LUXURIANT VEGETATION. 125 here leads evenly over firm ferruginous clay. The red soil is covered by a layer of grey compact clay only in the hollows and on the declivities ; the lowest stratum of this clay is free from vegetable detritus, and yields an excellent material for pottery. Near the lake white and yellow sand is found.

: As we marched between banana groves and huts, the country looked like a garden, Mother Nature having everywhere filled up the gaps left by man with glorious grass vegetation and graceful slender trees. Impenetrable thickets, the lairs of the leopards, which are very numerous here, at times fringed the road, and one’s eye became perfectly dazzled by the sight of so many shapes and colours. The odour of Umbelliferze mingled with the almost overpowering scent of a Lilaceous plant -(Urginea?), which is employed here for making hedges. Groups of Ocymum six feet high were seen, and by a small stream that flows to the lake there were perfect nests of vegetation covering the marshy ground, and often forming galleries along the watercourse. Gigantic trees waved their lofty crowns in the sunlight, and below them, in the deep cool shade, climbing plants of every kind were interwoven. An Amomum with broad waxy leaves grew to a height of ten feet. Calladias, Acanthus, and many Rubiacez, although more diminutive, occupied a wider area. Hlegant palm bushes shared the ground with splendid ferns (Asplenium), and parasitic plants, probably Angrecum and Platycerium, grew on the branches of sycamores and Spathodeas, so high up that they were beyond reach. Nearer to the lake were isolated specimens of prickly yellowflowering mimosas.

Thus, artificial and natural gardens constantly alternated, though the former, consisting of bananas and sweet potatoes, could not possibly vie with the latter either in picturesque beauty or variety of species. This is indeed a beautiful, wellfavoured land, with its red soil, its green gardens, its lofty mountains, and its dark snug valleys. Nature has profusely lavished her charms, and man alone destroys the harmony of these scenes. Corpses in the middle of the path compelled us to step aside; at our approach the small Uganda vultures left their ghastly meal with a noisy rush. Four dead bodies were lying there, slain by the hand of the executioner ; young and