14 A JOURNEY UP THE RIVER CONGO. 
eyes seemed a charming place. At last the hideous 
influence of the south coast was over, and a rich and 
: varied vegetation grew down to the very waves. a 
| There was a stretch of low-lying land about a mile or Ss 
\ less in width, immediately next the sea, overgrown with 
dense bush, and, in fact, a sort of natural botanical garden 
- with many specimens of the African flora displayed with 
prodigal abundance. There were groups of umbrageous 
D ty (some of them handsome species of papilionaceze 
_,#ith violet laburnum-like blossoms*) offering a welcome 
oe and unaccustomed shade, where, seated amidst a trellis- 
a work of creepers on a dry carpet of fallen leaves and 
fading blossoms, you could dreamingly inhale the strong 
fragrant perfume which the ardent sun drew from the 
_ clustering jasmine that thrust itself into these pleasant 
arbours. There are apparently two species of jasmine 
erowing here; one has a somewhat pinky flower with 
shiny leaves and thorny stem, is very common throughout 
Angola,f and grows independently in large bushes, and 
‘the other has a much larger, pure-white, and stephanotis- 
like blossom, is without thorns, and seemingly a creeper 
in its habits,t clambering high up over the trees, and 
raining down its lovely star-like flowers in long trailing 
sprays. 
In the background behind all this greenery the land 
abruptly rises, and seems to be a row of ancient cliffs 
from which the sea has retreated and whence the rain has 
washed down the loose surface soil that forms this verdant 
garden of the undercliffi Their summits are bare and 
worn srom the constant denudation, but about half a mile 
inland a rich vegetation once more takes poe of 
the soul. 
The natives in the neighbourhood of Cabega da Cobra 
* Lonchocarpus sp. inc. In some glades of the woods the ground 
beneath these trees was covered with a pinky-mauve sheet of their 
fallen flowers. 
+ I have never seen this j jasmine (Corissa sp.) farther north on the 
Congo. Srey 
a: “Probably~ Jasminum auriculatum. 
