558 DIP OF ROCKS. Chap. XXVII. 



mouths like other people ? " He then set off and brought large 

 bundles of grass and wood for our comfort, and a pot to cook 

 our food in. 



December 12th. — The morning presented the appearance of a 

 continuous rain from the north, the first time we had seen it 

 set in from that quarter in such a southern latitude. In the 

 Bechuana country, continuous rains are always from the north- 

 east or east, while in Londa and Angola they are from the north. 

 At Pungo Andongo, for instance, the whitewash is all removed 

 from the north side of the houses. It cleared up, however, about 

 midday, and Monze's sister conducted us a mile or two upon the 

 road. On parting, she said that she had forwarded orders to a 

 distant village, to send food to the point where we should sleep. 

 In expressing her joy at the prospect of living in peace, she said 

 it would be so pleasant " to sleep without dreaming of any one 

 pursuing them with a spear." 



In our front we had ranges of hills called Chamai, covered with 

 trees. We crossed the rivulet Nakachinta, flowing eastwards 

 into the Zambesi, and then passed over ridges of rocks of the 

 same mica schist which we found so abundant in Golungo Alto ; 

 here they were surmounted by reddish porphyry and finely lami- 

 nated felspathic grit with trap. The dip, however, of these rocks, 

 is not towards the centre of the continent as in Angola, for 

 ever since we passed the masses of granite on the Kalomo, 

 the rocks, chiefly of mica schist, dip away from them, taking an 

 easterly direction. A decided change of dip occurs again when 

 we come near the Zambesi, as will be noticed further on. The 

 hills winch flank that river, now appeared on our right as a high 

 dark range, while those near the Kafue, have the aspect of a low 

 blue range, with openings between. We crossed two never-failing 

 rivulets also flowing into the Kafue. The country is very fertile, 

 but vegetation is nowhere rank. The boiling point of water 

 being 204°, showed that we were not yet as low down as Linyanti ; 

 but we had left the masuka-trees behind us, and many others 

 with winch we had become familiar. A feature common to the 

 forests of Angola and Benguela, namely the presence of orchilla- 

 weed and lichens on the trees, with mosses on the ground, began 

 to appear ; but we never, on any part of the eastern slope, saw 

 the abundant crops of ferns which are met with everywhere in 



