THE RAINY SEASOX. 191 



village contained the meeting-hall, which looked particularly 

 pretty ; it provided ample room for three or four hundred men, 

 and, differing from similar Monbuttu buildings, it had a hemis- 

 pherical roof supported by fifty high wooden pillars. One is 

 at a loss to know whether most to admire the boldness of 

 conception — for we are in a Negro country — or the precision 

 of execution of such architecture, which is, indeed, only to be 

 found in lands such as Monbuttu, where building materials in 

 bamboo, rattan, ribs of palm leaves, and straight-grown trees 

 lighten the task of the skilful workman. 



We had hardly time to look about, for the rain was threaten- 

 ing ; and when, after an hour's march, we reached Gambari's 

 residence, Bellima, we scarcely managed to get our loads under 

 cover before a deluge of rain came down. This is the com- 

 mencement of the rainy season, and it seems as if it must rain 

 at least twice daily ; what, then, will be the humidity of the 

 atmosphere later on ? No long series of meteorological obser- 

 vations have yet been made in Monbuttu ; from what the 

 natives say, however, it seems that there are two distinct rainy 

 seasons, although no month in the year is absolutely without 

 rain. It is interesting to note that although the south-east 

 wind usually brings the rain, it frequently falls also during the 

 north-west wind. 



Bellima is situated on the back of a ridge of hill running 

 along the northern bank of the little river Gadda, and is the 

 highest place we visited in Monbuttu. While the thick forest 

 shuts out all view between the south and west, a row of stately 

 mountain forms appear, running from south to east, among 

 which is conspicuous the imposing form of Jebel Tinna. The 

 most northerly of the two groups is called by the collective 

 name of Mimi, after a little station which was once situated 

 there; the easterly group is called Gango. Both of them are 

 doubtless the last spurs of the chains that stretch from the 

 south end of the Albert Lake, across the country of the Loggo 

 and A-Madi, and trend away towards Monbuttu. All the rivers 

 flowing through Monbuttu — Makwa, Bomokandi, Xava, and 

 others, excluding perhaps small and local brooks, rise in those 

 mountains ; and the great abundance of water in Monbuttu 

 may perhaps be explained by the fact that the country lies just 



