THE HAIRY CHILD 83 



into the water. This is called Panzu'ngoma, and 

 shares with the bluff which we passed at the 

 entrance the uncanny reputation of being fre- 

 quented by spirits. Farther on, on the opposite 

 side, is a long ridge of hills, the highest peak of 

 which is densely wooded, and known as Mwana- 

 katsitsi (the hairy child). The vegetation on the 

 steep stony banks, which spring in some places 

 abruptly from the water's edge, is here much 

 thinner, and one finds baobabs in increasing 

 numbers, acacias, and coarse-foliaged gomphias, 

 several tall species of parinaria, and a low, shrubby 

 tree covered with small spade-shaped, shimmering 

 leaves which may perhaps be a species of dwarf iron 

 wood. Some hippopotami appear in the water, 

 and draw upon their unoffending heads the happily 

 futile shots of the nimrods on board. At several 

 points where the foothills recede a few hundred 

 yards from the river, native villages peep over their 

 surrounding palisades, and the women and children 

 congregate outside to watch the steamer pass. 

 These huts appear to be considerably larger, more 

 commodious, and better built than those nearer 

 the coast. Now the gorge sweeps round with a 

 wide curve to the south-west, and the long ridge 

 crowned by Mwana-katsitsi runs down to the 

 water's edge, showing a strongly marked outUne of 

 boulder-laden bluff. The mountains themselves 

 here and there display deep, purple-shadowed in- 

 dentations, often descending gently for a few 

 hundred feet from the summit, then suddenly 

 falling sheer for several hundred more, as though 

 from the effect of some terrific landslide. Farther 



