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the latter having been grown from tubers obtained from Mogoung 

 which were about twice the size of walnuts. The poppy is 

 grown • solely for its narcotic principle : it was flowering now, 

 and the capsules are operated on with a dah a month or so 

 later. The flowering annuals, the seeds of which must, at one 

 time or another, have been imported, were — Iberis, Odorata, 

 Althaea, Gomphrena glabbosa, Impatiens balsamina, Amaranthus, Celosia 

 cristata, Datura alba, and Tagetes erecta. In honour of the deceased 

 brother of the Tswabwa, we were asked to fire a feu de joie before 

 parting ; this terminated the interview, but the Chief insisted on his 

 two sons accompanying us to Talo. The younger, a lad of about 

 ten years old, was a charming little fellow ; we became great friends, 

 and he expressed a wish to be allowed to remain with me. Follow- 

 ing the mountain ridge for another six miles, we commenced to 

 descend in a westerly direction ; all declivities were covered at a 

 most rapid pace, resulting in many a fall. Once on the trot, and 

 the pace gradually increased to full speed, until we found we could 

 only stop ourselves by laying hold of some tree, round which we 

 unavoidably swung with the impetus of the pace. Some of the 

 cliffs it was impossible to descend on foot, and these we slipped 

 down on our hams. After five hours' hard walking over hills and 

 precipitous ravines, we reached the summit of the last hill we had 

 to descend. It was too dark to continue on, so we lighted fires 

 and bivouaced here. There was a heavy dew throughout the night, 

 and at 3 a.m. the thermometer stood at 42°. 



265. Saturday, 24th January 1874. — Started at 6 a.m.; thermo- 

 meter 41° ; spent a miserable night, for it was too cold to sleep, and 

 the irritation caused by the long awns and husked seed of the 

 spear-grass, that had worked its way through my trowsers and 

 stockings, was horridly annoying. En route, a nest of earth-bees 

 was dug up, and specimens of the wax and insects collected. The 

 Kakhyens put this to various uses, and, among others, it serves 

 as a protection to the flash-pan of their match-lock in rain. 

 Acheenoung here drew the attention of one of my peons to an 

 Urtica, who unsuspiciously plucked some leaves, and, Burman- 

 like, at once tasted and smelt them, when the practical joke was soon 

 rendered apparent by the stinging microscopic hairs of this nettle, 

 and the Kakhyens had a good laugh at his ignorance. In little 

 over an hour, we had reached the foot of the hill and followed a 

 track that runs parallel with the Nan -ma-lee choung which disgorges 

 itself at Talo. Judging from its breadth at the mouth, this appears 

 a tributary of considerable size ; yet it is nothing more than a 

 mountain torrent and unnavigable, excepting in the height of the 

 rains, when I am told it can be ascended for some thirty to forty 



