ITINERARY. IvU 



titanic conflagration had swept all over it, leaving only bare and 

 blackened rocks. It is only in detail that one can njijireciate the 

 features of its vegetation, whicli is most abundant in sheltered nooks 

 and crannies, and comers, by the pools and behind protecting rocks, 

 and forming a rough carpet of mixed growths of all sorts scattered 

 about the valleys, in open exposure to the sunlight. 



During the long course of ages, the play of wind and rain has 

 worked the rock into an astonishing variety of shapes — looking at 

 times like i-oughly carved figures of men and animals and familiar 

 objects — rising often into lofty pinnacles, lilce great towers and 

 minarets, over elevated ridges, irregularly terraced and rugged, with 

 nariow winding gullies and wide open valleys which drain away the 

 excessive rains thi"ough numerous shallow pools and streams. The 

 highest ridges rise to 8740 feet, and the deepest gullies are some 

 400 feet below them ; and in all one is struck everj^where by the 

 irregularities of the weathered rock. In places the sandstone may be 

 hard, but mostly it is soft and finable, easily breaking away, especially 

 on the weathered and disintegrated projections, so that falls may be 

 frequent, and constant care is required in laboriously clambering about 

 them while collecting. It was tantalising at times to note some 

 apparently new specimen in positions where a broken neck would have 

 been the almost certain rewai-d of the attempt to reach it. As it was, 

 bruises Avere frequent enough where the rotten rock had given way 

 unexpectedly ; and one was cliary of climbs up or down really steep 

 places, preferi'ing long and tedious ways round by safer passages, where 

 such were to be found, to reach specimens that were at first but a very 

 few yai-ds off. Collecting therefoi'e was often a very slow process, but 

 quite unavoidably so — apart from oncoming mists and clouds that 

 oblitei-ated evei-ything for the time being. One always w^ondere<l, 

 w'hen on some high ridge, whether they might be permanent. 



Occasionally one comes on some comparatively deep pools on the 

 lower parts of the ridges, where there may be small channels of 

 running water or cascades from the heights. They are, however, never 

 large, being generally about some five feet in depth and a little longer 

 at times; and they had always large numbei's of dragon-fly larvae in 

 them. Those in the gullifs were usually much larger, but very 

 shallow, of about one or two feet in depth, with numerous rocks and 

 much sand. In some of them, but frecjueutly exposed, as if the pools 

 had diied up leaving a fine greenish .scum, were a profusion of quartz 

 or quartzite crystals, often in masses, the individual cry.stal often being 

 about four inches long and an inch through, and quite clear. They 

 were the cau.se of much speculation, some of the jieople bringing them 

 in under the impression they were diamonds — no douljt with dreams 

 of the ru.sh that would take place to the distant Roi'aima, as to other 

 places where gold or other diamonds had been discovered. " All is not 

 gold that glitters" is as applicable to (juartz crystals as to pyrites. It 

 is not very loug ago that a |ii'Ospector had loaded his boat with blocks 

 of a peculiarly cleai- and bright rock-cry.stal from the Kuribrong rivei-, 

 iinder the l)elief that he hnd hit upon a whole original formation of 

 diamonds. The Eliz.'ibeth;in warrior is l)y no means singula]-. 



During nine days' continuous ex[)loratiou it was possible to range 



