he whole appear as if spangled over with small
diamonds. I noticed it first in the morning, and imagined the appearance
was caused by the sun shining on drops of dew; but, as it continued
to maintain its brilliancy during the heat of the day, I proceeded to
investigate the cause of its beauty, and found that the points of the
hairs exuded pure liquid, in, apparently, capsules of clear, glutinous
matter. They were thus like dewdrops preserved from evaporation. The
clammy fluid is intended to entrap insects, which, dying on the leaf,
probably yield nutriment to the plant.

During our second day on this extensive plain I suffered from my
twenty-seventh attack of fever, at a part where no surface-water was to
be found. We never thought it necessary to carry water with us in this
region; and now, when I was quite unable to move on, my men soon found
water to allay my burning thirst by digging with sticks a few feet
beneath the surface. We had thus an opportunity of observing the state
of these remarkable plains at different seasons of the year. Next day
we pursued our way, and on the 8th of June we forded the Lotembwa to the
N.W. of Dilolo, and regained our former path.

The Lotembwa here is about a mile wide, about three feet deep, and full
of the lotus, papyrus, arum, mat-rushes, and other aquatic plants. I did
not observe the course in which the water flowed while crossing; but,
having noticed before that the Lotembwa on the other side of the Lake
Dilolo flowed in a southerly direction, I supposed that this was simply
a prolongation of the same river beyond Dilolo, and that it rose in this
large marsh, which we had not seen in our progress to the N.W. But when
we came to the Southern Lotembwa, we were informed by Shakatwala that
the river we had crossed flowed in an opposite direction--not into
Dilolo, but into the Kasai. This phenomenon of a river running in
opposite directions struck even his mind as strange; and, though I did
not observe the current, simply from taking it for granted that it was
toward the lake, I have no doubt that his assertion, corroborated as it
was by others, is correct, and that the Dilolo is actually the watershed
between the river systems that flow to the east and west.

I would have returned in order to examine more carefully this most
interesting point, but, having had my lower extremities chilled in
crossing the Northern Lotembwa, I was seized with vomiting of blood,
and, besides, saw no r