THE LOANGWA VALLEY. 495 



some low hills, of coarse sandstone, and on crossing these we 

 could see, by looking back, that for many days we had been 

 travelling over a perfectly level valley, clothed with a mantle of 

 forest. The barometers had shown no difference of level from 

 about one thousand eight hundred feet above the sea. We began 

 our descent into this great valley when we left the source of the 

 Bua ; and now these low hills, called Ngale or Ngaloa, though 

 only one hundred feet or so above the level we had left, showed 

 that we had come to the shore of an ancient lake, which prob- 

 ably was let off when the rent of Kebra-basa on the Zambesi 

 was made, for we found immense banks of well-rounded shingle 

 above — or, rather, they may be called mounds of shingle — all 

 of hard silicious schist with a few pieces of fossil-wood among 

 them. The gullies reveal a stratum of this well-rounded shingle, 

 lying on a soft greenish sandstone, which again lies on the coarse 

 sandstone first observed. This formation is identical with that 

 observed formerly below the Victoria Falls. We have the 

 mountains still on our north and northwest (the so-called moun- 

 tains of Bisa, or Babisa), and from them the Nyamazi flows, 

 while Pamazi comes round the end, or what appears to be the 

 end, of the higher portion." 



But hunger, the hard master, drove them on toward the vil- 

 lage of one Kavimba, who had successfully resisted the Mazitu. 

 There he was destined to disappointment as usual. Kavimba 

 gave only a small return-present for the offering which was 

 made him, and would sell nothing except for most exorbitant 

 prices. All day the 24th of December they remained trying to 

 get some grain. But, besides the- ordinary difficulties of dealing 

 with these professional traders, in this particular place the women 

 were rather in authority, and the Kavimba very readily turned 

 over the matter of bargaining to his spouse. She went about 

 her business after the fashion of a fish-woman. There was no 

 end to her swearing and cursing, nor could any amount of patience 

 draw from her anything like a reasonable return for the articles 

 she desired. 



The next day was Christmas, but instead of a Christmas 

 dinner the day was made painfully memorable by the loss of 

 the four goats which Livingstone had kept so carefully in his 

 long march. It was a sad loss indeed ; with no bread, only 



