Ascent of Kilima Njaro. 407 
struggled on till evening, when Marondo came to a 
stand, declaring that we should not be able to clear 
the forest that day, and recommending us to put up 
for the night. 
Selecting a spot by the side of a huge fallen tree, 
which offered better shelter than anything else, the 
Wachaga began at once to clear away the rubbish 
and to put up a shed. The Wanika stood like stocks, 
looking at their benumbed fingers, trying in vain to 
straighten them, and shivering with cold. By dint of 
hard, scolding I induced them to try to get up a fire, 
but, not succeeding at once, they gave it up in despair. 
Now, using all the pili-pili (pepper) I could command, 
I got up a storm of wrath ; then they tried again, and 
this time with success. Now, if we could only keep 
up the fires, I had no fear for one night ; and if the 
weather cleared up in the morning, all would be well. 
Hitherto, though the mists had been sufficiently 
heavy to saturate everything, there had been no real 
rain ; but we had no sooner encamped than rain began 
to fall thick and fast. Night, too, came on, covering 
everything with its dark pall, when there we were, 
shut up in that ''dark dungeon of innumerous boughs." 
What a profound solitude ! There seemed to be 
nothing in the world but ourselves. There was no 
chattering of birds ; no buzzing of bees ; no chirping 
of insects ; no tropical chorus ; no anything to remind 
us that there was aught in existence beside us. The 
roar of a lion would have been welcome music. But 
I am forgetting : there was one sound, the cry of the 
kuanga, a kind of tailless squirrel, of which Mange 
told for our amusement the following story. The 
kuanga and the kuhi (fox T) once met, at which time 
