HOW THE MEN FOUND FOOD. 585 



entwine the inner bark of a certain tree round each sepa- 

 rate cord, and dye this substance of a reddish colour.,, 

 many of them put me in mind of the ancient Egyptians,. 

 The great mass of dressed hair which they possess reaches;' 

 to the shoulders, but, when they intend to travel, they 

 draw it up to a bunch, and tie it on the top of the head. 

 They are cleanly in their habits. 



As we did not come near human habitations, and could: 

 only take short stages on account of the illness of one of 

 my men, I had an opportunity of observing the expedients, 

 my party resorted to in order to supply their wants.. 

 Large white edible mushrooms are found on the anthills,, 

 and are very good. The mokuri, a tuber which abounds: 

 in the Mopane country, they discovered by percussing the 

 ground with stone ; and another tuber, about the size 

 of a turnip, called " bonga," is found in the same situations.. 

 It does not determine to the joints like the mokuri, and 

 in winter has a sensible amount of salt in it. A fruit 

 called " ndongo " by the Makololo, " dongolo " by the 

 Bambiri, resembles in appearance a small plum, which 

 becomes black when ripe, and is good food, as the seeds, 

 are small. Many trees are known by tradition, and one 

 receives curious bits of information in asking about 

 different fruits that are met with. A tree named " sheka- 

 bakadzi " is superior to all others for making fire by 

 friction. As its name implies, women may even readily 

 make fire by it when benighted. 



The country here is covered over with well-rounded 

 shingle and gravel of granite, gneiss, with much talc im 

 it, mica schist, and other rocks which we saw in situ 

 between the KLafue and Loangwa. There are great 

 mounds of soft red sand slightly coherent, which crumble 

 in the hand with ease. The gravel and the sand drain: 

 away the water so effectually, that the trees are exposed 

 to the heat during a portion of the year, without any 

 moisture ; hence they are not large, like those on the 

 Zambesi, and are often scrubby. The rivers are all of the 

 sandy kind, and we pass over large patches between this 

 and Tete, in which, in the dry season, no water is to be 

 found. Close 011 our south, the hills of I^okdle rise to a 

 considerable height, and beyond them flows the Mazde 

 with its golden sands. The great numbers of pot-holes on 

 the sides of sandstone ridges, when viewed in connection: 

 with the large banks of rolled shingle and washed sand 



