WE START FOE THE PEAKS. 35 



the entouragfe of flannel under-o-arments 

 which he used as a nightcap, while the cook 

 and Georgi, sitting up on their hams on the 

 other side the fire, smoked and watched 

 him in silence as they might watch a bomb- 

 shell likely to burst at any moment m their 

 midst. 



No wonder Simon was anxious to make 

 an early start for the peaks, if he meant us to 

 be there by dawn, as, so far were we from the 

 main mountain, and so dense was the forest 

 on the foot-hills, that two good hours' hard 

 work barely carried us to the beginning of our 

 climb. To my mind this blundering in the 

 dark, amongst the dense vegetation, wet and 

 slippery with chilly night dew, is the worst 

 part of the day's work, and I felt compara- 

 tively content when we had gained the short 

 grass of the higher ridges still white with 

 hoar frost. 



As usual the dense thickets of angelica 



D 2 



