In Taking A Bath There, It Makes The Skin Perfectly Clean, And
None Of The Mud Adheres:
It is strange that the Portuguese do not
resort to it for the numerous cutaneous diseases with which they are
so often afflicted.
A few clumps of the palm and acacia trees appear west of Morambala,
on the rich plain forming the tongue of land between the rivers Shire
and Zambesi. This is a good place for all sorts of game. The
Zambesi canoe-men were afraid to sleep on it from the idea of lions
being there; they preferred to pass the night on an island. Some
black men, who accompanied us as volunteer workmen from Shupanga,
called out one evening that a lion stood on the bank. It was very
dark, and we could only see two sparkling lights, said to be the
lion's eyes looking at us; for here, as elsewhere, they have a theory
that the lion's eyes always flash fire at night. Not being
fireflies - as they did not move when a shot was fired in their
direction - they were probably glowworms.
Beyond Morambala the Shire comes winding through an extensive marsh.
For many miles to the north a broad sea of fresh green grass extends,
and is so level, that it might be used for taking the meridian
altitude of the sun. Ten or fifteen miles north of Morambala, stands
the dome-shaped mountain Makanga, or Chi-kanda; several others with
granitic-looking peaks stretch away to the north, and form the
eastern boundary of the valley; another range, but of metamorphic
rocks, commencing opposite Senna, bounds the valley on the west.
After streaming through a portion of this marsh, we came to a broad
belt of palm and other trees, crossing the fine plain on the right
bank.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 74 of 505
Words from 20071 to 20372
of 136856
