Chap. IV. COMICAL CREATURES. 103 



on the 1 5th of March, and stopped to wood on the Luabo, 

 near an encampment of hippopotamus hunters ; our men 

 heard again, through them, of the canoe path from this 

 place to Quillimane, but they declined to point it out. 



We found our friend Major Sicard at Mazaro with 

 picks, shovels, hurdles, and slaves, having come to build a 

 fort and custom-house at the Kongone. As we had no good 

 reason to hide the harbour, but many for its being made 

 known, we supplied him with a chart of the tortuous 

 branches, which, running among the mangroves, perplex 

 the search ; and with such directions as would enable him 

 to find his way down to the river. He had brought the 

 relics of our fugitive mail, and it was a disappointment to 

 find that all had been lost, with the exception of a bundle 

 of old newspapers, two photographs, and three letters, 

 which had been written before we left England. 



The distance from Mazaro, on the Zambesi side, to the 

 Kwakwa at Nterra, is about six miles, over a surprisingly 

 rich dark soil. We passed the night in the long shed, 

 erected at Nterra, on the banks of this river, for the use of 

 travellers, who have often to wait several days for canoes ; 

 we tried to sleep, but the mosquitoes and rats were so 

 troublesome as to render sleep impossible. The rats, or 

 rather large mice, closely resembling Mus ptimilio (Smith), 

 of this region, are quite facetious, and, having a great deal 

 of fun in them, often laugh heartily. Again and again 

 they woke us up by scampering over our faces, and then 

 bursting into a loud laugh of He ! he ! he ! at having 

 performed the feat. Their sense of the ludicrous appears 

 to be exquisite ; they screamed with laughter at the 

 attempts which disturbed and angry human nature made 

 in the dark to bring their ill-timed merriment to a close. 

 Unlike their prudent European cousins, which are said to 

 leave a sinking ship, a party of these took up their 

 quarters in our leaky and sinking vessel. Quiet and 



