The summit of Kina Balu consists of syenite granite, which is in many places so jointed as to give it the appearance of being stratified. About ten peaks spring from a line running from east to west, while about half a mile to the southward rises another detached peak. Between the latter and the western portion of the former is an open space, like a broad terrace, with sloping sides, down which huge slabs are continually gliding. The southern peak presents a very different aspect, according to the point from which we view it: from the terrace, it looks sharp, not above a yard in breadth; while from the east and west it seems quite rounded. This renders it comparatively easy of ascent. On three sides it is perpendicular, while, on the south, it presents no material difficulty. Without careful barometrical observations it will be impossible to fix on the highest peak. From several views, the southern, the summit of which I gained during the first trip, appeared as high as the others, while from the terrace both east and west appeared rather higher. The west has a rounded appearance; but we failed to discover a way of ascending to its summit. I reached within perhaps forty feet, when it presented only perpendicular sides. It is gradually giving way before atmospheric influences, its northern base being covered with huge angular stones that have fallen; the summit is still overhanging, and much of it apparently ready to topple over. Between the western and eastern peaks, on the edge of the cliffs which overlook deep chasms below, is a sort of wall, principally of huge granite rocks, some so perched on the others that at first sight it appears the work of man--geologically explained, I suppose, by the wearing away of the softer portions of the rock around. Some of the peaks present the appearance of a thumb, while others are massive, as those that rise on either side of the spot where Mr. Low, in 1851, left a bottle. The summit is above two miles in length; and I observed that, in descending to its N.W. and E. spurs, the rocks assume a perfectly serrated appearance. Kina Balu extends a long distance towards the N.E. or E.N.E., its height varying perhaps from 10,000 to 11,000 feet: but partially divided from the parent mountain by a deep chasm. From the top, we did not see this portion of the mountain; in fact, the mist generally obscured the view, leaving but patches visible. The summit of the mountain, as I have before observed, consists of syenite granite; but every here and there it is crossed by belts of a white rock. For about 3,000 feet below the peaks there is but little vegetation, and the face of granite sweeps steeply up at an angle of 37½ degrees. In the gullies, and in other sheltered spots, are thickets of flowering shrubs, principally of rhododendrons--a few even extending to the base of the peaks, particularly in the “bottle gully.”