478 Mr. D. A. Bannerraau on the 



has been built .... I decided to work the forest from here, 

 and made a camp just above the house. . . . Since arriving 

 at Victoria it has rained every day, which is unusual here 

 at this time of year. The rainy season does not commence 

 till the end of June. We scarcely see anything of the sun 

 up here. Depressing mists come over in great waves . . . 

 blurring the trees to phantoms, and the shaggy tresses of 

 lichen which stream from the boughs add to the weird 

 effect. It is difficult under these conditions to get the skins 

 to dry, and we have had to put the mammal skins over a 

 wood-fire. The forest, which ascends to a height of some- 

 thing like 7000 feet, is very dense, and consequently I find 

 the collecting work very difficult. I lose on the average 

 half of what I shoot. I am now employing the men in 

 catting paths in all directions, which I think will give me 

 better chances. ... I shall not make a daily record of my 

 work at Mlissarka, one day is so very like another, . . . 

 While I have been collecting the men have made a road to 

 the top of the first ridge, the most difficult part of the 

 ascent, being the steepest. This took eight days. 



Ttie mountain is divided into three ridges ; the first, above 

 the forest, is grass-grown and scarred by deep channels and 

 cavernous fissures. Between the first and second ridges 

 the course lies over old lava-beds interspersed with grass 

 and a species of broom, a decorative shrub with small dark 



green leaves On the top of the second ridge a small 



plateau, about three-quarters of a mile in width^ runs up to 

 the base of the Peak itself. 



On April 15th, the road being completed, we made an 

 early start for the mountain with the intention of making a 

 camp on the first ridge. ... It is generally towards evening 

 and the early morning that the hill is visible^ and then it is 

 that a fine panoramic view of the land below can be obtained ; 

 the Cameroon River and its many creeks intersecting a 

 well-wooded country show out sharp and clear. . . . The 

 ascent was successfully accomplished to the first ridge, which 

 is about 8000 feet. Here I made a camp. The actual time 

 taken from Miissarka was an hour and twenty-five minutes. 



