To Moche. 369 
ridge comes down so far into the plain, is Kirua, and 
behind that is Moche, 
We continued our march till 4.30 p.m., when we 
halted at a stream called Mkira, coming down between 
Kirua and Moche. We had passed several other 
streams, of which the Huna, flowing between Mamba 
and Marango, the Orna, between Marango and 
Kilema, and the Muo, between Kilema and Kirua, 
deserve to be mentioned. The Orna is the largest 
of them, and is known to geography as the Gona. 
Where we crossed it it was about fifteen yards in 
breadth, over the knees in depth, and flowed in a 
strong current. The men exclaimed about the coldness 
of the water, but I drank of it, and to my surprise it 
was far less cold than the waters of Matate. I should 
certainly not have inferred from its temperature the 
near neighbourhood of snow. Moreover it was thickly 
overshadowed by the vegetation on its banks, and 
therefore could not have been heated by the sun. 
The botany of the country passed over is to a large 
exter.4 new. Dark, crumbling sandstones cropped 
out in the hollows ; but the paths were encumbered 
by a black, porous stone, in appearance not unhke 
tufa. Reaching the Mkira stream, our men com- 
plained of fatigue, and we therefore encamped. 
The district was considered unsafe. The Wakahe 
on our left, in the south, are dangerous, and the 
Arusha, occupying the country farther west, are 
equally dreaded. The Masai, too, are liable to turn 
up in this region, which made our position trebly pre- 
carious. Hence, not venturing to encamp near the path, 
we turned aside, and took up a position within the 
shelter of a clump of fine mirongonia and mikuyu trees. 
24 
