CHAPTER XI. 
LIFE AT BANZA NOKKI. 
WAS now duly established with my 
books and instruments at Nkaye, and 
the inevitable delay was employed in 
studying the country and the people, 
and in making a botanical collection. But the 
season was wholly unpropitious. A naval officer, 
who was considered an authority upon the Coast, 
had advised me to travel in September, when a 
journey should never begin later than May. The 
vegetation was feeling the effect of the Cacimbo; 
most of the perennials were in seed, and the annuals 
were nearly dried up. The pictorial effects were 
those of 
“ Autumn laying here and there 
A fiery finger on the leaves.” 
Yet, with Factotum Selim’s assistance, I managed 
to collect some 490 specimens within the fortnight 
We had not the good fortune of the late Dr. Wei- 
