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.
