We came to a great many little villages among the hills, as if the inhabitants had reason to hide themselves from the observation of their enemies. While detained cutting up the hippopotamus, I ascended a hill called Mabue asula (stones smell badly), and, though not the highest in sight, it was certainly not 100 feet lower than the most elevated. The boiling-point of water showed it to be about 900 feet above the river, which was of the level of Linyanti. These hills seemed to my men of prodigious altitude, for they had been accustomed to ant-hills only. The mention of mountains that pierced the clouds made them draw in their breath and hold their hands to their mouths. And when I told them that their previous description of Taba cheu had led me to expect something of the sort, I found that the idea of a cloud-capped mountain had never entered into their heads. The mountains certainly look high, from having abrupt sides; but I had recognized the fact by the point of ebullition of water, that they are of a considerably lower altitude than the top of the ridge we had left. They constitute, in fact, a sort of low fringe on the outside of the eastern ridge, exactly as the (apparently) high mountains of Angola (Golungo Alto) form an outer low fringe to the western ridge. I was much struck by the similarity of conformation and nature of the rocks on both sides of the continent; but there is a difference in the structure of the subtending ridges, as may be understood by the annexed ideal geological section.
*[The ASCII edition cannot include the drawing of the cross-section, but the comments are included in full.--A. L., 1997.]
IDEAL SECTION ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AFRICA, INTENDED TO SHOW THE ELEVATED VALLEY FORM OF THAT PORTION OF THE CONTINENT. --------------------------------------