VIII.J 



THE ROAD TO TOXDAXO. 



169 



Anglo-Indian phraseology, the doubt soon resolved itself into a 

 certainty. At sunset we had made little more than ten miles, the 

 steep climb and bad road having obliged us several times to out- 

 span and rest our bullocks. We had reached an altitude of two or 

 three thousand feet on the shoulder of the Lokon volcano, and the 

 road, skirting a deep ravine filled with a wild tangle of jungle, 

 gave us a magnificent view of the country. Opposite to us, across 



ON THE ROAD TO TONDAXO. 



the gorge. Mount Klabat hid the Gunong Sodara and other volcanoes 

 from our sight, its summit touched by the settmg sun ; and to our 

 left lay the Bay of Menado, where we could just discern the two 

 ships lying at anchor. Large tree-ferns were very abundant here, 

 and formed a marked feature in the foreground of our landscape. 

 The dampness and mossiness of the forest indicated the heavy 

 rainfall that these elevated regions experience, and the trees were 

 covered with a marvellously luxuriant growth of parasitic plants 

 and creepers. 



For more than an hour we trudo-ed on through the darkness 



