The frost, therefore, must have been keen during the night time, and from this circumstance I think we may consider the upper edge of the wood as the lower line of congelation upon this mountain, but meeting with it so low down as we here did, and that, too, on a tropical mountain, so closely surrounded by the mild temperature of the sea-air, will no doubt stagger the belief of those who have been led to consider the lower line of congela tion within the tropics as having a much greater altitude even in continental regions which are always allowed to be colder than Islands of moderate size.
15th. The natives, who were all bare-footed, could not stir out of their huts in the morning, until after breakfast when the cheer ing influence of the sun dispersed the frost, but they greatly dreaded its consequences higher up the mountain, where they said the cold was so intense that it would certainly kill us and them too, and they described its effects by contracting and shivering them selves and cautioned us very strongly against going higher up or exposing ourselves and them to such danger : even the old Chief Rookea was so strongly prepossessed of this opinion that he now entreated us in the most earliest manner to relinquish the idea of going higher, for that he and several others were already nearly overcome with the fatigue of the journey, and that the cold on the mountain would kill them. We endeavored to sooth their minds by promising them that we should not attempt to go higher up than the edge of the snow which we did not conceive to he far from us, and after accomplishing that, which we should undoubtedly be able to do, in the heat of the day, we should re turn again to the encampment in the evening. They appeared so far satisfied with this declaration that we set out after break fast, followed by the whole party, in a direct line up the moun tain, but we soon found that many of them came on so slow and reluctantly that about ten in the forenoon we proposed to the Chief that he and most of the party should return back and en camp on the edge of the forest whilst we should go on with the guides and a few stout volunteers of the natives to carry some lit tle refreshment and some of our bedding to wrap round us and them in case the cold should be found too powerfull to with stand. The Chief, finding his former entreaties of no avail, read
ily agreed to this proposal, and parted with us with tears in his eyes, after he and our guides had fixed upon the place where they were to wait for our return.
Having made this arrangement we continued our progress up the rugged steep which now became naked, dreary, and barren, with only here and there little tufts of grass in the crevises of the rocks : by noon finding that vegetation had entirely ceased, not a blade of grass, moss, or even lichen was to be seen anywhere around us for some time, I observed the Barometer to ascertain our height, when I found it was coin 55pts which is equal to 10543 feet above the level of the sea, so that this may be con sidered as the upper line of vegetation, or rather a little above it, on this mountain, but whether this was occasioned by the want of soil of which there was nothing but volcanic dreggs, or the par ticular rarefaction and temperature of the air at this height being inimical to vegetation, I cannot take upon me to say, though the latter, I think, is most probable.
While we were resting and refreshing ourselves after making these observations, one of the natives, who struggled higher up the mountain, came running back to us with snow in his hand, and though we were much fatigued, for the ascent was very steep, yet this gave us fresh encouragement and we continued to ascend till we passed several patches of snow, when in the evening, find ing that we were not likely to gain the summit of the mountain with daylight, for every height seemed lengthening as we went on, we did not conceive it prudent to go far into the snow and therefore stopd short to consult with one another on what was to be done, whether we should go back to the encampment for the night and come up next day better provided, or whether we should venture to remain where we were all night, at the mercy of the weather on the bleak slope of this immense mountain, and on the small pittance of provisions we had with us? Everyone was so fatigued with this day's journey, for we made uncommon exertions in the expectation of gaining our object, that the dread of descending and ascending again such a rugged steep made us, at all hazards, prefer the latter.