In passing along the side of the water every where except in Londa, green frogs spring out at your feet, and light in the water as if taking a “header”; and on the Leeambye and Chobe we have great numbers of small green frogs (’Rana fasciata’, Boie), which light on blades of grass with remarkable precision; but on coming along the Leeba I was struck by the sight of a light green toad about an inch long.  The leaf might be nearly perpendicular, but it stuck to it like a fly.  It was of the same size as the ‘Brachymerus bi-fasciatus’ (Smith),* which I saw only once in the Bakwain country.  Though small, it was hideous, being colored jet black, with vermilion spots.

* The discovery of this last species is thus mentioned by that accomplished naturalist, Dr. Smith:  “On the banks of the Limpopo River, close to the tropic of Capricorn, a massive tree was cut down to obtain wood to repair a wagon.  The workman, while sawing the trunk longitudinally nearly along its centre, remarked, on reaching a certain point, ’It is hollow, and will not answer the purpose for which it is wanted.’  He persevered, however, and when a division into equal halves was effected, it was discovered that the saw in its course had crossed a large hole, in which were five specimens of the species just described, each about an inch in length.  Every exertion was made to discover a means of communication between the external air and the cavity, but without success.  Every part of the latter was probed with the utmost care, and water was kept in each half for a considerable time, without any passing into the wood.  The inner surface of the cavity was black, as if charred, and so was likewise the adjoining wood for half an inch from the cavity.  The tree, at the part where the latter existed, was 19 inches in diameter; the length of the trunk was 18 feet.  When the Batrachia above mentioned were discovered, they appeared inanimate, but the influence of a warm sun to which they were subjected soon imparted to them a moderate degree of vigor.  In a few hours from the time they were liberated they were tolerably active, and able to move from place to place apparently with great ease.”

Before reaching the Makondo rivulet, latitude 13d 23’ 12” S., we came upon the tsetse in such numbers that many bites were inflicted on my poor ox, in spite of a man with a branch warding them off.  The bite of this insect does not affect the donkey as it does cattle.  The next morning, the spots on which my ox had been bitten were marked by patches of hair about half an inch broad being wetted by exudation.  Poor Sinbad had carried me all the way from the Leeba to Golungo Alto, and all the way back again, without losing any of his peculiarities, or ever becoming reconciled to our perversity in forcing him away each morning from the pleasant pasturage on which he had fed.  I wished to give the climax to his usefulness, and allay our craving for animal food at the same time; but my men having some compunction, we carried him to end his days in peace at Naliele.