To Sdnga-Tdnga and Back. 127 
cultivated; and, if this be true, the cause would be 
worth investigating. In some places they are 
perfectly level, and almost flush with the sea; in 
others they swell gently to perhaps 100 feet; in 
other parts, again, they look like scarps and earth¬ 
works, remarkably resembling the lower parasitic 
craters of a huge volcano ; and here and there they 
are pitted with sinks like the sea-board of Loango. 
These savannahs (savanas) add an indescribable 
charm to the Gaboon Coast, especially when the 
morning and evening suns strike them with slant¬ 
ing rays, and compel them to stand out distinct 
from the setting of eternal emerald. The aspect 
of the downs is civilized as the banks of the 
Solent; and the coast wants nothing to complete 
the “ fine, quiet old-country picture in the wilds of 
Africa ” but herds of kine grazing upon leas shin¬ 
ing with a golden glory, or a country seat, backed 
by the noble virgin forest, such a bosquet as Europe 
never knew. 
After another hours walk, which carried us 
about three miles, we sighted in one of these 
prdirillons a clump of seventeen huts. A negro 
in European clothes, after prospecting the party 
through a ship’s glass, probably the gift of some 
slaver, came down to meet us, and led the way to 
his “town.” Finding his guest an Englishman, 
the host, who spoke a few words of French and 
Portuguese, at once began to talk of his “summer 1 
