226 
EAST AFRICA AND ITS BIG GAME. 
them. Altogether this mountain is marvellous in its 
grand proportions, and I wish I could give a descrip¬ 
tion more worthy of it. The sloping plateau above 
15,000 feet is almost devoid of vegetation. A11 occa¬ 
sional tuft of dry and blackened grass, a few small 
plants bearing a little white everlasting flower, and a 
few thistles growing in circles, the centres of which 
are bare, testify to the poorness of the soil, though 
on Kimawenzi I discovered in one hollow, where the 
snow had melted, a patch of bright green grass. I was 
surprised to find in the most sterile part of the plateau 
traces of a large antelope, possibly a kudu, though 
what could have attracted him there I know not, unless 
the saddle is used as a pass by game in the habit of 
shifting from one side of the mountain to the other, 
during certain seasons of the year. When I had com¬ 
pleted my observations I descended the hill, and re¬ 
joining my men as quickly as I could, at once took 
some photographs of Kibo and Kimawenzi, though 
the operation was much impeded by the sweeping mist 
which completely enveloped them at times. I much 
regretted that my men were unable to accompany me 
to the highest point reached, and thus enable me to 
take photos at that altitude. We then made a start 
for our camp, which we did not reach till 7 p.m., so we 
had a pretty long day of it.* 
* Our original idea was to attempt the final ascent of Kibo, but this 
we had to forego, as it would have been cruelty to have kept our men, 
scantily clothed as they were, for any length of time in these cold regions. 
While writing this narrative I have read, in the Times, an account of the 
ascent of Kibo professed to have been successfully negotiated, by a German 
who asserts that he reached to within three hundred feet of the summit 
