Chapter I. 
Stuhlmann, Scott Elliot, Moore, Johnston and, in fact, all 
the others who have visited and explored the range of 
Ruwenzori after Stanley, have accepted his interpretation of 
Ptolemy’s text. Indeed, unless we admit that the ancient 
geographers must have had in one way or another some 
concealed source of information as to the facts, we find our¬ 
selves under the necessity of regarding them as gifted with 
prophetic powers. Be that as it may, the legend of the 
“ Mountains of the Moon ” is a tale of the past, and 
Ruwenzori, established at last in its own exact place on the 
map, known in all the details of its structure, measured in 
every dimension, no longer runs the risk of being lost from 
the memory of man. 
We will now return to the story of its exploration. 
On the 1st of June, 1888, after his first sight of the snow-clad 
summits of Ruwenzori, Henry Stanley was forced to return on 
his track, and, re-crossing the vast forest of the Congo, to join 
his rear-guard camp, where one of the ghastliest tragedies 
recorded in the history of African exploration had taken place 
in his absence. 
He did not return to Ruwenzori until the next year, 1889, 
when he skirted the whole western slope of the range. He 
then traversed the plain between Lake Albert Edward and the 
mountains, and, turning northwards, followed their eastern slopes 
as far as the head of Lake Ruisamba. He thus spent more than 
three months, from April to July, in the immediate neighbourhood 
of the range, and saw the snowy peaks again and again. 
Wishing to gather more accurate knowledge of the shape and 
structure of these mountains, he dispatched Lieutenant 
W. G. Staii's on a journey of exploration among them. 
Lieutenant Stairs left the camp of Bakokoro, 3,860 feet above 
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