132 GREAT HEAT AND DROUGHT. Chap. VI. 



from its effects, and it was only just before the end of 

 our trip, that this pernicious mode of boiling it was dis- 

 covered by us. 



In ascending 3000 feet from the lowlands to the high- 

 lands, or on reaching the low valley of the Shire from the 

 higher grounds, the change of climate was very marked. 

 The heat was oppressive below, the thermometer standing 

 at from 84° to 103° in the shade ; and our spirits were as 

 dull and languid, as they had been exhilarated on the 

 heights in a temperature cooler by some 20°. The water 

 of the river was sometimes 84° or higher, whilst that we 

 had been drinking in the hill streams was only 65°. 



It was found necessary to send two of our number across 

 from the Shire to Tette ; and Dr. Kirk, with guides from 

 Chibisa, and accompanied by Mr. Eae, the engineer, ac- 

 complished the journey. We had found the country to the 

 north and east so very well watered, that no difficulty was 

 anticipated in this respect in a march of less than a hundred 

 miles ; but on this occasion our friends suffered severely. 

 The little water to be had at this time of the year, by 

 digging in the beds of dry watercourses, was so brackish as to 

 increase thirst, some of the natives indeed were making salt 

 from it ; and when at long intervals a less brackish supply 

 was found, it was nauseous and muddy from the frequent 

 visits of large game. The tsetse abounded. The country 

 was level, and large tracts of it covered with mopane forest, 

 the leaves of which afford but scanty shade to the baked earth, 

 so that scarcely any grass grows upon it. The sun was so 

 hot, that the men frequently jumped from the path, in the 

 vain hope of cooling, for a moment, their scorched feet 

 under the almost shadeless bushes; and the native who 

 carried the provision of salt pork got lost, and came into 



