Chap. XXVII. WHITE MOUNTAIN— THE MOZUMA. 359 



Maundo, where we were frequently invited by the honey- 

 guide (Cuculus indicator). Wishing to ascertain the truth oi 

 the native assertion that this bird is a deceiver, and some- 

 times leads to a wild beast, I inquired of my men the result 

 of their experience. Only one of the 114 could say that he 

 had been led to an elephant instead of a hive, and I am quite 

 convinced that the report was a libel on the bird, and that the 

 majority of people who commit themselves to its guidance are 

 led to honey alone. 



On the 3rd we crossed the Mozuma, or river of Dila, having 

 travelled through an undulating pastoral country. To the 

 south, and a little east of this, stands the hill named Taba 

 Cheu, or " White Mountain," from a mass of white rock, 

 probably dolomite, on its top. "When I heard the height of 

 this mountain described at Linyanti, I thought the glistening 

 substance might be snow ; but I had quite forgotten that I 

 was speaking with men who had been accustomed to plains, 

 and knew nothing of high mountains. When I inquired what 

 the white substance was, they at once replied it was a kind of 

 rock. The distant views which we obtained from the high 

 ground we were now traversing, and which ranged over some 

 thirty miles, were especially refreshing to me after travelling 

 for months together amid the confined views of the flat forest ; 

 nor was the change from the tangled rank herbage of the great 

 valley to the short grass of this district less agreeable. 



The Mozuma, or river of Dila, was the first watercourse 

 which indicated that we were now on the slopes inclined 

 towards the eastern coast. It contained no flowing water, but 

 revealed in its banks, to my great satisfaction, pieces of 

 lignite, possibly indicating the existence of coal, the want of 

 which in the central country I had always deplored. Again 

 and again we came to the ruins of large towns, containing, the 

 only indications of antiquity to be seen in this country, viz. 

 worn millstones, with the round ball of quartz with which the 

 grinding was effected. Great numbers of these balls were 

 lying about, showing that the depopulation had been the 

 result of war, for in time of peace they would have taken the 

 balls with them. At the river of Dila we saw the spot where 

 Sebituane lived, and Sekwebu pointed out the heaps of bones 

 of cattle which the Makololo had been obliged to slaughter. 



