264 
THE KILIMA-NJAR 0 EXPEDITION. 
chat with them, and offered to visit their country and 
chief (who is the uncle of the Prince of Maranu), but 
this last proposal they hesitated to accept. Their 
Sultan had given them permission to trade with me, 
and he wished to remain at peace with the white man, 
but as to seeing him!—“ No, he was much too un¬ 
doubted a sorcerer! 53 The chief of Kiboso was an 
old man, and it would be easy to bewitch him. So, 
on the whole, it would be better for both parties that 
we should remain apart. I did not insist, as I only 
cared now to collect in the chilly regions near the 
snow, and wished for no more native complications 
after my delays and difficulties in Mosi and Maranu. 
Every day during my stay at this high elevation the 
Wa-kiboso came to trade, bringing bleating goats, 
magnificent clusters of ripening bananas, sweet pota¬ 
toes, honey, and tobacco; and, moreover, as soon as 
they were made aware of my wishes, they captured 
animals for my collections, and would bring me 
squeaking, wriggling hyraxes tied securely to forked 
sticks. Many of these little beasts proved utterly 
untamable, though I kept several young ones alive 
until I returned to Taveita, but on reaching the low¬ 
lands they sickened and died. 
The accident to my knee-cap compelled me to spend 
several days in enforced idleness, but as soon as I 
was able to go about I began my rambles up the 
mountain. My first excursion was to the base of 
Kimawenzi, the lesser of the two peaks. The terrible 
hurricane of wind, however, that raged round this 
jagged series of lava spurs prevented me from con¬ 
tinuing the ascent, although I doubt if it be possible 
for any one to reach the summit, owing to the want of 
foothold. The snow varies very much in quantity on 
