Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1892-07-15
CURIOUS PEOPLE.
THEY DIV YELL ON THE SLOPES OF
WONDERFUL MOUNTAIN.
Thirty Distinct States With Total of
Sixty Thousand Inhabitants-
Striking and Picturesque
Costumes of the Natives.
HHE most curious people in Af-

called Kilima-Njaor, furnish
The subject of an interesting monograph
lbout to be issued by the Smithsonian
institution. This remarkable volcano is
ituated IT'S miles from the east coast and
lust south of the equator, capped with
,ternal SHOWS aud glaciers. For cen
mries its existence was only known
through reports obtained from the ma
aves. and not until 1S49 was it seen by
/ white mantle missionary krapf.
rhe country between it and the nearest
leaport, Mombasa, which is the head
luarters of the British East African Com
,aDy. is a desert.
The mountain has two cones, Kibo and
Kimawenzi, the former containing {
,rater 5000 feet across and 800 feet
leep, and the latter being black dome
If rotten lava. A ridge Is, 900 feet high
oins the two peaks, the higher of which
lttains an altitude of 20, 900 feet. The
peaks are eight miles apart. Many ex-
,lorers have tried in vain to reach the
Jummits, but success in this attempt was
eserved for DR.. w. L. Abbott, the
writer quoted, who climbed with COM
oanion to the loftiest points, although
hey nearly lost their lives many times
wing to the rotton ice on Klbo, in
which they sank frequentlyto their arm
pits, and to the precipices Of cru milling
ava on Kimawenzi, fro'a which great
masses fell in avalanches at the slightest
.ouch.
They assembled from the tropical cli-
nate of the surrounding plain through
1 series of zones, each having its own
iora aud fauna, until the arctic limo Of
NOW was reached at the height of IS,
300 feet. The strip populated by hu-
nan beings was we'll defined, extending
along the slopes Of the mountain for
sixty lies, from 5000 to 54O) feet
above sea level. On every hand were
the extinct craters of smaller volcanoes,
one of them forming lake called Chala,
two miles wide, the lava walls Of which
rose perpendicularly 200 feet from the
waters edge. This sheet Of water was
inhabited by numerous crocodiles and
certain extraordinary species Of fishes.
The forests, from 5000 to 10000 feet,
had a most curious appearance, the
trunks and branches being completely
covered with orchids, ferns and MOSES.
Some of the larger trees were regular
botanical gardens, crowded with para
site plants of amazing variety.
Tho-populated strip along the side of
this volcanic elevation is from two 20
Eve miles wide and is occupied by co.
900 natives. 1t is divided into no less
thln thirty States, each governed by S
more or less independent sultan, who is
separated from his neighbors by patch
of wilderness or a deep gorge. The big
gest State has 10, 900 inhabitants, while
those least in size have only from 100 to
300 subjects. The people call them
selves the Wa Chaga. At the north end
of the sixty-mile zone is the nation of
Useri, with population of 5000, gov
erned by Malimia, sultan, who is shy
of strangers because he fears lest they
bewitch him. Most amiable of these
petty monarchs is Miliari, the ruler of
Marang, who has 600 warriors and is a
gIeat friend to Europeans. West of
Marang is Kilemma, whose king, Fun
ba, has made himself so notorious by hi;
begging habits that foreigners avoid tax
ing his hospitality.
By far the most enlightened of these
feudal potentates, however, is Mandara,
King of Moshi, who has sent ambassa-
dors to the Emperor of Germany. He
has made a business Of accumulating
European curiosities OF every imaginable
sort-toy steam engines, clocks, guns of
many patterns, stereoscopes, sewing ma
chimes, books, etc. He keeps these
treasures stored away, bringing them out
occasionally for his own amusement or
to exhibit before the envious eyes Of
visiting chiefs. Most powerful Of all the
sultans is Cena, ruler of Kibosho, who
holds his own against all the other chiefs
allied against him. lie has constructed
beneath his stockade a remarkable sys-
tenn of underground passages, By means
of which his wives aud cattle could At
any time escape from foe, emerging
far away through secret tunnels.
The men OF the Wa Chaga arc not
well made physically, but the women are
very erect, owing to their habit of carry
ing loads on their heads. Aud many OF
the young girls are pretty, and some
would be beauties in any country. The
wives are obliged to wash themselves
daily, and soap is 10 great demand. The
women outnumber the men in ratio Of
five to three, partly owing to loss OF life
in wars. Wives are purchased for sheep
and goats, and more rarely for cows.
At wedding the bride is decked with
ali the beads she can borrow for the oc-
casion, in the shape Of girdles, necklaces,
ETC., and is plentitully smeared with red
oohra