rii7 
or flowering. Remarkable everywhere on the summit are tlie numbers 
of trees witb pleasantly and strongly scented woods. Some o£ these 
are peculiarly agreeable, and would, doubtless, distil excellent per- 
fumes or highly odoriferous oils. At present Heaven only knows 
what valuable properties are lying latent and undiscovered among the 
vegetation of this mountain. There is now no excuse for allowing 
them to remain unknown much longer. 
That night we stretched the light calico fly between two trees, 
closed the edge on three sides with ferns to keep out the cold wind, 
and made a fire in front. Our couch was made from the leaves of 
ferns and palms growing all round us in magnificent luxuriance. 
Within thirty yards was a precipice at least 1,000 feet in depth. It is 
plainly seen from steamers passing along the coast, on the peak 
exactly opposite the Erauklyn Islands. The boys made coffee and 
dined on a tin of Skinner's preserved meat. Eor my own supper I 
had a piece of stale bread and part of a grilled pheasant-tailed pigeon 
shot on the previous day. Nobody had any appetite worth men- 
tioning after the day's work, and my right arm was nearly paralysed 
by seven hours' continuous track cutting with the cane-knife. We 
all slept fairly well, and as usual woke at daylight. When there was 
suflScient light I took Harold with me and started along the crest of 
the mountain to see if it was possible to take the boys on to the 
North Peak, and thence home by Mount Sophia. The vegetation 
here displayed an abnormal rankness, clearly indicating nearly per- 
petual moisture. Suddenly, about a quarter of a mile beyond the 
camp, I came face to face with enormous granite rocks, where 
the mountain pinched i]i to nothing, with apparently bottom- 
less precipices on both sides. Leaving the gan and cane-knife with 
Harold, I managed at considerable risk to travel about 200 yards 
beyond, and saw plainly that there was no chance of continuing in 
that direction, accom]mnied by the boys, unless we left everything we 
possessed, including the gun, blankets, and provisions. Eeturning to 
the camp, we prej)ared at once to go back the way we had come. I 
had, traversed the whole Bellenden-Ker Range from north to south, 
and stood on every peak, including Mounts Toressa and Sophia, 
except the North Peak, at the foot of which I was now compelled to 
turn back. So far there was nowhere visible the track of any human 
being, black or white, on any part of the mountain, and certainly no 
mortal man would have passed along that summit anywhere without 
leaving tracks necessarily visible for many years. My path all along 
the crest of the range will be clearly visible to a bushman for ten to 
fifteen years. Our swags were reduced to a minimum. Two out of 
the three blankets were left in the fork of a tree, and each of us had 
only to carry about a dozen pounds. We started to return about 8 
o'clock, and in five hours retraced the ten hours' journey of the day 
before, and reached the South Peak about 1 o'clock. After a cup of cocoa 
and a piece of dry bread, we started down the mountain, and in five hours 
more covered the whole journey to the Whelanian Pools. Harold and 
myself waited at the pools for half an hour until the boys arrived. 
My intention was to camp there, but rain Avas threatening, and one 
wet night might bring down the creeks and shut us in effectually for 
an indefinite period. The boys came out of the scrub and down the 
rocks, and flung their swags on the bare granite with a soul-felt sigh 
of relief. It cost me a severe pang to ask them to go on to the top 
