70 
In the Heart of Africa 
through the light ash-like foliage of the hagenia, which spread 
over our table, to the nocturnal sky, from which the full moon 
was shedding forth its rays as cool and clear as on a winter’s 
night at home. And no sounds around us except at times a 
bush-buck giving tongue, and the chatter of the carriers, gossiping 
and freezing round the fires like ourselves. Yes, freezing! I 
often awakened during the night from sheer cold in spite of a 
sleeping costume consisting of woollen stockings, under-clothing, 
pyjamas, cloth cap, and two camel-hair blankets for a covering. 
In the evening we drank grog made of tea and whisky to warm 
us up a little. How joyfully we greeted the sun when he brought 
us a little warmth—never more than fifteen or sixteen degrees 
atmospheric temperature—and left us cold again when he sank 
once more behind our camp hill at about four o’clock. When 
Grawert and Kandt were in this part their washing water froze, 
and when the latter was almost at the same spot at the same time 
of year he saw the grass and the trees thickly covered with hoar 
frost. And that was in an African virgin forest two degrees 
south of the Equator! 
“ Now let us turn our eyes away from the slightly elevated 
camp quarters, from which we could obtain an extensive 
panoramic view on one side—to the forest, and endeavour to 
learn a little of its features. In comparing it with a German 
forest of leafy trees two factors stand out clearly, namely, the 
considerably greater variety and the entirely different ages of the 
trees. From this it follows naturally that the colouring of the 
leafy crowns is more diversified, though, generally speaking, 
more sombre (saving, of course, the striking autumnal tints of the 
German forest), and that the height of the trees is very different. 
The impression of the closed-in canopy of foliage under which 
each single tree disappears is missing; the taller, fully grown 
trees stand comparatively free, so that their crowns are either 
quite separated or scarcely come into contact with each other. 
Thus each one conveys a separate idea, as it were, and the 
individuality of each tree stands out more sharply. Added to 
this there is a peculiar characteristic, which is most apparent in 
