Chapter IX. 



Another place liiglier up on the path leadiu^j to the Freshfield 

 Pass, whii-h tlie rains and tlie going to and fio of the porters 

 had now rechieed to the condition of a ditcli full of mnd, 

 oiiered no hetter oppoi'tnnities. The Duke and C'agni hecauie 

 convinced of this after spending a whole day there in the 

 rain. 



They accordingly ])lanned to prepare a base line t>n the 

 first -mentioned level hehind Biijongolo. The Duke was then 

 to re-ascend the Edward Peak, while Cagni was to climl) the 

 nioTnitain which hears 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 summits. 



Meantime, on the 2nd of July, the Duke made a recognizance 

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

 comes out opposite Bujongolo. This valley he found to be 

 liarred l)y great steep slabs of rock, e.x.tremely .slippery and 

 certainly nnpassable for tlie native porters. The weather 

 continued bad. Mt. Baker was completely covered with fre.sh 

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

 into one mass of deep mud. (Jn the 4tli 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 mo.ss upon 

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

 order to mom it the theodolite at the extremities of the base 

 line, thev were obliged to build real fomidations, sinking 

 tree trunks into the mud more tlian si.x feet down to serve 

 as piles. 



Hardly had they taken these preparatory measm-es before 

 the weather ])egan to improve. On the 5tb of July, on a 



25i 



