“TROUBLOUS TIMES.” 
177 
plenty exhibited on every hand, could these silly 
savages think of nothing but mutual extermination ? 
It was curious to look from the bloody field of battle 
to the great dazzling snowy dome which rose above us 
to the north, immaculate, pure, and freezing in its 
isolation, and then think that it, after all, was the 
cause of all this trouble. If Kilima-njaro had not 
drawn me hither on this quest, the people of Mosi and 
Iviboso would not have come to blows on my behalf, 
and these poor mutilated corpses might still have 
been live men in the prime of life, eating, drinking, 
laughing with their wives and children. Must it 
be that I should walk through blood to reach the 
snow ? 
Once more the din of battle reached our ears. The 
enemy was again engaged with the forefront of Man- 
dara’s forces. We could see them fighting amid the 
banana groves covering a distant slope, or at least we 
could see the little puffs of white smoke which rose 
continually from amongst the green maze of fronds, 
and hear the popping of guns and the faint shouts and 
battle-cries. Over their heads soared grimly a flight 
of vultures waiting for their coming repast. As we 
were seen marching to the field of action, guns firing 
and flags flying, Mandara’s men pressed on their 
enemies with renewed valour, encouraged by our 
approach, and the disheartened Wa-kiboso yielded and 
fled up the hill-side till they reached the summit, where 
they turned and halted, met by reinforcements. The 
men of Mosi were too exhausted to follow, and when I 
had arrived on the scene I found them crouching down 
at the foot of the hill, watching their foes. Had the 
Wa-kiboso now charged down the slope on us, whom 
they greatly outnumbered, the consequences for our 
