494 WE ARE VIEWED AS SLAVE-HUNTERS. Chap. XXIV. 



mountain -torrents had worn gullies some thirty or forty 

 feet deep, with steep sides that could not be climbed except 

 at certain points. The remaining inhabitants on the flank 

 of the range when they saw strangers winding from side to 

 side, and often attempting to cross these torrent beds at 

 impossible places, screamed out their shrill war-alarm, and 

 made the valley ring with their wild outcries. It was 

 war, and war alone, and we were too deep down in the 

 valley to make our voices heard in explanation. For- 

 tunately, they had burned off the long grass to a great 

 extent. It only here and there hid them from us. Select- 

 ing an open spot, we spent a night regarded by all around 

 us as slave-hunters, but were undisturbed, though the usual 

 way of treating an enemy in this part of the country is by 

 night attack. 



The nights at the altitude .of the valley were cool, 

 the lowest temperature shown being 37°; at 9 a.m. and 

 9 p.m. it was 58°, about the average temperature of the day ; 

 at midday 82°, and sunset 70°. Our march was very much 

 hindered by the imperfectly burned corn and grass stalks 

 having fallen across the paths. To a reader in England 

 this will seem a very small obstacle. But he must fancy 

 the grass stems as thick as his little finger, and the corn- 

 stalks like so many walkingsticks lying in one direction, 

 and so supporting each other that one has to lift his feet 

 up as when wading through deep high heather. The 

 stems of grass showed the causes of certain explosions as 

 loud as pistols, which are heard when the annual fires come 

 roaring over the land. The heated air inside expanding 

 bursts the stalk with a loud report, and strews the fragments 

 on the ground. 



A very great deal of native corn had been cultivated 

 here, and we saw buffaloes feeding in the deserted gardens, 



