THE KALOMO. 581 



disturbs them. Lions, which always accompany other large ani- 

 mals, roared about us, but, as it was moonlight, there was no dan- 

 ger. 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 midday 90°, in the evening 

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

 moisture in the air. 



The different rocks to the westward of Kaonka's, talcose gneiss 

 and white mica schist, generally dip toward the west, but at Ka- 

 onka's, large rounded masses of granite, containing black mica, be- 

 gan to appear. The outer rind of it inclines to peel off, and large 

 crystals project on the exposed surface. 



In passing through some parts where a good shower of rain has 

 fallen, the stridulous piercing notes of the cicadas are perfectly 

 deafening ; a drab-colored cricket joins the chorus with a sharp 

 sound, which has as little modulation as the drone of a Scottish 

 bagpipe. I could not conceive how so small a thing could raise 

 such a sound ; it seemed to make the ground over it thrill. When 

 cicadas, crickets, and frogs unite, their music may be heard at the 

 distance of a quarter of a mile. 



A tree attracted my attention as new, the leaves being like those 

 of an acacia', but the ends of the branches from which they grew 

 resembled closely oblong fir-cones. The corn-poppy was abund- 

 ant, and many of the trees, flowering bulbs, and plants were iden- 

 tical with those in Pungo Andongo. A flower as white as the 

 snowdrop now begins to appear, and farther on it spots the whole 

 sward with its beautiful pure white. A fresh crop appears every 

 morning, and if the day is cloudy they do not expand till the aft- 

 ernoon. In an hour or so they droop and die. They are named 

 by the natives, from their shape, " Tlaku ea pitse," hoof of zebra. 

 I carried several of the somewhat bulbous roots of this pretty 

 flower till I reached the Mauritius. 



On the 30th we crossed the River Kalomo, which is about 50 

 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 



