500 yards from the river's brink, which rises, with steep sides on the
west, to 4000 feet in height, and is about seven miles in length. It is
wooded up to the very top, and very beautiful. The southern end, seen
from a distance, has a fine gradual slope, and looks as if it might be of
easy ascent; but the side which faces the Shire is steep and rocky,
especially in the upper half. A small village peeps out about halfway up
the mountain; it has a pure and bracing atmosphere; and is perched above
mosquito range. The people on the summit have a very different climate
and vegetation from those of the plains; but they have to spend a great
portion of their existence amidst white fleecy clouds, which, in the
rainy season, rest daily on the top of their favourite mountain. We were
kindly treated by these mountaineers on our first ascent; before our
second they were nearly all swept away by Mariano. Dr. Kirk found
upwards of thirty species of ferns on this and other mountains, and even
good-sized tree-ferns; though scarcely a single kind is to be met with on
the plains. Lemon and orange trees grew wild, and pineapples had been
planted by the people. Many large hornbills, hawks, monkeys, antelopes,
and rhinoceroses found a home and food among the great trees round its
base. A hot fountain boils up on the plain near the north end. It
bubbles out of the earth, clear as crystal, at two points, or eyes, a few
yards apart from each other, and sends off a fine flowing stream of hot
water. The temperature was found to be 174 degrees Fahr., and it boiled
an egg in about the usual time. Our guide threw in a small branch to
show us how speedily the Madse-awira (boiling water) could kill the
leaves. Unlucky lizards and insects did not seem to understand the
nature of a hot-spring, as many of their remains were lying at the
bottom. A large beetle had alighted on the water, and been killed before
it had time to fold its wings. An incrustation, smelling of sulphur, has
been deposited by the water on the stones. About a hundred feet from the
eye of the fountain the mud is as hot as can be borne by the body. In