ITINERARY. XXIX 



flight not unlike a sea-gull, the px-evailing white colour aiding the 

 resemblance. 



On his retiu-n, Qiielch told us that the path was fairly easy, and that 

 very little clearing would have to be done, at any rate, for the first 

 part of the thick belt of bush which surrounded the base of the cliff. 

 Following the advice given by Mr. im Thurn, Quelch started next 

 morning with all our men to erect a palm-leaf house as far into the 

 bush as was possible in one day, while I stayed below to take one or 

 two photos, and the next morning we moved up, with hammocks and 

 provisions, to our new camp. 



Entering the bush at the head of the slope for the first time, I was 

 quite taken aback at the appearance of the vegetation. Masses of 

 creepers and lianas twisted and tangled together in such a way that it 

 was almost impossible to see more than ten or twelve feet in any 

 direction, rocks, roots, and creepeis mixed under foot in a surprising 

 manner ; occasionally we could hear the roar of a torrent under us but 

 out of sight. It was difficult to say where the ground actually was, we 

 were certainly not walking on it, neither could we see it ; we were 

 standing at one time on rocks, at others on fallen tree-trunks, creepers, 

 or bush-ropes, between which the spaces were filled with decaying vege- 

 table mould and moss, every now^ and then a branch or root would 

 l)reak, and some one of the party would be seen with only half of his 

 body above ground, while his legs were dangling somewhere below out 

 of sight. The stufi"y dampness was almost overpowering, especisilly as 

 the clim])ing was very severe ; every branch and tree seemed covered 

 with moss, lungwort, or lichen, saturated with moisture, which to us 

 in our heated condition seemed icy cold ; our clothes were wet through 

 with the dripping of this moisture in less than five minutes. After 

 about a couple of hoiu's of climbing, sometimes over large rocks, or 

 perhaps under them, up slippery tree-trunks, and over or through 

 tangled creepei-s, using our arms almost as much as our legs, w^e reached 

 the cnmp which the men had prepared the day before ; some long poles 

 propped against a straight face of rock and covei-ed with palm-leaves 

 njade a very good shelter, but not in any way comfortable, the floor 

 being as uneven and unpleasant as the path. 



Most of the men now left us, not caring for the cold night, and 

 being also more or less afraid of evil spirits and of the big bird Avhich 

 carries away anyone rash enough to attempt to reach its abode on the 

 top of the mountain. 



Next morning our clothes and hammocks were wet through with the 

 damp, and we felt more as though we had been sleeping out in 

 November in England than in the height of the diy season in Guiana. 

 Continuing our path, the men on in front cutting as they went, 

 passing palms, large tree-ferns, and large quantities of the Roraima 

 blackl)eiry {Itiihus 7-oraima), a plant closely resembling our English 

 species, but bearing fruit more abundantly, we reached the face of the 

 clifT; here and there, on the moss and on the cliff itself, wo noticed the 

 two blood-red Ulricnlarias, mmitmia and camheliana, and one single 

 specimen of a pine white. Looking up, we could see the straiglit 

 sinof»th wall, and a.s wo tumofl to the left to ascend the ledge, could 

 realize its height and magnificence. Soon among n tangle of climbing 



