A TROPICAL RAINFALL. 963 



in which millet was growing to a height of sixteen or eighteen feet, and 

 abounding in a beautiful lilac convolvulus and a pretty little scarlet mallow. 

 Soon after we arrived we had the villagers round us bringing provisions to 

 sell. We bought a sheep, a bag of millet, and a quantity of sweet potatoes. 

 To-day I found some ferns, almost the first I have seen on the mainland. 



" 8^. We started at seven o'clock. Almost immediately we came out 

 on a sort of down, and then descended into a valley, with a stream of brack- 

 ish water flowing through it, and containing fields of millet, mahogo, and 

 tobacco. We encamped at a village called Brahim, near the stream, having 

 gone six miles. We had heavy rain in the afternoon. 



" \0th. Started at a quarter after seven. The road still lay through for- 

 estfandwe had also four streams to cross, all in gullies, which gave us some 

 trouble with the donkeys, and delayed us a good deal. After a five hours' 

 march we reached the village of Mezizi, having gone nine miles and a half. 

 Soon after we had pitched our tent, down came the rain, like a heavy Eng- 

 lish thunder storm, and the water came pouring into our tent ; so Robertson 

 and I turned out, and spent half an hour or more in making a ditch round 

 it, and draining off the water. I sent a message to the king of the place to 

 say I should be glad to see him, and before long he came. He told us that 

 the Makata valley was only six days distant, so we may get over it before 

 it becomes very swampy. He laughed very much at an air-pillow we showed 

 him. As rain continued to fall, and as our tent was very damp, we tried a 

 fire in the evening, but were nearly smoked out at first, owing to the damp- 

 ness of the wood. 



" Wih. The men said they were too tired with yesterday's march to go 

 on, so we had to stop. The king told us there were plenty of wild cows 

 (buffaloes, I suppose), but we saw none of them. It rained more or less all 

 day ; our tent and the ground got thoroughly sodden ; all my sleeping-suits 

 got wet, with the exception of one blanket, so I had to sleep in my clothes on 

 my cork mattress. 



" 12th. We started to-day at 7.20. It was a lovely morning, with a thin 

 mist hanging on the ground, which, however, soon disappeared when the sun 

 got up. The ground was exceedingly muddy and slippery for a mile or so, 

 but then we got on a hard, red sandy clay, which was much better. Before 

 we had gone very far, the man who was carrying the oil-cans managed 

 to run his spear through the only can of paraffin oil we had for our lamp; 

 fortunately we have cocoa-nut oil and candles enough to last for some time. 

 Soon after this the Pongwa hills appeared a few miles in front of us to 

 the norlh-west. The road still lay through forest, with long grass instead of 

 jungle, in which were quantities of grouse and guinea-fowl. After going 

 nine miles, we reached the foot of the first peak of the Pongwa hills — a fine, 

 bold hill, with large masses of rock near the summit, its sides being nearly 



