night they retired to some distant place of safe retreat,
in the jungles, where they stored all their goods and
chattels. These people, in time of war, thus putting
everything useful out of the way of the forager’s pry-
ing eyes, it is very seldom that blood is spilt. This
country being full of sweet springs, accounts for the
denseness of the population and numberless herds of
cattle. To look upon its resources, one is struck with
amazement at the waste of the world : if instead of
this district being in the hands of its present owners,
it were ruled by a few scores of Europeans, what an
entire revolution a few years would bring forth ! An
extensive market would be opened to the world, the
present nakedness of the land would have a covering,
and industry and commerce would clear the way for
civilisation and enlightenment.
At present the natural inert laziness and ignorance
of the people is their own and their country’s bane.
They are all totally unaware of the treasures at their
feet. This dreadful sloth is in part engendered by the
excessive bounty of the land in its natural state ; by
the little want of clothes or other luxuries, in consequence
of the congenial temperature; and from the
people having no higher object in view than the first-
coming meal, and no other stimulus to exertion by
example or anything else. The great cause, however,
is their want of a strong protecting government to!
preserve peace, without which nothing can prosper.
Thus they are, both morally and physically, little
better than brutes, and as yet there is no better
a _ i
prospect in store for them. The climate is a paradox
quite beyond my solving, unless the numerous
and severe maladies that we all suffered from,
during the first eight months of our explorations,
may be attributed to too much exposure ; and even
that does not solve the problem. To all appearance,
the whole of the country to the westward of the East
Coast Eange is high, dry, and healthy. No unpleasant
exhalations pollute the atmosphere; there are no extremes
of temperature ; the air is neither too hot nor
too cold; and a little care in hutting, dressing, and
diet should obviate any evil effects of exposure. Springs
of good water, and wholesome food, are everywhere
obtainable. Flies and mosquitoes, the great Indian
pests, are scarcely known, and the tsetse of the south
nowhere exists. During the journey northwards, I
always littered down in a hut at night; but the ticks
bit me so hard, and the anxiety to catch stars between
the constantly-fleeting clouds, to take their altitudes,
perhaps preying on my mind, kept me many whole
nights consecutively without obtaining even as much
as one wink of sleep—a state of things I had once before
suffered from. But there really was no assignable
cause for this, unless weakness or feverishness could
create wakefulness, and then it would seem surprising
that even during the day, or after much fatigue, I rarely
felt the slightest inclination to close my eyes. Now,
on returning, without anything to excite the mind, and
having always pitched the tent at night, I enjoyed
cooler nights and perfect rest. Of diseases, the more