520 Capt. G. E. Shelley on Birds 



and burnt by Sir Harry Johnston six months previonsly. 

 Here he diverged from the regular Karonga-Tanganyika 

 route towards the south and entered the hills^ reaching 

 Chifungu^s in the evening. The hills now became higher 

 and only sparsely clad, and much spoor of large and small 

 antelopes was seen. The next village was Chasari^s, on the 

 banks of a dried-up stream. This was the last inhabited 

 spot, and the way was continued by an elephant-path to an 

 encampment under a shady grove of bamboos on the banks 

 of the Wyie River. Here some interesting birds were 

 collected, and amongst others a bright little Kingfisher, 

 '^resembling Ceyx tridactyla of India.^' From "Bamboo 

 Camp " the Wyie Eiver was followed for some time, after 

 which severe climbing brought the party to a spot on one of the 

 spurs of the mountains immediately under the Mpanda peak, 

 where it was resolved to stop, Mr. Taylor being knocked up 

 by fever. The view from this spot was very grand, majestic 

 mountain scenery catching the eye in all directions, whilst 

 on one side the silvery expanse of Lake Nyasa showed up 

 splendidly in the sunrise. The next morning was fine, and, 

 after 500 more feet of steep climbing, the plateau of the 

 grand Nyika Range was reached at noon. Mr. Whyte 

 describes his position as follows : — 



" At the spot where we first reached the plateau of the 

 Nyika Mountains it was quite narrow, some 500 yards from 

 east to west, a sort of saddle immediately to the south of the 

 Mpanda peak. The descent on the west side was less steep 

 than on the east, the one we had climbed, and the view 

 extended over deep wooded valleys and grasslands, backed 

 in the distance by the Angoni Mountains and plateau. The 

 lichen-covered granite peak, towering some 600 feet above 

 us, resembled a blunt sugar-loaf, and not a forked or double 

 wedge-shaped mountain, as seen from the plains. 



" What struck me as most remarkable was the sudden 

 change in the climate and flora. Hitherto we had not found 

 it disagreeably cold, and until we reached the plateau there 

 was little or no sign of an Alpine flora with the exception 

 of a few helichrysums and other temperate-zone Compositae. 



