AND THE VICTORIA NYANZA 



61 



52. THK liKSCENl In 'JHK ( i;.MUAL CRATER OF ELGON (FKOJl A I'UINT ON TllK HIM AIJOUT 13,500 FEET 

 IN ALTITUDE). SHOWS TREE GROUNDSELS AND OTHER ALPINE VEGETATION 



often the watercourses plunge down rocky gullies through a country which 

 is strewn with immense boulders and thinly covered with coarse grass and 

 the usual stunted trees of the East African wilderness. It is remarkable 

 how very red the rocks appear on this side of the mountain, this redness 

 often extending high up the crater wall. 



Elgon has, I believe, only been ascended to the highest point on its 

 crater wall by Messrs. Jackson, Gedge, and Martin. From the photographs 

 taken by Mr. p]rnest Gedge on this occasion (and kindly lent to me for 

 this book), one may see that the vegetation resembles closely the Alpine 

 flora of Kenya, Kilimanjaro, and Ruwenzori. There are the weird lolielias 

 and the giant groundsels. Snow fiiUs on these highest points, but does 

 not lie long. The greatest altitude on this rim of the crater is about 

 14,200 feet. The crater of Elgon is crossed by a native track from north 

 to south, and provided the natives can arrange their journey so as not to 

 pass the night on these chilly altitudes, where there is no forest, they seem 

 to suffer little hardship on the journey. 



Mounts Debasien and Kamalinga are notable objects in the Karamojo 

 country, at any rate as seen from the \icinity of Mount Elgon. So far 

 as outline goes, I think Debasien is the most beautiful mountain in 

 Central Africa. Its height is given on Colonel Macdonald's map as not 



