Chap. IX. MBIA KILLS A HIPPOPOTAMUS. 185 



The banks of the Zambesi show two well-defined terraces ; 

 the first, or lowest, being usually narrow, and of great fer- 

 tility, while the upper one is a dry grassy plain, a thorny 

 jungle, or a mopane (Bauhinia) forest. One of these plains, 

 near the Kafue, is covered with the large stumps and trunks 

 of a petrified forest. We halted a couple of days by the fine 

 stream Sinjere, which comes from the Chiroby-roby hills, 

 about eight miles to the north. Many lumps of coal, brought 

 down by the rapid current, lie in its channel. The natives 

 never seem to have discovered that coal would burn, and, 

 when informed of the fact, shook their heads, smiled in- 

 credulously, and said " Kodi " (really), evidently regarding 

 it as a mere traveller's tale. They were astounded to see it 

 burning freely on our fire of wood. They told us that plenty 

 of it was seen among the hills ; but, being long ago aware that 

 we were now in an immense coalfield, we did^not care to 

 examine it further. Coal had been discovered to the south 

 of this in 1856, and several seams were examined on the stream 

 Eevubue, a few miles distant from Tette. This was evidently 

 an extension of the same field, but the mineral was more 

 bituminous. In an open fire it bubbled up, and gave out 

 gas like good domestic coal. 



A dyke of black basaltic rock, called Kakolole, crosses 

 the river near the mouth of the Sinjere ; but -it has two 

 open gateways in it of from sixty to eighty yards in breadth, 

 and the channel is very deep. 



On a shallow sandbank, under the dyke, lay a herd of 

 hippopotami in fancied security. The young ones were play- 

 ing with each other like young puppies, climbing on the backs 

 of their dams, trying to take hold of one another by the 

 jaws, and tumbling over into the water. Mbia, one of the 

 Makololo, waded across to within a dozen yards of the drowsy 



