a lodging in it, for we saw the
remains of a bed and a fire. The sight of the open country, with
the increased altitude we were attaining, was most refreshing to the
spirits. Large game abound. We see in the distance buffaloes, elands,
hartebeest, gnus, and elephants, all very tame, as no one disturbs them.
Lions, which always accompany other large animals, roared about us, but,
as it was moonlight, there was no danger. In the evening, while standing
on a mass of granite, one began to roar at me, though it was still
light. The temperature was pleasant, as the rains, though not universal,
had fallen in many places. It was very cloudy, preventing observations.
The temperature at 6 A.M. was 70 Deg., at midday 90 Deg., in the
evening 84 Deg. This is very pleasant on the high lands, with but little
moisture in the air.

The different rocks to the westward of Kaonka's, talcose gneiss and
white mica schist, generally dip toward the west, but at Kaonka's, large
rounded masses of granite, containing black mica, began to appear. The
outer rind of it inclines to peel off, and large crystals project on the
exposed surface.

In passing through some parts where a good shower of rain has fallen,
the stridulous piercing notes of the cicadae are perfectly deafening; a
drab-colored cricket joins the chorus with a sharp sound, which has
as little modulation as the drone of a Scottish bagpipe. I could not
conceive how so small a thing could raise such a sound; it seemed to
make the ground over it thrill. When cicadae, crickets, and frogs unite,
their music may be heard at the distance of a quarter of a mile.

A tree attracted my attention as new, the leaves being like those of
an acacia, but the ends of the branches from which they grew resembled
closely oblong fir-cones. The corn-poppy was abundant, and many of the
trees, flowering bulbs, and plants were identical with those in Pungo
Andongo. A flower as white as the snowdrop now begins to appear, and
farther on it spots the whole sward with its beautiful pure white. A
fresh crop appears every morning, and if the day is cloudy they do not
expand till the afternoon. In an hour or so they droop and die. They are
named by the natives, from their shape, "Tlaku ea pitse", hoof of zebra.
I carried several of the somewhat bulbous roots of this pretty flower
till I reached the Mauritius.

On the 30th we crossed the River Kalomo, which is about 50 yards broad,
and is the only stream that never