THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR MEN FROM GOLD 



197 



ot" which was indicated by the smoke ascending near them, and 

 arrived there in an hour and forty minutes to find our men 

 already round a blazing fire, which they had easily made as they 

 found the ashes of ours still smouldering. Whilst the tents 

 were being struck we fortified ourselves with biscuits and wine 

 and hastened off, as we had no desire to spend another night 

 here. We knew our way back well enough, and in spite of 

 the fog w^e arrived at our camp at twenty minutes to six, 

 hungry, thirsty, and I at least thoroughly tired out. 



All our food being consumed, we were obliged to go back 

 to Marangu, without making a second attempt to ascend Kibo. 

 We made up our minds, however, to pay another visit to Kili- 

 manjaro at the end of our journey, and to make more careful 

 preparations to scale Kibo. To ensure full success a night 

 must be spent at a height of 19,023 feet, and the explorer must 

 take fuel with him. On the following morning, June 21, we 

 started again, and following our former route we reached our 

 camp at Miriali's early in the afternoon. 



We rewarded our guides with an extra ten mikono gamti 

 each, so that in a short time they had earned quite a nice little 

 sum. But for all that their recollections of the time passed at a 

 height of 9,390 feet cannot have been of a very rosy description. 

 They had demanded many yards of stuff in advance, in which 

 to wrap themselves as a protection from the cold of the journey, 

 but after all they had not taken them with them, and in the 

 garb of Adam in Paradise they of course suffered frightfully. 

 Nor had they taken any food but a bottle of milk, so that they 

 were both hungry and thirsty by the time we were upon the 

 mountain. We left them alone for two days as a punishment, 

 and then we gave them each a handful of beans, which was 

 all we had ourselves. And they ate nothing but these for five 

 whole days ! 



During the next few days we watched the making of spears 



