AT FOOT OF THE SNOW MOUNTAINS 215 



At this collecting station I got some other new birds 

 of lesser importance, but the butterflies were dis- 

 appointing. I therefore turned my thoughts towards 

 the Snow Mountains. We could see them from my 

 camp, looking very beautiful on a clear morning. We 

 were only about thirty miles or so from them, but the 

 country intervening seemed frightfully rough. Among 

 the mountains was one peak of 12,000 feet. The 

 snow fields near the summit of this appeared to be 

 very extensive. Having sent a small collection away, 

 I decided to make tracks for the mountains, not 

 following the path which the Dutch had taken, but 

 taking a route of my own. By so doing I avoided the 

 risk of finding that collecting work had been spoiled 

 by the dispersal of the birds and insects. Of course 

 it does not necessarily follow that the passing of a 

 few white men through a district will effect any very 

 serious disturbance from a zoological point of view. 

 But the chances are that with a large party breaking 

 up the jungle, making fires, etc., there will be at least 

 some disturbance of the insect and bird life. I prefer, 

 therefore, when it is possible, to fix my collecting 

 stations at places where no other white man has 

 been. 



On the way up from Canoe Camp, my own boys 

 had to do all the carrying, because it was impossible 

 to enlist any help from the natives. The country 

 through which we passed was of a limestone forma- 

 tion, very savage and inhospitable. The limestone 



