The richer natives mix this milk with the porridge they make from their meal. It is considered very nutritious and strengthening, and takes the place of our roast beef for nutriment.
The natives, in speaking scornfully of those who are poor or weak, use the expression, "They are water-porridge men;" since they cannot afford to mix their porridge in the approved way, and hence cannot expect to gain strength.
Speaking of other sections of the country, Livingstone tells us that he found some portions capped by a conglomerate rock mixed with iron. In many places the iron looked as if it had been melted; for the rounded masses resembled slag in an iron foundry, and the under surface was smooth and even.
Probably this deposit was of an aqueous origin; for it contained water-worn pebbles of various kinds. These were generally small in size.
Below the conglomerate lay a mass of pale red, hardened sandstone, and beneath that a layer of what are called trap rocks. Lowest of all lay a coarse-grained sandstone, which contained a few pebbles. Occasionally a white rock of lime formation was found, and also banks of loose, round pebbles of quartz.
The land slopes contained bogs surrounded by clumps of straight, lofty evergreen trees, which looked extremely graceful on a ground of yellowish grass. Many of these bogs pour forth a solution of iron. These exhibit the prismatic colors upon their surface.
It would be of interest to note the curious conditions and formations of the soil in other sections, but we must pass on to other views.
Those of you who are interested in the life of Livingstone will find many features of the soil described in the journals this explorer bequeathed to the world.