352 TRAVELERS' HOUSES. 



for the traveller ; but we accomplished the ascent in an 

 hour, and when there, found we had just got on to a table- 

 land similar to that we had left, before we entered the 

 great Quango valley. We had come among lofty trees 

 again. One of these, bearing a fruit about the size of a 

 thirty-two pounder, is named Mononga-zambi. 



We took a glance back to this valley, which equals that 

 of the Mississippi in fertility, and thought of the vast mass 

 of material which had been scooped out and carried away 

 in its formation. This naturally led to reflection on the 

 countless ages required for the previous formation and 

 deposition of the same material (clay shale) ; then of the 

 rocks, whose abrasion formed that, until the mind grew 

 giddy in attempting to ascend the steps, which lead up 

 through a portion of the eternity before man. The different 

 epochs of geology are like landmarks in that otherwise 

 shoreless sea. Our own epoch, or creation, is but another 

 added to the number of that wonderful series which 

 presents a grand display of the mighty power of God : 

 every stage of progress in the earth and its habitants is 

 such a display. So far from this science having any 

 tendency to make men undervalue the power or love of 

 God, it leads to the probability that trie exhibition of 

 mercy we have in the gift of his son, may possibly not be 

 the only manifestation of grace which has taken place in 

 the countless ages during which works of creation have 

 been going on. 



Situated a few miles from the edge of the descent, we 

 found the village of Tala Mungongo, and were kindly 

 accommodated with a house to sleep in, which was very 

 welcome, as we were all both wet and cold. We found 

 that the greater altitude, and the approach of winter, 

 lowered the temperature so much, that many of my men 

 suffered severely from colds. At this, as at several other 

 Portuguese stations, they have been provident enough to 

 erect travellers' houses on the same principle as khans or 

 caravanserais of the East. They are built of the usual 

 wattle and daub, and have benches of rods for the way- 

 farer to make his bed on ; also chairs and a table, and a 

 large jar of water. These benches, though far from 

 luxurious couches, were better than the ground under the 

 rotten fragments of my gipsy-tent, for we had still showers 

 occasionally, and the dews were very heavy. I continued 

 to use them for the sake of the shelter they afforded, until 



