as if man had never before disturbed their solitude. At certain spots, enormous flocks of wild fowl retreated in terror as we approached. Here and there a monkey surveyed us for a moment from the branches of some giant tree, and then hid itself among the dense thickets. When night let her curtain fall on the scene, the banks of the river were illuminated with fire-flies, which made every tuft of grass shine and sparkle. [Illustration: WOMEN OF MAZARO DRAWING WATER.] Soon the water was so shallow that we had to leave our boats altogether at Mugurumbe. Here we slept one night in a native hut. Our journey was continued next day in palanquins: about six natives were told off to carry each European. Owing to the heat of the climate none of the Portuguese here ever walk. Even when they are going short distances, they employ natives to carry them. The road is about two feet wide, and lined on both sides with African grass (which rises to a height sometimes of ten feet) and also with many varieties of flowers, shrubs and grasses, some of which were brought before our notice very forcibly, as the men rattled along without thinking of their living load. At times we came to patches of cultivated ground, and then we knew that we were near a village. The villagers welcomed us by a loud clapping of hands. They looked much delighted when we responded to their welcome in their own way. They seemed to feel as if we spoke in their own tongue, and at one village they repaid our condescension (as they thought it) by sending out volunteers to help on our palanquins. At Mazaro we got our first look of the Zambeze, and a magnificent river it is. Though not very deep, at this spot it is exceedingly broad—the natives take an hour to sail across it. Here our steel boat awaited us, and a welcome sight it was after the small boats that we had hitherto had. We had now reached another important stage, and we expected to complete our journey in three weeks. The first week we should be among Portuguese subjects, the second in the country of a Portuguese outlaw, while the third week would find us among the people we were to christianise. _From Mazaro to Makukani’s._—Leaving Mazaro on Tuesday, 25th June, we committed ourselves to the water once more. The navigation of the Zambeze is by no means easy. Generally we were sticking upon sandbanks. Our boatmen were seldom able to use their oars, they had either to push the boat by long poles, or to drag it along the banks with a rope. Here and there there is a deep channel, but the current is so strong that it promises to carry everything down to the sea.