542 
THE KALOMO. 
ClIAF. XXVII. 
disturbs them. Lions, wliicli always accompany other large ani¬ 
mals, roared about us, but as it was moonlight there was no 
danger. In the evening, while standing on a mass of granite, 
one began to roar at me, though it was still light. The tem- 
peratm’e was pleasant, as the rains, though not universal, had 
fallen in many places. It was very cloudy, preventing observa¬ 
tions. The temperature at 6 a.m. was 70°, at midday 90°, in 
the evening 84°. This is very pleasant on the liigh lands, with 
but httle moisture in the air. 
The different rocks to the westward of Kaonka’s, talcose gneiss, 
and white mica scliist, generally dip towards the west, but at 
Kaonka’s, large rounded masses of granite, containing black mica, 
began to appear. The outer rind of it inclines to peel off, and 
large crystals project on the exposed surface. 
In passing through some parts where a good shower of rain 
has fallen, the stridulous piercing notes of the cicadse are perfectly 
deafening; a drab-colom-ed cricket joins the chorus with a sharp 
sound, which has as httle modulation as the drone of a Scottisli 
bagpipe. I could not conceive how so small a thing could raise 
such a sound; it seemed to make the ground over it thrill. When 
cicadae, crickets, and frogs unite, their music may be heard at the 
distance of a quarter of a mile. 
A tree attracted my attention as new, the leaves being Like 
those of an acacia, but the ends of the branches from which they 
grew resembled closely oblong fir-cones. The corn poppy was 
abundant, and many of the trees, flowering bulbs and plants, 
were identical with those in Pungo Andongo. A flower, as white 
as the snowdi’op, now begins to appear, and farther on, it spots 
the whole sward with its beautiful pure wliite. A fresh crop 
appears every morning, and if the day is cloudy they do not 
expand till the afternoon. In an hour or so they droop and die. 
They are named by the natives, from their shape, “Tlaku ea , 
pitse,” hoof of zebra. I carried several of the somewhat bulbous 
roots of this pretty flower till I reached the Mauritius. 
On the 30th we crossed the river Kalomo, which is about 50 
yards broad, and is the only stream that never dries up on this 
ridge. The current is rapid, and its course is towards the south, 
as it joins the Zambesi at some distance below the falls. The 
Unguesi and Lekone, with their feeders, flow westvwd, tliis river 
