20 DESCRIPTIVE 



elevations and piercingly cold in the beautifully 

 upland regions of which so much of this portion of 

 Africa consists. If, therefore, an excursion should 

 be contemplated with a view to indulging in a 

 satisfying allowance of great game hunting on 

 the Zambezi, or in its neighbourhood, and should 

 penetrate into the vast, little-known fastnesses 

 of the Shupanga Forest which lie on the southern 

 margin of the great river, I would have you, in 

 anticipation of what you will find, cast your 

 mental gaze over some such picture as the 

 following. 



On the one hand the broad, shallow waters 

 of the Zambezi, blue as a belt of sapphire, flowing 

 placidly, 800 yards wide, between pale yellow 

 banks of fine sand. Above and below, the main 

 channel divides to encompass large, sandy islets 

 covered with tufts of feathery spear-grass, and 

 affording in their inlets and backwaters restful 

 abiding-places for wild-fowl, crocodiles, and, 

 possibly, a shy, experienced old hippopotamus. 

 The main banks of the river — 18 or 20 feet above 

 the stream — display the curious strata of their 

 compositions, — first sand, then a coarser sand 

 full of quartz crystals and small shells, and, 

 lastly, the dark grey, almost black surface-soil 

 affording rich sustenance to the rank grasses 

 and countless palms which here line the 

 bank of the river. Let us climb up it and 

 look farther afield. From the point of our 

 ascent there stretches in towards the forest 

 a belt of beautiful, dark green spear-grass, that 

 attractive, spiteful growth the ends of whose 



