Exploration at Ruwenzori

Abstract

PERHAPS it may interest your readers to give a short account of Ruwenzori, where I have now spent four months. The mountain is a very difficult one to study, on account of the difficulty of reaching the most interesting part. Taking a sort of botanical section from the shore of the Albert Edward Nyanza, one finds first a series of grassy plains covered with Andropogous some two feet high, and in certain months supporting large herds of elephants, Kudu, and Lurwali antelopes. This is in part the old level of the lake, and in part gravel and sand brought by the numerous rivers; in places it is dotted by Acacia and the tree Euphorbia, which has something of the appearance of an enormous chandelier. After leaving this plain, one comes to a series of small hills from 4000 to 5000 feet in height, which have been apparently cut out of the mountain by the numerous rivers and streams. Some of these are covered with patches of cultivation, banana plantations, c usually these are hidden from the main road. When one reaches the mountain proper, one finds up to 7000 feet a steep ascent covered with grass and small shrubs, usually three to four feet high. The valleys in this part are usually very steep V-shaped trenches, and cultivation is abundant everywhere, sometimes over 7000 feet, and in the Wakondja country the edible Arum is grown up to 7400 feet or more. This height, 7000 to 8000 feet, marks the beginning of the forest. It is composed of deciduous trees, sometimes with a very thick undergrowth; sometimes it is pretty open, with a profusion of fern and moss on the old trunks, and creepers in some places. I have found tree ferns and Begonia, but usually the flowers are rather pale in colour, or quite inconspicuous. At 8600 feet another distinct change takes place, and a wilderness of decaying young and mature bamboos replaces the trees. Here and there these are hung with creepers, but the predominant feature is the wetness of everything. Moss covers almost every trunk below, and amongst the roots are only very watery plants, such as Urticaceae. At 9600 feet another change takes place; bamboos disappear completely, and tree heather takes its place. In a dry part of the mountain one finds a charming little violet, a Cardamine, Galiums, Epilobium, Rubus, c in another place one will find enormous trees of heather, usually gnarled and twisted in growth—tree Settecios, tree Hypericums, c one the magnificent black and white-furred kind from which grenadiers' shakos were made, and another with short slatey fur, which is new to me.