This Valley Is Wonderfully Fertile, And Supports A
Large Population.
After leaving the somewhat flat-topped southern
portion, the most prominent mountain of the Zomba range is Njongone,
which has a fine stream running past its northern base.
We were
detained at the end of the chain some days by one of our companions
being laid up with fever. One night we were suddenly aroused by
buffaloes rushing close by the sick-bed. We were encamped by a wood
on the border of a marsh, but our patient soon recovered,
notwithstanding the unfavourable situation, and the poor
accommodation.
The Manganja country is delightfully well watered. The clear, cool,
gushing streams are very numerous. Once we passed seven fine brooks
and a spring in a single hour, and this, too, near the close of the
dry season. Mount Zomba, which is twenty miles long, and from 7000
to 8000 feet high, has a beautiful stream flowing through a verdant
valley on its summit, and running away down into Lake Shirwa. The
highlands are well wooded, and many trees, admirable for their height
and timber, grow on the various watercourses. "Is this country good
for cattle?" we inquired of a Makololo herdsman, whose occupation had
given him skill in pasturage. "Truly," he replied, "do you not see
abundance of those grasses which the cattle love, and get fat upon?"
Yet the people have but few goats, and fewer sheep. With the
exception of an occasional leopard, there are no beasts of prey to
disturb domestic animals.
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