128 SEAMS OF COAL. Chap. V. 



Kebrabasa. In the latter gorge, as already mentioned, 

 igneous and syenitic masses have been acted on by some 

 great fiery convulsion of nature ; the strata are thrown into 

 a huddled heap of confusion. The coal has of course dis- 

 appeared in Kebrabasa, but is found again in Chicova. 

 Tette grey sandstone is common about Sinjere, and wher- 

 ever it is seen with fossil wood upon it, coal lies beneath ; 

 and here, as at Chicova, some seams crop out on the banks 

 of the Zambesi. Looking southwards, the country is open 

 plain and woodland, with detached hills and mountains in 

 the distance ; but the latter are too far off, the natives say, 

 for them to know their names. The principal hills on 

 our right, as we look up stream, are from six to twelve 

 miles away, and occasionally they send down spurs to the 

 river, with brooks flowing through their narrow valleys. 

 The banks of the Zambesi show two well-defined terraces ; 

 the first, or lowest, being usually narrow, and of great 

 fertility, while the upper one is a dry grassy plain, a 

 thorny jungle, or a mopane (BauMnid) forest. One of 

 these plains, near the Kafue, is covered with the large 

 stumps and trunks of a petrified forest. We halted a 

 couple of days by the fine stream Sinjere, which comes 

 from the Chiroby-roby hills, about eight miles to the north. 

 Many lumps of coal, brought down by the rapid current, 

 lie in its channel. The natives never seem to have dis- 

 covered that coal would burn, and, when informed of the 

 fact, shook their heads, smiled incredulously, and said 

 " Kodi " (really), evidently regarding it as a mere 

 traveller's tale. They were astounded to see it burning 

 freely on our fire of wood. They told us that plenty of it 

 was seen among the hills ; but, being long ago aware that 

 we were now in an immense coalfield, we did not care to 

 examine it further. 



A dyke of black basaltic rock, called Kakolole, crosses 

 the river near the mouth of the Sinjere ; but it has two 



