loration. At the great tree known
as _Mepi Tree_, after Maben the surveyor, the expedition struck forty
yards due west till it struck the top of a steep bank which it
descended. The whole bottom of the ravine is filled with sharp lava
blocks quite unrolled and very difficult and dangerous to walk among; no
water in the course, scarce any sign of water. And yet surely water must
have made this bold cutting in the plateau. And if so, why is the lava
sharp? My science gave out; but I could not but think it ominous and
volcanic. The course of the stream was tortuous, but with a resultant
direction a little by west of north; the sides the whole way exceeding
steep, the expedition buried under fathoms of foliage. Presently water
appeared in the bottom, a good quantity; perhaps thirty or forty cubic
feet, with pools and waterfalls. A tree that stands all along the banks
here must be very fond of water; its roots lie close-packed down the
stream, like hanks of guts, so as to make often a corrugated walk, each
root ending in a blunt tuft of filaments, plainly to drink water. Twice
there came in small tributaries from the left or western side--the whole
plateau having a smartish inclination to the east; one of the
tributaries in a handsome little web of silver hanging in the forest.
Twice I was startled by birds; one that barked like a dog; another that
whistled loud ploughman's signals, so that I vow I was thrilled, and
thought I had fallen among runaway blacks, and regretted my cutlass
which I had lost and left behind while taking bearings. A good many
fishes in the brook, and many crayfish; one of the last with a queer
glow-worm head. Like all our brooks, the water is pure as air, and runs
over red stones like rubies. The foliage along both banks very thick and
high, the place close, the walking exceedingly laborious. By the time
the expedition reached the fork, it was felt exceedingly questionable
whether the _moral_ of the force were sufficiently good to undertake
more extended operations. A halt was called, the men refreshed with
water and a bath, and it was decided at a drumhead council of war to
continue the descent of the Embassy Water straight for Vailima, whither
the expedition returned, in rather poor condition, and wet to the waist,
about 4 P.M.

Thus in two days the two main watercourses of this country have been
pretty thoroughly explored, and I conceive my instructions fully carried
out. The main body of the secon