Nature of the Country--Resumption of the March--A Hunt--Bombay
and Baraka--The Slave-Hunters--The Ivory-Merchants--Collection of
Natural-History Specimens--A Frightened Village--Tracking a Mule.
Under U-Sagara, or, as it might be interpreted, U-sa-Gara--country of
Gara--is included all the country lying between the bifurcation of
the Kingani and Mgeta rivers east, and Ugogo, the first country on the
interior plateau west,--a distance of a hundred miles. On the north it
is bounded by the Mukondokua, or upper course of the Wami river and on
the south by the Ruaha, or northern great branch of the Lufiji river. It
forms a link of the great East Coast Range; but though it is generally
comprehended under the single name Usagara, many sub-tribes occupy and
apply their own names to portions of it; as, for instance, the people
on whose ground we now stood at the foot of the hills, are Wa-Khutu,
and their possessions consequently are U-Khutu, which is by far the best
producing land hitherto alluded to since leaving the sea-coast line. Our
ascent by the river, though quite imperceptible to the eye, has been 500
feet. From this level the range before us rises in some places to 5000
to 6000 feet, not as one grand mountain, but in two detached lines,
lying at an angle of 45 degrees from N.E. to S.W., and separated one
from the other by elevated valleys, tables, and crab-claw spurs of hill
which incline towards the flanking rivers. The whole having been thrown
up by volcanic action, is based on a strong foundation of granite and
other igneous rocks, which are exposed in many places in the shape of
massive blocks; otherwise the hill-range is covered in the upper part
with sandstone, and in the bottoms with alluvial clay. This is the
superficial configuration of the land as it strikes the eye; but,
knowing the elevation of the interior plateau to be only 2500 feet above
the sea immediately on the western flank of these hills, whilst the
breath of the chain is 100 miles, the mean slope of incline of the basal
surface must be on a gradual rise of twenty feet per mile. The hill tops
and sides, where not cultivated, are well covered with bush and small
trees, amongst which the bamboo is conspicuous; whilst the bottoms,
having a soil deeper and richer, produce fine large fig-trees of
exceeding beauty, the huge calabash, and a variety of other trees. Here,
in certain places where water is obtainable throughout the year, and
wars, or slave-hunts more properly speaking, do not disturb the industry
of the people, cultivation thrives surprisingly; but such a boon is
rarely granted them. It is in consequence of these constantly-recurring
troubles that the majority of the Wasagara villages are built on
hill-spurs, where the people can the better resist attack, or, failing,
disperse and hide effectually. The normal habitation is the small
conical hut of grass. These compose villages, varying in number
according to the influence of their head men. There are, however, a few
mud villages on the table-lands, each built in a large irregular square
of chambers with a hollow yard in the centre, known as tembe.
As to the people of these uplands, poor, meagre-looking wretches, they
contrast unfavourably with the lowlanders on both sides of them. Dingy
in colour, spiritless, shy, and timid, they invite attack in a country
where every human being has a market value, and are little seen by the
passing caravan. In habits they are semi-pastoral agriculturalists, and
would be useful members of society were they left alone to cultivate
their own possessions, rich and beautiful by nature, but poor and
desolate by force of circumstance. Some of the men can afford a cloth,
but the greater part wear an article which I can only describe as a
grass kilt. In one or two places throughout the passage of these hills
a caravan may be taxed, but if so, only to a small amount; the villagers
more frequently fly to the hill-tops as soon as the noise of the
advancing caravan is heard, and no persuasions will bring them down
again, so much ground have they, from previous experience, to fear
treachery. It is such sad sights, and the obvious want of peace and
prosperity, that weary the traveller, and make him every think of
pushing on to his journey's end from the instant he enters Africa until
he quits the country.
Knowing by old experience that the beautiful green park in the fork of
these rivers abounded in game of great variety and in vast herds, where
no men are ever seen except some savage hunters sitting in the trees
with poisoned arrows, or watching their snares and pitfalls, I had all
along determined on a hunt myself, to feed and cheer the men, and also
to collect some specimens for the home museums. In the first object we
succeeded well, as "the bags" we made counted two brindled gnu, four
water-boc, one pallah-boc, and one pig,--enough to feed abundantly the
whole camp round. The feast was all the better relished as the men knew
well that no Arab master would have given them what he could sell; for
if a slave shot game, the animals would be the master's, to be sold bit
by bit among the porters, and compensated from the proceeds of their
pay. In the variety and number of our game we were disappointed, partly
because so many wounded got away, and partly because we could not find
what we knew the park to contain, in addition to what we killed--namely,
elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, buffaloes, zebra, and many varieties of
antelopes, besides lions and hyenas. In fact, "the park," as well as all
the adjacent land at the foot of the hills, is worth thinking of, with a
view to a sporting tour as well as scientific investigation.
A circumstance arose here, which, insignificant though it appeared,
is worth noting, to show how careful one must be in understanding and
dealing with negro servants. Quite unaccountably to myself, the general
of my Wanguana, Baraka, after showing much discontent with his position
as head of Captain Grant's establishment, became so insolent, that it
was necessary to displace him, and leave him nothing to do but look
after the men. This promoted Frij, who enjoyed his rise as much as
Baraka, if his profession was to be believed, enjoyed his removal from
that office. Though he spoke in this manner, still I knew that there was
something rankling in his mind which depressed his spirits as long as he
remained with us, though what it was I could not comprehend, nor did I
fully understand it till months afterwards. It was ambition, which was
fast making a fiend of him; and had I known it, he would, and with great
advantage too, have been dismissed upon the spot. The facts were these:
He was exceedingly clever, and he knew it. His command over men was
surprising. At Zanzibar he was the Consul's right-hand man: he ranked
above Bombay in the consular boat's crew, and became a terror even to
the Banyans who kept slaves. He seemed, in fact, in his own opinion, to
have imbibed all the power of the British Consul who had instructed him.
Such a man was an element of discord in our peaceful caravan. He was far
too big-minded for the sphere which he occupied; and my surprise now
is that he ever took service, knowing what he should, at the time of
enlistment, have expected, that no man would be degraded to make room
for him. But this was evidently what he had expected, though he dared
not say it. He was jealous of Bombay, because he thought his position
over the money department was superior to his own over the men; and he
had seen Bombay, on one occasion, pay a tax in Uzaramo--a transaction
which would give him consequence with the native chiefs. Of Sheikh Said
he was equally jealous, for a like reason; and his jealousy increased
the more that I found it necessary to censure the timidity of this
otherwise worthy little man. Baraka thought, in his conceit, that he
could have done all things better, and gained signal fame, had he been
created chief. Perhaps he thought he had gained the first step towards
this exalted rank, and hence his appearing very happy for this time.
I could not see through so deep a scheme and only hoped that he would
shortly forget, in the changes of the marching life, those beautiful
wives he had left behind him, which Bombay in his generosity tried to
persuade me was the cause of his mental distraction.
Our halt at the ford here was cut short by the increasing sickness of
the Hottentots, and the painful fact that Captain Grant was seized with
fever. [6] We had to change camp to the little village of Kiruru, where,
as rice was grown--an article not to be procured again on this side of
Unyamuezi--we stopped a day to lay in supplies of this most valuable of
all travelling food. Here I obtained the most consistent accounts of the
river system which, within five days' journey, trends through Uzegura;
and I concluded, from what I heard, that there is no doubt of the
Mukondokua and Wami rivers being one and the same stream. My informants
were the natives of the settlement, and they all concurred in saying
that the Kingani above the junction is called the Rufu, meaning the
parent stream. Beyond it, following under the line of the hills, at one
day's journey distant, there is a smaller river called Msonge. At
an equal distance beyond it, another of the same size is known as
Lungerengeri; and a fourth river is the Wami, which mouths in the sea at
Utondue, between the ports of Whindi and Saadami. In former years, the
ivory-merchants, ever seeking for an easy road for their trade, and
knowing they would have no hills to climb if they could only gain a
clear passage by this river from the interior plateau to the sea, made
friends with the native chiefs of Uzegura, and succeeded in establishing
it as a thoroughfare. Avarice, however, that fatal enemy to the negro
chiefs, made them overreach themselves by exorbitant demands of taxes.
Then followed contests for the right of appropriating the taxes, and the
whole ended in the closing of the road, which both parties were equally
anxious to keep open for their mutual gain. This foolish disruption
having at first only lasted for a while, the road was again opened and
again closed, for the merchants wanted an easy passage, and the native
chiefs desired cloths. But it was shut again; and now we heard of its
being for a third time opened, with what success the future only can
determine--for experience WILL not teach the negro, who thinks only for
the moment. Had they only sense to see, and patience to wait, the
whole trade of the interior would inevitably pass through their country
instead of Uzaramo; and instead of being poor in cloths, they would
be rich and well dressed like their neighbours. But the curse of Noah
sticks to these his grandchildren by Ham, and no remedy that has yet
been found will relieve them. They require a government like ours in
India; and without it, the slave trade will wipe them off the face of
the earth.
Now leaving the open parks of pretty acacias, we followed up the Mgazi
branch of the Mgeta, traversed large tree-jungles, where the tall
palm is conspicuous, and drew up under the lumpy Mkambaku, to find
a residence for the day. Here an Arab merchant, Khamis, bound for
Zanzibar, obliged us by agreeing for a few dollars to convey our recent
spoils in natural history to the coast.
My plans for the present were to reach Zungomero as soon as possible,
as a few days' halt would be required there to fix the longitude of the
eastern flank of the East Coast Range by astronomical observation;
but on ordering the morning's march, the porters--too well fed and
lazy--thought our marching-rate much too severe, and resolutely refused
to move. They ought to have made ten miles a-day, but preferred doing
five. Argument was useless, and I was reluctant to apply the stick,
as the Arabs would have done when they saw their porters trifling
with their pockets. Determining, however, not to be frustrated in this
puerile manner, I ordered the bugler to sound the march, and started
with the mules and coast-men, trusting to Sheikh and Baraka to bring on
the Wanyamuezi as soon as they could move them. The same day we crossed
the Mgazi where we found several Wakhutu spearing fish in the muddy
hovers of its banks.
We slept under a tree, and this morning found a comfortable residence
under the eaves of a capacious hut. The Wanyamuezi porters next came
in at their own time, and proved to us how little worth are orders in
a land where every man, in his own opinion, is a lord, and no laws
prevail. Zungomero, bisected by the Mgeta, lies on flat ground, in a
very pretty amphitheatre of hills, S. lat. 7 deg. 26' 53", and E. long.
37 deg. 36' 45". It is extremely fertile, and very populous, affording
everything that man can wish, even to the cocoa and papwa fruits;
but the slave-trade has almost depopulated it, and turned its once
flourishing gardens into jungles. As I have already said, the people who
possess these lands are cowardly by nature, and that is the reason why
they are so much oppressed. The Wasuahili, taking advantage of their
timidity, flock here in numbers to live upon the fruits of their
labours. The merchants on the coast, too, though prohibited by their
Sultan from interfering with the natural course of trade, send their
hungry slaves, as touters, to entice all approaching caravans to
trade with their particular ports, authorising the touters to pay such
premiums as may be necessary for the purpose. Where they came from we
could not ascertain; but during our residence, a large party of the
Wasuahili marched past, bound for the coast, with one hundred head of
cattle, fifty slaves in chains, and as many goats. Halts always end
disastrously in Africa, giving men time for mischief;--and here was an
example of it. During the target-practice, which was always instituted
on such occasions to give confidence to our men, the little pepper-box
Rahan, my head valet, challenged a comrade to a duel with carbines.
Being stopped by those around him, he vented his wrath in terrible
oaths, and swung about his arms, until his gun accidentally went off,
and blew his middle finger off.
Baraka next, with a kind of natural influence of affinity when a row is
commenced, made himself so offensive to Bombay, as to send him running
to me so agitated with excitement that I thought him drunk. He seized my
hands, cried, and implored me to turn him off. What could this mean?
I could not divine; neither could he explain, further than that he had
come to a determination that I must send either him or Baraka to the
right-about; and his first idea was that he, and not Baraka, should be
the victim. Baraka's jealousy about his position had not struck me yet.
I called them both together and asked what quarrel they had, but could
not extract the truth. Baraka protested that he had never given, either
by word or deed, the slightest cause of rupture; he only desired the
prosperity of the march, and that peace should reign throughout the
camp; but Bombay was suspicious of him, and malignantly abused him, for
what reason Baraka could not tell. When I spoke of this to Bombay, like
a bird fascinated by the eye of a viper, he shrank before the slippery
tongue of his opponent, and could only say, "No, Sahib--oh no, that is
not it; you had better turn me off, for his tongue is so long, and mine
so short, you never will believe me." I tried to make them friends,
hoping it was merely a passing ill-wind which would soon blow over; but
before long the two disputants were tonguing it again, and I distinctly
heard Bombay ordering Baraka out of camp as he could not keep from
intermeddling, saying, which was true, he had invited him to join the
expedition, that his knowledge of Hindustani might be useful to us; he
was not wanted for any other purpose, and unless he was satisfied with
doing that alone, we would get on much better without him. To this
provocation Baraka mildly made the retort, "Pray don't put yourself in
a passion, nobody is hurting you, it is all in your own heart, which is
full of suspicions and jealousy without the slightest cause."
This complicated matters more than ever. I knew Bombay to be a generous,
honest man, entitled by his former services to be in the position he was
now holding as fundi, or supervisor in the camp. Baraka, who never
would have joined the expedition excepting through his invitation, was
indebted to him for the rank he now enjoyed--a command over seventy men,
a duty in which he might have distinguished himself as a most useful
accessory to the camp. Again I called the two together, and begged them
to act in harmony like brothers, noticing that there was no cause for
entertaining jealousy on either side, as every order rested with myself
to reward for merit or to punish. The relative position in the camp was
like that of the senior officers in India, Bombay representing the
Mulki lord, or Governor-General, and Baraka the Jungi lord, or
Commander-in-Chief. To the influence of this distinguished comparison
they both gave way, acknowledging myself their judge, and both
protesting that they wished to serve in peace and quietness for the
benefit of the march.
Zungomero is a terminus or junction of two roads leading to the
interior--one, the northern, crossing over the Goma Pass, and trenching
on the Mukondokua river, and the other crossing over the Mabruki Pass,
and edging on the Ruaha river. They both unite again at Ugogi, the
western terminus on the present great Unyamuezi line. On the former
expedition I went by the northern line and returned by the southern,
finding both equally easy, and, indeed, neither is worthy of special and
permanent preference. In fact, every season makes a difference in the
supply of water and provisions; and with every year, owing to incessant
wars, or rather slave-hunts, the habitations of the wretched inhabitants
become constantly changed--generally speaking, for the worse. Our first
and last object, therefore, as might be supposed, from knowing these
circumstances, was to ascertain, before mounting the hill-range, which
route would afford us the best facilities for a speedy march now. No
one, however, could or would advise us. The whole country on ahead,
especially Ugogo, was oppressed by drought and famine. To avoid this
latter country, then, we selected the southern route, as by doing so it
was hoped we might follow the course of the Ruaha river from Maroro
to Usenga and Usanga, and thence strike across to Unyanyembe, sweeping
clear of Ugogo.
With this determination, after despatching a third set of specimens,
consisting of large game animals, birds, snakes, insects, land
and freshwater shells, and a few rock specimens, of which one was
fossiliferous, we turned southwards, penetrating the forests which lie
between the greater range and the little outlying one. At the foot of
this is the Maji ya Wheta, a hot, deep-seated spring of fresh water,
which bubbles up through many apertures in a large dome-shaped heap
of soft lime--an accumulation obviously thrown up by the force of the
spring, as the rocks on either side of it are of igneous character.
We arrived at the deserted village of Kirengue. This was not an easy
go-ahead march, for the halt had disaffected both men and mules. Three
of the former bolted, leaving their loads upon the ground; and on the
line of march, one of the mules, a full-conditioned animal, gave up the
ghost after an eighteen hours' sickness. What his disease was I never
could ascertain; but as all the remaining animals died afterwards much
in the same manner, I may state for once and for all, that these attacks
commenced with general swelling, at first on the face, then down the
neck, along the belly and down the legs. It proved so obstinate that
fire had no effect upon it; and although we cut off the tails of some to
relieve them by bleeding, still they died.
In former days Kirengue was inhabited, and we reasonably hoped to find
some supplies for the jungly march before us. But we had calculated
without our host, for the slave-hunters had driven every vestige of
humanity away; and now, as we were delayed by our three loads behind,
there was nothing left but to send back and purchase more grain. Such
was one of the many days frittered away in do-nothingness.
This day, all together again, we rose the first spurs of the well-wooded
Usagara hills, amongst which the familiar bamboo was plentiful, and at
night we bivouacked in the jungle.
Rising betimes in the morning, and starting with a good will, we soon
reached the first settlements of Mbuiga, from which could be seen a
curious blue mountain, standing up like a giant overlooking all the
rest of the hills. The scenery here formed a strong and very pleasing
contrast to any we had seen since leaving the coast. Emigrant Waziraha,
who had been driven from their homes across the Kingani river by the
slave-hunters, had taken possession of the place, and disposed their
little conical-hut villages on the heights of the hill-spurs in such a
picturesque manner, that one could not help hoping they would here at
least be allowed to rest in peace and quietness. The valleys, watered
by little brooks, are far richer, and even prettier, than the high
lands above, being lined with fine trees and evergreen shrubs; while the
general state of prosperity was such, that the people could afford, even
at this late season of the year, to turn their corn into malt to brew
beer for sale; and goats and fowls were plentiful in the market.
Passing by the old village of Mbuiga, which I occupied on my former
expedition, we entered some huts on the western flank of the Mbuiga
district; and here, finding a coast-man, a great friend of the little
sheikh's, willing to take back to Zanzibar anything we might give him, a
halt was made, and I drew up my reports. I then consigned to his
charge three of the most sickly of the Hottentots in a deplorable
condition--one of the mules, that they might ride by turns--and all
the specimens that had been collected. With regret I also sent back the
camera; because I saw, had I allowed my companion to keep working it,
the heat he was subjected to in the little tent whilst preparing
and fixing his plates would very soon have killed him. The number of
guinea-fowl seen here was most surprising.
A little lighter and much more comfortable for the good riddance of
those grumbling "Tots," we worked up to and soon breasted the stiff
ascent of the Mabruki Pass, which we surmounted without much difficult.
This concluded the first range of these Usagara hills; and once over, we
dropped down to the elevated valley of Makata, where we halted two days
to shoot. As a travelling Arab informed me that the whole of the Maroro
district had been laid waste by the marauding Wahehe, I changed our
plans again, and directed our attention to a middle and entirely new
line, which in the end would lead us to Ugogi. The first and only
giraffe killed upon the journey was here shot by Grant, with a little
40-gauge Lancaster rifle, at 200 yards' distance. Some smaller animals
were killed; but I wasted all my time in fruitlessly stalking some
wounded striped eland--magnificent animals, as large as Delhi oxen--and
some other animals, of which I wounded three, about the size of
hartebeest, and much their shape, only cream-coloured, with a
conspicuous black spot in the centre of each flank. The eland may
probably be the animal first mentioned by Livingstone, but the other
animal is not known.
Though reluctant to leave a place where such rare animals were to be
found, the fear of remaining longer on the road induced us to leave
Kikobogo, and at a good stride we crossed the flat valley of Makata, and
ascended the higher lands beyond, where we no sooner arrived than we
met the last down trader from Unyamuezi, well known to all my men as
the great Mamba or Crocodile. Mamba, dressed in a dirty Arab gown, with
coronet of lion's nails decorating a thread-bare cutch cap, greeted us
with all the dignity of a savage potentate surrounded by his staff
of half-naked officials. As usual, he had been the last to leave the
Unyamuezi, and so purchased all his stock of ivory at a cheap rate,
there being no competitors left to raise the value of that commodity;
but his journey had been a very trying one. With a party, at his own
estimate, of two thousand souls--we did not see anything like that
number--he had come from Ugogo to this, by his own confession, living on
the products of the jungle, and by boiling down the skin aprons of his
porters occasionally for a soup. Famines were raging throughout the
land, and the Arabs preceding him had so harried the country, that every
village was deserted. On hearing our intention to march upon the direct
line, he frankly said he thought we should never get through for my men
could not travel as he had done, and therefore he advised our deflecting
northwards from New Mbumi to join the track leading from Rumuma to
Ugogi. This was a sad disappointment; but, rather than risk a failure, I
resolved to follow his advice.
After reaching the elevated ground, we marched over rolling tops,
covered with small trees and a rich variety of pretty bulbs, and reached
the habitations of Muhanda, where we no sooner appeared than the poor
villagers, accustomed only to rough handling, immediately dispersed in
the jungles. By dint of persuasion, however, we induced them to sell us
provisions, though at a monstrous rate, such as no merchant could have
afforded; and having spent the night quietly, we proceeded on to the
upper courses of the M'yombo river, which trends its way northwards
to the Mukondokua river. The scenery was most interesting, with every
variety of hill, roll, plateau, and ravine, wild and prettily wooded;
but we saw nothing of the people. Like frightened rats, as soon as they
caught the sound of our advancing march, they buried themselves in
the jungles, carrying off their grain with them. Foraging parties, of
necessity, were sent out as soon as the camp was pitched, with cloth for
purchases, and strict orders not to use force; the upshot of which was,
that my people got nothing but a few arrows fired at them by the
lurking villagers, and I was abused for my squeamishness. Moreover,
the villagers, emboldened by my lenity, vauntingly declared they would
attack the camp by night, as they could only recognise in us such men
as plunder their houses and steal their children. This caused a certain
amount of alarm among my men, which induced them to run up a stiff
bush-fence round the camp, and kept them talking all night.
This morning we marched on as usual, with one of the Hottentots lashed
on a donkey; for the wretched creature, after lying in the sun asleep,
became so sickly that he could not move or do anything for himself, and
nobody would do anything for him. The march was a long one, but under
ordinary circumstances would have been very interesting, for we passed
an immense lagoon, where hippopotami were snorting as if they invited an
attack. In the larger tree-jungles the traces of elephants, buffaloes,
rhinoceros, and antelopes were very numerous; while a rich variety of
small birds, as often happened, made me wish I had come on a shooting
rather than on a long exploring expedition. Towards sunset we arrived
at New Mbimi, a very pretty and fertile place, lying at the foot of
a cluster of steep hills, and pitched camp for three days to lay in
supplies for ten, as this was reported to be the only place where we
could buy corn until we reached Ugogo, a span of 140 miles. Mr Mbumi,
the chief of the place, a very affable negro, at once took us by the
hand, and said he would do anything we desired, for he had often been to
Zanzibar. He knew that the English were the ruling power in that land,
and that they were opposed to slavery, the terrible effects of which had
led to his abandoning Old Mbumi, on the banks of the Mukondokua river,
and rising here.
The sick Hottentot died here, and we buried him with Christian honours.
As his comrades said, he died because he had determined to die,--an
instance of that obstinate fatalism in their mulish temperament which no
kind words or threats can cure. This terrible catastrophe made me wish
to send all the remaining Hottentots back to Zanzibar; but as they all
preferred serving with me to returning to duty at the Cape, I selected
two of the MOST sickly, put them under Tabib, one of Rigby's old
servants, and told him to remain with them at Mbumi until such time
as he might find some party proceeding to the coasts; and, in the
meanwhile, for board and lodgings I have Mbumi beads and cloth. The
prices of provisions here being a good specimen of what one has to
pay at this season of the year, I give a short list of them:--sixteen
rations corn, two yards cloth; three fowls, two yards cloth; one goat,
twenty yards cloth; one cow, forty yards cloth,--the cloth being common
American sheeting. Before we left Mbumi, a party of forty men and women
of the Waquiva tribe, pressed by famine, were driven there to purchase
food. The same tribe had, however killed many of Mbumi's subjects not
long since, and therefore, in African revenge, the chief seized them
all, saying he would send them off for sale to Zanzibar market unless
they could give a legitimate reason for the cruelty they had committed.
These Waquiva, I was given to understand, occupied the steep hills
surrounding this place. They were a squalid-looking set, like the
generality of the inhabitants of this mountainous region.
This march led us over a high hill to the Mdunhwi river, another
tributary to the Mukondokua. It is all clad in the upper regions with
the slender pole-trees which characterise these hills, intermingled with
bamboo; but the bottoms are characterised by a fine growth of fig-trees
of great variety along with high grasses; whilst near the villages were
found good gardens of plantains, and numerous Palmyra trees. The rainy
season being not far off, the villagers were busy in burning rubble and
breaking their ground. Within their reach everywhere is the sarsaparilla
vine, but growing as a weed, for they know nothing of its value.
Rising up from the deep valley of Mdunhwi we had to cross another
high ridge before descending to the also deep valley of Chongue, as
picturesque a country as the middle heights of the Himalayas, dotted on
the ridges and spur-slopes by numerous small conical-hut villages;
but all so poor that we could not, had we wanted it, have purchased
provisions for a day's consumption.
Leaving this valley, we rose to the table of Manyovi, overhung with much
higher hills, looking, according to the accounts of our Hottentots, as
they eyed the fine herds of cattle grazing on the slopes, so like the
range in Kafraria, that they formed their expectations accordingly,
and appeared, for the first time since leaving the coast, happy at the
prospect before them, little dreaming that such rich places were seldom
to be met with. The Wanyamuezi porters even thought they had found a
paradise, and forthwith threw down their loads as the villagers came to
offer them grain for sale; so that, had I not had the Wanguana a little
under control, we should not have completed our distance that day, and
so reached Manyonge, which reminded me, by its ugliness, of the sterile
Somali land. Proceeding through the semi-desert rolling table-land--in
one place occupied by men who build their villages in large open squares
of flat-topped mud huts, which, when I have occasion to refer to them
in future, I shall call by their native name tembe--we could see on the
right hand the massive mountains overhanging the Mukondokua river, to
the front the western chain of these hills, and to the left the high
crab-claw shaped ridge, which, extending from the western chain, circles
round conspicuously above the swelling knolls which lie between the two
main rocky ridges. Contorted green thorn-trees, "elephant-foot" stumps,
and aloes, seem to thrive best here, by their very nature indicating
what the country is, a poor stony land. Our camp was pitched by the
river Rumuma, where, sheltered from the winds, and enriched by alluvial
soil, there ought to have been no scarcity; but still the villagers had
nothing to sell.
On we went again to Marenga Mkhaili, the "Salt Water," to breakfast, and
camped in the crooked green thorns by night, carrying water on for our
supper. This kind of travelling--forced marches--hard as it may appear,
was what we liked best, for we felt that we were shortening the journey,
and in doing so, shortening the risks of failure by disease, by war, by
famine, and by mutiny. We had here no grasping chiefs to detain us
for presents, nor had our men time to become irritable and truculent,
concoct devices for stopping the way, or fight amongst themselves.
On again, and at last we arrived at the foot of the western chain;
but not all together. Some porters, overcome by heat and thirst, lay
scattered along the road, while the corporal of the Hottentots allowed
his mule to stray from him, never dreaming the animal would travel far
from his comrades, and, in following after him, was led such a long way
into the bush, that my men became alarmed for his safety, knowing as
they did that the "savages" were out living like monkeys on the calabash
fruit, and looking out for any windfalls, such as stragglers worth
plundering, that might come in their way. At first the Wanguana
attempted to track down the corporal; but finding he would not answer
their repeated shots, and fearful for their own safety, they came into
camp and reported the case. Losing no time, I ordered twenty men, armed
with carbines, to carry water for the distressed porters, and bring the
corporal back as soon as possible. They all marched off, as they always
do on such exploits, in high good-humour with themselves for the valour
which they intended to show; and in the evening came in, firing their
guns in the most reckless manner, beaming with delight; for they had
the corporal in tow, two men and two women captives, and a spear as a
trophy. Then in high impatience, all in a breath, they began a recital
of the great day's work. The corporal had followed on the spoor of the
mule, occasionally finding some of his things that had been torn from
the beast's back by the thorns, and, picking up these one by one, had
become so burdened with the weight of them, that he could follow no
farther. In this fix the twenty men came up with him, but not until they
had had a scrimmage with the "savages," had secured four, and taken the
spear which had been thrown at them. Of the mule's position no one
could give an opinion, save that they imagined, in consequence of the
thickness of the bush, he would soon become irretrievably entangled in
the thicket, where the savages would find him, and bring him in as a
ransom for the prisoners.
What with the diminution of our supplies, the famished state of the
country, and the difficulties which frowned upon us in advance, together
with unwillingness to give up so good a mule, with all its gear and
ammunition, I must say I felt doubtful as to what had better be done,
until the corporal, who felt confident he would find the beast, begged
so hard that I sent him in command of another expedition of sixteen men,
ordering him to take one of the prisoners with him to proclaim to his
brethren that we would give up the rest if they returned us the mule.
The corporal then led off his band to the spot where he last saw traces
of the animal, and tracked on till sundown; while Grant and myself went
out pot-hunting and brought home a bag consisting of one striped
eland, one saltiana antelope, four guinea-fowl, four ringdoves, and one
partridge--a welcome supply, considering we were quite out of flesh.
Next day, as there were no signs of the trackers, I went again to the
place of the elands, wounded a fine male, but gave up the chase, as I
heard the unmistakable gun-firing return of the party, and straightway
proceeded to camp. Sure enough, there they were; they had tracked the
animal back to Marenga Mkhali, through jungle--for he had not taken to
the footpath. Then finding he had gone on, they returned quite tired
and famished. To make the most of a bad job, I now sent Grant on to the
Robeho (or windy) Pass, on the top of the western chain, with the mules
and heavy baggage, and directions to proceed thence across the brow of
the hill the following morning, while I remained behind with the tired
men, promising to join him by breakfast-time. I next released the
prisoners, much to their disgust, for they had not known such good
feeding before, and dreaded being turned adrift again in the jungles to
live on calabash seeds; and then, after shooting six guinea-fowl, turned
in for the night.
Betimes in the morning we were off, mounting the Robeho, a good stiff
ascent, covered with trees and large blocks of granite, excepting only
where cleared for villages; and on we went rapidly, until at noon the
advance party was reached, located in a village overlooking the great
interior plateau--a picture, as it were, of the common type of African
scenery. Here, taking a hasty meal, we resumed the march all together,
descended the great western chain, and, as night set in, camped in a
ravine at the foot of it, not far from the great junction-station Ugogi,
where terminate the hills of Usagara.