stanley with aston- 

 ishment when he saw its snow-clad peaks suddenly issue 

 from their cloudy ol)scurity (1888). He saw them three 

 days in succession. It is important to realise that the 

 traveller may be in the vicinity of these lofty mountains 

 for many days without being aware of their existence. 

 So far as Ruwcnzori is concerned, we must remember that 

 Stanley had a thousand men within easy visual distance 

 of this mountain for seventy-two (hiys, and no one 



