162 



RUWENZORI AND ITS SNOWS 



of food. Above 13,000 

 feet it is difficult to see 

 where shelters could be 

 formed or tents pitched 

 which would protect the 

 explorer from the severe 

 cold prevailing at night- 

 time, as the rocks and 

 glaciers were so pre- 

 cipitous. Even between 

 9,000 and 13,000 feet it 

 is extremely difficult to 

 find a dry spot on which 

 to ])iteh a tent or to 

 build a hut. The ground 

 above 9,000 feet and up 

 to the snow level is al- 

 most everyw4iere either 

 Imre rock or wet moss, 

 sodden vegetation into 

 which one may easily 

 sink to the knees. This 

 belt round the mountain 

 is simply a sponge, over 

 which it is impossible 

 to pass dry-shod. Mr. 

 Bagge, formerly collector 

 for the Toro District, and 

 now a sub-commissioner in East Africa, deserves credit for making a rough 

 corduroy road, with the help of the natives, over this marshy belt 

 between 9,000 and 13,000 feet; but even he could do little to mitigate 

 the difficulties of the ascent in many places. 



After going nearly all round the base of Ruwenzori, from the north 

 southwards and back to the north-west, during the months of June, July, 

 and August, I made arrangements in September to attemjjt the ascent of 

 the higher snow-peaks by way of the Mubuko Valley. The natives had 

 informed Mr. Bagge that the Mubuko Valley was the only possible means 

 of reaching the snow by any ordinary feats of climbing, and it was due 

 to guides furnished by Mr. Bagge that Messrs. Moore and Fergusson were 

 enabled to make their partial ascents in this direction. I followed along 

 the same route. After passing through tropical scenery of the usual 

 luxuriance to be expected in a well-watered part of Equatorial Africa, I 



132. LOBELIA DECKS NI 



