354 
AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
After about three hours’ trek we came upon numerous 
little patches of cultivated ground. A stream of human 
beings kept pouring towards us, gradually swelling to a 
large crowd, until at length* with the babble of in¬ 
numerable voices, varied by the strange notes of 
Mashona musical instruments, which some of our happy 
escort carried with them, we entered a lovely green 
valley where a few cattle could be seen grazing. The 
valley was walled in by low mountain ridges, and over¬ 
looked by the rocky fastnesses of the Mashona chief. 
We camped about 500 yards from where the town 
stood. 
Taroman, the “ thorn ” of our party, had not appeared 
since the prairie fire. The sheep, of which there were 
only three left, and one goat, were such pets that they 
followed close under the waggon without herding. 
The people were all very friendly, and eager to get 
some of the white man’s treasures. They are a very 
different type to the bloodthirsty warriors whose 
country we had just left, and of whom they live in 
constant terror. Judging from first appearances, I 
could perceive that the physique of the Mashona was 
very inferior to that of the Matabeli. Their skin is 
darker too, and altogether they have a greater re¬ 
semblance to the genuine negro. I sent word to the 
chief that I would visit him in the morning, and was 
not sorry when morning came, for the night was very 
stormy, and the waggon had its head to the wind, which 
passed through with great power, so that I might say 
that my lullaby was the loud voice of a hurricane. 
Karemba and myself started across the plain, and 
walked into the fastnesses of a rugged mountain, com¬ 
posed of immense boulders, over and around which 
wound a tortuous path running right and left, up and 
down, and screwing in all directions, so as to avoid the 
rocks that jutted out over this wonderfully intricate 
track of the mountaineers. 
Situated on the highest point of the mountains was 
the citadel. The spaces between the massive rocks which 
formed an impregnable barrier around the town, and 
