dries up on this ridge. The current
is rapid, and its course is toward the south, as it joins the Zambesi
at some distance below the falls. The Unguesi and Lekone, with their
feeders, flow westward, this river to the south, and all those to which
we are about to come take an easterly direction. We were thus at the
apex of the ridge, and found that, as water boiled at 202 Deg., our
altitude above the level of the sea was over 5000 feet. Here the granite
crops out again in great rounded masses which change the dip of the
gneiss and mica schist rocks from the westward to the eastward.
In crossing the western ridge I mentioned the clay shale or keele
formation, a section of which we have in the valley of the Quango: the
strata there lie nearly horizontal, but on this ridge the granite seems
to have been the active agent of elevation, for the rocks, both on its
east and west, abut against it. Both eastern and western ridges are
known to be comparatively salubrious, and in this respect, as well as
in the general aspect of the country, they resemble that most healthy of
all healthy climates, the interior of South Africa, near and adjacent to
the Desert. This ridge has neither fountain nor marsh upon it, and east
of the Kalomo we look upon treeless undulating plains covered with short
grass. From a point somewhat near to the great falls, this ridge or
oblong mound trends away to the northeast, and there treeless elevated
plains again appear. Then again the ridge is said to bend away from the
falls to the southeast, the Mashona country, or rather their
mountains, appearing, according to Mr. Moffat, about four days east of
Matlokotloko, the present residence of Mosilikatse. In reference to
this ridge he makes the interesting remark, "I observed a number of
the Angora goat, most of them being white; and their long soft hair,
covering their entire bodies to the ground, made them look like animals
moving along without feet."*

* Moffat's "Visit to Mosilikatse".--Royal Geographical
Society's Journal, vol. xxvi., p. 96.

It is impossible to say how much farther to the north these subtending
ridges may stretch. There is reason to believe that, though the same
general form of country obtains, they are not flanked by abrupt hills
between the latitude 12 Deg. south and the equator. The inquiry is
worthy the attention of travelers. As they are known to be favorable to
health, the Makololo, who have been nearly all cut off by fevers