KIBO IN SIGHT ONCE MORE 



305 



from it, and we could scarcely believe tliat we could really 

 see the snow-clad summit of Kilimanjaro. But the solemn 

 mass remained motionless and unchanged, rising up against 

 the background of pale blue sky, and soon all doubt was 

 removed. It was Kibo and none other, bidding us welcome 

 once more, and hurriedly, lest the vision should fade, the com- 

 pass was consulted, and the reading 9-^ degrees south by east 

 was entered in our journals as eagerly as if we had discovered 

 a new treasure. Of the thousands of bearings observed in the 

 course of our Expedition this was the most important, as it 

 enabled us to connect with an approximate amount of accuracy 

 the map of the northern districts with that of the coast 

 region. 



A long, hot march over an undulating treeless steppe 

 brought us the next day to the banks of the Kaya. This was 

 without exception the most picturesque and extensive pasture- 

 land we had seen in the course of our travels, and it is charac- 

 terised by Mr. F. J. Jackson as a ' Masai grazing ground ' ; but 

 we rather doubt his being right, as we saw not a sign of the 

 remains of a kraal anywhere. There were none but wild animals 

 here now, and these included four lions, which were walking 

 about so quietly and openly amongst the antelopes and gazelles, 

 that we did not recognise them for what they really were till 

 with uplifted tails they moved a little apart. 



The Kaya rises as two small brooks, both called the Morio, 

 in the Doenye Lamuyo, and receives several tributaries from 

 Kikuyuland. After a short north-easterly course it makes a 

 sudden bend southward in about 1° S. lat., and, rounding the 

 Kyanjabi mountains, crosses Wakamba as the Azi, and flows 

 into the Indian Ocean as the Sabaki, near Malindi, 



The Kaya was from about thirty to thirty-six feet broad at 

 the ford, and the water, which had here absolutely no current, 

 was from about twelve to sixteen inches deep. Here and there 



VOL. II. X 



