120 TAYETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERU 



grumbling A^eiy mucli at tlie continuous rain. Here Count 

 Teleki had a very dangerous visitor — a pufF- adder with poison- 

 fangs nearly an inch and a half long. 



On April 20 we reached the Weruweru river, the largest of 

 the Kilimanjaro tributaries of the Pangani, which is here a 

 little more than twenty-two yards wide, and of considerable 

 depth, flowing rapidly southwards. The whole Expedition was 

 ferried over it in our canvas boat, but first some of the men had 

 to swim across with a rope, a rather perilous task, as all these 

 rivers are full of crocodiles. There is not much risk in deep 

 water, because the monsters cannot stiike a really formidable 

 blow with their tails unless the body rests on the ground. The 

 chief danger was on the banks, so we always fired a volley before 

 we sent the men into the water. We had only one boat with 

 us, and it took two hours and a half to get the men and bales 

 over. The cattle and donkeys we simply drove into the river, 

 and the former swam over bravely enough, but the latter, 

 though they knew perfectly well how to swim, seemed to lose 

 their heads in deep Avater, and drifted dangerously down- 

 stream. Sheep and goats always have to be carried, even over 

 quite shallow brooks. 



After crossing the Weruweru we bore westward, and camped 

 at one o'clock near a little stream called the Kikaso. The 

 districts traversed were now much more open ; baobabs, with 

 low bushes and thickets of sanseviera, were almost the only 

 vegetation. 



In the densely wooded districts through which we had 

 lately passed we had hunted in vain, all the large game pre- 

 ferring the open plain. The only traces of wild animals were 

 the heaps of elephant dung, which were often the height of a 

 man, and were extremely useful to us, as they generall}^ remained 

 dry, and served us for fuel when nothing else was to be had. 

 Although our cook had grown grey in African travel, and was 



