od portion of
the trees of the country have been cut down for charcoal, and those
which now spring up are small; certain fruit trees alone are left. The
long slopes on the undulating country, clothed with fresh foliage,
look very beautiful. The young trees alternate with patches of yellow
grass not yet burned; the hills are covered with a thick mantle of
small green trees with, as usual, large ones at intervals. The people
at Kalumbi, on the Mando (where we spent four days), had once a
stockade of wild fig _(Ficus Indica)_ and euphorbia round their
village, which has a running rill on each side of it; but the trees
which enabled them to withstand a siege by Mazitu fell before
elephants and buffaloes during a temporary absence of the villagers;
the remains of the stockade are all around it yet. Lions sometimes
enter huts by breaking through the roof: elephants certainly do, for
we saw a roof destroyed by one; the only chance for the inmates is to
drive a spear into the belly of the beast while so engaged.

A man came and reported the Mazitu to be at Chanyandula's village,
where we are going. The headman advised remaining at his village till
we saw whether they came this way or went by another path. The women
were sent away, but the men went on with their employments; two
proceeded with the building of a furnace on an anthill, where they are
almost always placed, and they keep a look-out while working. We have
the protection of an all-embracing Providence, and trust that He,
whose care of His people "xceeds all that our utmost self-love can
attain, will shield us and make our way prosperous.

_16th November, 1866._--An elephant came near enough last night to
scream at us, but passed on, warned, perhaps, by the shouting of the
villagers not to meddle with man. No Mazitu having come, we marched on
and crossed the Bua, eight yards wide and knee deep. It rises in the
northern hills a little beyond Kanyindula's village, winds round his
mountains, and away to the east. The scenery among the mountains is
very lovely: they are covered with a close mantle of green, with here
and there red and light-coloured patches, showing where grass has been
burned off recently and the red clay soil is exposed; the lighter
portions are unburned grass or rocks. Large trees are here more
numerous, and give an agreeable change of contour to the valleys and
ridges of the hills; the boughs of many still retain a tinge of red
from young leaves. We