74 THE EAST SIDE OF RUWENZORI 



were cloaked in mist, and everything would be 

 soaked with moisture. This added very materially to 

 the difficulty of making collections, for not only was 

 the time in which collecting was practicable very 

 much shortened, but the work of drying skins and 

 plants was made almost impossible. 



During the spell of fine weather in January we 

 were visited by an Austrian climber, Herr Grauer, 

 and three members of the Church Missionary Society, 

 who were on their way back from an expedition to 

 the head of the Mubuku Valley, where they had 

 made an attempt to ' climb Ruwenzori.' Although 

 they only succeeded in reaching the summit of one 

 of the higher ridges, not the watershed, of the 

 range, the point reached by Herr Grauer's party, 

 about 15,000 feet, was the highest that had been 

 attained up to that time. It was unfortunate that 

 we could not take advantage of the fine weather 

 in the same month ; both of the expeditions that we 

 made to the centre of the range were unavoidably 

 delayed until after the wet weather had set in. 

 Herr Grauer stayed with us for several days, which 

 he occupied chiefly in removing from his person the 

 mud of Ruwenzori, of which he could not say bad 

 enough things, and, as we subsequently found out 

 for ourselves, his description was in no way exag- 

 gerated. Visitors and excitements were rare at 

 Bihunga, and we were all sorry when our delightful 

 friend departed. 



So far as it is possible to judge from our own 



