Chap. XI. HIVES AND HONEY. 309 



both banks. Large ^pots of it, very good and clear, were 

 offered in exchange for a very little cloth. No wax was 

 brought for sale; there being no market for this com- 

 modity, it is probably thrown away as useless. 



At Michi we lose the tableland which, up to this point, 

 bounds the view on both sides of the river, as it were, 

 with ranges of flat-topped hills, 600 or 800 feet high ; and 

 to this plateau a level fertile plain succeeds, on which 

 stand detached granite hills. That portion of the table- 

 land on the right bank seems to bend away to the south, 

 still preserving the appearance of a hill range. The height 

 opposite extends a few miles further west, and then 

 branches off in a northerly direction. A few small pieces 

 of coal were picked up on the sandbanks, showing that 

 this useful mineral exists on the Eovuma, or on some of 

 its tributaries : the natives know that it will burn. At 

 the lakelet Chidia, we noticed the same sandstone rock, 

 with fossil wood on it, which we have on the Zambesi, and 

 knew to be a sure evidence of coal beneath. We mentioned 

 this at the time to Captain Gardner, and our finding coal 

 now seemed a verification of what we then said ; the coal- 

 field probably extends from the Zambesi to the Eovuma, if 

 not beyond it. Some of the rocks lower down have the 

 permanent water-line three feet above the present height 

 of the water. 



A few miles west of the Makoa of Matingula, we came 

 again among the Makonde, but now of good repute. War 

 and slavery have driven them to seek refuge on the sand- 

 banks. A venerable-looking old man hailed us as we 

 passed, and asked us if we were going by without speak- 

 ing. We landed, and he laid down his gun and came to 

 us ; he was accompanied by his brother, who shook hands 

 with every one in the boat, as he had seen people do at 

 Kilwa. " Then you have seen white men before ? " we 

 said. " Yes," replied the polite African, k ' but never 



