314 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Sir Ross Smith 



NATIVES DIGGING THE WHEELS OE THE VIMY FROM THE MUD AT SOERABAYA, JAVA 



The bamboo-matting runway, constructed to enable the Vimy to ''take-off," was composed 

 largely of the coverings of the native huts. Entire villages were stripped of their roofs to 

 provide this material (see pages 316-317 and text, page 327). 



As we approached the 7,000-foot level, 

 which I knew to be the height of the 

 range, we huddled together and held on 

 tight, in anticipation of the crash ! I 

 noticed a small hole in the cloud, with 

 something dark beneath. It was past in 

 a flash, but instantly I pushed the throttle 

 full open and flew level again. At first 

 I thought it was th^ top of a dreadful 

 peak, but on further consideration I re- 

 membered that in my brief glance the 

 dark patch had looked a long way down. 



A GLORIOUS WORLD BURSTS INTO VIEW 



Once more I shut off and went lower, 

 and as we had not hit anything by the 

 time we reached 4,000 feet, I concluded 

 that the range had been crossed. 



A few minutes more and we burst out 

 into full view of a glorious world, car- 

 peted with trees, 1,500 feet below. The 

 sudden transformation was stunning. It 

 was an unspeakable relief — the end of an 



hour that was one of the veriest night- 

 mare experiences I have ever passed 

 through. 



Before our bewildered gaze there 

 stretched a dark-green forest, only lim- 

 ited by the distant skyline. Here and 

 there the dark green was splashed with 

 patches of bright-colored creeper, and in 

 spite of the fact that there was not the 

 vestige of a possible landing place, it was 

 beautiful and a welcome relief. Later, 

 the Siamese told us that all this country 

 was unexplored. 



The country now began to fall away 

 gradually to the east ; the hills became 

 less rugged and petered out into undu- 

 lating, yet heavily wooded, jungle. An 

 hour later and we reached the Mekon 

 River and the haunts of man. Small 

 villages lay scattered along its banks and 

 wide expanses of irrigated lands verdant 

 with rice crops. 



Following downstream, we landed at 



