They Then Creep On To His Feet, Legs, Or Other Part
Of His Body And Suck Their Fill, The First Puncture Being Rarely
Felt During The Excitement Of Walking.
On bathing in the evening
we generally found half a dozen or a dozen on each of us, most
frequently on our legs, but sometimes on our bodies, and I had
one who sucked his fill from the side of my neck, but who luckily
missed the jugular vein.
There are many species of these forest
leeches. All are small, but some are beautifully marked with
stripes of bright yellow. They probably attach themselves to deer
or other animals which frequent the forest paths, and have thus
acquired the singular habit of stretching themselves out at the
sound of a footstep or of rustling foliage. Early in the
afternoon we reached the foot of the mountain, and encamped by
the side of a fine stream, whose rocky banks were overgrown with
ferns. Our oldest Malay had been accustomed to shoot birds in
this neighbourhood for the Malacca dealers, and had been to the
top of the mountain, and while we amused ourselves shooting and
insect hunting, he went with two others to clear the path for our
ascent the next day.
Early next morning we started after breakfast, carrying blankets
and provisions, as we intended to sleep upon the mountain. After
passing a little tangled jungle and swampy thickets through which
our men had cleared a path, we emerged into a fine lofty forest
pretty clear of undergrowth, and in which we could walk freely.
We ascended steadily up a moderate slope for several miles,
having a deep ravine on our left. We then had a level plateau or
shoulder to cross, after which the ascent was steeper and the
forest denser until we came out upon the "Padang-batu," or stone
field, a place of which we had heard much, but could never get
anyone to describe intelligibly. We found it to be a steep slope
of even rock, extending along the mountain side farther than we
could see. Parts of it were quite bare, but where it was cracked
and fissured there grew a most luxuriant vegetation, among which
the pitcher plants were the most remarkable. These wonderful
plants never seem to succeed well in our hot-houses, and are
there seen to little advantage. Here they grew up into half
climbing shrubs, their curious pitchers of various sizes and
forms hanging abundantly from their leaves, and continually
exciting our admiration by their size and beauty. A few
coniferae of the genus Dacrydium here first appeared, and in the
thickets just above the rocky surface we walked through groves of
those splendid ferns Dipteris Horsfieldii and Matonia pectinata,
which bear large spreading palmate fronds on slender stems six or
eight feet high. The Matonia is the tallest and most elegant, and
is known only from this mountain, and neither of them is yet
introduced into our hot-houses.
It was very striking to come out from the dark, cool, and shady
forest in which we had been ascending since we started, on to
this hot, open rocky slope where we seemed to have entered at one
step from a lowland to an alpine vegetation. The height, as
measured by a sympiesometer, was about 2,800 feet. We had been
told we should find water at Padang-batuas we were exceedingly thirsty;
but we looked about for it in vain. At last we turned to
the pitcher-plants, but the water contained in the pitchers
(about half a pint in each) was full of insects, and otherwise
uninviting. On tasting it, however, we found it very palatable
though rather warm, and we all quenched our thirst from these
natural jugs. Farther on we came to forest again, but of a more
dwarf and stunted character than below; and alternately passing
along ridges and descending into valleys, we reached a peak
separated from the true summit of the mountain by a considerable
chasm. Here our porters gave in, and declared they could carry
their loads no further; and certainly the ascent to the highest
peak was very precipitous. But on the spot where we were there
was no water, whereas it was well known that there was a spring
close to the summit, so we determined to go on without them, and
carry with us only what was absolutely necessary. We accordingly
took a blanket each, and divided our food and other articles
among us, and went on with only the old Malay and his son.
After descending into the saddle between the two peaks we found
the ascent very laborious, the slope being so steep, as often to
necessitate hand-climbing. Besides a bushy vegetation the ground
was covered knee-deep with mosses on a foundation of decaying
leaves and rugged rock, and it was a hard hour's climb to the
small ledge just below the summit, where an overhanging rock
forms a convenient shelter, and a little basin collects the
trickling water. Here we put down our loads, and in a few minutes
more stood on the summit of Mount Ophir, 4,000 feet above the
sea. The top is a small rocky platform covered with rhododendrons
and other shrubs. The afternoon was clear, and the view fine in
its way - ranges of hill and valley everywhere covered with
interminable forest, with glistening rivers winding among them.
In a distant view a forest country is very monotonous, and no
mountain I have ever ascended in the tropics presents a panorama
equal to that from Snowdon, while the views in Switzerland are
immeasurably superior. When boiling our coffee I took
observations with a good boiling-point thermometer, as well as
with the sympiesometer, and we then enjoyed our evening meal and
the noble prospect that lay before us. The night was calm and
very mild, and having made a bed of twigs and branches over which
we laid our blankets, we passed a very comfortable night.
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