70 THE EAST SIDE OF RUWENZORI 



blindly through tunnels of forest, the views acquire 

 an importance which can hardly be realized in a 

 country built upon a smaller scale. It is the views 

 seen or hoped for (too often the latter) which alone 

 make travelling tolerable in Africa, and I shall 

 venture to record them without further apology. 



After toiling up the steep ascent on one side of 

 the spur, it was a delight to plunge down on the 

 other into the cool forest below. There was a 

 narrow track, used sometimes by the natives on 

 their hunting expeditions, which always lured one 

 on through the forest. Anyone who loves walking 

 in a wood knows how hard it is to turn back ; there 

 is always something a little farther on — a turn in the 

 path, or a stream to be crossed, and an enticing 

 hill beyond. Sunbeams reaching the ground here 

 and there, mysterious shadows, and the desire to 

 see yet a little more, always beckoned one on from 

 tree to tree, even after almost every turn of the 

 path had become familiar. 



The trees in this Ruwenzori forest are not of very 

 great size, hardly bigger than forest-trees in England, 

 but the greater density of the foliage, and the thick 

 undergrowth, and the tangle of vines and creepers 

 which envelop the trunks, together produce a 

 dampness and darkness that are quite foreign to 

 an English wood. Except in the early morning 

 and late afternoon the forest is strangely silent ; 

 the rustle of heavy falling leaves (it is always 

 autumn in the forest) and the hush of the wind in 



