New Britain herald., 1925-01-16
MINIATURE WORLD
 .ON AFRIC MOUNTAIN
KilinanjarO Rises 2O,OOO Feet From TanSanyikan Plain

Washington, D, C., Jan, lG.-Kil- imanjaro mountain of Tanganylka territory, which has been the object of recent expedition, is one of the most notable 'vlolent scontrasts' in Africa, sometimes termed the con tnont of violent contrasts"
 Although Africa spreads itself to both temperate 2ones,' says a hulle- tin of the National Geographic so- cicty, "hy whim Of geography its only notable snow peaks are under tho suns most direct glare and, of its N'hish spots ncar the Equator Kilmuujaro is chief.
 "KiiimuniarO was unknown 10 the world century ago, and unscalcd until 1SSg, but now q railway from Mombasa approaches its Hanks. In its way it affords Africa claim to the greatest mountain on the face of the earth. Everest, at 29O02 altture is almost 10000 feet higher than Xiii maniaro: there are even peaks haV- ing similar volcanic origin rising higher in South and Central Ameri- ca, but ali of these great ones rise on the backs of their neighbors. Kilmanjaro stands alone in the heat scorched wind-swcpt plain. Without even the company of q mountain ridge it rises solitary from plateau at $500 to 4.0oO feet to the snowcappod majesty of 19,S19 Eject.
 OvcrShadows Blanc and Whitney a Europe is proud of its Alps and Pyrcnces and the United states con- elders the Rockies mighty moun- tains, yet Kilimajaro is nearly mile ghigher than Mt. Whitney, Americas @talIcst peak. It Is almost 4,0O0 feet < higher than Mt. Blanc, Europe's leading summit. Kilimanjaro has for company on the Equator, Mt. Kcnya, just over the border giving its name to Konya Colony and the mountains of the moon, officially 2 Ruwenzori, in Cganda, feeding the w White Nile with water for Egypt.
 Natives inhabiting the slopes of 4Kilimanjaro have the legend that the mountain has a silver peak. To %tribes who have never seen snow, Nthis seemed the most satisfactory ex- planation for the glcaming white cap. They associated it with their gods and the first white men to eX- plore it had great difficulty satisfy ing the natives that they would not drive away RayI, the god in the form of giant COW iuhabiting the mountains high plains.
 "The mountain is a small world in itself, or more properly half world. The snow cap it its polar cap; the high, cold ridges, without ..Vegetation, are like Laborador or the rAlaskan stcppc, but instead of har- boring reindeer, they support focks z of eland. The mountain is game preserve and the flocks thrive.
 Natives Cluster on Slopes 2 Next comes a belt of heather < similar to that of the Scotch high lands, Then as the elevation drops, g the region of heavy precipitation ap- pears and with it the rain-forcst, al Smost constantly swathed in mist. SThis thins to the ordinary tropical forest and then dwindIes to the mouetain's 'temperate zone where the tribesmen live. It is estimated N 5000 people now reside on the N sslopes of Kilimanjaro and they are @counted by some explorers the most intelligent and progressive natives in Africa.
 "The Chagga and other tribes even employ irrigation to grow their crops of bananas, sweet potatoes and grains. Sometimes they merely di- avert mountain stream, but ire quently considerable engineering a skill is used to bring water through tubes or channels considerable dis tances. The forest belt, not Xiii manjaro's glaciers, supply most of this liSe-giving water. The rain gforest is a vast sponge, drinking up ' the rain and squeezing it out in < springs.
 E Shun Crater And Plain
 \ Below the agricultural belt is the scorched dry plain. It is almost as impossible to get the natives to venture down to the hot plain as 10 get them to approach the ice capped crater.
 ;. "Elcphants inhabit the thick for ests of Kilimanjaro's slopes. Ex- ploreBs often see their spoors on banks seemingly impossible for such huge animals to manage. One writ er reports seeing marks indicating that the elephants thrust their tusks into the ground to steady themselves on descent and that scruffed bark showed that they wound their trunks about trees to help themselves up to x higher positions"