I.AKE BII<OI,0. 445 



cause a confluence of the two great atmospheric currents, 

 he will perceive an accumulation of humidity on the flanks 

 and crown of the partition, instead of, as elsewhere, oppo- 

 site the Kalahari and Darfur, a deposition of the atmos- 

 pheric moisture on the eastern slopes of the subtending 

 ridges. This explanation is offered with all deference 

 to those who have made meteorology their special study, 

 and as a hint to travellers who may have opportunity 

 to examine the subject more fully. I often observed, 

 while on a portion of the partition, that the air by night 

 was generally quite still, but as soon as the sun's rays began 

 to shoot across the upper strata of the atmosphere in the 

 early morning, a copious discharge came suddenly down 

 from the accumulated clouds. It always reminded me 

 of the experiment of putting a rod into a saturated solution 

 of a certain salt, causing instant crystallization. This, 

 too, was the period when I often observed the greatest 

 amount of cold. 



After crossing the Northern Lotembwa, we met a party 

 of the people of Kangenke, who had treated us kindly 

 on our way to the north, and sent him a robe of striped 

 calico, with an explanation of the reason for not returning 

 through his village. We then went on to the Lake Dilolo. 

 It is a fine sheet of water, six or eight miles long, and one 

 or two broad, and somewhat of a triangular shape. A 

 branch proceeds from one of the angles, and flows into 

 the Southern Lotembwa. Though labouring under fever, 

 the sight of the blue waters, and the waves lashing the shore, 

 had a most soothing influence on the mind, after so much 

 of lifeless, flat, and gloomy forest. The heart yearned 

 for the vivid impressions which are always created by the 

 sight of the broad expanse of the grand old ocean. That 

 has life in it ; but the flat uniformities over which we had 

 roamed, made me feel as if buried alive. We found Moene 

 Dilolo (Lord of the Lake) a fat jolly fellow, who lamented 

 that when they had no strangers they had plenty of beer, 

 and always none when they came. He gave us a hand- 

 some present of meal and putrid buffalo's flesh. Meat 

 cannot be too far gone for them, as it is used only in small 

 quantities as a sauce to their tasteless manioc. They 

 were at this time hunting antelopes, in order to send 

 the skins as a tribute to Matiamvo. Great quantities 

 of fish are caught in the lake ; and numbers of young 

 water-fowl are now found in the nests among the reeds. 



