country; but about noon the Bailunda, who had boasted about their pace, gave in, saying that they did not calcu late upon going at such a rate. About three o'clock we halted at a small camp situated upon a large open upland, and made ourselves as comfortable as might be, and took advantage of the stream running at the foot of the hills to enjoy a bathe. I felt rather stiff after the sharp march, but Jumah was an adept at shampooing, and took some of the kinks out of my muscles.

The next day we rose with the lark, and I was so hungry that I could not resist finishing the remains of my fowl, although well aware I could scarcely hope for another taste of flesh between this and the coast. Leaving camp, we made a gradual ascent, and, passing through a gap, found before us a steep and almost precipitous descent, down which we went like goats, jumping from stone to stone. No sooner had we reached this valley than we had to begin the ascent of other hills, and, on arriving at their summit, found ourselves overlooking other ranges in front of us, their crests piercing the clouds which hung at our feet. Away to the south was a village, situated on a small conical mount; and this was the settlement of a colony of mulattoes. Descending again, we went through a deep gorge, with its sides clothed with trees, the graceful form and light foliage of the wild datepalm contrasting well with the darker and heavier shades of the acacias.

We were now upon a level plain, covered with open forest; and as we were about to enter the wood, I noticed a grave composed of a pile of loose blocks of granite, with a rough and massive wooden cross reared at its head. A stream running through a muddy swamp, which we reached about noon, affording an opportunity for bathing,

we halted to enjoy a dip and rest, and a bit of damper to appease our hunger. On resuming our march, we entered well-wooded but broken ground, with numerous torrents and rills, and outcrops and vast sheets of granite. From a high hill we observed ranges of mountains still lying in front, while at our feet there was a decent campingplace, where we decided to halt. Before us was the river Balomba, eighty feet wide and waist-deep, flowing fast towards the north-west, and ultimately falling into the sea as an independent stream some little distance north of Benguella.

Five o'clock the next morning saw us on the move again. Crossing the Balomba, we passed some cultivated ground and villages perched upon small rocky hills, the huts corresponding so exactly with the colour of the red sandstone rocks that I should not have noticed them but for curls of smoke rising into the morning air. On through jungle, across torrent-beds and streams, up and down we went, until we reached a level lying between two mountains. Here there was much cultivation, the bottom being very fertile, and sugar-cane, Indian corn, and tobacco grew in profusion. We endeavoured to persuade some people working in the fields to supply us with food, but they refused to enter into any commercial transactions with us.

We continued on the march until about two o'clock, when Manoel asserted that, as we were close by the village of a chief whom he knew, we must stop to obtain flour, our stock being wellnigh exhausted. We succeeded in getting a small quantity of flour, and the chief brought me as a present a little Indian corn and a gourd of the sourest bombé possible. He expressed regret at not having heard of my intended visit, as he would then have

given me something respectable, but now he had nothing prepared. Marching on again, and passing some huge blocks of granite, we reached more level ground, well wooded and watered. We overtook two down-caravans, and even managed to pass them, after a considerable amount of racing, for they did not at all appreciate being beaten by a white man upon their own ground. Just before sunset we found ourselves amidst a swarm of locusts on the point of settling, and my people were anxious to collect them; but camp was still some distance ahead, and I knew we were much too tired and weary to make another start that night if once we halted.

I was almost dead-beat by this day's work; for, including all halts, we had been travelling for thirteen hours over rough and difficult country. But I knew that the first signs of fatigue betrayed by me would be the signal for the break-down of the whole party, so I struggled to keep up appearances. When day dawned, I saw on the other side of the plain a range of sterile-looking mountains, which we reached after two hours' marching across the broken level.

Fearfully hard work was now beginning seriously to tell on me, but I was wonderfully buoyed up by the knowledge that every step was taking me nearer to the coast and to rest. After more hours of weary clambering, we entered upon an open plain, and to my sorrow I noticed that it was surrounded by mountains, which gave promise of hard labour on the morrow. Shortly before sunset we were near a village in the small district of Kisanji, and here made our arrangements for sleeping under some baobabs, of which we had seen the first in the pass. I was so exhausted, that, when the men took the opportunity of having another bathe, it was impossible for me

to do the same, being only fit to lie under the shade of a baobab-tree.

We were off by half-past four the following morning, and soon came upon a number of up-caravans just starting on their march. Scrambling along a steep and rocky ridge of hills, intersected with several water-courses. and ravines with almost perpendicular sides, and then up a path not unlike a broken-down flight of steep steps, we reached the summit of the range. What was that distant line upon the sky! We all gazed at it with a strange mingling of hope and fear, scarcely daring to believe it was the sea. But looking more intently at that streak happily left no room for doubt. It was the sea; and Xenophon and his ten thousand could not have welcomed its view more heartily when they exclaimed, "The sea! the sea!" than did I and my handful of wayworn followers.

COMMANDER CAMERON.1

ap-pro'-pri-at-ed, took charge of.

kinks, knots from long walking.

pro-fu'-sion, wild abundance.

trans-ac'-tions, dealings. (L trans, across; agere, to do.)

1. Sextant, an instrument used by surveyors for measuring angles.

2. Damper, dried and preserved meat, somewhat like pemmican.

3. Outcrops, ridges of rocks rising above the soil.

4. Down-caravans, that is, caravans going towards the coast.

5. Baobab, a widely spreading tree whose branches turn downwards and take root in the soil, in their turn becoming stems from which new branches may spring.

6. Xenophon, a famous Greek writer. Like most of the Greeks he was also a soldier.

1 From Across Africa.'

NORTH

AMERICA.

39.-GENERAL VIEW.

1. America. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, the great explorer, when sailing on a voyage in search of a new way to India, discovered a number of islands, now known as the West Indian Islands. Five hundred years before, however, North America had been visited by some of the wild sea-rovers of Scandinavia. They had sailed across to Greenland, and made their way as far south as the New England States; but the name Greenland is the only trace that remains of the discoveries of these early voyagers. In company with Columbus in his voyages to the New World was a Florentine and an astronomer, Amerigo Vespucci; after several years he wrote a book, relating his adventures, and describing the new land. This book was so widely read, and the writer's name became so associated with the new continent, that it was called after him, America.

2. Points of Likeness to South America.-The two Americas are, in many respects, very like each other. Let us glance at the points of resemblance in the physical structure of the two continents. Both seem to be built on the same plan. Both are pear-shaped,—broad in the north, and tapering away gradually to the south; both are continents, of long and lofty mountain-ranges, of wide and fertile plains, and of rivers unsurpassed in size and commercial importance by any other rivers on the face of the globe. In both continents the chief mountain-ranges extend along the whole length of the continent, from