XXXV.] A BARREN WASTE. 469 



the chiefs ; but as the western portion is reached, the country 

 breaks into mountains of every shape and form, among which 

 are needles and cones of granite. In the foreground the hills 

 are of red sandstone crowned with groves of magnificent trees, 

 festooned with jasmine and other sweet-scented creepers. 



At the western side of Bailunda the caravan reached the cul- 

 minating point of the section across the continent. 



A mountainous and rocky tract lies between this and the 

 West Coast. In some of the passes the solid granite hills are 

 cupola and dome-shaped, like the Puy-de-D6nie, in Auvergne. 

 But even among this mass of rocky, sterile mountains lie fer- 

 tile valleys, where the people cultivate large quantities of corn, 

 which they carry down to the coast to exchange for aguardiente 

 and cloth. 



After passing Kisanji, forty miles from the sea, no more hu- 

 man habitations are seen till Katombela is reached. Nearly 

 thirty miles of this part of the road is through one continuous 

 pass of bare granite rocks, with only the occasional shelter of a 

 baobab-tree or a giant euphorbia. 



To this pass succeeds a barren waste of sand and gravel, sepa- 

 rated from the sea by limestone hills fringed by a low flat strip 

 of land on the seaward side ; and here the towns of Katombela 

 and Benguela are situated. This strip only needs irrigation to 

 make it yield all tropical productions ; and, as water is obtained 

 everywhere close to the surface, large and productive gardens 

 are easily cultivated. 



