282 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
Just before we readied our halting-place some fifty 
vultures few up from the grass, and we became aware 
of a very disagreeable smell, which we found to proceed 
from the already half putrid carcase of a buffalo which 
had been killed by a lion, and was now food for the 
birds. In spite of its disgusting condition, Wanki’s men 
cut large pieces of the flesh away with their spears. 
Our fire was hardly lighted before we heard the 
roaring of lions by the carcase, but the animals did not 
molest us. As the smell of the putrid buffalo flesh, 
which the natives cut into strips and hung up to dry, 
w r as intolerable to me, I set up a separate camp with 
Cluley and Sililo. 
During the night the roaring of the waterfall was 
like the ceaseless breaking of huge waves upon the 
beach. I had little sleep, for I was anxious to deter¬ 
mine exactly the latitude of my encampment on the 
Masue River for my map, and I waited until a in the 
Southern Cross, /3 in Centaurus, and y in the Corona 
Borealis had reached their meridian altitudes, and the 
average result obtained in three separate observations 
was 17° 59' 7" S. 
The 20th of June, the day on which I was to reach 
the farthest point of my journey in the interior of 
South-east Africa, dawned clear and bright. A favour¬ 
able opportunity now presenting itself for ascertaining 
the meridian of the Falls, I made a few observations 
in order to test the accuracy of my chronometer, which 
I found to be 12 m 24 s fast. I then measured eleven 
distances between the sun and the moon, and took 
some altitudes of the sun for the chronometer, which 
I now found to be 12 m 22 s fast. The result of the 
moon distances gave me E. longitude 26° 32'; and I 
think the waters of the Masue stream will long flow 
into the Zambesi before the night arrives when another 
enthusiast will take similar observations. 
This done, w r e pressed on under Masupasila’s guid¬ 
ance, the scenery about us growing wilder, grander, 
and more romantic. It w r as a quarter to twelve when we 
got to the top of the last ravine between us and our 
