234 PLANT IN FORSAKEN GARDENS. Chap. XVI II 



has so many hooked thorns as to cling most tenaciously to any 

 animal te which it may become attached ; when an ox gets 

 one on his mouth, the animal stands roaring with pain and a 

 sense of helplessness. 



Wherever a part of the forest which has once been cleared 

 for a garden is afterwards abandoned, a plant with leaves like 

 those of ginger springs up, and contends with a crop of ferns 

 for the possession of the soil. This is the case all the way 

 down to Angola, and shows the great difference of climate 

 between this and the Bechuana country, where ferns, except 

 one or two hardy species, are never seen. The plants above 

 mentioned bear a pretty pink flower close to the ground, 

 which is succeeded by a scarlet fruit full of seeds, yielding a 

 pleasant acid juice. The prevalence of such acids is one of 

 the characteristics of the fruits of this country, and is probably 

 intended as a corrective to the fluids of the system in the hot 

 climate. 



On leaving the Chihune we crossed the Loange, and, as the 

 day was cloudy, our guides, who depended on the sun for 

 guidance, wandered away to the west till we came to the river 

 Chihombo, flowing to the E.N.E. They then thought that 

 they had wandered back to the Chiboque, and began to 

 dispute as to the point where the sun should rise next 

 morning. It would have been better to have travelled by 

 compass alone, fur the guides took advantage of any fears 

 expressed by my people, and threatened to return if presents 

 were not at once made to them. 



Saturday, \\t!i. — As soon as the rains would allow us we 

 went off to the N.E., and reached a small village on the banks 

 of a narrow stream. I was too ill to leave my shelter, except 

 to quell a mutiny which began to show itself among some of 

 the Batoka and Ambonda of our party. They grumbled 

 because they supposed that I had shown partiality in the 

 distribution of the beads ; but I explained to them that the 

 beads I had given to my principal men were only sufficient to 

 purchase a scanty meal, and that I had hastened on to this 

 village in order to slaughter a tired ox, and give them all a 

 feast on Sunday. Having thus, as I thought, silerced their 

 murmurs, I soon sank into a state of stupor, which the ever 

 sometimes produced, and was oblivious to all their noise in 



