Chapter Vili. 



afternoon they went down to the camp, as the weather was 

 getting worse. The day had been completely wasted as far as 

 exploring work Mas concerned. 



The 24th and the 25th of June were spent in a dense fog, 

 with alternations of rain, snow, and hail. The guides set out 

 on a short excursion to endeavour to find the way to Mt. Emin 

 across the valleys which run down to the north-west of 

 Mt. Speke. On the 25th, H.R.H. attempted to proceed, but 

 was very soon forced to return, the fog being so dense that 

 it seemed like niiiiit. 



During these two days of obligatory rest, the Duke was 

 able to observe in the little torrents which flow down from the 

 Speke Glacier the periodic oscillations of volume, ranging from 

 a minimum in the morning to a maximum in the evening, which 

 are characteristic of torrents produced by the melting of ice. 

 There would be no reason to comment upon this fact were it not 

 that Mr. Freshfield was led, from observation of the small 

 dimensions of the Mobuku torrent where it springs from the 

 glacier, and from the limpidity of its waters, to conclude that 

 it rather originated from a spring under the glacier than from 

 actual melting of the ice. 



This view fits in with Mr. Freshfield's general theory that 

 tropical glaciers are consumed cliiefly by evaporation, and in 

 a minor degree only by melting. Whatever may be the con- 

 ditions in the Himalayas, there can be no doubt that in this 

 respect the glaciers of Ruwenzori resemble those of our own 

 Alps, and tliat they all give rise to torrents flowing from their 

 extreme end with all the characteristic features of glacier 

 torrents. As a matter of fact, the climate of Ruwenzori is very 

 little tropical in its nature, and it would seem that a condition 

 of atmospliere so satiu'ated with iiioistiu'e as to render the 



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