158 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



plains of Lobale on our West being flooded and impassable. It happened to be 

 the rainy season, and never did twenty-four hours pass without frequent 

 drenching showers. All the streams were swollen, so as to appear con- 

 siderable rivers ; but as they were generally furnished with rustic bridges, we 

 may infer their flow to be perennial. Several extensive plains were crossed 

 with the water standing more than a foot deep ; and broad valleys also, along 

 which the water flowed fast towards the Leeba, deep enough to wet our 

 blankets, which we used as pads on the oxen instead of saddles. Both this 

 and the water in the rivers were so clear, that, in using the bridges over the 

 latter, though they were submerged breast-deep, we could easily see the sticks 

 on which to place our feet. This clearness of the water, which we observed 

 in the Zouga, Chobe, and Leeambye, at the times of inundation, is the result 

 of the rains falling on a mat of grass so thick as to prevent the abrasion of the 

 soil. As the tropical rains cause the plains of Lobale to present a similar 

 phenomenon, it may not be unreasonable to conclude that the water of 

 inundation of the Barotse valley and lower parts of the Zambesi, is supplied 

 by copious rains in the North, and, as the natives reported, comes chiefly 

 from Lobale. 



" We suffered less detention than might be expected from the swollen 

 state of the rivers ; for though we had to swim some of them, all except two 

 boys knew the art ; and we never stopped to dry our clothes, unless it were in 

 the afternoons. We got drenched, either by rains or rivers, two or three 

 times every day ; but the sun was hot, and we suffered no inconvenience. If, 

 however, we arrived at our sleeping-place damp, or got our blankets wet, 

 intermittent fever was sure to follow. 



" The country of the Balonda through which we passed was both fertile 

 and beautiful. Dense forests alternate constantly with open valleys covered 

 with grass resembling fine English meadows. The general surface, though flat, 

 seems covered with waves disposed lengthways from N.N.E. to S.S.W. The 

 crest of each of these earthen billows is covered with forest 4 or 5 miles broad ; 

 while the trough, about a mile wide, has generally a stream or bog in the centre, 

 with the habitations and gardens of the inhabitants on the sides. The forests 

 consist of lofty evergreen trees, standing close together, and interlaced with 

 great numbers of gigantic climbers. The trees, covered with lichens, and the 

 ground with mosses and ferns, indicate a much more humid climate than is to 

 be found in the south. The only roads through these dense thickets are small 

 winding footpaths ; and as an attempt to stop an ox suddenly, only makes him 

 rush on, we were frequently caught by the overhanging climbers, and came to 

 the ground head foremost. On this account I never trusted to the watch 

 alone for longitudes. 



" The streams with which the country is well supplied differ remarkably 

 in the directions in which they flow. Many were flowing southwards j but a 



