THE ZAMBESI REGION. 
315 
sandy slopes and tlie wooded declivities in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of ant-hills, leaving the marsh-lands com¬ 
pletely untilled ; yet these are the districts which would 
prove most fertile, and with the mild climate and the 
means of irrigation at their command, seem to me to 
hold out a grand prospect for the future. Away in the 
interior of the country are vast tracts of meadow-land, 
ASCENDING THE ZAMBESI. 
often miles in extent, that are now enclosed with 
primaeval forest, but which might be transformed into 
prolific fields, while the rivers might, like the Zambesi, 
be utilized for watering them. The tribes are all 
ambitious and industrious ; and if once the plough shall 
be introduced, and a free trade opened either to the 
south or east, the Marutse kingdom, it may be predicted, 
will exhibit a rapid development. 
About twelve miles from Seslieke the woods came 
