236 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



So many rivers are there in this region that this was 

 in some places separated by less than two miles from the 

 Iwaka ; it was eventually found that this was a branch 

 of the Wania, a large river which enters the sea in a 

 common mouth with the Kamura, of which the Iwaka 

 is a tributary. It was evident that this river came from 

 the slopes of Mount Godman (9,500 ft.) a huge mass 

 immediately to the North of us, and it was our intention 

 to climb up on to the ridge of that mountain in the 

 hopes of obtaining a view of the country to the North 

 of it, and of the Snow Mountains. 



Going up the valley we found ourselves in the midst 

 of really beautiful scenery. The mountains soon closed 

 in about us, and the river, though not running through 

 an actual gorge, was walled by precipices of white lime- 

 stone rock, now on one side and now on the other. 

 This necessitated our frequently crossing the river, a 

 task by no means easy even when the water is low, as 

 it happened to be at that time. The best way of crossing 

 those rapid rivers is not to fight your way upwards 

 and across the stream, but to go rather with the stream 

 in a sloping direction towards the other bank, and to 

 go as quickly as may be. The bottom is made of very 

 slippery stones, and a false step means disaster, as we 

 all found at different times, but in that way you cross 

 with far less exertion than by breasting the stream. 



In this valley, for the first time since we came to 

 New Guinea, we found several flowering plants ; among 

 the rocks by the river grew clumps of a large pink Balsam, 

 and on the moss at the foot of the tree trunks was a 

 beautiful scarlet Begonia with a remarkably hairy leaf. 



