2 THE PLANTS OF MILANJI, NYASA-LAND, 
clambered over precipices, holding on by tufts of grass and scrub, which gave but 
slender support and scanty foothold. Once round these precipitous bluffs an interesting 
wooded gorge was entered, still steep and difficult, but with better foothold on the 
projecting rocks and tree-roots ; and most welcome was the kindly shade after hours of 
toil in a burning sun, rendered doubly fierce by the reflection from the scorching hot 
rocks. 
An interesting change in the vegetation was perceptible, plants of the lower slopes 
being mostly replaced by species new to Mr. Whyte, and in many instances approaching 
the flora of temperate climes, such as brambles and well-known forms of papilionaceous 
and composite plants. Ferns, too, became more numerous, and now and again he 
scrambled through fairy dells of mosses, ferns, selaginellas, and balsams, with miniature 
water-falls showering their life-giving spray on the little verdant glades, while overhead 
hoary lichens and bright festoons of elegant long-tasselled lycopods hung from the 
moss-covered ancient-looking trees. Up and up he climbed the apparently endless 
ladder of roots and rocks. Then he passed through a dense thicket of bamboo, and 
again found himself confronted by an ugly barrier of precipitous cliffs, which were duly 
surmounted with the friendly aid of tufts of a tussock-grass springing from the crevices 
of the rocks. Another hour’s climb up a steep grassy glen brought him to the crest of 
the highest ridge. 
Here the scene spread out to view, and the climate, were such as fully to repay the 
explorer for a day of weary toil. Looking westward, he saw mapped out beneath him 
the plateau or basin of Milanji, with its rolling hills of grassy sward, its clearly defined 
belts of dark-green forest, and its numerous ravines and rivulets, all shaping their 
course towards the principal valley of the plateau, through which the Lutshenya flows. 
The climate was delightfully cool and bracing. During the forenoon, on the lower ridges 
of the mountains, at over 4000 feet lower than this point, he had sweltered in a stifling 
. heat of 106 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade; while here he revelled in a clear, dry, 
health-restoring atmosphere of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. From this ridge, which forms 
one of the amphitheatre of hills surrounding the plateau or crater-like basin of Milanji, 
a good idea of the mountain-system is gained. Still looking towards the west, one sees 
on the right hand the main peaks of the mountain, rising directly from the valley of the 
Lutshenya, which runs parallel with its southern base, the height of one of the two 
summit-peaks having been calculated at 9,300 feet above sea-level. Across the table- 
land, in the distance, is the somewhat isolated and precipitous Tshambi Mountain, which, 
with its own smaller plateau, is separated from Milanji table-land by the rocky valley 
and gorge of the Likabula River. To the front and to the left hand, there is a contin- 
uation of the rolling and grassy hills which encircle the plateau, and which are capped 
with rugged cliffs of searped granite and gneiss rocks. | 
Mr. Whyte spent two weeks on the plateau, changing to three different sites, each 
distant from 5 to 7 miles from the other, and which enabled him to explore more 
thoroughly this new and interesting mountain-country. Unfortunately the rains and 
mists set in before he left, and consequently he had only nine good collecting days. 
