ISLAND GARDEN. 533 



" The Leeambye ! Nobody knows 

 Whence it comes and whither it goes." 



The play of colors of the double iris on the cloud, seen by them 

 elsewhere only as the rainbow, may have led them to the idea 

 that this was the abode of Deity. Some of the Makololo, who 

 went with me near to Gonye, looked upon the same sign with awe. 

 When seen in the heavens it is named "motse oa barimo" — the 

 pestle of the gods. Here they could approach the emblem, and 

 see it stand steadily above the blustering uproar below — a type of 

 Him who sits supreme — alone unchangeable, though ruling over 

 all changing things. But, not aware of His true character, they 

 had no admiration of the beautiful and good in their bosoms. 

 They did not imitate His benevolence, for they were a bloody, 

 imperious crew, and Sebituane performed a noble service in the 

 expulsion from their fastnesses of these cruel " Lords of the Isles." 



Having feasted my eyes long on the beautiful sight, I returned 

 to my friends at Kalai, and saying to Sekeletu that he had noth- 

 ing else worth showing in his country, his curiosity was excited 

 to visit it the next day. I returned with the intention of taking 

 a lunar observation from the island itself, but the clouds were un- 

 favorable, consequently all my determinations of position refer to 

 Kalai. (Lat. 17° 51' 54" S., long. 25° 41' E.) Sekeletu ac- 

 knowledged to feeling a little nervous at the probability of being 

 sucked into the gulf before reaching the island. His companions 

 amused themselves by throwing stones down, and wondered to see 

 them diminishing in size, and even disappearing, before they reach- 

 ed the water at the bottom. 



I had another object in view in my return to the island. I ob- 

 served that it was covered with trees, the seeds of which had 

 probably come down with the stream from the distant north, and 

 several of which I had seen nowhere else, and every now and then 

 the wind wafted a little of the condensed vapor over it, and kept 

 the soil in a state of moisture, which caused a sward of grass, 

 growing as green as on an English lawn. I selected a spot — not 

 too near the chasm, for there the constant deposition of the 

 moisture nourished numbers of polypi of a mushroom shape and 

 fleshy consistence, but somewhat back — and made a little garden. 

 I there planted about a hundred peach and apricot stones, and a 

 quantity of coffee-seeds. I had attempted fruit-trees before, but, 



