€hap. V. CHITIMBA'S VILLAGE. 105 



which lay the toilsome road. The vegetation soon changed ; 

 as we rose, bamboos appeared, and new trees and plants 

 were met with, which gave such incessant employment to 

 Dr. Kirk, that he travelled the distance three times over. 

 Remarkably fine trees, one of which has oil-yielding seeds, 

 and belongs to the mahogany family, grow well in the 

 hollows along the rivulet courses. The ascent became 

 very fatiguing, and we were glad of a rest. Looking 

 back from an elevation of a thousand feet, we beheld a 

 lovely prospect. The eye takes in at a glance the valley 

 beneath, and the many windings of its silver stream 

 Makubula, or Kubvula, from the shady hill-side, where it 

 emerges in foaming haste, to where it slowly glides into the 

 tranquil Shire ; then the Shire itself is seen for many a mile 

 above and below Chibisa's, and the great level country beyond, 

 with its numerous green woods ; until the prospect, west and 

 north-west, is bounded far away by masses of peaked and 

 dome-shaped blue mountains, that fringe the highlands 

 of the Maravi country. 



After a weary march we halted at Makolongwe, the village 

 of Chitimba. It stands in a woody hollow on the first of 

 the three terraces of the Manganja hills, and, like all other 

 Manganja villages, is surrounded by an impenetrable hedge 

 of poisonous euphorbia. Tins tree casts a deep shade, which 

 would render it difficult for bowmen to take aim at the 

 villagers inside. The grass does not grow beneath it, and 

 this may be the reason why it is so universally used, 

 for when dry the grass would readily convey fire to the 

 huts inside ; moreover, the hedge acts as a fender to all 

 flying sparks. As strangers are wont to do, we sat down 

 under some fine trees near the entrance of the village. 

 A couple of mats, made of split reeds, were spread for the 



