250 
TIIE KILIMA-NJABO EXPEDITION, 
for birds alone; but under the guidance and with the 
help of the Wa-maranu, who had come to meet us, we 
managed to cross this strange gulf. We were first of 
all let down a sheer wall of rock twenty feet in height, 
clinging to the stout ropes of creepers, and then re¬ 
ceived in the arms of stalwart natives, who were stand¬ 
ing thigh-deep in the rushing water at the base of 
the cliff. Two men carried me over to the opposite 
shore, oppressed, not with my weight, but by the force 
of the current, which threatened to make them lose 
their footing and wash us ail away. Fortunately on 
the further side the cliff was not so precipitous, and 
afforded a few feet of landing. Here I paused to watch 
the safe descent of my men and goods down the oppo¬ 
site wall of cliff into the water, and, when all were 
fairly over their difficulties, I began to scale the bank 
behind me, and was able to reach its summit unaided 
otherwise than by the friendly branches which the 
cresting woodland stretched towards me. Then, when 
the climb was over, I found myself surrounded by 
silent natives, well armed, but quite friendly, and by 
their directions I continued my upward journey along 
a narrow slippery path until I arrived at the gate of 
the town. 
This perhaps is an incorrect phrase. It is rather 
the gate of the country than of the town. Through- 
V 
out Caga, by which is meant the inhabited district of 
Kilima-njaro, there is no such thing as a congeries of 
habitations forming a town or village in our sense of 
the word. Each family lives apart with its own two 
or three houses for men, women, and beasts, sur¬ 
rounded by its plantations and gardens, with plenty 
of room for expansion all round. In another sense, 
v 
however, each separate state of Caga may be looked 
i 
