198 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap- 



April, plunder. The lioes I saw were very large, exceeding the size 

 i^'^'*- of an ordinary garden spade. I may mention that here the pre- 

 fix " Ba " is used instead of " Wa " by the different tribes, such 

 as Bafipa, Batuta. 



Arabs occasionally pass inland, but no large boats had been 

 here for years, and the j^eople never saw a sail before the Betsy 

 arrived. 



Leaving early on the morning of the 15th of April, and pass- 

 ing the rivers Mundewli and Muomeesa, and the villages of Ka- 

 sangalowa and Mambema, we began to lose sight of the land 

 of rocks. 



On the outside of Polungo Island were enormous masses, scat- 

 tered and piled in the most fantastic manner — vast overhanging 

 blocks, rocking-stones, obelisks, pyramids, and every form imag- 

 inable. The whole was overgrown with trees jutting out from 

 every crevice or spot where soil had lodged, and from them 

 hung creepers fifty or sixty feet long, while through this fringe 

 there were occasional glimpses of hollows and caves. 



The glorious lake, with its heaving bosom, lay bathed in trop- 

 ical sunshine, and one could scarcely imagine the scene to be a 

 reality. It seemed as if designed for some grand transforma- 

 tion in a pantomime, and one almost expected the rocks to open, 

 and sprites and fairies to appear. 



As I paused to gaze at the wondrous sight, all being still, with- 

 out a sign of life, suddenly the long creepers began to move as 

 some brown object, quickly followed by another and another, 

 was seen. This was a party of monkeys, swinging themselves 

 along, and outdoing Leotard on the flying trapeze ; and then, 

 stopping and hanging by one paw, they chattered and gibbered 

 at the strange sight of a boat. A shout, and they were gone 

 more rapidly than they came, while the rolling echo almost 

 equaled thunder in its intensity. 



In places the slightest shock of earthquake would cause mass- 

 es of thousands of tons to topple down from their lofty sites, 

 and carry ruin and destruction before them. 



Large cotton-plants were apparently growing wild at the 

 camping-place, but possibly this had formerly been a cleai'ing. 

 The cliffs were of chalk, or very white limestone, split vertical- 

 ly, the lines as sharp as though cut with a knife. 



