in our midst might not find me thankless for its appearance.
The spirits of the household were frozen far below zero.
A sad plight truly! For to the African traveller a lig h t
heart is as indispensable as a savourless palate. Contented,
indeed, is he who can see a comical side even to misery !
Not a soul at that time had any interest in or sympathy
towards my movements. Sulks were in the ascendant, and
not one of the party cared a straw about the doings of his
neighbour.
A northward line of march led us past the town of
Shitimba. On our right and also on our left the flat crowns
of the low mountains were dotted with the houses, which in
form differed greatly from those we had been accustomed to
see in the rocky regions of the south. They were actually
houses on stilts, being fixed upon poles at a distance of
about six feet from the ground. In this manner, also, the
corn bins are protected from the ravages of the white ant,
a destructive creature which we had seen but little of since
we left Matabeli-land.
When we had proceeded a little farther, three detached
mountains of solid rock in the shape of cones broke upon
our view towards the west. Not being able to find out
a native name, I called them the Three Brothers.
The beginning of our descent of the northern side of the
tree-mantled- mountains of Makomwe was almost imperceptible,
because, although broken by rough ravines and
rounded ridges, the actual slope was very gentle. Shortly
I distinguished in the distance a small blue spot in the
forest. I t told that the northern limit of the range had at
last been reached. As we advanced the spot grew larger,
expanding quickly before our gaze, until the dead monotony
of the trees which had hemmed us in formed the background
of our position. Wearied eyes were then freed from
the long-continued and dismally-contracted view of mountain,
hill and dale, and looked forward with refreshing
clearness upon a vast expanse of varied land stretching
far and wide, bright under the powerful silvery rays of a
vertical sun.
There could be no mistake. At last outstretched before
us we saw, a thousand feet beneath, and reaching far to the
hazy horizon, the great basin of the Zambesi!
A tropical forest, in all the luxuriance of its beautiful
foliage, and its varied shades of green, with here and there
the light and fainter tints of sun-parched leaves, lay extended
almost boundlessly before us. Gigantic trunks of
the baobab were dotted here and there, reminding one of
the towers of many lighthouses rising from a vast ocean
of leaves. Not a sound broke the stillness. The appearance
conveyed to my mind a strong idea that we should soon
have to plunge into a zone of excessive heat.