57<5 wild grapes. 



for resting. We could make no such prodigious strides 

 as officers in the Arctic regions are able to do. Ten or 

 twelve miles a day were a good march for both the men 

 and myself, and it was not the length of the marches, but 

 continuing day after day to perform the same distance, 

 that was so fatiguing. It was in this case much longer 

 than appears on "the map, because we kept out of the 

 way of villages. I drank less than the natives when riding, 

 "but all my clothing was now constantly damp from the 

 moisture which was hnbibed in large quantities at every 

 pond. One does not stay on these occasions to prepare 

 water with alum or anything else, but drinks any amount 

 -without fear. I never felt the atmosphere so steamy as 

 on the low-lying lands of the Zambesi, and yet it was 

 "becoming cooler than it was on the highlands. 



We crossed the rivulets Kapopo and Ue, now nuining, 

 "but usually dry. There are great numbers of wild grape- 

 vines growing in this quarter ; indeed they abound every- 

 where along the banks of the Zambesi. In the Bat oka 

 country there is a variety which yields a black grape of 

 considerable sweetness. The leaves are very large and 

 harsh, as if capable of withstanding the rays of this hot 

 sun ; but the most common kinds — one with a round 

 leaf and a greenish grape, and another with a leaf closely 

 resembling that of the cultivated varieties, and with dark 

 or purple fruit — have large seeds, which are strongly 

 astringent and render it a disagreeable fruit. The natives 

 eat all the varieties ; and I tasted vinegar made by a 

 Portuguese from these grapes. Probably a country which 

 yields the wild vines so very abundantly might be a fit 

 one for the cultivated species. At this part of the journey 

 so many of the vines had run across the little footpath 

 we followed, that one had to be constantly on the watch 

 to avoid being tripped. The ground was covered with 

 rounded shingle, which was not easily seen among the 

 grass. Pedestrianism may be all very well for those 

 whose obesity requires much exercise, but for one who 

 was becoming as thin as a lath, through the constant 

 perspiration caused by marching day after day in the hot 

 sun, the only good I saw in it was, that it gave an honest 

 sort of man a vivid idea of the treadmill. 



Although the rains were not quite over, great numbers 

 of pools were drying up, and the ground was in many parts 

 covered with small, green, cryptogamous plants, which 



