Numbers Of A Fresh-Water Shell Are Scattered
All Over These Valleys.
The elevations, as I have observed elsewhere,
are of a soft, sandy soil, and the meadows of black, rich
Alluvial loam.
There are many beautiful flowers, and many bees to sip their nectar.
We found plenty of honey in the woods, and saw the stages on which
the Balonda dry their meat, when they come down to hunt and gather
the produce of the wild hives. In one part we came upon
groups of lofty trees as straight as masts, with festoons of orchilla-weed
hanging from the branches. This, which is used as a dye-stuff,
is found nowhere in the dry country to the south. It prefers
the humid climate near the west coast.
A large buffalo was wounded, and ran into the thickest part of the forest,
bleeding profusely. The young men went on his trail;
and, though the vegetation was so dense that no one could have run
more than a few yards, most of them went along quite carelessly,
picking and eating a fruit of the melon family called Mponko.
When the animal heard them approach he always fled,
shifting his stand and doubling on his course in the most cunning manner.
In other cases I have known them to turn back to a point
a few yards from their own trail, and then lie down in a hollow
waiting for the hunter to come up. Though a heavy, lumbering-looking animal,
his charge is then rapid and terrific. More accidents happen
by the buffalo and the black rhinoceros than by the lion.
Though all are aware of the mischievous nature of the buffalo when wounded,
our young men went after him quite carelessly. They never lose
their presence of mind, but, as a buffalo charges back in a forest,
dart dexterously out of his way behind a tree, and, wheeling round,
stab him as he passes.
A tree in flower brought the pleasant fragrance of hawthorn hedges
back to memory; its leaves, flowers, perfumes, and fruit
resembled those of the hawthorn, only the flowers were as large as dog-roses,
and the "haws" like boys' marbles. Here the flowers smell sweetly,
while few in the south emit any scent at all, or only a nauseous odor.
A botanist would find a rich harvest on the banks of the Leeba.
This would be his best season, for the flowers all run rapidly to seed,
and then insects of every shape spring into existence to devour them.
The climbing plants display great vigor of growth, being not only
thick in the trunk, but also at the very point, in the manner of
quickly-growing asparagus. The maroro or malolo now appears,
and is abundant in many parts between this and Angola. It is a small bush
with a yellow fruit, and in its appearance a dwarf "anona".
The taste is sweet, and the fruit is wholesome: it is full of seeds,
like the custard-apple.
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