September 19, 1918 
LAND &> WATER 
13 
. KILIMANJARO FROM 40 MILES DISTANCE 
No white man has yet set foot on the summit of this, the most famous mountain pealc of Africa. 
making preparations. In the country we were about to pass 
through there were no roads, and it was sporting chance how 
the cars would behave. 
On the morning of May i8th the motor transport column 
set out for Kondoa Irangi, via Moshi, Lollkissale and Upomi. 
It consisted uf one Ford, four Crossleys, one Daimler, two 
Napicrs, and one motor cycle. The Daimler and the Napier 
were lorries. Xanson and I went ahead in the Ford, with all 
our " gubbins " on board, and two Swahili boys, Gitwani 
and my boy, Snowball. 
Moshi, fifty miles away, was our first camp ; travelling 
was vejy slow work, and we took fourteen hours to do the 
journey. Soon after leaving 'Mbuyuni the motor cycle broke 
down, and had to be loaded up on the Daimler, but the rider 
was not hurt, only scratched. The last car got in at 11.50 
p.m., with both rear springs broken. One of the Napiers 
also had broken a front spring. This showed that it was 
necessary to reduce the loads still further, and we were obliged 
to leave stores at Moschi. 
All ne.\t day was spent in repairing springs, and we were 
off the following morning by 6 a.m., reaching the Weri Weri 
river by 8 a.m. The river was about thirty yards wide, and 
two feet deep, with a rocky bed. Huge trees grew on either 
side, giving good protection from the sun, and to the south, 
coffee and rubber plantations stretched for miles. As the 
South African Pioneers had cleared a slope through the bush 
to the river, we off loaded the cars, lowered them down the 
incline, and then with the help of a hundred boyS, pulled 
them over one after another through the river and up the 
other bank. 
From now onwards, for about ten miles, the route was 
good, and we pushed along till we came to a patch of black 
cotton soil. We then advanced across a big open plain ; it was 
a glorious evening ; away to the west the snow cap on Kili- 
manjaro showed crimson in the setting sun, camp fires could 
be seen twenty miles away to the north-west, and some smoke 
to the south. The visibility was wonderful, and we plodded 
on until the sun set, and the tropical darkness was upon us. 
It was dusk when we arrived at. the Sandja River, which we 
crossed, camping on the south side a little below, the^drift. 
The last car got over by 9 p.m., and we lighted our fires. 
and soon all the noises of the jungfle were around us. Lions, 
hyenas, and jackals kept us awake at first, and Blotto, my 
dog, snarled at every sound, but before verj^ long we slept 
soundly, and the sentry alone was left to tend the fire. 
At four next morning we had coffee, and struck camp as 
the sun was rising. We now left the Arusha track, by which 
van Dcventer had advanced, and struck out to the 
south, straight for Lollkissale mountain fifty miles away. 
All around were great plains of open grass country, 
with thickets of thorn bush. Game roamed on all sides ; 
we saw a herd of buffalo in the distance, and hundreds of 
ostrichc-s, while buck sprang up out of the long grass as we 
went forward. 
We took the Ford on ahead of the convoy at the rate of 
twentv-five miles an hour, and Nanson the CO., who was 
sitting beside me, had several splendid shots and was able to 
increase our fresh meat supply. After going about fifteen 
miles, we saw a thin column of smoke climbing up through 
the still air. Being naturally anxious to see whose fire it 
was, we drew near, and presently found Lieuts. Brown and 
Cherry Kearton and their party. _.They had left Moschi 
eight days before ourselves, and were walking direct for 
Lollkissale. '1 
One day the party had camped ,near the Sandja River, 
and about 4 p.m. Brown set out on a motor cycle to find a 
track across the plains. After forcing his way through the 
short grass, he came upon a water hole. Here he lit a fire, 
and waited for the rest to arrive, knowing they would be 
guided by the smoke. He waited and waited until it got 
dark. Then he heard lions coming to drink, and saw a ring 
of eyes in the blackness around his fire. Having nothing 
but his revolver, he pulled out burning embers and threw 
them at the eyes ! 
When the moon rose, he started back across the plain ; 
and came upon Kearton and his men, who had been warned 
not to go further because of an enemy raiding party ahead. 
This was all very interesting for us ! And when Nanson 
and I once more set off in the Ford, we took a machine-gun 
with us. We pushed along over plains and thorn thickets, 
till we came to a river with huge trees along its banks. 
The river was clear and swift, with a itiud bottom, there- 
fore we off loaded, and pulled the Ford across. Then with 
the help of the Ford we got a Crossley over, which hauled the 
other Crossleys through the river. We then coupled three 
Crossleys on to the Napier and the Daimler, and pulled them 
over one after another. 
A number of Masai niggers helped us to load up; they 
were our first experience of the real wild man. They painted 
their bodies all sorts of colours, their hair was matted with 
red earth, and the lobes of their ears were split, and hung 
down to their necks, being decorated with all sorts of curios, 
rifle cartridges and pieces of bone, and in one ear I saw a . 
condensed milk tin, which seemed to give its wearer some 
authority. We presented them with our emptj' "bully" 
tins, and their delight was amusing, but they would not eat 
the biscuits we offered. They live on milk and blood, bleed- 
ing the cattle alive, but are without much muscle, for one 
of our white men could easily pull six or eight of them. 
About half a mile from the river we camped for the night, 
parked our cars into a square, built a zareba round them, and 
lighted our fires inside. When we moved Out next day the 
going was bad, and after crossing a patch of black cotton 
soil, we climbed a hill, and found ourselves in a thornbu?h 
forest. The flowers were wonderful, and we crashed over 
and through them. Up to the present we had kept a fairly 
straight line to our objective, and a little later, when we 
topped a hill, we saw Lollkissale five miles ahead. The road 
lay through dense bush until we reached the track which 
van Deventer and his column had followed from Arusha. 
The Field Telegraph Coqis had a station near Lollkissale. They 
were always right up with the advance, and operating under 
most difficult conditions. Eaten by mosquitoes by day and 
by night, their wires constantly broken by giraffes, and with- 
out any comforts to help them to keep cheerful, they still 
managed to carry on ; and endless jokes passed up and down 
the line. I remember hearing an operator telling another 
who was 150 miles further forward, to keep the kettle boiling 
as the tea would be along in ten days' time. 
The following day we moved ten miles to the south, where 
Flight Sub-Lieut. Gallihawke had selected the Lollkissale 
aerodrome, and joined up with his party for the night, before 
setting out for Upomi, the second stage of our journey. 
I.M.B. 
