296 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



round numbers 7000 feet high ; a mass of the same mountain, eight or ten 

 miles distant from our encampment on it, must be at least 8000 feet 

 in altitude. 



" These features of the country are mentioned in order to show that we 

 have very remarkable varieties of climate within a few miles' distance of each 

 other. We travelled in the hottest season of the year, or that called in West- 

 ern Africa ' the smokes,' when, from the burning of tens of thousands of acres 

 of tall grass, the atmosphere takes on a good deal of the appearance of a partial 

 London fog ; only here it is broiling hot. While we were marching in the 

 Shire valley, or lowest terrace, the air was sultry and oppressive, the thermo- 

 meter in the shade even often standing at 96°, and the water never under a 

 temperature of 81° Fahr., but when we ascended the second terrace, the air 

 became delightfully cool, and every mile or two we crossed a running rill of 

 deliciously cold water. The third terrace was cold, and equally well supplied 

 with running brooks; while on the top of Zomba our native companions 

 complained bitterly of the cold. 



" The mountain itself is of large extent, and at the part we ascended 

 there is a large valley with a fine stream and much cultivation on the top ; 

 several parts of it are well wooded, and Dr. Kirk, the botanist, found pepper 

 growing wild : an indication of a decidedly humid climate. On each of the 

 three terraces cotton is cultivated extensively : this is not of the indigenous 

 variety only, but foreign seeds have come up the Shire to some parts of the 

 terraces, and also to the lake region, from' the east coast. The length of 

 staple to which these imported varieties have attained shows a suitable soil 

 and climate. A good deal of salt is met with in certain soils here ; and in all 

 probability sea-island, the dearest of all cottons, would flourish, for specimens 

 of common kinds were found superior to the Egyptian. The indigenous 

 variety feels more like wool than cotton, but foreign seeds were eagerly 

 accepted by the people from Mr. C. Livingstone, and the best means for 

 disarming their suspicions that we might turn out to be a marauding party, 

 was frankly to state that we came to find out and mark paths for our traders 

 to follow and buy their cotton. 



"We found a heavy swell on the lake, though there was no wind, and 

 there was no appearance of the water ever falling or rising much from what 

 we saw it. The river Shire never varies more than two or three feet from the 

 wet to the dry season, and as it is from 80 to 150 yards broad, 12 feet deep, and 

 has a current of 2^ knots an hour, the body of water which gives it off must be 

 large and have considerable feeders. At its southern end the lake seemed 

 eight or ten miles broad, and it trended away to the N.N.W.; a hilly island 

 rose in the distance. It is small, and is called Bazulu. The same range of 

 lofty mountains that lies east of Shirwa, or Tamandua, appeared as if con- 

 tinued along the north-east shore of Nyassa. 



