GIANT LOBELIAS 



357 



when I was glad to find there were fewer beetles than 

 before. 



The two mules which had been left behind were 

 brought in, and I had a busy time generally, inspecting 

 and rearranging camp-kit and loads. 



Next morning — Sunday, 24th June — I got the caravan 

 away at 7.30, and went over to the new church, where 

 the governor and a large 

 suite met me. I took several 

 photos, many of the people 

 carefully covering their mouths 

 as a precaution against evil. 

 The Balambaras accompanied 

 me for some little distance 

 and then took leave ; 1 com- 

 mended to his care three of 

 my men who were sick, and 

 gave him as a present various 

 small articles for which I heard 

 he had expressed a wish. 



We steadily ascended till 12.45, a cold wind blowing 

 in our faces. Below us, on our left, lay the Serracum 

 valley, the head of which was our immediate goal. The 

 ground over which we passed was covered with short 

 coarse grass and dotted with most curious trees, the like 

 of which I have seen nowhere else. The natives call 

 them Gibaj^rar, and the species has been identified from 

 my photographs by Dr. Maxwell Masters as Lobelia 

 rhynchopetalum, a giant member of a genus in which the 

 species are usually small, and one hitherto but little known. 

 It has the appearance of a dw^arf palm, with a stem from 



Giant Lobeli 



