For seven hours we rode, sometimes along the bed of the river
between lofty overhanging rocks, or through borders
Of fine
forest-trees; at other times we cut off a bend of the stream, and
rode for some miles through beautiful country diversified with
hills, and abounding in enormous baobab-trees (Adansonia
digitata). At length we entered the mountains at the foot of the
great chain. Here the views were superb. The Royan was no longer
a stream of ninety or a hundred yards in width, but it was
reduced to a simple mountain torrent about forty yards across,
blocked in many places by masses of rock, while at others it had
formed broad pools, all of which were now perfectly dry, and
exhibited a bed of glaring sand. Numerous mountain ravines joined
the main channel, and as the inclination was extremely rapid,
there could be little doubt that the violent storms of the rainy
season, descending from the great chain of mountains, would, by
concentrating in the Royan, suddenly give birth to an impetuous
torrent, that would materially affect the volume of the Settite.
The entire country bore witness to the effect of violent rains,
as the surface was torn and water-worn.
We had ridden nearly thirty miles, having seen large quantities
of game, including antelopes, buffaloes, giraffes, and
rhinoceroses, none of which we had hunted, as we were in search
of elephants. This was the country where the aggageers had
expected, without fail, to find their game.
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