The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1886-05-21
AgMOUNTAIN MONARCH.
The Gloomy Grandeur of the Great
KilIy-Manjahro.

KiIly-Manjahro.
To those who associate the name of
the great African continent only with
visions of the steaming mangrove
Bwamps of the west coast, the luxu-
riaut fiower-carpets and grasses of the
south, the trackless sand-wastes of the
north, and the undulating thirsty
plains of 'the Bush, whose idea of
Africa, indeed, may be summed up in
three words-sun, savages and fever
10 such, we say, it may be difficult to
accept the knowledge that snow-capped
mountains exist in the very heart of
this dry and heat-engirdled land.
But yet, there have been for ages,
strange tales of a wonderful mountain
mass in the tropical center, whose
summit was perpetually covered with
O mysterious substance which the ma
tives called white salt" Now, as
perpetual snow under the equator was
known only in Central America-no-
where else do mountains in the tropics
reach the snow-line-t did exist
Tor ages incredulity as to the existence
ChimborazO. The legend referring to
It must have been known to the early
Portuguese travellers at least three cen
turtles ago, for the Portuguese were at
MOmbasa in the sixteenth century, and
as MOmbasa is within one hundred
and eighty miles of the mountain, and
Is the ooast-limit of the trade-route be-
tween it and the sea, they must have
heard the stories of the native and
Arab traders. Others believed this
tilima-Njaro~ to be merely the legend
airy Mountains of the Moon"
The earliest authentic record Of ''dis-
Coveryn by n European is that of Reb-
mann, German missionary, who, on
the 18th of May, 1848, first sighted the
wonderful snowy dome. Baron Won
der Decken, another German, actually
reached "Kilima-Njaro in 1861, and
stayed on its slopes for some
three months. On q second
visit, Won der Decken assembled
60 height of ten thousand
Eve hundred feet, although he did not
reach the snow. He was followed, in
1871, by an English missionary, the
Rev. Charles New, who made two
Journeys to Chaga-the native name
for the inhabited belt between three
aud seven thousand feet above the sea,
on the second occasion was robbed and
ill-used by Mandara, a native chief.
Mr.. Joseph Thomson, after making
the journey Through MGSGi-ldnd, Of
which he has published so interesting
an account, arrived at Kilima-Njaro in
1888 He iOurneyed nearly all round
he base of the mountain, but did not
ascend more than nine thousand feet.
lie also was robbed by Mandara.
It was reserved for Mr.. ii. II. Johnston,
F.RG.S., to penetrate the mysteries of
The Monarch of African Mountains,
nod to record his experience in a most
interesting book, The Rilind-NjGr0
Expedition (London: Kegan PauD. Mr..
JohnstOn's experiences on the Congo
qualified him for African exploration;
while his services to science in other
parts of the world pointed him out as well
equipped for the search into and obser-
vation of the natural history of the To-
cality, selected for exploration by a
Joint committee of the British Associa-
ton and the Royal Society. To solve
the many interesting problems sur
rounding the fauna and fora of this
African alpine region was the task dell
-Geted to Mr.. Johnston. He left Lon
don in March, 1884, and in due course
arrived at Zanzibar, where he was as
gCther a band of pOrters, servants and
guides. After some delay at MOmbasa
caused by a sharp attack of fever, Mr..
Johnston plunged into the wilderness
at the head of his long band of pOrters,
aRrrying loads of domestic necessaries,
provisions, water and trade" goods
The long tramp inland was a weary
one, for twas through a hot and thirsty
land, which sOrely tried the endurance
of the party.
The first glimpse of Kilima-Njaro
was obtained long before the party
reached its base. And here it may be
proper to explain that this name
IL given to the whole mountain-mass,
which consists of two huge peaks and
Ii number of smaller ones, Just below
tho third parallel south of the equator.
The highest of the peaks is called
kibo, is eighteen thousand eight hun
dred and eighty feet above the level of
the sea, and is always covered with
snow on the top, and occasionally
down to the altitude of fourteen thou
sand feet. This is, so far as is at pres
ont known, the highest mountain in
.>trica. The twin peak, Kimawenzi,
30 sixteen thousand two hundred and
O. ity feet high, and although above the
Rlow-line, is not continuously snow
g. al. The whole mass is of volcanic
Irigin, and the two peaks are the
r.6ters of extinct volcanoes.
Approached from the southeast, the
mountain has the appearance of lonely
ISOLATION, and presents truly remark
bio spectacle, with its peaks towering
D the clouds and its glittering snow
caps. IL is worth while giving in Mr..
3O5nstOn's words his emotions on first
gaining sight of the goal of his desires:
with the falling temperature of the
small hours, a brisk wind arose from
the heated plain and swept the clouds
from of the sky, all except the mass
which obstinately chung to Kilima-
liarO. Feverish and over-tired, ]
could not sleep, and sat and watched
the heavens, waiting for the dawn. A
hundred men We're snoring around me,
and the night was any thing but silent,
for the hyenas were laughing hideously
Ln the gloom outside our circle Of OK.
piring embers. AT five o'clock / awokc
my servant Virapan, and whilst he was
making my morning coffee / dropped
Pronounced Killv-maniahro. and meaning
~ Ell. taaHf Mnn