MAGNIFICENT SCENE. 61 



possession of a yard of cloth about their persons. But 

 the nights here are not cold, and a native always rests 

 by a fire. This is often done more for the purpose 

 of keeping off the beasts of the forest than of ensuring 

 heat. 



But all in camp were not enfolded in the arms of 

 Morpheus. Under a large tree, some fifty yards from 

 the hut of his companions, might be seen the crouching 

 form of one of the Makololos. There he sat, "the look- 

 out," with his highly prized old " Brown Bess " stand- 

 ing over him firmly grasped between his knees, the 

 reflection of the blaze kindled for a moment by some 

 passing breeze in an adjacent fire playing brightly on 

 the bayonet above his head. He saw us go, but did 

 not speak, and we did not interrupt his meditations, 

 but passed on. 



The scene, on arriving at the summit of the ridge of 

 hills beneath which our camp stood, was magnificent. 

 The Upper Shire rolled peaceably past, little knowing 

 how unmercifully its waters were to be broken and 

 lashed into white foam by the rough rocks and roar- 

 ing torrents of the Murchison Cataracts, to which they 

 were now drawing close. The sun had just lifted his 

 head above the range of Zomba (?), and though the 

 valley was still in the shade of these mountains, the 

 hill on which I stood was ablaze with that peculiar 

 light seen when the sun is near the horizon, looming 

 blood-red through a thick smoke, and the morning 

 air was scented with the perfume of hundreds of sweet 

 flowers. 



I could not help sitting down, and, contrary to all 

 sportsman's rules, lighting a pipe, to enjoy the scene. 



