582 CONFORMATION OF COUNTRY. 



to the south, and all those to which we are about to come take 

 an easterly direction. We were thus at the apex of the ridge, and 

 found that, as water boiled at 202°, our altitude above the level 

 of the sea was over 5000 feet. Here the granite crops out again 

 in great rounded masses which change the dip of the gneiss and 

 mica schist rocks from the westward to the eastward. In cross- 

 ing the western ridge I mentioned the clay shale or keele forma- 

 tion, a section of which we have in the valley of the Quango : the 

 strata there lie nearly horizontal, but on this ridge the granite 

 seems to have been the active agent of elevation, for the rocks, 

 both on its east and west, abut against it. Both eastern and west- 

 ern ridges are known to be comparatively salubrious, and in this 

 respect, as well as in the general aspect of the country, they re- 

 semble that most healthy of all healthy climates, the interior of 

 South Africa, near and adjacent to the Desert. This ridge has 

 neither fountain nor marsh upon it, and east of the Kalomo we 

 look upon treeless undulating plains covered with short grass. 

 From a point somewhat near to the great falls, this ridge or ob- 

 long mound trends away to the northeast, and there treeless ele- 

 vated plains again appear. Then again the ridge is said to 

 bend away from the falls to the southeast, the Mashona country, 

 or rather their mountains, appearing, according to Mr. Moffat, 

 about four days east of Matlokotloko, the present residence of 

 Mosilikatse. In reference to this ridge he makes the interesting 

 remark, "I observed a number of the Angora goat, most of them 

 being white ; and their long soft hair, covering their entire bodies 

 to the ground, made them look like animals moving along with- 

 out feet."* 



It is impossible to say how much farther to the north these 

 subtending ridges may stretch. There is reason to believe that, 

 though the same general form of country obtains, they are not. 

 flanked by abrupt hills between the latitude 12° south and the 

 equator. The inquiry is worthy the attention of travelers. As 

 they are known to be favorable to health, the Makololo, who 

 have been nearly all cut off by fevers in the valley, declaring 

 that here they never had a headache, they may even be recom- 

 mended as a sanatorium for those whose enterprise leads them 



* Moffat's " Visit to Mosilikatse." — Royal Geographical Society's Journal, vol. 

 xxvi., p. 96. 



