BAGAMOTO TO MPWAPWA. 33

ground-nuts (Arachis liypogsea}, sweet potatoes, and

a few bananas were grown. There were no cattle

to be found, goats and a few sheep being the only domestic animals seen, so that meat was scarce and

very dear, and we had to depend largely on our

guns for our supplies of food. The country between

the Kingani and the Pongwe hills was undulating, and more or less densely covered with forest, any

distant view revealing nothing but a waving sea of

foliage broken here and there by a few low hills. The country around the Pongwe hills is more open ;

the soil is a tenacious red clay, -which is used by the

natives to plaster the walls of their houses, the flat

roofs being formed of the same material, a thick

layer of it being laid upon a foundation of mtarna

stalks. Enormous quantities of the castor-oil tree,

(Ricinus communis) are found here ; the natives

collect the seeds, dry them in the sun, and after

pounding them in a mortar, boil them in water and

skim off the oil which comes to the top. This oil

they use for anointing their persons, and as it soon

becomes rancid, the odour of a crowd of natives who

have been indulging in its use is better imagined than described. The two Pongwe peaks were fine

bold hills rising several hundred feet above the sea-

level, and formed useful landmarks for a considerable

distance ; they were for the most part covered with

trees, and were said to be infested by lions.

On this part of the journey small-pox broke out

VOL. i. D