s on the fresh herbage, than even the
marrow in their bones becomes dissolved, and a red, soft, uneatable mass
is left behind. After this commences the work of regaining their former
plumpness.

MAY 30TH. We left Bango, and proceeded to the River Loembwe, which flows
to the N.N.E., and abounds in hippopotami. It is about sixty yards wide,
and four feet deep, but usually contains much less water than this, for
there are fishing-weirs placed right across it. Like all the African
rivers in this quarter, it has morasses on each bank, yet the valley
in which it winds, when seen from the high lands above, is extremely
beautiful. This valley is about the fourth of a mile wide, and it was
easy to fancy the similarity of many spots on it to the goodly manors in
our own country, and feel assured that there was still ample territory
left for an indefinite increase of the world's population. The villages
are widely apart and difficult of access, from the paths being so
covered with tall grass that even an ox can scarcely follow the track.
The grass cuts the feet of the men; yet we met a woman with a little
child, and a girl, wending their way home with loads of manioc. The
sight of a white man always infuses a tremor into their dark bosoms, and
in every case of the kind they appeared immensely relieved when I had
fairly passed without having sprung upon them. In the villages the dogs
run away with their tails between their legs, as if they had seen a
lion. The women peer from behind the walls till he comes near them, and
then hastily dash into the house. When a little child, unconscious of
danger, meets you in the street, he sets up a scream at the apparition,
and conveys the impression that he is not far from going into fits.
Among the Bechuanas I have been obliged to reprove the women for making
a hobgoblin of the white man, and telling their children that they would
send for him to bite them.

Having passed the Loembwe, we were in a more open country, with every
few hours a small valley, through which ran a little rill in the middle
of a bog. These were always difficult to pass, and being numerous, kept
the lower part of the person constantly wet. At different points in
our course we came upon votive offerings to the Barimo. These usually
consisted of food; and every deserted village still contained the idols
and little sheds with pots of medicine in them. One afternoon we
passed a small frame house with the head of an ox in it