200 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJAEO AND MERU 



spears, swords, &c. "We started late on June 26, as it rained 

 in the early morning. To the sound of the usual firing of 

 guns, we left Marangu, escorted by Miriali, who marched with 

 us for three-quarters of an hour before he took leave. We 

 presently met fifty or sixty of Miriali's people on their way 

 home from a raid on the Wagweno, bringing with them as 

 booty two cows and two goats, as well as a lot of pieces of 

 quartz, which they wanted for filing their spears and swords. 

 The next day at noon we reached Taveta. As we approached 

 we saw another caravan from Mombasa wending its way 

 through the wood, and soon we had the pleasure of exchang- 

 ing greetings with two Europeans, Dr. Hans Meyer and Lieu- 

 tenant von Eberstein. Dr. Meyer was the leader of the cara- 

 van, and, to quote his own words, the object of his journey 

 was to explore ' the German sphere of interest throughout its 

 entire breadth,' whilst von Eberstein, an a^ent of the German 

 East African Company, had been sent out with several com- 

 panions to found a station in Little Arusha. He had joined Dr. 

 Meyer for a time and with him made the ascent of Xibo. Both 

 these gentlemen had the usual tales to tell of the unfaithfulness of 

 their men, and a few days' march from Mombasa Dr. Meyer had 

 had all his stores of clothes, money, books and maps stolen. 



Whilst we had been away, Scliaongwe and Nassid wadi 

 Ferhan had returned, the former bringing with him the re- 

 mainder of our goods from Tarawanda and a man who had 

 run away, to set against which he had lost two of his own men. 

 Nassid, who had been as far as Zanzibar, had beaten Schaongwe 

 in that he had brought back eleven men, but then he had 

 sinned in other directions, for he had stolen some of our goods 

 at Tarawanda and had let three delinquents escape him who had 

 been given into his charge in chains by Consul Oswald. Wlien 

 we got back to Taveta this time we found a number of tall flag- 

 staffs dotted about the forest from which waved merrily the 



