1 66 THE SNOWFIELDS AND GLACIERS OF KENYA part ii 



called out. Loads were given them, and without allowing any- 

 time for discussion or murmurs, Omari led the way out of camp, 

 I kept in the rear to prevent dawdling or desertion ; for the men 

 who had been with Dundas and Hobley, in their attempted 

 ascent from the south, told such pitiful tales of their sufferings, 

 that the porters were loth to enter the dreaded forests. We 

 plunged into these almost immediately, and found they con- 

 sisted of lofty junipers and Podocarpus rising from a matted 

 undergrowth of bush and shrubs. We forced a passage 

 through the jungle and startled a pack of monkeys {Colobus 

 occidentalism Rochb.), whose long black and white fur so closely 

 resembled the Beardmoss {Usned) on the trees, that they were un- 

 recognisable at a very short distance. By watching the men in 

 front of me, and listening to the noise made by the leaders as 

 they lopped off branches or trampled down the undergrowth, 

 I could estimate and guide the direction of our line of march. 

 After passing for two hours through level forest, we came to the 

 foot of the ridge by which I had resolved to make the ascent. 

 It was low and broad and we easily reached its summit, and 

 followed along it to the east-north-east. 



In the afternoon we found a swamp in a hollow, on the 

 flank of the ridge. It was fringed by the common English 

 rush {Juncus effusus, L.) and reed-mace {Typha angustifolia, L.), 

 while dense clumps of tall bamboos were scattered over the 

 hillside above. These clumps rapidly increased both in 

 number and size, till they united into a continuous belt which 

 seemed to bar our further progress. It had been drizzling 

 ever since we entered the forests, and as the rain now 

 increased to a steady downpour, we pitched camp under some 

 lofty Podocarpus trees. I spent the rest of the day collecting 

 the snails and slugs which lived in the damp undergrowth. 

 The rain continued all night, and at daybreak next morning 

 a cold raw mist lay around us. We waited for a couple of 

 hours for this to lift, but as there seemed no prospect of it 

 doing so, we resumed our march. At first an elephant track 

 ran past our camp, and we followed it through the jungle until 

 it left the crest of the ridge, and ran down the slope toward 

 the roaring torrent in the valley below. This was out of our 

 way, and we had to cut a path through the jungle. The 

 work from this point was the most trying I have ever ex- 



