1953] 



VEGETATION OF NY AS ALAND 



171 



mouth of Likubula Gorge. From there Dr. Anthony and I made a preliminary recon- 

 naissance of the mountain, and on June 24, with 57 carriers, we again ascended 

 the steep slopes and in four hours reached a forester's cottage at about 6,100 feet 

 on an upland known as Luchenya Plateau. Collecting, in which Mr. Vernay took 

 part for several days, was carried out from the forester's cottage until July 18, 

 when we rejoined the rest of the party at Likubula base and all returned to 

 Blantyre. 



So far, our work had been confined to the eastern side of the Rift and to south- 

 ern parts of the Protectorate. On July 22 we left Blantyre in two groups for travel 

 to Nchisi, on the western side of the Rift and in the Central Province. Captain 

 Shortridge, with most of the stores and personnel, went by train to railhead at 

 Salima, on Lake Nyasa, and from there by truck. The rest of us traveled by road, 

 breaking the 270-mile journey with an overnight stop at Dedza, about half way. A 

 disused government bungalow at Nchisi was headquarters for collecting from July 

 23 to August 7. For several weeks after that the expedition was divided into two 

 and sometimes three parties in order that both large and small mammals, and 

 plants, could be collected in different localities each offering special attractions. 

 Under this arrangement, mammal collecting was carried out at Kasungu, and at 

 Kota-kota and in the Chia country on the Lake Nyasa plains. 



With my three native assistants and a cook, I left Nchisi by truck on August 8 

 to collect on Nyika Plateau, in the far northern part of the country. The journey of 

 295 miles occupied a day and a half, with an overnight break at Mzimba. Starting 

 with 25 carriers from Nchena-chena, an agricultural experiment station at about 

 4,200 feet on the southeastern slopes of Nyika, a camp site at approximately 

 7,700 feet on top of the plateau was reached in three hours on the 10th of the 

 month. I returned to Nchena-chena August 20, and started on the road back through 

 Mzimba two days later. 



At Kasungu, on August 23, I joined Captain Shortridge, who was examining 

 this area for small mammals. We moved to Nchisi on the 29th, and the following 

 day descended the escarpment of the Rift to Chibotela village, in the Chia area 

 of the lake plain, where Mr. Vernay and Dr. Anthony were hunting big game. Plants 

 were collected in the Chia up to September 7, then again at Nchisi and nearby 

 Chintembwe, and at Chenga Hill nine miles to the southwest, until the commence- 

 ment of our return journey to Blantyre on September 13. 



The most important part of the work of the expedition having then been ac- 

 complishea, Mr. Vernay returned to the United States. 



Field work was resumed in the Southern Province on September 18, when Dr. 

 Anthony and I set up camp at an altitude of about 4,000 feet on Cholo Mountain, 

 on the eastern rim of the Rift some 30 miles south of Blantyre by road. Captain 

 Shortridge spent a week with us at Cholo, and then was obliged to return to Blan- 

 tyre, ill with malaria and dysentery. 



On October 1, we broke camp at Cholo, and traveling by way of Blantyre, went 

 down into the bottom of the Rift and crossed the lower Shire River to Chikwawa, 

 about 350 feet above sea level. From headquarters at the government station at 

 Chikwawa, we spent five days in collecting west toward the Portuguese border 

 and south as far as the lower Mwanza River. The field work of the expedition in 

 Nyasaland ended with our return to Blantyre on October 7. 



COLLECTING LOCALITIES 



Shire Highlands. Only a few plants, totalling 52 numbers, were collected on 

 the Shire Highlands, in the vicinity of the towns of Blantyre (3,400 feet) and 

 Zomba (3,100 feet). The area has received far more attention from botanical col- 



