of the wild fig-trees which are always planted at villages.  It is a sacred tree all over Africa and India, and the tender roots which drop down towards the ground are used as medicine—­a universal remedy.  Can it be a tradition of its being like the tree of life, which Archbishop Whately conjectures may have been used in Paradise to render man immortal?  One kind of fig-tree is often seen hacked all over to get the sap, which is used as bird-lime; bark-cloth is made of it too.  I like to see the men weaving or spinning, or reclining under these glorious canopies, as much as I love to see our more civilized people lolling on their sofas or ottomans.

The first rain—­a thunder shower—­fell in the afternoon, air in shade before it 92 deg.; wet bulb 74 deg.  At noon the soil in the sun was 140 deg., perhaps more, but I was afraid of bursting the thermometer, as it was graduated only a few degrees above that.  This rain happened at the same time that the sun was directly overhead on his way south; it was but a quarter of an inch, but its effect was to deprive us of all chance of getting the five carriers we needed, all were off to their gardens to commit the precious seed to the soil.  We got three, but no one else would come, so we have to remain here over to-day (30th October).

30th October, 1866.—­The black traders come from Tette to this country to buy slaves, and as a consequence here we come to bugs again, which we left when we passed the Arab slave-traders’ beat.

31st October, 1866.—­We proceed westwards, and a little south through a country covered with forest trees, thickly planted, but small, generally of bark-cloth and gum-copal trees, masukos, rhododendrons, and a few acacias.  At one place we saw ten wild hogs in a group, but no other animal, though marks of elephants, buffaloes, and other animals having been about in the wet season were very abundant.  The first few miles were rather more scant of water than usual, but we came to the Leue, a fine little stream with plenty of water sand from 20 to 30 yards wide; it is said by the people to flow away westwards into the Loangwa.

1st November 1866.—­In the evening we made the Chigumokire, a nice rivulet, where we slept, and the next morning we proceeded to Kangene, whose village is situated on a mass of mountains, and to reach which we made more southing than we wished.  Our appearance on the ascent of the hill caused alarm, and we were desired to wait till our spokesman had explained the unusual phenomenon of a white man.

This kept us waiting in the hot sun among heated rocks, and the chief, being a great ugly public-house-keeper looking person, excused his incivility by saying that his brother had been killed by the Mazitu, and he was afraid that we were of the same tribe.  On asking if Mazitu wore clothes like us he told some untruths, and, what has been an unusual thing, began to beg powder and other things.  I told him how other chiefs had treated us, which made him ashamed.  He represented the country in front to the N.W. to be quite impassable from want of food:  the Mazitu had stripped it of all provisions, and the people were living on what wild fruits they could pick up.