At Different Points On The Slopes Of These Valleys Which
We Now For The First Time Entered, There Are Oozing Fountains,
Surrounded By Clumps Of The Same Evergreen, Straight, Large-Leaved Trees
We Have Noticed Along The Streams.
These spots are generally covered
with a mat of grassy vegetation, and possess more the character of bogs
than of fountains.
They slowly discharge into the stream below,
and are so numerous along both banks as to give a peculiar character
to the landscape. These groups of sylvan vegetation are generally
of a rounded form, and the trunks of the trees are tall and straight,
while those on the level plains above are low and scraggy in their growth.
There can be little doubt but that the water, which stands for months
on the plains, soaks in, and finds its way into the rivers and rivulets
by percolating through the soil, and out by these oozing bogs;
and the difference between the growth of these trees, though they be of
different species, may be a proof that the stuntedness of those on the plains
is owing to being, in the course of each year, more subjected to drought
than moisture.
Reaching the village of Kabinje, in the evening he sent us
a present of tobacco, Mutokuane or "bang" (`Cannabis sativa'), and maize,
by the man who went forward to announce our arrival, and a message
expressing satisfaction at the prospect of having trade with the coast.
The westing we were making brought us among people who are frequently
visited by the Mambari as slave-dealers.
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