198 In the Heart of Africa 



were inspected, and wages and stores distributed. Before the 

 signal for supper at 7 o'clock, the Europeans were in the habit 

 of meeting in the house belonging to the Chef de poste to take 

 a free and easy glass together. The evening often concluded 

 with an excellent gramophone concert, which usually took place 

 in glorious moonlight on the open square in front of the houses. 

 The homely sound awakened many memories of the past, and 

 caused our thoughts to wander away to those who were enjoying 

 the conventional " pleasures " and festivities of the winter season 

 in more or less stimulating society. How little I envied them! 

 How much happier I was with the task I had imposed on myself! 

 How rejoiced I felt at the thought of effecting something really 

 definite, in filling in gaps of science, by opening up new fields, 

 and by the investigations of my fellow-workers ! I felt I was 

 away from the vacuity of everyday life. 



Towering aloft to the east of Beni are the prodigious masses 

 of the Ruwenzori chain of mountains. A view of the mighty 

 glacier which covers the summit is, however, rarely enjoyed. I 

 had only one opportunity to gaze at it. It occurred at daybreak, 

 and as the sun rose above the horizon the glacial ice caught up 

 its rays and broke them into a gorgeous and scintillating display 

 of colour. As though Nature were ashamed, however, of this 

 puckish play of its favourite, she softly drew down a covering 

 veil again, making it even denser, until the contour of the moun- 

 tains was mysteriously obscured from the gaze of the beholder. 

 We owed it to the increasing downpours of rain that we occasion- 

 ally caught glimpses of the mountain. Torrential showers had 

 been the order of the day for the past week. 



As we sat at breakfast on the 17th of January, a hailstorm 

 suddenly swept down with devastating force, upsetting the tents, 

 bending the young trees almost to the ground, shaving the 

 tops of the papain * hurling boughs and branches to the earth 



♦ The papaia, or Melon tree, bears greenish, round-shaped fruit, about as large 

 as a coco-nut, the palatable yellow inside of which is scooped out with a spoon and 

 counts as a particular delicacy. 



