Chap. I. SCENERY ON THE KONGONE. 11 



gave unmistakeable indications that they had no very- 

 favourable opinion of white men. They were probably 

 fugitives from Portuguese slavery. In the grassy glades 

 buffaloes, wart-hogs, and three kinds of antelope were 

 abundant, and the latter easily obtained. A few hours' 

 hunting usually provided venison enough for a score of 

 men for several days. 



On proceeding up the Kongone branch it was found 

 that, by keeping well in the bends, which the current had 

 worn deep, shoals were easily avoided. The first twenty 

 miles are straight and deep; then a small and rather 

 tortuous natural canal leads off to the right, and, after 

 about five miles, during which the paddles almost touch 

 the floating grass of the sides, ends in the broad Zambesi. 

 The rest of the Kongone branch comes out of the main 

 stream considerably higher up as the outgoing branch 

 called Doto. 



The first twenty miles of the Kongone are enclosed in 

 mangrove jungle ; some of the trees are ornamented with 

 orchilla weed, which appears never to have been gathered. 

 Huge ferns, palm bushes, and occasionally wild date- 

 palms peer out in the forest, which consists of different 

 species of mangroves; the bunches of bright yellow, though 

 scarcely edible fruit, contrasting prettily with the graceful 

 green leaves. In some spots the Milola, an umbrageous 

 hibiscus, with large yellowish flowers, grows in masses 

 along the bank. Its bark is made into cordage, and is 

 especially valuable for the manufacture of ropes attached 

 to harpoons for killing the hippopotamus. The Pandanus 

 or screw-palm, from which sugar bags are made in the 

 Mauritius, also appears, and on coming out of the canal 

 into the Zambesi many are so tall as in the distance to 

 remind us of the steeples of our native land, and make us 

 relish the remark of an old sailor, " that but one thing was 

 wanting to complete the picture, and that was a ' grog- 



