n's eyes always flash fire
at night. Not being fireflies--as they did not move when a shot was
fired in their direction--they were probably glowworms.

Beyond Morambala the Shire comes winding through an extensive marsh. For
many miles to the north a broad sea of fresh green grass extends, and is
so level, that it might be used for taking the meridian altitude of the
sun. Ten or fifteen miles north of Morambala, stands the dome-shaped
mountain Makanga, or Chi-kanda; several others with granitic-looking
peaks stretch away to the north, and form the eastern boundary of the
valley; another range, but of metamorphic rocks, commencing opposite
Senna, bounds the valley on the west. After streaming through a portion
of this marsh, we came to a broad belt of palm and other trees, crossing
the fine plain on the right bank. Marks of large game were abundant.
Elephants had been feeding on the palm nuts, which have a pleasant fruity
taste, and are used as food by man. Two pythons were observed coiled
together among the branches of a large tree, and were both shot. The
larger of the two, a female, was ten feet long. They are harmless, and
said to be good eating. The Makololo having set fire to the grass where
they were cutting wood, a solitary buffalo rushed out of the
conflagration, and made a furious charge at an active young fellow named
Mantlanyane. Never did his fleet limbs serve him better than during the
few seconds of his fearful flight before the maddened animal. When he
reached the bank, and sprang into the river, the infuriated beast was
scarcely six feet behind him. Towards evening, after the day's labour in
wood-cutting was over, some of the men went fishing. They followed the
common African custom of agitating the water, by giving it a few sharp
strokes with the top of the fishing-rod, immediately after throwing in
the line, to attract the attention of the fish to the bait. Having
caught nothing, the reason assigned was the same as would have been given
in England under like circumstances, namely, that "the wind made the fish
cold, and they would not bite." Many gardens of maize, pumpkins, and
tobacco, fringed the marshy banks as we went on. They belong to natives
of the hills, who come down in the dry season, and raise a crop on parts
at other times flooded. While the crops are growing, large quantities of
fish are caught, chiefly _Clarias capensis_, and _Mugil Africanus_; they
are dried for sale or fu