1872.] LEAVES THE LAKE. 247 



this morning in highland open forest, then descended by a 

 long slope to a valley in which there is water. Many 

 Milenga gardens, but the people keep out of sight. The 

 highlands are of a purple colour from the new leaves coming 

 out. The donkey began to eat to my great joy. Men sent 

 off to search for a village return empty-handed, and we 

 must halt. I am ill and losing much blood. 



10th November. — Out from the Lake mountains, and along 

 high ridges of sandstone and dolomite. Our guide volun- 

 teered to take the men on to a place where food can be 

 bought — a very acceptable offer. The donkey is recovering ; 

 it was distinctly the effects of tsetse, for the eyes and all the 

 mouth and nostrils swelled. Another died at Kwihara with 

 every symptom of tsetse poison fully developed. 



[The above remarks on the susceptibility of the donkey to 

 the bite of the tsetse fly are exceedingly important. Hitherto 

 Dr. Livingstone had always maintained, as the result of his 

 own observations, that this animal, at all events, could be 

 taken through districts in which horses, mules, dogs, and 

 oxen would perish to a certainty. With the keen perception 

 and perseverance of one who was exploring Africa with a 

 view to open it up for Europeans, he laid great stress on 

 these experiments, and there is no doubt that the distinct 

 result which he here arrived at must have a very signifi- 

 cant bearing on the question of travel and transport. 



Still passing through the same desolate country, we 

 see that he makes a note on the forsaken fields and 

 the watch-towers in them. Cucumbers are cultivated in 

 large quantities by the natives of Inner Africa, and the 

 reader will no doubt call to mind the simile adopted by 

 Isaiah some 2500 years ago, as he pictured the coming 

 desolation of Zion, likening her to a " lodge in a garden of 

 cucumbers."*] 



* Isaiah i. 8. 



