24 FROM MAGTJNGO TO MRULI. 



margins of the khors are fringed by " gallery " woods. We 

 marched between two mountain chains which run in an 

 easterly direction ; and after we had permitted our porters to 

 take some rest, and then journeyed round a considerable pool 

 of water, upon the edge of which an indescribable picture of 

 luxuriant vegetation enchanted us, we climbed right up over 

 granite and gneiss blocks, ever upwards across the bare red 

 land (where is found a shrub much resembling a species of 

 Solanum, with woolly leaves, small yellow and black flowers, 

 and a small white apple-like fruit), until, bathed in perspira- 

 tion, we reached the summit of the mountain, and arrived at 

 the station of Kisuga. 



This place also is situated on one of the many hills that are 

 scattered over the country, now rising separately out of the 

 comparatively level ground, now uniting by twos and threes to 

 form small groups. They are composed of granite and gneiss 

 enveloped in a layer of rich bog-iron ore, which, again, is 

 covered by a deep layer of vegetable mould. The water col- 

 lected at the foot of this hill has no outlet, yet all the khors 

 farther on flow towards the south-east, and probably convey 

 their water to the great Khor Kafu, which joins the Nile at 

 Mruli. All the water is coloured deep yellow by oxide of 

 iron, but the presence of iron is not perceptible to the 

 taste. 



Although fragments of rock (red-striped quartz) are scattered 

 all over the ground, the crenelated structures of the ants rise 

 to a height of seven feet in all directions. These creatures 

 often abound on a red clayey soil. Frequently when I wake 

 up in the night I hear a noise on the roof of my hut like the 

 pattering of heavy rain, for even in such places the indefatigable 

 ants build their passages and destroy the work of human 

 hands ; indeed, our life here in the interior of Africa is a 

 constant struggle with the superior forces of nature and the 

 overwhelming life of plants and animals. In all directions 

 there extends a wide and rolling plain studded with beautiful 

 trees ; the blue mountain masses of Kadiiku, Siimbiye, &c, 

 stand out upon the horizon, while the lower Siri-Siri marks 

 the road to this place. Kisuga is a very roomy, clean, and 

 airy station, divided into regular quarters, and on account 



