"Ti? &) & - 
a 
—s ~ \U We 
a, 2 = yy LEZ Wy | 
about five hours’ travel wa GD 
; & : ; a fae 
FROM SAO PAULO DE LOANDA TO THE CONGO. -T 
but vegetation is still very sparse. Hyphcene palms, 
however, make their appearance here as you approach this 
region from the south, and there are also strangely stunted 
baobabs (by some thought to be a different species) growing 
on the cliffs, and a coarse-looking convolvulus straggles” 
over the sea-shore, intermixed with the Calabar bean. 
The usual park-like scenery of the interior is some six 
miles distant from the sea coast. Kinsembo is one of the 
first points proceeding 
northwards from Angola, 
where the influence of 
the Congo region begins 
to be felt. The few 
native tribes more re- 
semble the Ba-Kongo in 
their dialects than the 
neighbourmg Ambundu 
people to the south. 
The journey overland 
to Muséra, the next tra- 
ding settlement, occupies 
ling on foot or in a ham- 
mock, but I spent some 
time longer on the way, 
as I stopped to sketch | 
the curious pillar of Mu- 
séra, a great pointed | | 
stone, poised on a smooth METRO SEC vat eae 
slab of rock, and crown- Hyphene Guineénsis. 
ing the top of a small 
eminence, from whence it is visible a long way off, both 
inland and out at sea. I cannot guess at the cause of 
this curious monolith, except that I think it mmprobable 
that it owes its origin and position to any act of man. 
There are many similar stones in different parts of the 
Lower Congo countries. There is a little vegetation at 
the base of the low hill on which the pillar stands, but 
it is the usual euphorbia and aloe mixture, and there is 
I} lie t fay. | 
(i 
al 
