" The wild figs show
glorious stature, a truly noble growth, whose parents were sun
and water.
The birds were lank black clivers (Plotus), exceedingly wild; the
African roller (Coracias); halcyons of several species,
especially a white and black kingfisher, nimble and comely; many
swallows, horn-bills, and wild pigeons which made the bush
resound; ardeine birds, especially a heron, like the large Indian
"kullum;" kites, crows, "whip-poor-wills," and a fine haliaetus,
which flies high and settles upon the loftiest branches. One of
these eagles was shot, after a gorge of the electric fish here
common; its coat was black and white, and the eyes yellow, with
dark pupils. Various lizards ran over the rocks; and we failed to
secure a water-snake, the only specimen seen on the whole trip.
About noon we struggled past Point Masalla, our "Diamond Rock," a
reef ending in a triangular block, towering abruptly, and showing
by drift-wood a flood-line now twelve feet high. There are
several of these "bench-marks;" and the people declare that after
every few years an unusual freshet takes place. Here the current
impinges directly upon the rocks, making a strong eddy.
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