Peaks of tlie Central Group. 



vanquished. In a tew minutes H.Ti.H. set foot upon the highest 

 peak of Ruwenzori. 



They emerged from tht^ mist into sj)lendid clear sunhglit. 

 At tlieir feet lay a sea of fog. An impenetrahle layer of hght 

 ashy-white cloud-drifts, stretching as far as the eye could reach, 

 was drifting rapidly north-westward. From tlie iimnense 

 moving surface emerged two fixed points, t^\■o pure wliite peaks 

 sjjarkling in the sun with their myriad snow crystals. These 

 were the two extreme sunmiits of the highest peaks. The 

 Duke of the Ahruzzi named these sunnnits Margherita and 

 Alexandra " in order that, under the auspices of these two 

 royal ladies, the memory of the two nations may he handed 

 down to posteritv — of Italy, whose name was the first to 

 resound on these snows in a shout of victory, and of p]ngiand, 

 which in its marvellous colonial expansion carries civilization 

 to the slopes of these remote inountains. "* 



It was a thrillino- moment when the little tricolour llao-, 

 given V)y H.M. Queen Margherita of Savoy, unfurled to the 

 wind and sun the eml)roidered letters of its inspiring motto 

 " Ardisci e Spera " (Dare and Hope). 



The wind was hlowing up rather fresli from the south-east 

 with a temperature of 2.3 "4 F. Calculations from the ohserva- 

 tions taken gave a height of 1G,815 feet for Margherita Peak, 

 and 16,749 feet for Alexandra Peak. It was now 11. -"lO a.m. 

 They had taken about half an hour to get down from the first 

 peak to the col, and an Inmr and a-half to climh from the col to 

 Peak Margherita. These hours were fidi of intense excitement, 

 owing to their perpetual fear of seeing the way blocked by 

 some insuperable obstacle. 



Margherita Peak is all covered with snow, and not a single 

 * See " Geographical Journal," February, 1907, p. 138. 

 185 



