308 AEEIVAL AT LOANDA. 



our father, thinking the world was a large plain without limit : 

 but all at once the land said, ' I am finished ; there is no more 

 of me ; ' " and they called themselves the true old men — the 

 true ancients — having gone to the end of the world. On reach- 

 ing Loanda, they commenced trading in firewood, and also en- 

 gaged themselves at sixpence a day in unloading coals, brought 

 by a steamer for the supply of the cruiser lying there to watch 

 the slave-vessels. On their return, they told their people " we 

 worked for a whole moon, carrying away the stones that burn." 

 By the time they were ready to go back to their own country, 

 each had secured a large bundle of goods. On the way back, 

 however, fever detained them, and their goods were all gone, 

 leaving them on their return home as poor as when they started. 



I had gone towards the coast for the purpose of finding a 

 direct path to the sea, but on going through the country we 

 found forests so dense that the sun had not much influence on 

 the ground, which was covered with yellow mosses, and all the 

 trees with white lichens. Amongst these forests were little 

 streams, each having its source in a bog ; in fact, nearly all the 

 rivers in that country commence in bogs. Finding it impos- 

 sible to travel here in a wheel conveyance, I left my wagon 

 behind, and I believe it is standing in perfect safety where I last 

 saw it at the present moment. The only other means of con- 

 veyance we had was ox-back, by no means a comfortable mode 

 of travelling. I therefore came back to discover another route 

 to the coast by means of the river Zambesi. 



The same system of inundation that distinguishes the Nile 

 is also effected by this river, and the valley of the Barotse is 

 exceedingly like the valley of the Nile between Cairo and 

 Alexandria. The inundations of the Zambesi, however, cause 

 no muddy sediment like those of the Nile, and, only that there 

 are no snow-mountains, would convey the impression that the 

 inundations were the result of the melting of snow from adjoin- 

 ing hills. The face of the country presents no such features, 

 but elevated plains, so level that rain-water stands for months 

 together upon them. The water does not flow off, but gradually 

 soaks into the soil, and then oozes out in bogs, in which all the 

 rivers take their rise. They have two rainy seasons in the year, 

 and consequently two periods of inundation. The reason why 



