286 
THE KILIMA NJARO EXPEDITION. 
liminary palace. As I mused thus, the sinking sun 
emerged from a curtain of cloud, and shed a wonder¬ 
ful rosy radiance oyer the beautiful scene. The dis¬ 
tant valley of the Ruvu, with its sinuous lines of 
green forest, the mountain mass of Ugweno, with hills 
and hillocks in all directions, the nearer forests, the 
natural lawns sloping downwards towards the culti¬ 
vated zone; and, lastly, the awful, jagged, snow- 
streaked and spotted Kimawenzi rising to the north—- 
all were irradiated with a tender, smiling light, the 
very shadows of which were attenuated and softened. 
Then, until purple darkness fell upon the scene, 
I stood on one of the seven hills of my African 
Rome, and pondered on the possibilities of its 
existence. 
On the succeeding day we discovered early in the 
morning that our guides had really and actually 
deserted us, so we were left entirely to onr own 
resources for finding the way to Taveita. However, 
I was confident, and the men scarcely less so, for no 
matter how distant our goal might be, we at least 
could see it in the valley before us. Nevertheless, not 
wishing to pursue a course which would lead us 
through Mamba, Mwika, or the inhabited regions on 
the south-western flank of Kimawenzi, I was obliged 
to direct myself more to the northward, and conse¬ 
quently out of the shortest route to Taveita. We 
travelled for hours through a delightful country made 
by Nature for a European settlement, and singularly 
English in look, with open grassy spaces, which seemed 
in the distance like ruddy cornfields, and shady woods 
and copses full of fine timber. Plenty of running 
streams of clear water intersected this gently sloping, 
almost level plateau, which, although such a tempting 
