148 IRON WORKS IN LONDA. 



he was fully convinced of the great fertility of the soil, and its 

 adaptation to the customs and interests of civilized life. It may 

 be that these vast plains and forests are to become the store- 

 houses of the world. There was a time when our western con- 

 tinent was as hopelessly benighted, and offered as small attrac- 

 tions to the old world, as Africa offers now. The times are in 

 God's hand : the future is wide and rich in possibilities. 



After spending about ten days with Shinte, the travelling party 

 picked up their possessions and resumed their tramp. Among 

 the industries which were noticed, as the party passed along the 

 lovely valley, were certain native iron works, for which the ore 

 is obtained in a range of splendid hills clothed in verdure 

 which wall the valley on the east. Indeed it is a matter of 

 deep interest that this continent, although so little known, has 

 already revealed such an abundance of iron as merits the 

 serious consideration of the world ; and the natives, though 

 untrained to think of manufacture as a means of income or 

 revenue, have still acquired much skill in subjecting this un- 

 sightly and unwieldy treasure to their convenience. The Man- 

 yeti, it may be remembered, who won the distinction of " pirates 

 of the Leeambye," were skilful artizans in iron ; and in 

 Angola, in Eastern Africa generally, indeed over the continent, 

 the ore is found in good qualities and abundant quantities. 



The kindness of Shinte now went in advance of the party, as 

 that of Sekeletu had done, and food was found in readiness at 

 every little village. Beyond the Leeba, which was crossed on 

 the 31st of January, the route lay across a plain not less than 

 twenty miles broad, and travelled some days where rain-water 

 alone was standing from six inches to some feet in depth. But 

 though all this region, as indicated on the maps, is wonderfully 

 threaded by streams which contribute to the great river which 

 flows away across the continent, there seem to be no fountains, 

 but these tributaries of the great never-failing Chobe grow up 

 amid the bogs of the vast soaking plains. 



Crossing the Lokalueje, the party encountered the old friends 

 so common on the rivers of the Bechuanas and Makololo — the 

 hippopotami — which excited the hope that the plains and woods 

 would soon again possess the attractions of animal life and 

 afford supplies of meat. 



