Rising out of the valley, I found all the country just as hilly as before, but many of the rush-drains going to northward; and in the dells were such magnificent trees, they quite took me by surprise.

Clean-trunked, they towered up just as so many great pillars, and then spread out their high branches like a canopy over us.

I thought of the blue gums of Australia, and believed these would beat them.

At the village of Mbule we were gracefully received by the local officer, who brought a small present, and assured me that the king was in a nervous state of excitement, always asking after me.

Whilst speaking he trembled, and he was so restless he could never sit still.
Up and down we went on again through this wonderful country, surprisingly rich in grass, cultivation, and trees.