Troubled with the Cold and Wet. 
207 
mountain itself and started to climb it, over one of the flats devoid of 
forest, between huge sandstone boulders of the most fantastic shapes. 
The higher we got, the more beautiful and surprising was the vegetation 
of the soil and surrounding blocks of sandstone which latter, wherever 
earth had collected in their clefts, had been specially selected as their 
habitat by peculiar plant-forms with strong leather-like leaves: these 
included Glusiae, Mimosac, Mijnca, Gaiiltheria and Tliihaudia, whilst a 
rank growth of the small delicate Mcisnei'ia corclifolia Benth. was present 
in between the rocky crevices. Agaves, Cactus, Gesneriae, mosses, and 
lichens decked the sides have of all earth. We had not yet reached half 
way up the base of tlie stone-wall, when suddenly those thick clonds of 
mist, which hitherto had only invested the summit, sank continually 
lower and lower until tliey soon enveloped us Avith tlie result that we 
could hardly see six to eight steps ahead. The mist quickly developed 
into a cloud-l)urst, the water of which, in the course of 1| hours, amonnt- 
ed to several inches. Tlie continuation of the ascent was out of the ques- 
tion. Shivering with cold, exposed to the violent downipour of rain, we 
tried to pitch our tents as quickly as possible, and then to satisfy onr 
urgent craving for warmth l»y tire which we only succeeded in lighting 
after several vain attem]its on account of all the timlier we found being 
wet. Once liglited, we squatted around the miserable flame with teeth 
still chattering in spite of the irritating smoke that rose from the whiz- 
zing wetted wood. Tlie rain and mist Tasted nntil the evening close. The 
thermometer recorded .58" P. The poor naked Indians who found no room 
under the tent cover, hastened to a thickly timbered ravine, and spent 
the raw night there. Our sleep was also several times broken by the cold, 
a sensation to which we had become strangers. It affected us much more 
than it wonld have done under a temperature of 54° Fahr, in a northern 
climate. 
465. The earnestly longed-for morning broke at last, and with 
the warmth of the sun our teeth very soon stopped chattering. Inspirited 
with the heat, we continued our ascent lietween gloriously flourishing 
bruslnvood wdiich, in the fusion of millions of rain and dew drops^ glit- 
tered up against the rocky massif glowing in the fair\'-like illumination 
of early sunrise. Though our climb up the path that had become slippery 
with the heavy rain was double as hard as compared with yesterday, not 
one of ns minded the exertion, because the vegetation at every step be- 
came more interesting: every forward move brought me a new plant, 
never seen before: yes, indeed, even in the space of a hundred yards the 
various plant-zones would change. Sprouting out from all the clefts 
and crevices of the hup'e sandstone strata were Ladfnhrrrfia, Gosmihuena , 
as 2 to o ft. high shrnl)S, and the' most charming orchids among which 
I need only note the small sedge-like species already found on my 
ascent of the Humirida, together with the glorious Gaftlri/a, Oncidium, 
Odontorßossnm and Ma.rUlana. Al)Out a hundred feet above these 
were to be seen all varieties of the beantiful ^olmilia Elhahrthar with 
its G to 8 ft. high flower-stalks in such thick quantities that we had to 
cnt a way through with our cutlasses. I had never l)efore seen such a 
multiplicity of plant forms as showed itself npon evei-y block of rock 
