54 EXPEDITION INTO INTERIOR OF SUMATRA. 
sweet-smelling shrubs, such as the lawang, the bark of which 
has an odour of orange-flowers, as also the flowers, the leaves, 
and the fruit of the sarikmandjari, a number of sharp edged 
erasses, and several graceful species of nepenthe. At the 
highest point, which exceeds 3,000 métres, wherever a 
little vegetable soil is collected in corners of the porous rock, 
are to be seen, besides the plants already mentioned, the 
lobak with its yellow flowers, and the tjapo-gounong, whose 
little white flowers and pointed velvet leaves remind us of 
the Edelweiss of the Alps. I will not go into the question as 
to whether the presence of these plants proves the fertility of 
the soil, but it is certain that the soil of the gentle slope 
to the east and to the north-east of the Peak, is singularly 
rich, and perfectly suited to agricultural enterprise. 
In digging the ground for the foundations of our hut, 
as well as in places where landslips had occurred, I ascer- 
tained that the vegetable soil was in places more than a 
metre in depth. But in order to obtain satisfactory results 
from the cultivation of this district, it would first of all be 
necessary to supplement its present scanty population 
with a supply of labourers from MHindostan, Java, or 
elsewhere. 
The result of our observations of animal life, after leay- 
ing the foot of the mountain, may be stated in a few words. 
The large animals did not show themselves, which indeed 
they rarely do, for in the depths of these vast forests animal 
life seems exinct. The tracks of the rhinoceros were only 
met with up to a height of 2,000 metres, those of the elephant 
not beyond 1,500 métres ; wild chamois frequent the inacces- 
sible rocks, and choose out those crevices and erottos which 
by their projections afford them cover from the wind and 
rain. Up tothe very top we found tracks and droppings of 
this antilocarpus sumatrensis. With regard to insects, we 
remarked at the summit, some bees, gad flies, some small 
black insects under stones, and here and there a butterfly. 
We also met with a species of brown pigeon, perhaps the T’reron 
Nasica, and some smaller birds with green wings and red heads. 
Leeches were only perceived up to a height ‘of 1 ,300 metres, 
while spiders, especially those of the family of Lycoeides 
do not go higher than 3,000 metres, 
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