18 J. A. Liebman.—Mashonaland und (July 29,.- 
point: “ There is no disguising the fact,’ says our would-be traveller, 
“that the country to the north of the Limpopo is more adapted to 
the black man than the European.” Gentlemen, I have never been 
so far up-country. Shoshong is the limit of my peregrinations. - 
You cannot expect me from personal observations, therefore, to say 
what is or what is not. But let me refer you to the statements of 
those who not only have been there for a short time but lived, some - 
of them, considerable periods in the territory. Speaking of the - 
country under review Mr. EK. A. Maund in a paper read at the Geogra 
phical Section of the British Association for the Advancement of — 
Science, Leeds Meeting, and published Proceedings R.G.S., 1890; . 
page 649 et. seq. says: 
‘“ The months of September and October before the rains are the - 
hottest in the year. All vegetation appears to be burnt up, and the 
country has a dreary aspect. Cattle grow thin, and the vast herds 
are sent off low down the rivers to find grass and water. In September 
I have registered a maximum in the shade ranging between 105° and 
111° F.; but the atmosphere is so dry that one does not feel it. - 
85° F. near the sea coast, with the air saturated with moisture, being 
comparatively much hotter. The evenings and the mornings are- 
delightful, and at an elevation of 4,000 feet the heat is not enervating, . 
in fact we used to play lawn tennis through it, much to the amusement 
of the natives. During the winter months, May, June, and July,. 
it is often very cold at night in the Highlands. Even on the 
Macloutsie River, at elevations under 3,000 feet, I have known 15° of | 
frost at night, with the thermometer ranging over 80° in the day,-. 
as measured by instruments registered at Kew. Mealies put ir soak 
for the horses overnight have been frozen nearly solid in the morning... 
Notwithstanding this great variation in temperature, this season is 
particularly healthy. Trek oxen suffer from the dryness of the grass 
and cold; so do the poor unclothed natives, who do not thaw out 
until the sun has well aired the day. The climate is, however, well 
adapted to the Anglo-Saxon, who can work all the year round in. 
it. There are Englishmen who have lived up there for the last 
fifteen or twenty years. And what is more essential for good 
colonisation, white children thrive well, some of the missionaries: 
and traders having reared large families.” (Major Johnson tells me 
of a missionary living on the very edge of the plateau on the 
Zambesi valley side who has a family of thirteen children, all of whom. 
he has reared—J.A.L.) “ Of course, low down the river banks, during. 
