Through the Semliki Valley 215 



5. adnivalis, the stalked lobelia of the lofty regions, Lobelia 

 Wollasionii, and the splendid bushes of Helichrysum Stuhlmanii, 

 with silver white or slightly yellow everlasting heads, whilst the 

 ground was covered with a carpet of alchemilLa, dwarf shrubs 

 and mosses. Beautiful Nectarina Johnstonii, a colibri genus, 

 the males of which are magnificently coloured, were flying round 

 the lobelia stems in pairs. Their body colour is almost black, 

 whilst their pinions and head are an iridescent emerald green. 

 Their most conspicuous adornments, however, are two lengthened 

 middle tail feathers, which flutter streamer-like in flight. It is 

 charming to observe the doings of these devoted couples in these 

 inhospitable heights ; how they fly in bow-like circuits from one 

 plant to another, or flit about here and there on the big branches, 

 digging their delicately bent beaks into flowers to obtain insects, 

 whereby they eff^ect pollenisation at the same time. 



"That day everything appeared grey and obscured through 

 a misty veil of fog and rain ; the weather had been growing 

 steadily worse, and such severe, damp cold prevailed that my 

 hands had become quite numbed. Except for a leathern jacket, 

 which only kept the upper portion of my body dry, I could not 

 have advanced so far. As the fog prevented any view, and it was 

 already two o'clock, I turned back, although the guide urged me 

 on, addressing me vociferously ; but I only understood the words 

 ' chupa ' (bottle) and ' matabisch ' (for baksheesh). I learned 

 later that he feared he would lose his baksheesh if he did not 

 show me the bottle on Ulimbi which served as ' visitor's book.' 



" Next day brought glorious weather with warm sunshine, so 

 that in our encampment, about 2,400 metres above the sea-level, 

 we were able to work at our collections in our shirt sleeves. Our 

 drooping spirits revived, and I decided to make another attempt 

 at an ascent on the following Sunday, the i6th of February. As 

 my constant follower, Maneno, and another, had not proved 

 good mountaineers on the 14th, and had been left wailing and 

 freezing on the way under an erica bush, I gave up any hope of 

 relying on my own people, and selected three quite wild natives, 

 with whom it was only possible to carry on very imperfect com- 



