A fIRE OX THE LOEOGHI liANGE 



61 



Here and there on our way up we had come upon met amor- 

 phic rock, from which we supposed that the whole mountain 

 mass was of similar material, and rose like an island from the 

 sea of volcanic debris. 



Arrived at the top, we were met by an icy wind, which soon 

 compelled us to take shelter amongst the trees, of which there 

 were now a good many. But we pressed on a little farther and 

 then began the descent on the northern side, coming presently 

 to a valley running in a north-north-easterly direction and 

 dividing the mountain chain from the plateau before us. There 

 closely growing rows of fine trees, chiefly conifers, surrounded us, 

 but through them we got many a peep of equally well-wooded 

 valleys on our right. The happy mood in which we wandered 

 amongst the lonely beauty of this primseval world was, alas ! dis- 

 pelled, when, as we got lower down, we came to traces of the 

 destructive hand of man, a fire, lit by some of the Wandorobbo 

 who frequent the Loroghi chain for hunting expeditions, having 

 evidently raged for weeks, for whole tracts were burnt or burn- 

 ing, trunks and branches were scattered on every side, and the 

 ground was covered with a layer of ashes from which smoke 

 and steam were rising in clouds. 



It was not without danger that we pressed on over the 

 smouldering remains of the trees and the white hot ashes. 

 Every now and then some half-charred trunk would fall close 

 to the path with a loud crash, and the glare from the gleaming 

 debris was terribly trying. The valley sloped rapidly down to 

 the lower-lying regions to which the fire had not extended, 

 where water began to appear again, at first in little isolated 

 pools, and later in such quantities that we thought we had 

 struck upon the source of a stream, but after all its full and 

 rapid course terminated in a mere pond. The steep sides of 

 the valley often approached each other so closely that we had 

 to wade through the water, and not until late in the afternoon 



