The End
Of Time Insisted Upon Firing A Gun To Frighten Away The Lions, Who Make
Night Hideous With Their Growls, But Never Put In An Appearance.
The morning cold greatly increased, and we did not start till 8 A.M. After
half an hour's march
Up the bed of a fiumara, leading apparently to a _cul
de sac_ of lofty rocks in the hills, we quitted it for a rude zig-zag
winding along its left side, amongst bushes, thorn trees, and huge rocks.
The walls of the opposite bank were strikingly perpendicular; in some
places stratified, in others solid and polished by the course of stream
and cascade. The principal material was a granite, so coarse, that the
composing mica, quartz, and felspar separated into detached pieces as
large as a man's thumb; micaceous grit, which glittered in the sunbeams,
and various sandstones, abounded. The road caused us some trouble; the
camels' loads were always slipping from their mats; I found it necessary
to dismount from my mule, and, sitting down, we were stung by the large
black ants which infest these hills. [13]
About half way up, we passed two cairns, and added to them our mite like
good Somal. After two hours of hard work the summit of this primitive pass
was attained, and sixty minutes more saw us on the plateau above the
hills,--the second zone of East Africa. Behind us lay the plains, of which
we vainly sought a view: the broken ground at the foot of the mountains is
broad, and mists veiled the reeking expanse of the low country.
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