CHAPTER XX. 
ASCENT OF KILIMA NJARO. 
N Monday, the 14th, I made arrangements for 
ascending the mountain. During the whole 
of my stay in Chaga I had been trying to secure the 
chiefs good will, in the hope of obtaining his assist- 
ance in an attempt to reach the snow-line. The pro- 
position was at first regarded as absurd. " Who are 
you/' was the universal exclamation, " that you should 
ascend the mighty Kilima Njaro ? Haven't our people 
tried it again and again without success ? Didn't the 
last Mzungu that came here try it, and wasn't he driven 
back ? " Then we were told all manner of fabulous 
stories about the supernatural occupants of the moun- 
tain's summit, who were watching over immense hoards 
of gold, silver, and precious stones, and who would 
treat in the most summary manner any mortal daring 
to enter upon their sacred domains. We were informed 
of parties venturing too far up the mountain, who were 
so effectually disposed of that they were never seen 
again ; of others who returned with frost-bitten limbs, 
telling the most frightful stories of their experiences. 
Mandara gave us an account of a passage he had made 
of the mid-portion of the mountain on his way to Rombo 
