The Eastern Congo 



Getting an early start on the following morning, we con- 

 tinued to clamber up the throat of the ravine, until the tiny 

 village of Kalongi was reached at 7,400 feet above sea level. 

 These huts, situated in the bamboo zone, are perched at 

 the foot of the central mass of the Ruwenzori Mountains, 

 and are the last habitations to be found before tackling 

 the heather-clad slopes that tower into the clouds above 

 them. 



Having to make preparations for the four or five days 

 that I wished to spend under the snow-clad summits, I now 

 selected fifteen of my best porters to carry the necessary 

 loads to a saddle that could be discerned high above us, and 

 on which I proposed to make a half-way camp. There were 

 eight loads of food and a big tent for the porters ; the re- 

 maining men were to carry my tent, bed, blankets, food, 

 cameras, etc. My cook and one native collector were to 

 accompany me. By night-fall all was ready for an early 

 start the following day ; the weather, on which so much 

 depended, fortunately remained fine. 



So far, we had followed the steep-sided embrasure of the 

 Butahu Ravine, but the next morning, after sending my 

 three new Kalongi guides to cut a path in advance, we struck 

 off to the north at right angles. This took us along the 

 sharp-crested spur that divides the Kanyamwamba from 

 the Kamsonsa River and which runs up, at a very steep 

 angle, to the foot of the lesser peaks facing the central massif 

 of Ruwenzori, and so on up to my proposed camping place. 



At first the narrow track wound through the bamboos 

 but presently came out into a sub-alpine region. Here 

 the heather brush-wood stands ten to twelve feet high for 

 the most part and alternates with older patches, tree-like 



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