From Fort Portal to Bujongolo— Mobuku Valley. 



around was deep iimd. Branches and tree trunks spread 

 upon the ground formed a platform large enough to admit 

 of two more tents. It took many hovu's' hard la})our in 

 the mud and under the rain before the camp could be got 

 ready. 



Such firewood as could be collected in tlie immediate 

 neiofhbourhood was scarce, and the fires insufficient. The 

 remaining Baganda porters, tired, discouraged, and shivering 

 witli cold were evidently incapable of proceeding any further. 

 They were therefore all sent back with the boys to 

 Butanuka, thence to join their comrades who had been 

 dismissed from Bihunga and Nakitawa. Henceforward the 

 expedition proceeded with the Bakonjo only, leaving a number 

 of loads behind to be sent for later as required. 



The Kichuchu shelter stands upon a plateau which forms 

 the first of a series of three terraces, all soaked with stagnant 

 water and divided one from another by cliffs some 600 feet 

 to 1,000 feet high. These three terraces form the upper 

 Mobuku Valley. Above Kichuchu the way suddenly grows 

 steep, and mounts by a narrow natural ledge in the rock of 

 a spur about 900 feet high, belonging to the southernmost 

 peak of the Portal group. 



At the narrowest and most difficult points of this rockv 

 ledge the climb is facilitated by wooden stejjs. The path is 

 so steep that you have to climb with hands and feet, clutching 

 the few creeping plants and shrubs which grow within reach. 

 Tlie last bit is less steep, but is again a mass of mud, stones 

 and roots. 



The summit is at last reached. This is the brow of the 

 second plateau of the valley, and here one of the most singular 

 sights seen in all the journey awaited the expedition. 



129 K 



