Chapter V. 



hand. On the other side of the boulder the guides, by dint 

 of displacing large rocks with their ice-axes and working 

 liard at levelling, had made room for their own tents. 



Kverv time that anyone stepped out of the camp he 

 would sink into the mud. It was impossible to circulate 

 Ijetween the tents without nailed boots, because the moment 

 tliat v<»u came out a sort of mountain-climbing gymnastic 

 beo-an, where it was necessary to hold on tight at every 



step. 



Th." mean temperature was from 39° to 41° F. At night 

 it generally fell to 33°-34°, and sometimes to freezing point. 

 Tlie dampness, however, was far more trying than the cold. 



( )ne event alone would occasionally relieve the tedium,, 

 namely, the arrival of the post. The letters w^ere brought 

 up bv swift couriers — wrapped up carefully in banana leaves, 

 and stuck in the end of a cleft cane. 



Now and again the camp wo\ild be filled with pungent 

 smoke, extremely irritating to the eyes and chest, which 

 came from the fires lit by the Bakonjo in the underground 

 cavities between the boulders. They huddled together all 

 flav long in these dens, where they had not room to stretch 

 tliemselves out at length, and ate or smoked incessantly when 

 thev were not asleep. Their real providence was the fire. 

 They ncvei- left it except when called away, and rushed back 

 to s(|uat aromid it as soon as they were no longer required. 

 Thev carried it al)Out with tliem from place to place, using a 

 soit of drv fungus which remains kindled like tinder, and which 

 thev kee]) in a case made of banana leaves. The moment a 

 lialt was called during a march, in less than no time the natives 

 would have kindled a fire and l)e enjoying a fine blaze and 

 smoking tlieir })ii)es, and it was not always easy to induce 



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