Kilima Njaro — Second Attempt. 427 
its uniformity and extent At length the vegetation 
dwindled down till it disappeared altogether, and 
there was nothing left but rocks and rocks. 
On the extreme verge of vegetation I observed 
footprints which resembled those of the buffalo, but 
in such a region this animal could not exist. Foot- 
prints of a smaller animal were also seen. But the 
absence of animal and insect life on the higher parts 
of the mountain was one of the things which par- 
ticularly struck me. 
Over the rocks we ascended, ridge after ridge, to 
find that there was yet another. It was wearisome 
work. At length the rocks gave place to clear tracts 
of loose dry sand, in which we sank up to our ankles, 
and now we began to find it difficult to respire. It 
was as if there was no breath in the atmosphere. A 
distance of twenty or thirty yards exhausted us ; my 
lips were cracking, the veins in my head felt like 
bursting, my head swam, and, I was going to say, my 
very wits seemed wandering. Great changes were 
coming over Tofiki. He could not keep up with me, 
though I urged him constantly to do so. Pole, pole 
(slowly, slowly), Buana," he gasped out, and I 
slackened my pace. Still he remained behind ; he 
was fast failing. When we paused for breath and 
rested, he rather fell than sat down. His efforts to 
speak were mere sputterings. At length he mustered 
courage to say, "The ascent of this mountain is 
nothing to me, but I do not want you to be beaten. 
I fear, however, I cannot go much farther.'' Now, 
nothing but the sternest necessity could have elicited 
this confession from him. I did not wish to try him 
too severely ; still, as we were so near the goal, I 
