The Eastern Congo 



into the thick brush-wood. I did, however, get a good 

 look at him, which confirmed my opinion that this animal 

 differed from the common variety. It struck me as being 

 two or three times as large, of a reddish tinge, with thicker 

 hair and a greyish fringe round the face. 



As it was getting late and rain threatening I now made 

 the best of my way back to camp. On arrival there I found 

 a letter aw*aiting me from the Father-Superior of Njundo 

 Mission, in answer to one of mine, telling me that " the best 

 place to find both the gorilla and chimpanzi was in the forest 

 near the Karisimbi volcano," some three days' farther north. 



On the receipt of this news and as both myself and the 

 native collectors had worked the forest pretty thoroughly 

 for new insects, I decided to strike camp. Meeting my wife 

 at a pre-arranged rendezvous, we passed through the broken 

 and difficult country that here forms the eastern wall of 

 the Great Rift, and late in the afternoon we stood on a high 

 prominence above the Funda River, directly overlooking 

 the Bay of Kisenji. The northern coast line of Lake Kivu, 

 losing itself in its high western ramparts could only be dimly 

 discerned, but on our right stood, definitely defined, the 

 outlines of one of the little known wonders of the world, 

 the three largest of the gigantic volcanoes which form the 

 western portion of the great Virunga or Mfumbiro mountain 

 range. 



After camping for the night we were abroad at an early 

 hour the following morning. We hoped for another view 

 of the volcanoes, which we had come so far to see, but this 

 was not vouchsafed to us, for the valley below was veiled 

 in mist and not a glimpse could be obtained of them. 



We made our way to the Njundo Mission, and arriving 



52 



