XXvm ITINERARY. 



not be dispersed until the -sun was well over the horizon ; the perpen- 

 dicular walls, of which we had heard so much, rising from the front nnd 

 disappearing behind the clouds above seemed to be of an immeasurable 

 lieight, while down their face fell the two falls of Kamaiwa and 

 Roraima paru, a long slope starting immediately outside the village led 

 to the foot of the walls. On our left to the south-east was Kiikeuaam, 

 very similar in appearance, but rising more abruptly fiom the plain, 

 and separated fi'om Roraima by a nariow valley tilled with cloud 

 during almost the whole of our vStay at the mountain. 



Roraima is rectangular, the north-west and south-east sides being 

 about nine miles, and south-wevst about six miles in length. 



No one has yet visited the north-east side of the mountain, which is 

 next to Kukenaam, but the vegetation is so luxuriant, that little could 

 be seen from the valley, and much time and labour would be lest in 

 attempting to cut a path. On the other three sides the perpendicular 

 cliffs present themselves, but so far the south-west face is the only 

 side in which any attemj t has been made to reach the top. Here, years 

 ago, a large mass of the cliff evidently slipped, and, while still retaining 

 its vertical position, has formed a ledge diagonally across the face, by 

 means of which, with a little difficulty, one is able to ascend to the 

 summit. Mr. im Tliurn, who, I understand, was at the head of the slope 

 for neai'ly a month, in his account of his trijD, mentioned that a camp 

 should be made some distance up, as it was practically impossilile to 

 carrv hammocks and provisions to the summit ; we therefoie decided 

 to spend the first day in finding a suitable spot for a camp and in 

 having a general look round. 



After early breakfast, I started with Qnelch up the incline ; for the 

 first mile or so we were on open grass-land quite devoid of bushes or 

 trees, but after this we had to pass through a belt of bracken six to eight 

 feet in height, mixed with other low growths, one of the most attrac- 

 tive of which was a shrub with dark green leaves, beaiing numerous 

 flowers not unlike balls of crimson silk. Passing through a narrow 

 strip of forest, we once more came to the open slope, more rocky and 

 steeper than lower down, the long grass hiding the rocks making 

 Walkinf more difficult ; the next feature was a large swamp, wonder- 

 fully rich in flowers and plants, and here I stopped to collect while 

 Quelch went on with the two Indians. There were large masses of 

 Utricnlaria Humholtii with pale purple flowers and dark purple stalks, 

 three feet in height, and of Brocchinea reduda, of a bright golden- 

 yellow colour, a thick undergrowth of IIeliam])hora, the S. American 

 Pitcher plant, with its pale pink flowers on long stalks, and curiou.sly- 

 shaped dark purplish and green pitchers ; Drosera, not unlike our 

 roticndi folia, but the young shoots cnntiniially growing out from above 

 the older and decayed leaves, gives the plant the appearance of being 

 raised from the ground on a black pedestal two inches in heigl.t, in 

 .some cases not unlike a, Pepalanthus ; the flowers are pink, on stalks 

 twelve to fifteen inches in length ; oi'chids of many kinds, the com- 

 monest of which bore pale and dark brown flowei-s on a stalk two feet 

 in height. One or two humming-birds flving about' in a small clump 

 of bush were the only signs of life I saw, with the exception of 

 a lar^e hawk, probably LejHodoyi, which flew away with a cry and 



