840 BORDER-TERRITORY 



After leaving Kaonka, we travelled over an uninhabited, 

 gently-undulating, and most beautiful district, the border- 

 territory between those who accept and those who reject 

 the sway of the Makololo. The face of the country appears 

 as if in long waves running north and south. There are 

 no rivers, though water stands in pools in the hollows. 

 We were now come into the country which my people all 

 magnify as a perfect paradise. Sebituane was driven from 

 it by the Matebele. It suited him exactly for cattle, corn, 

 and health. The soil is dry, and often a reddish sand: 

 there are few trees, but fine large shadj' ones stand dotted 

 here and there over the country where towns formerly 

 stood. One of the fig family I measured and found to bo 

 forty feet in circumference ; the heart had been burned out, 

 and some one had made a lodging in it, for we saw the 

 remains of a bed and a fire. The sight of the open country, 

 with the increased altitude we were attaining, was most 

 refreshing to the spirits. Large game abound. We see in 

 the distance buffaloes, elands, hartebeest, gnus, and ele- 

 phants, all very tame, as no one disturbs them. Lions, 

 which always accompany other large animals, roared about 

 us; but, as it was moonlight, there was no danger. In the 

 evening, while standing on a mass of granite, one began to 

 roar at me, though it was still light. The temperature was 

 pleasant, as the rains, though not universal, had fallen in 

 many places. It was very cloudy, preventing observations. 

 The temperature at 6 a.m. was 70°, at mid-day 90°, in the 

 evening 84°. This is very pleasant on the high lands, with 

 but little moisture in the air. 



On the 30th we crossed the river Kalomo, which is about 

 fifty yards broad, and is the only stream that never dries 

 up on this ridge. The current is rapid, and its course is 

 toward the south, as it joins the Zambesi at some distance 

 below the falls. The Unguesi and Lekone, with their 

 feeders, flow westward, this river to the south, and all 

 those to which we are about to come take an easterly di- 

 rection. We were thus at the apex of the ridge, and found 



