footprints, which at first were supposed to be those of some enormous bird. This greatly exercised people's minds, for how, they argued, could a bird stand with head and body suspended downwards. However, it has now been proved that they are the footprints of a prehistoric lizard, and that formerly the rock must have been in an almost upright position. A portion of this rock was hewn out and sent to the last Kimberley Exhibition, whence it found its way to the Bloemfontein Museum, where, I believe, it now lies.

Beyond Tsikoani there lay, until quite recently, the trunk of a fossil tree, about ten feet in length and over two feet in diameter. When it was discovered the European population of Leribe (in which district it was found) were naturally much interested, and went in small parties on several occasions to visit the spot, carrying away small pieces of the tree as souvenirs. The Basuto could not understand these visits—their suspicions were aroused—"Could this stone contain some form of witchcraft, or was there unknown wealth hidden within it?" Not being able to solve the mystery, they destroyed the tree.

From the curious shape of many of the large rocks, and from the formation of the "kopjes," one is led to believe that in former ages the country must have been subject to great volcanic disturbances. To many people, I should think the study of the various fossils and physical features of the country would prove deeply interesting; even to watch the changes caused in a few years by the floods, which turn tiny streams into deep dongas, and wash away one landmark here and another there, is of no small interest.

The river-beds are rocky at and near their sources, gradually becoming sandy as they increase in size, with here and there rocky beds of a basaltic appearance, continuing for perhaps a few hundred yards at most. On the banks and in the coarser sandy beds are to be found beautifully transparent crystals, sometimes of great size, also agates, and many and varied beautifully coloured and polished stones.

In dry weather all the larger rivers in Basutoland are sluggish, calm tracts of water, the smaller streams mere silvery trickles, bubbling happily in and out amongst the stones on their course, but they all rise rapidly, and in an almost incredibly short time become roaring torrents, most dangerous, nay even impossible to ford. Both to see and hear a river "coming down" is a thing never to be forgotten. The roar of the first big volume of water as it comes is not a pleasant sound to the traveller crossing "the drift," the sight still less pleasant if he is not already across. There are no bridges in Basutoland, and many of the drifts are steep and unpleasant, even in fine weather, when there is only a normal quantity of water in the river.

In the time of the old chief Molapo, women invariably went to the top of Leribe Mountain, a large table-land, to dig for clay with which to plaster their huts. Upon one occasion they found some pretty stones, which they gave as playthings to their children. Some Europeans happening to see these stones, at once recognised that they were diamonds of considerable value, and endeavoured to buy them (one was reported to be "as large as a big man's thumb"), but Molapo, hearing of it, ordered the stones to be returned to the place where they were found and re-buried in the clay; nor would he, in future, allow any one to revisit that spot. In order to keep a constant watch upon the place, he had a village built close by, whose inhabitants were to inform him of any one attempting to disobey his commands. The village is still there, and the spot is guarded as jealously as ever. Very few people know of this, and I do not suppose that more than two Europeans could find the place where those diamonds lie buried. The Basuto have such a dread of their country becoming overrun with white men that they most jealously guard its wealth. The land is theirs, they say. If the white man thinks it has gold and diamonds he will take it from them.

This is not the only spot in the country upon which a constant watch is kept. There is gold quartz to be found in some of the river beds, and they are guarded. There are reefs here and there through the western part of Basutoland which certainly indicate gold, and they, too, are guarded. A friend of mine one day, in walking up a hill, picked up a piece of quartz and took it home to show her husband. The next day she was politely asked by the chief of the district why she had been picking up his stones, and would she be so kind as not to take any more from that spot. It was, of course, very politely put, but it showed how much the chief knew, and that he dreaded that knowledge being carried out of the country.

In addition to the above, Basutoland also boasts of some very good coal, both in the north and in the Mohale's Hoek district in the south; but, though these mines have been worked to a certain extent for local consumption, the chiefs have now put a stop to further workings. The native brass and iron, too, is fairly good, and there is excellent clay for pottery purposes.

Beyond Chief Khabo's village, in the Leribe district, there is a cave on the sides of which a salty deposit is formed, which, in former days, the buck came to lick, and which the goats and sheep greatly appreciate now. Inside the cave are some Bushman paintings of the usual type, while outside, near the entrance, are some traps made by the Bushmen to catch buck. These traps are circular depressions in the ground, about ten feet in diameter. One wonders how such tiny people could have made them. Originally they were of considerable depth, and were covered over with bushes. The victims caught in these traps were chiefly eland, hartebeeste, and springbok. There are Bushman caves in various parts of Basutoland, especially in the Quthing district, but in most of them the paintings have become rather indistinct, and in some cases have been almost entirely obliterated by mischievous little herd boys. The scenes, as a rule, represent extremely minute Bushmen hunting and capturing gigantic elands. Occasionally a fight is depicted, in which huge Kaffir warriors are fleeing in confusion before their triumphant pixie-like foes.

There are now only about half-a-dozen survivors of the Bushman race in Basutoland, and they no longer live by themselves, but with the Basuto, who treat them kindly and quite as members of their own families, though the term "Bushman," or, as it is in Sesuto, "Baroa" (literally the yellow people), is still one of contempt.

They are funny little stunted creatures, very yellow in colour, with high cheek-bones, small bright eyes, and a meagre quantity of hair on their heads, each woolly curl being quite separate and apart from the next, with the scalp plainly visible all round.

In addition to its other many attractions, Basutoland possesses some really beautiful waterfalls, the three largest being the far-famed Malutsunyane, the Telle, and the Ketane Falls. The Telle Falls are almost unknown, but quite as high as, if not higher than, the Malutsunyane. They lie in the Quthing district, close to the Herschel border. The other two falls are in the Maluti Mountains, about the centre of Basutoland. To reach them is not easy, consequently the number of adventurers keen enough to face the discomforts and difficulties is small. Of course the rainy season is the best for seeing the falls to the fullest advantage, as the volume of water is large and the effect much finer (on a bright day) than during the dry season; but there is naturally more discomfort in travelling, and one's journey, both going and coming, may be considerably prolonged by the state of the rivers,