424 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



November, the trees and ferns around. And then the waters, by a series 

 ISYS. of smaller leaps, joined a stream rushing through the centre of 

 the gorge. 



We were now upon a level plain covered with open forest ; 

 and, as we were about to enter the wood, I noticed a grave com- 

 posed of a pile of loose blocks of granite, with a rough and 

 massive wooden cross reared at its head. This, I was told, was 

 the grave of a daughter of Major Coimbra (Coimbra's father), 

 who married Syde ibn Habib, and died here in childbirth. 

 After her death, Syde ibn Habib returned to her father's settle- 

 ment at Boa Yista, and married her sister, evidently determined 

 to have a better-half with some European blood in her veins. 

 This second wife he took with him to Zanzibar. 



On this march we met no fewer than ten up-caravans, num- 

 bering seventy to eighty men each. They were principally la- 

 den with small bags of salt, and bottles and kegs of aguardiente 

 which they had purchased at Benguela. 



A stream running through a muddy swamp, which we 

 reached about noon, affording an oj)portunity for bathing, we 

 halted to enjoy a dip and rest, and a bit of damper to appease 

 our hunger. On resuming our march, we entered well-wooded 

 but broken ground, with numerous torrents and rills, and out- 

 crops and vast sheets of granite. 



From a high hill we descried ranges of mountains still lying 

 in front, while at our feet there was a decent camping-place, 

 where we decided to halt. Before us was the river Balomba, 

 eighty feet wide and waist-deep, flowing fast toward the north- 

 west, and ultimately falling into the sea as an independent 

 stream some little distance north of Benguela. 



Caravans continued to pass us, bound up country; and nearly 

 the whole number seen by us during the day traded only be- 

 tween Bailunda and the coast. They carry thither the flour of 

 Indian corn and cassava, on which the slaves at Benguela are 

 fed, and receive in exchange salt, aguardiente, and sometimes 

 cloth. Their loads are light, and they travel fast, being no more 

 than about three weeks absent from their homes in Bailunda. 



During these journeys the men live almost entirely on drink, 

 never eating more than a handful or two of porridge daily. 

 Yet they seem to work well and thrive wonderfully. No 



