60 FULLER, Soma South African Scenes and Flowers. [voMCXXli 



broken English — karosses, skins, and, what fascinated me more 

 than anything, their queer animals carved out of wood. They 

 are so clever in getting the form and general character of the 

 animals that one can at once recognize the buffalo, the baboon, 

 tiger, elephant, giraffe, guinea-fowl, ibis, and bison, each out 

 of a single piece of wood, stained or burnt : but the most clever 

 part of it is that they do it all with their hatchets, I am told, 

 and have no knives or finer tools to make the details. Tortoise- 

 shells, wire-work baskets, bangles, and ornaments, and even 

 bundles of orchid roots, are also among their wares, most 

 articles ranging from a " ticky " to a " shelling," as they call 

 a shilling. 



After three nights and as many days in the train, and 

 skirting the Kallihare Desert, the country changes consider- 

 ably, and one passes through miles of mopani or fever trees — 

 a species of Bauhinia, I think. The first time I went to 

 Rhodesia it was in August, and I stayed in Bulawayo for nine 

 months, and as we passed through the mopani forest it looked 

 like a large orchard in full autumn tints, the trees being just 

 about the size of a well-grown apricot tree ; but last time I 

 passed through it was in January, and the trees were a vivid 

 green and fresh looking, in spite of the great heat. 



After leaving Buluwayo, which is now a township of 7,000 

 white inhabitants, one changes into a smaller but distinctly 

 comfortable train, well fitted up to suit the conditions of the 

 country — gauze netting over windows and ventilators, to make 

 the compartments as mosquito-proof as possible, as it is, I 

 believe, an acknowledged fact that the black and white striped 

 mosquito is the instrument that spreads malarial fever by its 

 bite. Quinine tablets are administered free of charge by the 

 railway company to any visitors desiring them as a preventive. 

 I might add that the Cape Town train has a shower bath at 

 each end of a first saloon car, as well as a nickel wash-basin 

 and plentiful supply <>f water in each compartment — greatly 

 appreciated luxuries on that long, hot, and exceedingly dusty 

 journey. About 8.30 p.m. we reached Melindi, a little wayside 

 station where the engine takes water, and we were able to visit 

 the spot, ' lose alongside the line, where the skull "I an elephant 

 is mounted on a pedestal, and were told thai it was here thai 

 the huge beasl crossed the railway just three years before, 

 and came in contact with the mail train, derailing the engine 

 and causing its own death. The head was thai o1 an enormous 

 animal. We were told that w< might see a giraffe 01 zebra 

 from the train as we passed through thai locality, hut we were 

 not fortunate enough, although we scanned the forest growth 

 on either side until it became too dark. The vegetation began 

 to get more tropica] as darkness came on, and the morning 



