i 9 o A VISIT TO THE MONBUTTU. 



wliicli Monbuttu is covered as with a net. If, however, the 

 first fissure occurs in a place where there is not enough water 

 to accomplish the process just described, the hollow, which, to 

 begin with, is usually round, becomes deepened by rain falling 

 into it, and widened through the slipping in of its edges ; and 

 if then, in course of time, trees grow upon the bottom of such 

 a " sink," the curious sight is to be seen of a wide, deep 

 caldron, its bottom covered with trees whose tops reach 

 exactly to the level of the surrounding country. 



In considering the characteristic features of this country, it 

 is necessary to mention the little hills, isolated or standing in 

 groups, which are very numerous where the country slopes 

 towards the rivers and brooks. They are light grey in colour, 

 generally fifteen feet high, of conical or truncated pyramidal 

 form, and often of considerable breadth, sometimes entirely 

 grown over, but usually bare. One would certainly put 

 them down as great termite hills, if it were not that 

 the natives build their huts upon them, and that a careful 

 examination has failed to reveal the existence of passages con- 

 structed by ants. It therefore appears as if we had to deal 

 here with a question of the product of denudation, and this 

 view is borne out by the existence of similar hills on the lower 

 and middle Bahr-el-Jebel. At any rate, these miniature 

 mountains add not a little to the beauty of the landscape, 

 especially where three or four of them covered with huts are 

 scattered amongst a zeriba. 



Accompanied by a very large crowd of people, and by the 

 deafening noise of huge horns carved out of elephants' tusks, 

 we reached the village of Jondi ; its numerous huts were scattered 

 over the ground which sloped down to the Bogboro stream, and 

 were surrounded by a wood of Scitamineae. Plantations of oil- 

 palms became more frequent from this point, and lent a charm to 

 the village, which was also rendered attractive by its picturesque 

 hall-like buildings, and by the cleanliness and obliging manner of 

 its inhabitants. The walls of many of the buildings were orna- 

 mented in quite a peculiar style ; long strips of bark (Xilopia 

 ccthiopica) were fastened to the reed walls and sewn together with 

 split rattan, covering the entire wall and having the appear- 

 ance of mosaic. The open space situated in the centre of the 



