One hundred years of bryology on Mulanje Mountain

The first bryophytes collected on Mulanje Mountain (Malawi) came from the expedition of Alexander Whyte in October and November 1891. When we went to the same mountain in June/July 1991, we were familiar with Laurens van der Post's Malawi story Venture to the Interior, which describes a tragic event on Mulanje at a point still identifiable, where his forester guide fell to his death in a swollen torrent. We ourselves had some difficulty at the same spot, where the track passes over wet rocks in a stream near the top of a waterfall, but fortunately chose a more appropriate time of year. The account of Alexander Whyte's expedition was no less dramatic, but in a different way, and is expressed with a vigour that cannot be matched by today's prosaic style, but that I hope will give a feeling for Mulanje that our scientific papers cannot. I particularly recommend the second paragraph from this extract from the introduction. Mr. Whyte ascended from the same direction as ourselves. The story is told by William Carruthers, F.R.S., F.L.S, and was read to the Linnean Society on 19th January 1893.

"...From Mr. Whyte's Report to Commissioner Johnston we learn that Milanji is an isolated range of, for the greater part, precipitous mountains, the main mass forming a huge natural fortress of weather-worn precipices, or very steep rocky ascents, sparsely clothed with vegetation. Many of its gullies and ravines are well wooded, and in some of them fine examples of grand African virgin forest are met with. The route by which Mr. Whyte ascended the mountain on 20th October led up its south-east face, and at first zig-zagged over steep grassy hills, down precipitous gorges, and across rocky streams with beds of large water-borne granite boulders, which, when flooded, became impassable mountain-torrents. Further on the ascent became more difficult, and he clambered over precipices, holding on to tufts of grass and scrub, which gave but slender support and scanty foothold. Once round these precipitous bluffs an interesting wooded gorge was entered, steep and difficult, but with better foothold on the projecting rocks and tree-roots; and most welcome was the kindly shade after hours of toiling in a burning sun, rendered doubly fierce by the reflection from the scorching hot rocks.

An interesting change in the vegetation was perceptible, plants of the lower slopes being mostly replaced by species new to Mr. Whyte, and in many instances approaching the flora of temperate climes, such as brambles and well-known forms of papilionaceous and composite plants. Ferns, too, became more numerous, and now and again he scrambled through fairy dells of mosses, ferns, selaginellas, and balsams, with miniature water-falls showering their life-giving spray on the little verdant glades, while overhead hoary lichens and bright festoons of elegant long-tasselled lycopods hung from the moss-covered ancient-looking trees. Up and up he climbed the apparently endless ladder of roots and rocks. Then he passed through a dense thicket of bamboo, and again found himself confronted by an ugly barrier of precipitous cliffs, which were duly surmounted with the friendly aid of a tussock-grass springing from the crevices of the rocks. Another hour's climb up a steep grassy glen brought him to the crest of the highest ridge.

Here the scene spread out to view, and the climate, were such as to fully repay the explorer for a day of weary toil. Looking westward, he saw mapped out beneath him the plateau or basin of Milanji, with its rolling hills of grassy sward, its clearly defined belts of dark-green forest, and its numerous ravines and rivulets, all shaping their course towards the principal valley of the plateau, through which the Lutshenya flows. The climate was delightfully cool and bracing. During the forenoon, on the lower ridges of the mountain, at over 4000 feet lower than this point, he had sweltered in the stifling heat of 106 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade; while here he revelled in a clear, dry, health-restoring atmosphere of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. From this ridge, which forms one of the amphitheatre of hills surrounding the plateau or crater-like basin of Milanji, a good idea of the mountain system is gained. Still looking towards the west, one sees on the right hand the main peaks of the mountain, rising directly from the valley of the Lutshenya, which runs parallel to its southern base, the height of one of the two summit-peaks having been calculated at 9,300 feet above sea-level. Across the table-land, in the distance, is the somewhat isolated and precipitous Tshambi Mountain, which, with its own smaller plateau, is separated from Milanji table-land by the rocky valley and gorge of the Likabula River. To the front end and to the left hand, there is a continuation of the rolling and grassy hills which encircle the plateau, and which are capped with rugged cliffs of scarped granite and gneiss rocks.

Mr. Whyte spent two weeks on the plateau, changing to three different sites, each distant from 5 to 7 miles from the other, and which enabled him to explore more thoroughly this new and interesting mountain-country. Unfortunately the rains and mists set in before he left, and consequently he had only nine good collecting days."

Extract from: The Plants of Milanji, Nyasa-land, collected by Mr. Alexander Whyte, F.L.S., and described by Messrs. BRITTEN, E.G. BAKER, RENDLE, GEPP, and others; with an Introduction by WILLIAM CARRUTHERS, F.R.S., F.L.S. Trans. Linn. Soc. (Bot.) 4(1):1-67 (1893).

O'Shea, B.J. 1994. One Hundred Years of Bryology on Mulanje Mountain. Bulletin of the British Bryological Society 63:47-48.