626 PURSUED BY NATIVES. Chap. XXX. 



hills west of Zurnbo, it looks as if a current had dashed along from 

 the south-east in the line in which the pot-holes now appear, and 

 if the current was deflected, by those hills, towards the Maravi 

 country, north of Tete, it may have hollowed the rounded water- 

 worn caverns, in which these people store their corn, and also 

 hide themselves from their enemies. I could detect no terraces 

 on the land, but, if I am right in my supposition, the form of 

 this part of the continent must once have resembled the curves 

 or indentations seen on the southern extremity of the American 

 continent. In the indentation to the S.E., S., S. W., and W. of 

 this, he the principal gold- washings ; and the line of* the current, 

 supposing it to have struck against the hills of Mburuma, shows 

 the washings in the N. and N.E. of Tete. 



We were tolerably successful in avoiding the villages, and slept 

 one night on the flanks of the hill Zimika, where a great number 

 of deep pot-holes afforded an abundant supply of good rain-water. 

 Here, for the first time, we saw hills with bare, smooth, rocky tops, 

 and we crossed over broad dykes of gneiss and syenitic porphyry : 

 the directions in which they lay were N. and S. As we were now 

 near to Tete, we were congratulating ourselves on having avoided 

 those who would only have plagued us ; but next morning some 

 men saw us, and ran off to inform the neighbouring villages of 

 our passing. A party immediately pursued us, and, as they 

 knew we were within call of Katolosa (Monomotapa), they threat- 

 ened to send information to that chief of our offence, in passing 

 through the country without leave. We were obliged to give 

 them two small tusks, for, had they told Katolosa of our supposed 

 offence, we should in all probability have lost the whole. We 

 then went through a very rough stony country without any path. 

 Being pretty well tired out in the evening of the 2nd of March, 

 I remained at about eight miles distance from Tete, Tette, or 

 Nyungwe. My men asked me to go on ; I felt too fatigued to 

 proceed, but sent forward to the Commandant the letters of 

 recommendation with which I had been favoured in Angola by 

 the Bishop and others, and lay down to rest. Our food having 

 been exhausted, my men had been subsisting for some time on 

 roots and honey. About two o'clock in the morning of the 3rd 

 we were aroused by two officers and a company of soldiers, who 

 had been sent with the materials for a civilized breakfast and a 



