MOUNT SEATURA 



67 



basalts with scanty olivine, a little interstitial glass, and belonging 

 to the porphyritic and non-porphyritic sub-genera of genus 25 of 

 the olivine-rocks : {b) grey olivine-basalts with porphyritic opaque 

 plagioclase, containing but little residual glass, but varying greatly 

 in the amount of olivine and belonging to the genera 2 and 26 of 

 the olivine-basalts ; they would be classed, as far as appearance 

 goes, as porphyrites ; their specific gravity ranges 2-85 to 2-90. 

 The rock exposures were, however, scanty ; and but little infor- 

 mation could be obtained of the mode of occurrence. No 

 scoriaceous rocks were found except in the instance of a compact 

 dark basalt without plagioclase phenocrysts, apparently a dyke 

 rock, and belonging to genus 40 of the olivine-basalts. 



{e) Ascent to the Summit of Seatura from Ndriti. — The town of 

 Ndriti lies in the great gap in the south-west side of the mountain 

 which has been previously mentioned as probably an old crateral 

 cavity. After traversing a district of highly altered basic rocks 

 Dr propylites, to be subsequently described, and reaching an 

 ilevation of about 4CX) feet above the sea, I came to the long 

 ;lope that leads up to the summit. A dense forest hid every- 

 thing from view, so that the compass and aneroid had alone 

 o be relied on. 



At first one traversed a series of step-like alternations of level 

 j.TOund and steep " rises," until the old site of the village of Seatura, 

 <bout 1,200 feet above the sea, was reached. There are some 

 f trange legends connected with this old mountain-village, which is 

 1 ow only indicated by little piles of stones and the debris of a wall, 

 c-nd was evidently abandoned long ago. We finally reached the 

 ^jmmit by following up a spur or ridge in a northerly direction 

 f om Seatura. There was a precipitous descent on either side of the 

 r dge with evidently a broad, deep valley to the eastward. The 

 s immit was rounded ; but on account of the forest no view could 

 b; obtained. There was never any extensive exposure of rock 

 noticed during the ascent; but all the way up occasional small 

 b ocks of a blackish olivine-basalt were observed on the surface, of 

 tl e same general type as that found all around the mountain and 

 rt ferred to genus 37 in the synopsis. 



(/) The Ndriti Basin or C^/-.— This great hollow in the side of 

 S iatura, which I have named after the town in its midst, is appar- 

 ei tly a crateral cavity now drained by the Ndama river, and its 

 tr butaries, and covered with dense forest to such a degree that a 

 ?( neral view of the whole is impracticable. The glimpses, however, 

 th It one obtains of the mountain scenery are very grand, the town 



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