220 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



the stream at this stage can be best judged from the 

 fact that over 100 rapids are encountered during 

 the four-days' journey, and that a distance which 

 needs four days' hard travelling on the ascent can be 

 covered within six hours in descending. The officers 

 of the Dutch expedition were very hospitable to me, 

 especially a naval officer, Captain Van der Van. 



At the Canoe Camp, which marked the head of the 

 navigable river, I started up towards the mountains 

 again, using my own boys as carriers, as it was 

 impossible to enlist any help from the natives around, 

 who were very timid and not at all friendly. We 

 journeyed four days into the interior, every day 

 marking a great increase in elevation, for there were 

 no foot-hills to be traversed. Finally I fixed a camp 

 at the height of 6500 feet, or thereabouts, and sent 

 the greater number of my boys back for more stores. 

 Then I got the others to make a large clearing in the 

 bush. Partly the purpose of this was to serve to 

 attract moths at night ; partly it was to make a more 

 comfortable camping place for ourselves. The climate 

 in this hill district is dank and miserable. When 

 it is not raining one is liable to be soaked through and 

 through by the great bodies of mist which come down 

 from the mountain tops. The trees and shrubs drip 

 constantly with wet. Insect life is abundant. It 

 would thus have been impossible to have camped in 

 any comfort without clearing away the forest and the 

 undergrowth. I did not know that the clearing would 



