The instructions given me by the Kilima-njaro Committee were to proceed direct to Mount Kilima-njaro, reside in the vicinity of the mountain for at least six months, and collect as much as possible near the snow-line. As already mentioned, funds to the extent of 1000_l._ were granted me, and besides that, the Royal Geographical Society generously provided me with a complete set of instruments for making astronomical and meteorological observations. I ought also to mention that Messrs. Howard and Son made me a most liberal present of quinine, an item of the outfit which would have amounted under ordinary circumstances to a considerable expense, and other leading purveyors treated me with great generosity, so that I was altogether most kindly supported in my undertaking. Having previously despatched my heavy luggage by British India steamship, I left London in the beginning of March, 1884, and travelled overland to Egypt, spent a week or two rambling about the highways and byeways of that unhappy land, joined my steamer at Suez, and quitted her at Aden with heartfelt joy, after a horribly uncomfortable voyage of eight days. At Aden I had a delightful experience of what British hospitality can do to cast a halo round the most unattractive spots. At the house of the Resident and Governor, General Blair, V.C., I spent a most enjoyable interval whilst awaiting the Zanzibar steamer. I somewhat dreaded the advent of this vessel, for after my experience of cockroaches, rats, bad smells, and bad food in the steamer which had carried me to Aden, I anticipated a renewal of this purgatory on board the steamship of the same company which was to complete the journey to Zanzibar. But this was fortunately not the case. The _Java_, though an old-fashioned and not too speedy boat, was scrupulously clean, and her staff of officers were all that could be desired in kindness and skill. The fare was excellent, the weather perfect, the fellow-passengers few and agreeable; and our journey to Zanzibar was more like a trip on a friend’s yacht. We stopped at Lamu, and lunched with Lieutenant Haggard, her Britannic Majesty’s vice-consul, and then at Mombasa, where I went off for a lengthy conference with Captain Gissing, our vice-consul at that port, who was already kindly interesting himself in the equipment of my expedition, and engaging porters from the vicinity of that place to accompany me, for it was considered best by Sir John Kirk that I should start from Mombasa for Kilima-njaro. After my first brief visit to the place, however, I continued on my way to Zanzibar, to confer with Sir John Kirk, and to engage a certain number of men. Accordingly, one day in the middle of April, 1884, I awoke in the early sunshine, and looked forth on a crescent of white buildings rising above an irregular line of black shipping and black mud, and later on in the day landed at Zanzibar, and found myself in that busy mart of East African trade,