ISLANDS THE BANYETI. 
iI7 
We proceeded rapidly up the river, and I felt tho plea- 
sure of looking on lands which had never been seen by a 
European bofore. The river is, indeed, a magnificent one, 
often more than a mile broad, and adorned with many 
islands of from three to five miles in length. Both islands 
and banks are covered with forests, and most of the trees 
on the brink of tho water send down root9 from their 
branches like the banian, or Ficus Indica. The islands at 
a little distance seem great rounded masses of sylvan vege- 
tation reclining on the bosom of tho glorious stream. The 
beauty of the scenery of some of the islands is greatly in- 
creased by the date-palm, with its gracefully-curved fronds 
and refreshing light-green color, near the bottom of the 
picture, and the lofty palmyra towering far above, and 
casting its ffeathery foliage against a cloudless sky. It 
being winter, we had the strange coloring on tho banks 
which many parts of African landscape assume. The 
country adjacent to the river is rocky and undulating, 
abounding in elephants and all other large game, oxcept 
leches and nakongs, which seem generally to avoid stony 
ground. The soil is of a reddish color, and very fertile, as 
is attested by the great quantity of grain raised annually 
by the Banyeti. A great many villages of this poor and 
very industrious people are situated on hoth banks of the 
river: they are expert hunters of tho hippopotami and 
other animals, and very proficient in tho manufacture of 
articles of wood and iron. The whole of this part of the 
country being infested with the tsetse, they are unable to 
rear domestic animals. This may havo led to their skill 
in handicraft works. Some make large wooden vessel* 
with very neat lids, and wooden bowls of all sizos; and, 
since the idea of sitting on stools has entered the Makololo 
non i, they havo shewn great taste in tho different forms 
given tc the legs of these pieces of furniture 
Other Banyeti, or Manycti, as they are called, make neat 
®nd strong baskets of the split roots of a certain tree, 
while others excel in pottery and iron. I cannot find that 
