224 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
about two miles to the foot of a small hill situated 
half-way between Ivibo and Kimawenzi. This hill, 
rising about 400 feet in height above the surrounding 
plateau, is composed entirely of loose ashes and lava 
rock ; and as the southern side was too steep to climb, I 
passed round to the left where the plateau began to 
slope gradually down northwards, and here I ascended 
the small hill on the north side, which, though steep, 
was practicable, and from the summit of which my 
aneroid registered 15,500 feet; but I think the more pro¬ 
bable height would be 16,000 feet, as I doubt whether 
my aneroid was quite reliable at such an elevation. 
The ashes forming the chief part of the hill-soil 
were red, but they were streaked here and there with 
others of grey, blue, yellow, purple, pink, and orange 
tints. I made a small collection of the different 
specimens, and amongst others I gathered some of a 
black substance not unlike lignite; the variety in the 
colours is due, I believe, to the action of the sun and 
atmosphere, combined with the different degrees of 
heat to which the ashes were originally subjected. 
I was much disappointed to find the mist so dense on 
this side that I could see nothing of the northern slopes 
of the mountain, and while referring to this mist I may 
mention that during our stay, on the higher slopes of 
Kilima-njaro, we rarely saw the sun, as it was nearly 
always concealed by an impenetrable veil of overhang¬ 
ing clouds. An excessively cold wind swept the 
mountain-side, and I was glad to sit down, under the 
lee of some curiously fan-shaped lava rocks, to examine 
