126 To Sdnga-Tanga and Back. 
we find the floor firm and pleasant; it becomes 
loose walking at high tide, and the ribbed banks 
are fatiguing to ascend and descend under a hot 
sun and in reeking air. A seine would have sup¬ 
plied a man-of-war in a few hours; large turtle is 
often turned ; in places young ones about the size 
of a dollar scuttled towards the sea, and Hotaloya 
brought a nest of eggs, which, however, were too 
high in flavour for the European palate. The host 
of crabs lining the water stood alert, watching our 
approach, and when we came within a hundred 
yards they hurried sideways into the safer sea— 
the scene reminded me of the days when, after 
“tiffin,” we used to “mar kankras” on the Clifton 
Sands in the Unhappy Valley. 
Presently we came to a remarkable feature of 
this coast, the first specimen of which was seen at 
Point Ovindo in the Gaboon River. The Iberian 
explorers called them “ Sernas,” fields or downs, 
opposed to Coroas, sand-dunes or hills. They are 
clearings in the jungle made by Nature’s hand, 
fenced round everywhere, save on the sea side, by 
tall walls of dark vegetation; averaging perhaps a 
mile long by 200 yards broad, and broken by 
mounds and terraces regular as if worked by art. 
These prairies bear a green sward, seldom taller 
than three feet, and now ready for the fire,—here 
and there the verdure is dotted by a tree or two. 
It is universally asserted that they cannot be 
