CHAPTER VII 



CLIMBING IN RUWENZORI 



' Questa montagna e tale, 

 Che sempre il cominciar di sotto h grave 

 E quant' uom piu va su, e men fa male.' 



Dante. 



Before inviting the patient reader to accompany 

 me on our attempts to reach the heart of Ruwenzori, 

 I will briefly record the expeditions that had been 

 made with a similar purpose by previous travellers. 

 The first ascent that was made in the range was in 

 1889, when Lieutenant Stairs, of Stanley's Emin 

 Pasha Relief Expedition, reached a height of 10,677 

 feet on the western slopes. So far as I can unravel 

 the complication of native names, this ascent must 

 have been from one of the valleys north of the 

 Butagu. In 1891 Dr. Stuhlmann ascended to a 

 height of 13,326 feet in the Butagu Valley on the 

 west side of the chain ; and though he did not reach 

 the snow, he obtained fine photographs of the 

 highest peaks. In 1895 vScott Elliot ascended to 

 about the same point in the Butagu Valley and 

 made excursions into four valleys on the eastern 

 side of the range, reaching the watershed in two 

 different places, but in neither valley did he reach 



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