Chap. XLV. 
BARREN COUNTRY. 
245 
grown with stunted mimosas, and to all appearance 
almost unfit for producing grain. It was one of 
those remarkable days in January which, in the 
whole of Central Africa, form a distinct season by 
themselves. A thick fog enveloped the whole coun- 
try, and excluded any distant view, and, while subse- 
quently it helped to increase the dismal character of 
the country, in the beginning of our march it pre- 
vented us from enjoying once more the rich scenery 
of the preceding day ; for we had first to return to 
the bank of that beautiful clear sheet of water along 
which our march had led the day before. Its banks 
here also were quite flat, but the sheet of water was 
wider than at the place where we had seen it before. 
Proceeding a little in advance of the army, I ob- 
tained a sight of a riverhorse just at the moment 
when it raised its immense head above the surface of 
the watery element. 
But as soon as we left this fine clear sheet of water 
the character of the country changed entirely, assum- 
ing an exceedingly sombre aspect, and we passed a 
hamlet more cheerless and miserable than any I had 
seen in the whole of this country. Not a single 
trace of cultivation was seen on the bleak, black, 
argillaceous soil; and it was evident that the in- 
habitants of this hamlet subsisted solely on the fish 
which they were able to catch; and these may be 
abundant, as the whole configuration of the ground 
evidently shows that this entire tract is reached by 
the inundation during the rainy season. 
R 3 
