VALLEYS ON RUWENZORI. 95 



entirely without influence. The natives are per- 

 petually chopping at any branch large enough for 

 firewood, and hence, on the border of the 

 forest, assist in maintaining this dense hedgy 

 bush. 



If we suppose the explorer in the figure to have 

 entered the forest and to be walking at ease by the 

 enormous trunks where the ground is covered by 

 ferns or scanty, long-branched bushes, he would, 

 after three hours' climbing, reach a much gentler 

 ascent at about 8,600 feet. Here the wind has no 

 steep slope behind it, and big trunks are unable to 

 resist its force. Hence, in a similar way to that 

 noticed for the Mau forest, numerous slender, 

 flexible trunks replace one enormous rigid one, 

 though these are often found in the more 

 sheltered ravines, and very soon the bamboos, 

 which are exactly suited to these conditions, 

 replace them and occupy the whole of the upper 

 ridges. This elevated ascent, though gently 

 sloped and exposed to wind, is not in the least 

 dry ; on the contrary, these ridges are in almost as 

 moist a climate as one could find anywhere. The 

 daily cloud which envelopes the mountain invests 

 them all night and scarcely leaves them for an 

 hour or so at sunset. Moreover, I do not think 

 that in the early morning they are above the 

 clouds like those parts of the chain above 

 10,000 feet. 



Hence they are in a rather cold, very humid, 



