The Coolidge examiner., 1932-09-16


n Queerest mountain masses, has
been scaled by a Belgian ex-
pedition entirely in Belgian terri
tory, according to reports from the
Belgian Congo in which a part of
the mountain lies. The feat, not
hitherto accomplished, required a
climb Of 10000 feet of difficult, trail
less jungle and rocky slopes.
Ruwenzori is unusual in it's very
situation. 1t lies almost immedi-
ately under the equator, surrounded
by rank, steaming tropical forests
and sun-drenched plains covered
with hall elephant grass; yet it
pushes its peaks up to eternal
shows Nowhere else are there
comparable heights under the eQua-
tor, rising from the heart of a CONT,
Dent. The Rndes' of Ecuador, .rela-
lively close to the coast, and the
mountains of the island Of New
Guinea are the closest competitors.
Weather conditions do their part
in contributing to the strangeness
of this African mass, and in throw
ing an almost literal veil of mys-
terry around 1t. The peaks are hid
den to observers from the plains
and forests by clouds and fog ex-
cept at rare intervals. AS re-
suit, the definite existence of the
mountains was unknown to Euro
peans until 1864 when Sir Samuel
Baker, while exploring Lake Albert,
saw "a blue mountain to the SOUTH"
His observation went unverified
until 1887 when Stanley saw the
peaks and made known the fact, for
the first time, that they were snow
capped. 1t was not until more than
a decade later that the snow line
was first reached; and the crests
were not attained until 1906 when
the duke of the Abruzzi led his ex-
pedition to the top.
The name, Mountains Of the
Moon, Is believed to have arisen
from a mistaken translation from
Arabic; but it has fitted well into
the atmosphere of mystery that sur
rounded Ruwenzori for centuries;
and it has a figurative justification
because Of the weird appearance Of
the mountain slopes. The relatively
few white men who have made the
arduOus climb have all noted the i'm
preston that they had blundered
into same alien world. The COM
bination of excessive moisture, alti-
tude and equatorial sun has pro-
duced a unique vegetation that In
many ways is utterly fantastic.
Vegetation Is Extraordinary.
After emerging from the dense
tropical forests of the lower slopes,
a climber feels like Liliputian Wis
iting the meadows of Brobdingnag.
He walks among parsley plants
nine feet high, "bird-seed" three
times his height, and heather plants,
relatives of the low Scottish shrub,
that have expanded into great
trees 20 and 80 feet tall. To add
to the weirdness. colored mosses-
brown, yellow, green, white and
red-are all about under and over
head. They grow in huge cushions
that encircle the limbs of the
heath trees like giant mushrooms
impaled on a skewer. The unearth-
ly appearance is heightened usually
by fog, through which the strange
growths loom dimly; and there is
continual drip of water from
limbs and moss clumps. The way
often leads through swamps and
muck up to ones knees.
Above the heath forests, on less
swampy ground, giant lobedias
cover large areas sending their
spikes up to twenty feet or more.
All about are a variety of weeds,
grown almost to the magnitude of
trees. Further up are thickets of
bamboo through which progress is
extremely difficult. The highest
slopes, just below the snow line, are
covered with a thick growth of ever
lasting flowers.
Except on its lowest slopes Ru-
wenzori is uninhabited, and above
the tropical forests there is not
much animal life. The soggy heath
forests are almost devoid of ami
mails, birds and insects. On other
parts of the slopes, where sparse
animal life is found, it forms a
queer assortment; a few small
mountain antelopes; leopards that
prey on them; hyraxes, which are
harelike comics; fruit-eating bats
with a "wing-spread" of two feet;
and a few birds and insects.
Really Mountain Range.
The name, Ruwenzori, was select
ed by Stanley as the most common
among a large number of native des-
ignations. 1t has been interpreted