66 THE EAST SIDE OF RUWENZORI 



came their shyness, and gained considerable profit 

 from our sojourn amongst them. There was a 

 grand view across and down the Mubuku Valley to 

 the plains about Lake Ruisamba, though the lake 

 itself could not be seen, and beyond that a sea of 

 rolling hills far into the middle of Uganda. In the 

 opposite direction the view of the higher valley and 

 the heart of the range was cut off by a projecting 

 spur, which rose about i,ooo feet above Bihunga, 

 and acted as a welcome shield against the cold 

 wind which often blew down the valley from the 

 snows. The other members of the expedition had 

 already made considerable progress with the col- 

 lections, and had obtained several hundred skins of 

 birds and small mammals. The usual plan was to 

 go out early in the morning, and shoot enough birds 

 to keep the collector occupied for the rest of the 

 day ; the late afternoon was devoted to setting 

 traps for rats and mice and other small animals. 

 The expedition had been supplied with some very 

 large traps for catching lions and leopards, but 

 these, though they were useful afterwards for 

 catching hyenas on the plains, caught nothing in 

 Ruwenzori except one small native child, who in- 

 cautiously put her foot into one and was held tight, 

 and screaming, with no worse damage done than a 

 slight scratch. Her anxious parents dressed the 

 wound with an unspeakable mixture, and the result 

 was that for several weeks she was my solitary 

 patient. 



