Chapter IX. 



Another place lii<;lier up on the path leading to the Freshfield 

 Pass, wliicli the rains and the going to and fro of the porters 

 had now i-ednced to the condition of a ditch full of mud, 

 offered no better opportunities. The Duke and Cagni became 

 convinced of this after spending a whole day there in the 

 rain. 



They accordingly planned to prepare a base line on the 

 first-mentioned level behind Bujongolo. The Duke was then 

 to re-ascend the Edward Peak, wliile Cao;ni w^as to climb the 

 mountain which bears his name, and from these two they were 

 to measure the angles of the other peaks. Everything now 

 depended upon the good luck of getting a few hours of clear 

 weather upon these two sunnnits. 



Meantime, on the 2nd of Julv, the Duke made a recoirnizance 

 in the valley which runs between Mts. Baker and Cagni and 

 comes out ojjposite Bujongolo. This valley he found to be 

 barred by great steep slabs of rock, extremely slippery and 

 certainly impassable for the native porters. The weather 

 continued bad. Mt. Baker was completely covered with fresh 

 snow. In the valley the rain had turned the whole ground 

 into one mass of deep mud. On the 4th of July, between 

 the showers, they succeeded, by taking advantage of every 

 break in the fog, in tracing the base line upon the level tract 

 above the camp, which consisted of a carpet of moss upon 

 a muddy soil, dotted with senecios dripping with rain. In 

 order to mount the theodolite at tlie extremities of the base 

 line, they w^ere obliged to build real foundations, sinking 

 tree trunks into th(- mud more than six feet down t(j serve 

 as piles. 



Hardly had tlx'V taken tliese pre2)aratory measures before 

 the weather began to impiove. ()ii tlie 5tli <>f Julv, on a 



254 



