CHAPTER VII. -- MARENGA MKALI, UGOGO, AND UYANZI, TO UNYANYEMBE.

Mortality amongst the baggage animals.--The contumacious

Wagogo--Mobs of Maenads.--Tribute paying.--Necessity of

prudence.--Oration of the guide.--The genuine "Ugogians."--

Vituperative power.--A surprised chief.--The famous

Mizanza.--Killing hyaenas.--The Greeks and Romans of

Africa.--A critical moment.--The "elephant's back."--The

wilderness of Ukimbu.--End of the first stage of the

search.--Arrival at Unyanyembe.

The 22nd of May saw Thani and Hamed's caravans united with my own at

Chunyo, three and a half hours' march from Mpwapwa. The road from the

latter place ran along the skirts of the Mpwapwa range; at three or four

places it crossed outlying spurs that stood isolated from the main body

of the range. The last of these hill spurs, joined by an elevated cross

ridge to the Mpwapwa, shelters the tembe of Chunyo, situated on the

western face, from the stormy gusts that come roaring down the steep

slopes. The water of Chunyo is eminently bad, in fact it is its

saline-nitrous nature which has given the name Marenga Mkali--bitter

water--to the wilderness which separates Usagara from Ugogo. Though

extremely offensive to the palate, Arabs and the natives drink it

without fear, and without any bad results; but they are careful to

withhold their baggage animals from the pits. Being ignorant of its

nature, and not exactly understanding what precise location was meant

by Marenga Mkali, I permitted the donkeys to be taken to water, as usual

after a march; and the consequence was calamitous in the extreme. What

the fearful swamp of Makata had spared, the waters of Marenga Mkali

destroyed. In less than five days after our departure from Chunyo or

Marenga Mali, five out of the nine donkeys left to me at the time--the

five healthiest animals--fell victims.

We formed quite an imposing caravan as we emerged from inhospitable

Chunyo, in number amounting to about four hundred souls. We were strong

in guns, flags, horns, sounding drums and noise. To Sheikh Hamed, by

permission of Sheikh Thani, and myself was allotted the task of guiding

and leading this great caravan through dreaded Ugogo; which was a most

unhappy selection, as will be seen hereafter.

Marenga Mali, over thirty miles across, was at last before us. This

distance had to be traversed within thirty-six hours, so that the

fatigue of the ordinary march would be more than doubled by this.

From Chunyo to Ugogo not one drop of water was to be found. As a

large caravan, say over two hundred souls, seldom travels over one and

three-quarter miles per hour, a march of thirty miles would require

seventeen hours of endurance without water and but little rest. East

Africa generally possessing unlimited quantities of water, caravans

have not been compelled for lack of the element to have recourse to

the mushok of India and the khirbeh of Egypt. Being able to cross the

waterless districts by a couple of long marches, they content themselves

for the time with a small gourdful, and with keeping their imaginations

dwelling upon the copious quantities they will drink upon arrival at the

watering-place.

The march through this waterless district was most monotonous, and a

dangerous fever attacked me, which seemed to eat into my very vitals.

The wonders of Africa that bodied themselves forth in the shape of

flocks of zebras, giraffes, elands, or antelopes, galloping over the

jungleless plain, had no charm for me; nor could they serve to draw my

attention from the severe fit of sickness which possessed me. Towards

the end of the first march I was not able to sit upon the donkey's back;

nor would it do, when but a third of the way across the wilderness, to

halt until the next day; soldiers were therefore detailed to carry me in

a hammock, and, when the terekeza was performed in the afternoon, I lay

in a lethargic state, unconscious of all things. With the night passed

the fever, and, at 3 o'clock in the morning, when the march was resumed,

I was booted and spurred, and the recognized mtongi of my caravan once

more. At 8 A.M. we had performed the thirty-two miles. The wilderness

of Marenga Mkali had been passed and we had entered Ugogo, which was at

once a dreaded land to my caravan, and a Land of Promise to myself.

The transition from the wilderness into this Promised Land was very

gradual and easy. Very slowly the jungle thinned, the cleared land was

a long time appearing, and when it had finally appeared, there were no

signs of cultivation until we could clearly make out the herbage and

vegetation on some hill slopes to our right running parallel with

our route, then we saw timber on the hills, and broad acreage under

cultivation--and, lo! as we ascended a wave of reddish earth covered

with tall weeds and cane, but a few feet from us, and directly across

our path, were the fields of matama and grain we had been looking for,

and Ugogo had been entered an hour before.

The view was not such as I expected. I had imagined a plateau several

hundred feet higher than Marenga Mkali, and an expansive view which

should reveal Ugogo and its characteristics at once. But instead, while

travelling from the tall weeds which covered the clearing which had

preceded the cultivated parts, we had entered into the depths of the

taller matama stalks, and, excepting some distant hills near Mvumi,

where the Great Sultan lived--the first of the tribe to whom we should

pay tribute--the view was extremely limited.

However, in the neighbourhood of the first village a glimpse at some

of the peculiar features of Ugogo was obtained, and there was a vast

plain--now flat, now heaving upwards, here level as a table, there

tilted up into rugged knolls bristling with scores of rough boulders of

immense size, which lay piled one above another as if the children of a

Titanic race had been playing at house-building. Indeed, these piles of

rounded, angular, and riven rock formed miniature hills of themselves;

and appeared as if each body had been ejected upwards by some violent

agency beneath. There was one of these in particular, near Mvumi, which

was so large, and being slightly obscured from view by the outspreading

branches of a gigantic baobab, bore such a strong resemblance to a

square tower of massive dimensions, that for a long time I cherished

the idea that I had discovered something most interesting which had

strangely escaped the notice of my predecessors in East Africa. A nearer

view dispelled the illusion, and proved it to be a huge cube of rock,

measuring about forty feet each way. The baobabs were also particularly

conspicuous on this scene, no other kind of tree being visible in the

cultivated parts. These had probably been left for two reasons: first,

want of proper axes for felling trees of such enormous growth; secondly,

because during a famine the fruit of the baobab furnishes a flour which,

in the absence of anything better, is said to be eatable and nourishing.

The first words I heard in Ugogo were from a Wagogo elder, of sturdy

form, who in an indolent way tended the flocks, but showed a marked

interest in the stranger clad in white flannels, with a Hawkes' patent

cork solar topee on his head, a most unusual thing in Ugogo, who came

walking past him, and there were "Yambo, Musungu, Yambo, bana, bana,"

delivered with a voice loud enough to make itself heard a full mile

away. No sooner had the greeting been delivered than the word "Musungu"

seemed to electrify his entire village; and the people of other

villages, situated at intervals near the road, noting the excitement

that reigned at the first, also participated in the general frenzy which

seemed suddenly to have possessed them. I consider my progress from

the first village to Mvumi to have been most triumphant; for I was

accompanied by a furious mob of men, women, and children, all almost as

naked as Mother Eve when the world first dawned upon her in the garden

of Eden, fighting, quarrelling, jostling, staggering against each other

for the best view of the white man, the like of whom was now seen for

the first time in this part of Ugogo. The cries of admiration, such as

"Hi-le!" which broke often and in confused uproar upon my ear, were not

gratefully accepted, inasmuch as I deemed many of them impertinent. A

respectful silence and more reserved behaviour would have won my

esteem; but, ye powers, who cause etiquette to be observed in Usungu,*

respectful silence, reserved behaviour, and esteem are terms unknown

in savage Ugogo. Hitherto I had compared myself to a merchant of Bagdad

travelling among the Kurds of Kurdistan, selling his wares of Damascus

silk, kefiyehs, &c.; but now I was compelled to lower my standard, and

thought myself not much better than a monkey in a zoological collection.

One of my soldiers requested them to lessen their vociferous noise;

but the evil-minded race ordered him to shut up, as a thing unworthy to

speak to the Wagogo! When I imploringly turned to the Arabs for counsel

in this strait, old Sheikh Thani, always worldly wise, said, "Heed them

not; they are dogs who bite besides barking." -------- *

White man's land. --------

At 9 A.M. we were in our boma, near Mvumi village; but here also crowds

of Wagogo came to catch a glimpse of the Musungu, whose presence was

soon made known throughout the district of Mvumi. But two hours later I

was oblivious of their endeavours to see me; for, despite repeated doses

of quinine, the mukunguru had sure hold of me.

The next day was a march of eight miles, from East Mvumi to West Mvumi,

where lived the Sultan of the district. The quantity and variety

of provisions which arrived at our boma did not belie the reports

respecting the productions of Ugogo. Milk, sour and sweet, honey, beans,

matama, maweri, Indian corn, ghee, pea-nuts, and a species of bean-nut

very like a large pistachio or an almond, water-melons, pumpkins,

mush-melons, and cucumbers were brought, and readily exchanged for

Merikani, Kaniki, and for the white Merikani beads and Sami-Sami, or

Sam-Sam. The trade and barter which progressed in the camp from morning

till night reminded me of the customs existing among the Gallas and

Abyssinians. Eastward, caravans were obliged to despatch men with cloth,

to purchase from the villagers. This was unnecessary in Ugogo, where the

people voluntarily brought every vendible they possessed to the camp.

The smallest breadth of white or blue cloth became saleable and useful

in purchasing provisions--even a loin-cloth worn threadbare.

The day after our march was a halt. We had fixed this day for bearing

the tribute to the Great Sultan of Mvumi. Prudent and cautious Sheikh

Thani early began this important duty, the omission of which would have

been a signal for war. Hamed and Thani sent two faithful slaves, well

up to the eccentricities of the Wagogo sultans--well spoken, having glib

tongues and the real instinct for trade as carried on amongst

Orientals. They bore six doti of cloths, viz., one doti of Dabwani

Ulyah contributed by myself, also one doti of Barsati from me, two doti

Merikani Satine from Sheikh Thani, and two doti of Kaniki from Sheikh

Hamed, as a first instalment of the tribute. The slaves were absent a

full hour, but having wasted their powers of pleading, in vain, they

returned with the demand for more, which Sheikh Thani communicated to me

in this wise:

"Auf! this Sultan is a very bad man--a very bad man indeed; he says, the

Musungu is a great man, I call him a sultan; the Musungu is very rich,

for he has several caravans already gone past; the Musungu must pay

forty doti, and the Arabs must pay twelve doti each, for they have rich

caravans. It is of no use for you to tell me you are all one caravan,

otherwise why so many flags and tents? Go and bring me sixty doti, with

less I will not be satisfied."

I suggested to Sheikh Thani, upon hearing this exorbitant demand, that

had I twenty Wasungu* armed with Winchester repeating rifles, the Sultan

might be obliged to pay tribute to me; but Thani prayed and begged me to

be cautious lest angry words might irritate the Sultan and cause him to

demand a double tribute, as he was quite capable of doing so; "and if

you preferred war," said he, "your pagazis would all desert, and leave

you and your cloth to the small mercy of the Wagogo." But I hastened to

allay his fears by telling Bombay, in his presence, that I had foreseen

such demands on the part of the Wagogo, and that having set aside one

hundred and twenty doti of honga cloths, I should not consider myself a

sufferer if the Sultan demanded and I paid forty cloths to him; that he

must therefore open the honga bale, and permit Sheikh Thani to extract

such cloths as the Sultan might like.

Sheikh Thani, having put on the cap of consideration and joined heads

with Hamed and the faithful serviles, thought if I paid twelve doti,

out of which three should be of Ulyah+ quality, that the Sultan might

possibly condescend to accept our tribute; supposing he was persuaded

by the oratorical words of the "Faithfuls," that the Musungu had nothing

with him but the mashiwa (boat), which would be of no use to him, come

what might,--with which prudent suggestion the Musungu concurred, seeing

its wisdom.

* White men.

+ Best, or superior.

The slaves departed, bearing this time from our boma thirty doti, with

our best wishes for their success. In an hour they returned with empty

hands, but yet unsuccessful. The Sultan demanded six doti of Merikani,

and a fundo of bubu, from the Musungu; and from the Arabs and other

caravans, twelve doti more. For the third time the slaves departed for

the Sultan's tembe, carrying with them six doti Merikani and a fundo of

bubu from myself, and ten doti from the Arabs. Again they returned to

us with the Sultan's words, "That, as the doti of the Musungu were short

measure, and the cloths of the Arabs of miserable quality, the Musungu

must send three doti full measure, and the Arabs five doti of

Kaniki." My three doti were at once measured out with the longest

fore-arm--according to Kigogo measure--and sent off by Bombay; but the

Arabs, almost in despair, declared they would be ruined if they gave way

to such demands, and out of the five doti demanded sent only two, with a

pleading to the Sultan that he would consider what was paid as just and

fair Muhongo, and not ask any more. But the Sultan of Mvumi was by no

means disposed to consider any such proposition, but declared he must

have three doti, and these to be two of Ulyah cloth, and one Kitambi

Barsati, which, as he was determined to obtain, were sent to him heavy

with the deep maledictions of Sheikh Hamed and the despairing sighs of

sheikh Thani.

Altogether the sultanship of a district in Ugogo must be very

remunerative, besides being a delightful sinecure, so long as the Sultan

has to deal with timid Arab merchants who fear to exhibit anything

approaching to independence and self-reliance, lest they might

be mulcted in cloth. In one day from one camp the sultan received

forty-seven doti, consisting of Merikani, Kaniki, Barsati, and Dabwani,

equal to $35.25, besides seven doti of superior cloths, consisting of

Rehani, Sohari, and Daobwani Ulyah, and one fundo of Bubu, equal to

$14.00, making a total of $49.25--a most handsome revenue for a Mgogo

chief.

On the 27th May we gladly shook the dust of Mvumi from our feet, and

continued on our route--ever westward. Five of my donkeys had died the

night before, from the effects of the water of Marenga Mkali. Before

leaving the camp of Mvumi, I went to look at their carcases; but found

them to have been clean picked by the hyaenas, and the bones taken

possession of by an army of white-necked crows.

As we passed the numerous villages, and perceived the entire face of

the land to be one vast field of grain, and counted the people halted

by scores on the roadside to feast their eyes with a greedy stare on the

Musungu, I no longer wondered at the extortionate demands of the Wagogo.

For it was manifest that they had but to stretch out their hands to

possess whatever the wealth of a caravan consisted of; and I began to

think better of the people who, knowing well their strength, did not

use it--of people who were intellectual enough to comprehend that their

interest lay in permitting the caravans to pass on without attempting

any outrage.

Between Mvumi and the nest Sultan's district, that of Matamburu, I

counted no less than twenty-five villages, scattered over the clayey,

coloured plain. Despite the inhospitable nature of the plain, it was

better cultivated than any part of any other country we had seen since

leaving Bagamoyo.

When we had at last arrived at our boma of Matamburu, the same groups of

curious people, the same eager looks, the same exclamations of surprise,

the same, peals of laughter, at something they deemed ludicrous in the

Musungu's dress or manner, awaited us, as at Mvumi. The Arabs being

"Wakonongo" travellers, whom they saw every day, enjoyed a complete

immunity from the vexations which we had to endure.

The Sultan of Matamburu, a man of herculean form, and massive head well

set on shoulders that might vie with those of Milo, proved to be a very

reasonable person. Not quite so powerful as the Sultan of Mvumi, he yet

owned a fair share of Ugogo and about forty villages, and could, if he

chose, have oppressed the mercantile souls of my Arab companions, in

the same way as he of Mvumi. Four doti of cloth were taken to him as a

preliminary offering to his greatness, which he said he would accept, if

the Arabs and Musungu would send him four more. As his demands were

so reasonable, this little affair was soon terminated to everybody's

satisfaction; and soon after, the kirangozi of Sheikh Hamed sounded the

signal for the morrow's march.

At the orders of the same Sheikh, the kirangozi stood up to speak before

the assembled caravans. "Words, words, from the Bana," he shouted.

"Give ear, kirangozis! Listen, children of Unyamwezi! The journey is for

to-morrow! The road is crooked and bad, bad! The jungle is there, and

many Wagogo lie hidden within it! Wagogo spear the pagazis, and cut

the throats of those who carry mutumba (bales) and ushanga (beads)! The

Wagogo have been to our camp, they have seen your bales; to-night

they seek the jungle: to-morrow watch well, O Wanyamwezi! Keep close

together, lag not behind! Kirangozis walk slow, that the weak, the

sick, and the young may keep up with the strong! Take two rests on the

journey! These are the words of the Bana (master). Do you hear

them, Wanyamwezi? (A loud shout in the affirmative from all.) Do you

understand them well? (another chorus); then Bas;" having said which,

the eloquent kirangozi retired into the dark night, and his straw hut.

The march to Bihawana, our next camp, was rugged and long, through a

continuous jungle of gums and thorns, up steep hills and finally over a

fervid plain, while the sun waxed hotter and hotter as it drew near the

meridian, until it seemed to scorch all vitality from inanimate nature,

while the view was one white blaze, unbearable to the pained sight,

which sought relief from the glare in vain. Several sandy watercourses,

on which were impressed many a trail of elephants, were also passed on

this march. The slope of these stream-beds trended south-east and south.

In the middle of this scorching plain stood the villages of Bihawana,

almost undistinguishable, from the extreme lowness of the huts, which

did not reach the height of the tall bleached grass which stood smoking

in the untempered heat.

Our camp was in a large boma, about a quarter of a mile from the

Sultan's tembe. Soon after arriving at the camp, I was visited by three

Wagogo, who asked me if I had seen a Mgogo on the road with a woman

and child. I was about to answer, very innocently, "Yes," when

Mabruki--cautious and watchful always for the interests of the

master--requested me not to answer, as the Wagogo, as customary, would

charge me with having done away with them, and would require their price

from me. Indignant at the imposition they were about to practise upon

me, I was about to raise my whip to flog them out of the camp, when

again Mabruki, with a roaring voice, bade me beware, for every blow

would cost me three or four doti of cloth. As I did not care to gratify

my anger at such an expense, I was compelled to swallow my wrath, and

consequently the Wagogo escaped chastisement.

We halted for one day at this place, which was a great relief to me, as

I was suffering severely from intermittent fever, which lasted in this

case two weeks, and entirely prevented my posting my diary in full, as

was my custom every evening after a march.

The Sultan of Bihawana, though his subjects were evil-disposed, and

ready-handed at theft and murder, contented himself with three doti as

honga. From this chief I received news of my fourth caravan, which had

distinguished itself in a fight with some outlawed subjects of his; my

soldiers had killed two who had attempted, after waylaying a couple of

my pagazis, to carry away a bale of cloth and a bag of beads; coming

up in time, the soldiers decisively frustrated the attempt. The Sultan

thought that if all caravans were as well guarded as mine were, there

would be less depredations committed on them while on the road; with

which I heartily agreed.

The next sultan's tembe through whose territory we marched, this being

on the 30th May, was at Kididimo, but four miles from Bihawna. The road

led through a flat elongated plain, lying between two lengthy hilly

ridges, thickly dotted with the giant forms of the baobab. Kididimo is

exceedingly bleak in aspect. Even the faces of the Wagogo seemed to have

contracted a bleak hue from the general bleakness around. The water of

the pits obtained in the neighbourhood had an execrable flavor, and two

donkeys sickened and died in less than an hour from its effects.

Man suffered nausea and a general irritability of the system, and

accordingly revenged himself by cursing the country and its imbecile

ruler most heartily. The climax came, however, when Bombay reported,

after an attempt to settle the Muhongo, that the chief's head had grown

big since he heard that the Musungu had come, and that its "bigness"

could not be reduced unless he could extract ten doti as tribute. Though

the demand was large, I was not in a humour--being feeble, and almost

nerveless, from repeated attacks of the Mukunguru--to dispute the sum:

consequently it was paid without many words. But the Arabs continued the

whole afternoon negotiating, and at the end had to pay eight doti each.

Between Kididimo and Nyambwa, the district of the Sultan Pembera Pereh,

was a broad and lengthy forest and jungle inhabited by the elephant,

rhinoceros, zebra, deer, antelope, and giraffe. Starting at dawn of

the 31st; we entered the jungle, whose dark lines and bosky banks were

clearly visible from our bower at Kididimo; and, travelling for two

hours, halted for rest and breakfast, at pools of sweet water surrounded

by tracts of vivid green verdure, which were a great resort for the wild

animals of the jungle, whose tracks were numerous and recent. A narrow

nullah, shaded deeply with foliage, afforded excellent retreats from

the glaring sunshine. At meridian, our thirst quenched, our hunger

satisfied, our gourds refilled, we set out from the shade into the

heated blaze of hot noon. The path serpentined in and out of jungle, and

thin forest, into open tracts of grass bleached white as stubble, into

thickets of gums and thorns, which emitted an odour as rank as a stable;

through clumps of wide-spreading mimosa and colonies of baobab, through

a country teeming with noble game, which, though we saw them frequently,

were yet as safe from our rifles as if we had been on the Indian Ocean.

A terekeza, such as we were now making, admits of no delay. Water we

had left behind at noon: until noon of the next day not a drop was to be

obtained; and unless we marched fast and long on this day, raging

thirst would demoralize everybody. So for six long weary hours we toiled

bravely; and at sunset we camped, and still a march of two hours, to be

done before the sun was an hour high, intervened between us and our camp

at Nyambwa. That night the men bivouacked under the trees, surrounded by

many miles of dense forest, enjoying the cool night unprotected by hat

or tent, while I groaned and tossed throughout the night in a paroxysm

of fever.

The morn came; and, while it was yet young, the long caravan, or string

of caravans, was under way. It was the same forest, admitting, on the

narrow line which we threaded, but one man at a time. Its view was as

limited. To our right and left the forest was dark and deep. Above was

a riband of glassy sky flecked by the floating nimbus. We heard nothing

save a few stray notes from a flying bird, or the din of the caravans as

the men sang, or hummed, or conversed, or shouted, as the thought struck

them that we were nearing water. One of my pagazis, wearied and sick,

fell, and never rose again. The last of the caravan passed him before he

died.

At 7 A.M. we were encamped at Nyambwa, drinking the excellent water

found here with the avidity of thirsty camels. Extensive fields of grain

had heralded the neighbourhood of the villages, at the sight of which we

were conscious that the caravan was quickening its pace, as approaching

its halting-place. As the Wasungu drew within the populated area, crowds

of Wagogo used their utmost haste to see them before they passed by.

Young and old of both genders pressed about us in a multitude--a very

howling mob. This excessive demonstrativeness elicited from my sailor

overseer the characteristic remark, "Well, I declare, these must be

the genuine Ugogians, for they stare! stare--there is no end to their

staring. I'm almost tempted to slap 'em in the face!" In fact, the

conduct of the Wagogo of Nyambwa was an exaggeration of the general

conduct of Wagogo. Hitherto, those we had met had contented themselves

with staring and shouting; but these outstepped all bounds, and my

growing anger at their excessive insolence vented itself in gripping

the rowdiest of them by the neck, and before he could recover from his

astonishment administering a sound thrashing with my dog-whip, which he

little relished. This proceeding educed from the tribe of starers all

their native power of vituperation and abuse, in expressing which they

were peculiar. Approaching in manner to angry tom-cats, they jerked

their words with something of a splitting hiss and a half bark. The

ejaculation, as near as I can spell it phonetically, was "hahcht"

uttered in a shrill crescendo tone. They paced backwards and forwards,

asking themselves, "Are the Wagoga to be beaten like slaves by this

Musungu? A Mgogo is a Mgwana (a free man); he is not used to be

beaten,--hahcht." But whenever I made motion, flourishing my whip,

towards them, these mighty braggarts found it convenient to move to

respectable distances from the irritated Musungu.

Perceiving that a little manliness and show of power was something which

the Wagogo long needed, and that in this instance it relieved me from

annoyance, I had recourse to my whip, whose long lash cracked like

a pistol shot, whenever they overstepped moderation. So long as they

continued to confine their obtrusiveness to staring, and communicating

to each other their opinions respecting my complexion, and dress, and

accoutrements, I philosophically resigned myself in silence for their

amusement; but when they pressed on me, barely allowing me to proceed, a

few vigorous and rapid slashes right and left with my serviceable thong,

soon cleared the track.

Pembera Pereh is a queer old man, very small, and would be very

insignificant were he not the greatest sultan in Ugogo; and enjoying a

sort of dimediate power over many other tribes. Though such an

important chief, he is the meanest dressed of his subjects,--is always

filthy,--ever greasy--eternally foul about the mouth; but these are mere

eccentricities: as a wise judge, he is without parallel, always has a

dodge ever ready for the abstraction of cloth from the spiritless Arab

merchants, who trade with Unyanyembe every year; and disposes with ease

of a judicial case which would overtask ordinary men.

Sheikh Hamed, who was elected guider of the united caravans now

travelling through Ugogo, was of such a fragile and small make, that he

might be taken for an imitation of his famous prototype "Dapper." Being

of such dimensions, what he lacked for weight and size he made up by

activity. No sooner had he arrived in camp than his trim dapper form

was seen frisking about from side to side of the great boma, fidgeting,

arranging, disturbing everything and everybody. He permitted no bales

or packs to be intermingled, or to come into too close proximity to his

own; he had a favourite mode of stacking his goods, which he would see

carried out; he had a special eye for the best place for his tent, and

no one else must trespass on that ground. One would imagine that walking

ten or fifteen miles a day, he would leave such trivialities to his

servants, but no, nothing could be right unless he had personally

superintended it; in which work he was tireless and knew no fatigue.

Another not uncommon peculiarity pertained to Sheikh Hamed; as he was

not a rich man, he laboured hard to make the most of every shukka

and doti expended, and each fresh expenditure seemed to gnaw his very

vitals: he was ready to weep, as he himself expressed it, at the high

prices of Ugogo, and the extortionate demands of its sultans. For this

reason, being the leader of the caravans, so far as he was able we were

very sure not to be delayed in Ugogo, where food was so dear.

The day we arrived at Nyambwa will be remembered by Hamed as long as he

lives, for the trouble and vexation which he suffered. His misfortunes

arose from the fact that, being too busily engaged in fidgeting about

the camp, he permitted his donkeys to stray into the matama fields of

Pembera Pereh, the Sultan. For hours he and his servants sought for the

stray donkeys, returning towards evening utterly unsuccessful, Hamed

bewailing, as only an Oriental can do, when hard fate visits him with

its inflictions, the loss of a hundred do dollars worth of Muscat

donkeys. Sheikh Thani, older, more experienced, and wiser, suggested

to him that he should notify the Sultan of his loss. Acting upon

the sagacious advice, Hamed sent an embassy of two slaves, and the

information they brought back was, that Pembera Pereh's servants had

found the two donkeys eating the unripened matama, and that unless

the Arab who owned them would pay nine doti of first-class cloths, he,

Pembera Pereh, would surely keep them to remunerate him for the matama

they had eaten. Hamed was in despair. Nine doti of first-class cloths,

worth $25 in Unyanyembe, for half a chukka's worth of grain, was, as

he thought, an absurd demand; but then if he did not pay it, what would

become of the hundred dollars' worth of donkeys? He proceeded to the

Sultan to show him the absurdity of the damage claim, and to endeavour

to make him accept one chukka, which would be more than double the worth

of what grain the donkeys had consumed. But the Sultan was sitting on

pombe; he was drunk, which I believe to be his normal state--too drunk

to attend to business, consequently his deputy, a renegade Mnyamwezi,

gave ear to the business. With most of the Wagogo chiefs lives a

Mnyamwezi, as their right-hand man, prime minister, counsellor,

executioner, ready man at all things save the general good; a sort of

harlequin Unyamwezi, who is such an intriguing, restless, unsatisfied

person, that as soon as one hears that this kind of man forms one of and

the chief of a Mgogo sultan's council, one feels very much tempted to

do damage to his person. Most of the extortions practised upon the Arabs

are suggested by these crafty renegades. Sheikh Hamed found that the

Mnyamwezi was far more obdurate than the Sultan--nothing under nine

doti first-class cloths would redeem the donkeys. The business that day

remained unsettled, and the night following was, as one may imagine, a

very sleepless one to Hamed. As it turned out, however, the loss of the

donkeys, the after heavy fine, and the sleepless night, proved to be

blessings in disguise; for, towards midnight, a robber Mgogo visited his

camp, and while attempting to steal a bale of cloth, was detected in

the act by the wide-awake and irritated Arab, and was made to vanish

instantly with a bullet whistling in close proximity to his ear.

From each of the principals of the caravans, the Mnyamwezi had received

as tribute for his drunken master fifteen doti, and from the other

six caravans six doti each, altogether fifty-one doti, yet on the next

morning when we took the road he was not a whit disposed to deduct a

single cloth from the fine imposed on Hamed, and the unfortunate Sheikh

was therefore obliged to liquidate the claim, or leave his donkeys

behind.

After travelling through the corn-fields of Pembera Pereh we emerged

upon a broad flat plain, as level as the still surface of a pond, whence

the salt of the Wagogo is obtained. From Kanyenyi on the southern

road, to beyond the confines of Uhumba and Ubanarama, this saline field

extends, containing many large ponds of salt bitter water whose low

banks are covered with an effervescence partaking of the nature of

nitrate. Subsequently, two days afterwards, having ascended the elevated

ridge which separates Ugogo from Uyanzi, I obtained a view of this

immense saline plain, embracing over a hundred square miles. I may

have been deceived, but I imagined I saw large expanses of greyish-blue

water, which causes me to believe that this salina is but a corner of

a great salt lake. The Wahumba, who are numerous, from Nyambwa to the

Uyanzi border, informed my soldiers that there was a "Maji Kuba" away to

the north.

Mizanza, our next camp after Nyambwa, is situated in a grove of palms,

about thirteen miles from the latter place. Soon after arriving I had

to bury myself under blankets, plagued with the same intermittent fever

which first attacked me during the transit of Marenga Mkali. Feeling

certain that one day's halt, which would enable me to take regular doses

of the invaluable sulphate of quinine, would cure me, I requested Sheikh

Thani to tell Hamed to halt on the morrow, as I should be utterly unable

to continue thus long, under repeated attacks of a virulent disease

which was fast reducing me into a mere frame of skin and bone. Hamed, in

a hurry to arrive at Unyanyembe in order to dispose of his cloth before

other caravans appeared in the market, replied at first that he would

not, that he could not, stop for the Musungu. Upon Thani's reporting his

answer to me, I requested him to inform Hamed that, as the Musungu did

not wish to detain him, or any other caravan, it was his express wish

that Hamed would march and leave him, as he was quite strong enough in

guns to march through Ugogo alone. Whatever cause modified the Sheikh's

resolution and his anxiety to depart, Hamed's horn signal for the march

was not heard that night, and on the morrow he had not gone.

Early in the morning I commenced on my quinine doses; at 6 A.M. I took

a second dose; before noon I had taken four more--altogether, fifty

measured grains-the effect of which was manifest in the copious

perspiration which drenched flannels, linen, and blankets. After noon I

arose, devoutly thankful that the disease which had clung to me for the

last fourteen days had at last succumbed to quinine.

On this day the lofty tent, and the American flag which ever flew from

the centre pole, attracted the Sultan of Mizanza towards it, and was the

cause of a visit with which he honoured me. As he was notorious among

the Arabs for having assisted Manwa Sera in his war against Sheikh

Sny bin Amer, high eulogies upon whom have been written by Burton, and

subsequently by Speke, and as he was the second most powerful chief in

Ugogo, of course he was quite a curiosity to me. As the tent-door was

uplifted that he might enter, the ancient gentleman was so struck with

astonishment at the lofty apex, and internal arrangements, that the

greasy Barsati cloth which formed his sole and only protection against

the chills of night and the heat of noon, in a fit of abstraction was

permitted to fall down to his feet, exposing to the Musungu's unhallowed

gaze the sad and aged wreck of what must once have been a towering form.

His son, a youth of about fifteen, attentive to the infirmities of his

father, hastened with filial duty to remind him of his condition, upon

which, with an idiotic titter at the incident, he resumed his scanty

apparel and sat down to wonder and gibber out his admiration at the tent

and the strange things which formed the Musungu's personal baggage and

furniture. After gazing in stupid wonder at the table, on which was

placed some crockery and the few books I carried with me; at the slung

hammock, which he believed was suspended by some magical contrivance;

at the portmanteaus which contained my stock of clothes, he ejaculated,

"Hi-le! the Musungu is a great sultan, who has come from his country to

see Ugogo." He then noticed me, and was again wonder-struck at my pale

complexion and straight hair, and the question now propounded was, "How

on earth was I white when the sun had burned his people's skins into

blackness?" Whereupon he was shown my cork topee, which he tried on his

woolly head, much to his own and to our amusement. The guns were next

shown to him; the wonderful repeating rifle of the Winchester Company,

which was fired thirteen times in rapid succession to demonstrate

its remarkable murderous powers. If he was astonished before he was a

thousand times more so now, and expressed his belief that the Wagogo

could not stand before the Musungu in battle, for wherever a Mgogo was

seen such a gun would surely kill him. Then the other firearms were

brought forth, each with its peculiar mechanism explained, until, in, a

burst of enthusiasm at my riches and power, he said he would send me a

sheep or goat, and that he would be my brother. I thanked him for the

honour, and promised to accept whatever he was pleased to send me. At

the instigation of Sheikh Thani, who acted as interpreter, who said that

Wagogo chiefs must not depart with empty hands, I cut off a shukka

of Kaniki and presented it to him, which, after being examined and

measured, was refused upon the ground that, the Musungu being a great

sultan should not demean himself so much as to give him only a shukka.

This, after the twelve doti received as muhongo from the caravans, I

thought, was rather sore; but as he was about to present me with a sheep

or goat another shukka would not matter much.

Shortly after he departed, and true to his promise, I received a large,

fine sheep, with a broad tail, heavy with fat; but with the words: "That

being now his brother, I must send him three doti of good cloth." As the

price of a sheep is but a doti and a half, I refused the sheep and the

fraternal honour, upon the ground that the gifts were all on one side;

and that, as I had paid muhongo, and given him a doti of Kaniki as a

present, I could not, afford to part with any more cloth without an

adequate return.

During the afternoon one more of my donkeys died, and at night the

hyaenas came in great numbers to feast upon the carcase. Ulimengo,

the chasseur, and best shot of my Wangwana, stole out and succeeded in

shooting two, which turned out to be some of the largest of their kind..

One of them measured six feet from the tip of the nose to the extremity

of the tail, and three feet around the girth.

On the 4th. June we struck camp, and after travelling westward for about

three miles, passing several ponds of salt water, we headed north by

west, skirting the range of low hills which separates Ugogo from Uyanzi.

After a three hours' march, we halted for a short time at Little

Mukondoku, to settle tribute with the brother of him who rules at

Mukondoku Proper. Three doti satisfied the Sultan, whose district

contains but two villages, mostly occupied by pastoral Wahumba and

renegade Wahehe. The Wahumba live in plastered (cow-dung) cone huts,

shaped like the tartar tents of Turkestan.

The Wahumba, so far as I have seen them, are a fine and well-formed

race. The men are positively handsome, tall, with small heads, the

posterior parts of which project considerably. One will look in vain for

a thick lip or a flat nose amongst them; on the contrary, the mouth is

exceedingly well cut, delicately small; the nose is that of the Greeks,

and so universal was the peculiar feature, that I at once named them the

Greeks of Africa. Their lower limbs have not the heaviness of the

Wagogo and other tribes, but are long and shapely, clean as those of an

antelope. Their necks are long and slender, on which their small heads

are poised most gracefully. Athletes from their youth, shepherd bred,

and intermarrying among themselves, thus keeping the race pure, any

of them would form a fit subject for the sculptor who would wish to

immortalize in marble an Antinous, a Hylas, a Daphnis, or an Apollo.

The women are as beautiful as the men are handsome. They have clear ebon

skins, not coal-black, but of an inky hue. Their ornaments consist of

spiral rings of brass pendent from the ears, brass ring collars about

the necks, and a spiral cincture of brass wire about their loins for the

purpose of retaining their calf and goat skins, which are folded about

their bodies, and, depending from the shoulder, shade one half of the

bosom, and fall to the knees.

The Wahehe may be styled the Romans of Africa. Resuming our march, after

a halt of an hour, in foul hours more we arrived at Mukondoku Proper.

This extremity of Ugogo is most populous, The villages which surround

the central tembe, where the Sultan Swaruru lives, amount to thirty-six.

The people who flocked from these to see the wonderful men whose faces

were white, who wore the most wonderful things on their persons, and

possessed the most wonderful weapons; guns which "bum-bummed" as fast as

you could count on your fingers, formed such a mob of howling savages,

that I for an instant thought there was something besides mere curiosity

which caused such commotion, and attracted such numbers to the roadside.

Halting, I asked what was the matter, and what they wanted, and why they

made such noise? One burly rascal, taking my words for a declaration of

hostilities, promptly drew his bow, but as prompt as he had fixed his

arrow my faithful Winchester with thirteen shots in the magazine was

ready and at the shoulder, and but waited to see the arrow fly to pour

the leaden messengers of death into the crowd. But the crowd vanished as

quickly as they had come, leaving the burly Thersites, and two or three

irresolute fellows of his tribe, standing within pistol range of my

levelled rifle. Such a sudden dispersion of the mob which, but a moment

before, was overwhelming in numbers, caused me to lower my rifle, and

to indulge in a hearty laugh at the disgraceful flight of the

men-destroyers. The Arabs, who were as much alarmed at their boisterous

obtrusiveness, now came up to patch a truce, in which they succeeded to

everybody's satisfaction. A few words of explanation, and the mob came

back in greater numbers than before; and the Thersites who had been the

cause of the momentary disturbance was obliged to retire abashed before

the pressure of public opinion. A chief now came up, whom I afterwards

learned was the second man to Swaruru, and lectured the people upon

their treatment of the "White Stranger."

"Know ye not, Wagogo," shouted he, "that this Musungu is a sultan

(mtemi--a most high title). He has not come to Ugogo like the Wakonongo

(Arabs), to trade in ivory, but to see us, and give presents. Why do you

molest him and his people? Let them pass in peace. If you wish to see

him, draw near, but do not mock him. The first of you who creates a

disturbance, let him beware; our great mtemi shall know how you treat

his friends." This little bit of oratorical effort on the part of the

chief was translated to me there and then by the old Sheik Thani; which

having understood, I bade the Sheikh inform the chief that, after I had

rested, I should like him to visit me in my tent.

Having arrived at the khambi, which always surrounds some great baobab

in Ugogo, at the distance of about half a mile from the tembe of the

Sultan, the Wagogo pressed in such great numbers to the camp that Sheikh

Thani resolved to make an effort to stop or mitigate the nuisance.

Dressing himself in his best clothes, he went to appeal to the Sultan

for protection against his people. The Sultan was very much inebriated,

and was pleased to say, "What is it you want, you thief? You have come

to steal my ivory or my cloth. Go away, thief!" But the sensible

chief, whose voice had just been heard reproaching the people for their

treatment of the Wasungu, beckoned to Thani to come out of the tembe,

and then proceeded with him towards the khambi.

The camp was in a great uproar; the curious Wagogo monopolized almost

every foot of ground; there was no room to turn anywhere. The Wanyamwezi

were quarreling with the Wagogo, the Wasawahili servants were clamoring

loud that the Wagogo pressed down their tents, and that the property

of the masters was in danger; while I, busy on my diary within my tent,

cared not how great was the noise and confusion outside as long as it

confined itself to the Wagogo, Wanyamwezi, and Wangwana.

The presence of the chief in the camp was followed by a deep silence

that I was prevailed upon to go outside to see what had caused it. The

chief's words were few, and to the point. He said, "To your tembes,

Wagogo--to your tembes! Why, do you come to trouble the Wakonongo: What

have you to do with them? To your tembes: go! Each Mgogo found in the

khambi without meal, without cattle to sell, shall pay to the mtemi

cloth or cows. Away with you!" Saying which, he snatched up a stick and

drove the hundreds out of the khambi, who were as obedient to him as so

many children. During the two days we halted at Mukondoku we saw no more

of the mob, and there was peace.

The muhongo of the Sultan Swaruru was settled with few words. The chief

who acted for the Sultan as his prime minister having been "made glad"

with a doti of Rehani Ulyah from me, accepted the usual tribute of six

doti, only one of which was of first-class cloth.

There remained but one more sultan to whom muhongo must be paid after

Mukondoku, and this was the Sultan of Kiwyeh, whose reputation was so

bad that owners of property who had control over their pagazis seldom

passed by Kiwyeh, preferring the hardships of long marches through

the wilderness to the rudeness and exorbitant demands of the chief of

Kiwyeh. But the pagazis, on whom no burden or responsibility fell save

that of carrying their loads, who could use their legs and show clean

heels in the case of a hostile outbreak, preferred the march to Kiwyeh

to enduring thirst and the fatigue of a terekeza. Often the preference

of the pagazis won the day, when their employers were timid, irresolute

men, like Sheikh Hamed.

The 7th of June was the day fixed for our departure from Mukondoku, so

the day before, the Arabs came to my tent to counsel with me as to

the route we should adopt. On calling together the kirangozis of the

respective caravans and veteran Wanyamwezi pagazis, we learned there

were three roads leading from Mukondoku to Uyanzi. The first was the

southern road, and the one generally adopted, for the reasons already

stated, and led by Kiwyeh. To this Hamed raised objections. "The Sultan

was bad," he said; "he sometimes charged a caravan twenty doti; our

caravan would have to pay about sixty doti. The Kiwyeh road would not do

at all. Besides," he added, "we have to make a terekeza to reach Kiwyeh,

and then we will not reach it before the day after to-morrow." The

second was the central road. We should arrive at Munieka on the morrow;

the day after would be a terekeza from Mabunguru Nullah to a camp near

Unyambogi; two hours the next day would bring us to Kiti, where there

was plenty of water and food. As neither of the kirangozis or Arabs

knew this road, and its description came from one of my ancient pagazis,

Hamed said he did not like to trust the guidance of such a large caravan

in the hands of an old Mnyamwezi, and would therefore prefer to hear

about the third road, before rendering his decision. The third road was

the northern. It led past numerous villages of the Wagogo for the first

two hours; then we should strike a jungle; and a three hours' march

would then bring us to Simbo, where there was water, but no village.

Starting early next morning, we would travel six hours when we would

arrive at a pool of water. Here taking a short rest, an afternoon march

of five hours would bring us within three hours of another village. As

this last road was known to many, Hamed said, "Sheikh Thani, tell the

Sahib that I think this is the best road." Sheikh Thani was told, after

he had informed me that, as I had marched with them through Ugogo, if

they decided upon going by Simbo, my caravan would follow.

Immediately after the discussion among the principals respecting the

merits of the several routes, arose a discussion among the pagazis which

resulted in an obstinate clamor against the Simbo road, for its long

terekeza and scant prospects of water, the dislike to the Simbo road

communicated itself to all the caravans, and soon it was magnified by

reports of a wilderness reaching from Simbo to Kusuri, where there was

neither food nor water to be obtained. Hamed's pagazis, and those of

the Arab servants, rose in a body and declared they could not go on that

march, and if Hamed insisted upon adopting it they would put their packs

down and leave him to carry them himself.

Hamed Kimiani, as he was styled by the Arabs, rushed up to Sheikh Thani,

and declared that he must take the Kiwyeh road, otherwise his pagazis

would all desert. Thani replied that all the roads were the same to him,

that wherever Hamed chose to go, he would follow. They then came to my

tent, and informed me of the determination at which the Wanyamwezi had

arrived. Calling my veteran Mnyamwezi, who had given me the favourable

report once more to my tent, I bade him give a correct account of the

Kiti road. It was so favourable that my reply to Hamed was, that I

was the master of my caravan, that it was to go wherever I told the

kirangozi, not where the pagazis chose; that when I told them to halt

they must halt, and when I commanded a march, a march should be made;

and that as I fed them well and did not overwork them, I should like to

see the pagazi or soldier that disobeyed me. "You made up your mind just

now that you would take the Simbo road, and we were agreed upon it, now

your pagazis say they will take, the Kiwyeh road, or desert. Go on the

Kiwyeh road and pay twenty doti muhongo. I and my caravan to-morrow

morning will take the Kiti road, and when you find me in Unyanyembe one

day ahead of you, you will be sorry you did not take the same road."

This resolution of mine had the effect of again changing the current of

Hamed's thoughts, for he instantly said, "That is the best road after

all, and as the Sahib is determined to go on it, and we have all

travelled together through the bad land of the Wagogo, Inshallah! let us

all go the same way," and Thani=-good old man--not objecting, and Hamed

having decided, they both joyfully went out of the tent to communicate

the news.

On the 7th the caravans--apparently unanimous that the Kiti road was to

be taken--were led as usual by Hamed's kirangozi. We had barely gone a

mile before I perceived that we had left the Simbo road, had taken the

direction of Kiti, and, by a cunning detour, were now fast approaching

the defile of the mountain ridge before us, which admitted access to the

higher plateau of Kiwyeh. Instantly halting my caravan, I summoned the

veteran who had travelled by Kiti, and asked him whether we were not

going towards Kiwyeh. He replied that we were. Calling my pagazis

together, I bade Bombay tell them that the Musuugu never changed his

mind; that as I had said my caravan should march by Kiti; to Kiti it

must go whether the Arabs followed or not. I then ordered the veteran

to take up his load and show the kirangozi the proper road to Kiti.

The Wanyamwezi pagazis put down their bales, and then there was every

indication of a mutiny. The Wangwana soldiers were next ordered to load

their guns and to flank the caravan, and shoot the first pagazis

who made an attempt to run away. Dismounting, I seized my whip, and,

advancing towards the first pagazi who had put down his load, I motioned

to him to take up his load and march. It was unnecessary to proceed

further; without an exception, all marched away obediently after the

kirangozi. I was about bidding farewell to Thani, and Hamed, when Thani

said, "Stop a bit, Sahib; I have had enough of this child's play; I come

with you," and his caravan was turned after mine. Hamed's caravan was by

this time close to the defile, and he himself was a full mile behind

it, weeping like a child at what he was pleased to call our desertion of

him. Pitying his strait--for he was almost beside himself as thoughts

of Kiwyeh's sultan, his extortion and rudeness, swept across his mind--I

advised him to run after his caravan, and tell it, as all the rest had

taken the other road, to think of the Sultan of Kiwyeh. Before reaching

the Kiti defile I was aware that Hamed's caravan was following us.

The ascent of the ridge was rugged and steep, thorns of the prickliest

nature punished us severely, the _acacia horrida_ was here more horrid

than usual, the gums stretched out their branches, and entangled the

loads, the mimosa with its umbrella-like top served to shade us from the

sun, but impeded a rapid advance. Steep outcrops of syenite and granite,

worn smooth by many feet, had to be climbed over, rugged terraces of

earth and rock had to be ascended, and distant shots resounding through

the forest added to the alarm and general discontent, and had I not

been immediately behind my caravan, watchful of every manoeuvre, my

Wanyamwezi had deserted to a man. Though the height we ascended was

barely 800 feet above the salina we had just left, the ascent occupied

two hours.

Having surmounted the plateau and the worst difficulties, we had a fair

road comparatively, which ran through jungle, forest, and small open

tracts, which in three hours more brought us to Munieka, a small

village, surrounded by a clearing richly cultivated by a colony of

subjects of Swaruru of Mukondoku.

By the time we had arrived at camp everybody had recovered his good

humour and content except Hamed. Thani's men happened to set his tent

too close to Hamed's tree, around which his bales were stacked. Whether

the little Sheikh imagined honest old Thani capable of stealing one is

not known, but it is certain that he stormed and raved about the near

neighbourhood of his best friend's tent, until Thani ordered its removal

a hundred yards off. This proceeding even, it seems, did not satisfy

Hamed, for it was quite midnight--as Thani said--when Hamed came, and

kissing his hands and feet, on his knees implored forgiveness, which of

course Thani, being the soul of good-nature, and as large-hearted as any

man, willingly gave. Hamed was not satisfied, however, until, with the

aid of his slaves, he had transported his friend's tent to where it had

at first been pitched.

The water at Munieka was obtained from a deep depression in a hump of

syenite, and was as clear as crystal, and' cold as ice-water--a luxury

we had not experienced since leaving Simbamwenni.

We were now on the borders of Uyanzi, or, as it is better known,

"Magunda Mkali "--the Hot-ground, or Hot-field. We had passed the

village populated by Wagogo, and were about to shake the dust of Ugogo

from our feet. We had entered Ugogo full of hopes, believing it a

most pleasant land--a land flowing with milk and honey. We had been

grievously disappointed; it proved to be a land of gall and bitterness,

full of trouble and vexation of spirit, where danger was imminent at

every step--where we were exposed to the caprice of inebriated sultans.

Is it a wonder, then, that all felt happy at such a moment? With the

prospect before us of what was believed by many to be a real wilderness,

our ardor was not abated, but was rather strengthened. The wilderness in

Africa proves to be, in many instances, more friendly than the populated

country. The kirangozi blew his kudu horn much more merrily on this

morning than he was accustomed to do while in Ugogo. We were about to

enter Magunda Mkali. At 9 A.M., three hours after leaving Munieka, and

two hours since we had left the extreme limits of Ugogo, we were halted

at Mabunguru Nullah. The Nullah runs southwesterly after leaving its

source in the chain of hills dividing Ugogo from Magunda Mkali. During

the rainy season it must be nearly impassable, owing to the excessive

slope of its bed. Traces of the force of the torrent are seen in the

syenite and basalt boulders which encumber the course. Their rugged

angles are worn smooth, and deep basins are excavated where the bed is

of the rock, which in the dry season serve as reservoirs. Though the

water contained in them has a slimy and greenish appearance, and is well

populated with frogs, it is by no means unpalatable.

At noon we resumed our march, the Wanyamwezi cheering, shouting, and

singing, the Wangwana soldiers, servants, and pagazis vieing with them

in volume of voice and noise-making the dim forest through which we were

now passing resonant with their voices.

The scenery was much more picturesque than any we had yet seen since

leaving Bagamoyo. The ground rose into grander waves--hills cropped out

here and there--great castles of syenite appeared, giving a strange and

weird appearance to the forest. From a distance it would almost seem as

if we were approaching a bit of England as it must have appeared during

feudalism; the rocks assumed such strange fantastic shapes. Now they

were round boulders raised one above another, apparently susceptible to

every breath of wind; anon, they towered like blunt-pointed obelisks,

taller than the tallest trees; again they assumed the shape of mighty

waves, vitrified; here, they were a small heap of fractured and riven

rock; there, they rose to the grandeur of hills.

By 5 P.M. we had travelled twenty miles, and the signal was sounded for

a halt. At 1 A.M., the moon being up, Hamed's horn and voice were heard

throughout the silent camp awaking his pagazis for the march. Evidently

Sheikh Hamed was gone stark mad, otherwise why should he be so frantic

for the march at such an early hour? The dew was falling heavily,

and chilled one like frost; and an ominous murmur of deep discontent

responded to the early call on all sides. Presuming, however, that he

had obtained better information than we had, Sheikh Thani and I resolved

to be governed as the events proved him to be right or wrong.

As all were discontented, this night, march was performed in deep

silence. The thermometer was at 53°, we being about 4,500 feet above the

level of the sea. The pagazis, almost naked, walked quickly in order

to keep warm, and by so doing many a sore foot was made by stumbling

against obtrusive roots and rocks, and treading on thorns. At 3 A.M. we

arrived at the village of Unyambogi, where we threw ourselves down to

rest and sleep until dawn should reveal what else was in store for the

hard-dealt-with caravans.

It was broad daylight when I awoke; the sun was flaring his hot beams in

my face. Sheikh Thani came soon after to inform me that Hamed had gone

to Kiti two hours since; but he, when asked to accompany him, positively

refused, exclaiming against it as folly, and utterly unnecessary. When

my advice was asked by Thani, I voted the whole thing as sheer nonsense;

and, in turn, asked him what a terekeza was for? Was it not an afternoon

march to enable caravans to reach water and food? Thani replied than it

was. I then asked him if there was no water or food to be obtained in

Unyambogi. Thani replied that he had not taken pains to inquire, but

was told by the villagers that there was an abundance of matamia, hindi,

maweri, sheep; goats, and chickens in their village at cheap prices,

such as were not known in Ugogo.

"Well, then," said I, "if Hamed wants to be a fool, and kill his

pagazis, why should we? I have as much cause for haste as Sheikh Hamed;

but Unyanyembe is far yet, and I am not going to endanger my property by

playing the madman."

As Thani had reported, we found an abundance of provisions at the

village, and good sweet water from some pits close by. A sheep cost one

chukka; six chickens were also purchased at that price; six measures of

matama, maweri, or hindi, were procurable for the same sum; in short, we

were coming, at last, into the land of plenty.

On the 10th June we arrived at Kiti after a journey of four hours and a

half, where we found the irrepressible Hamed halted in sore trouble.

He who would be a Caesar, proved to be an irresolute Antony. He had

to sorrow over the death of a favourite slave girl, the loss of five

dish-dashes (Arab shirts), silvered-sleeve and gold-embroidered jackets,

with which he had thought to enter Unyanyembe in state, as became a

merchant of his standing, which had disappeared with three absconding

servants, besides copper trays, rice, and pilau dishes, and two bales of

cloth with runaway Wangwana pagazis. Selim, my Arab servant, asked him,

"What are you doing here, Sheikh Hamed? I thought you were well on the

road to Unyanyembe." Said he, "Could I leave Thani, my friend, behind?"

Kiti abounded in cattle and grain, and we were able to obtain food at

easy rates. The Wakimbu, emigrants from Ukimbu, near Urori, are a quiet

race, preferring the peaceful arts of agriculture to war; of tending

their flocks to conquest. At the least rumor of war they remove their

property and family, and emigrate to the distant wilderness, where they

begin to clear the land, and to hunt the elephant for his ivory. Yet we

found them to be a fine race, and well armed, and seemingly capable,

by their numbers and arms, to compete with any tribe. But here, as

elsewhere, disunion makes them weak. They are mere small colonies, each

colony ruled by its own chief; whereas, were they united, they might

make a very respectable front before an enemy.

Our next destination was Msalalo, distant fifteen miles from Kiti.

Hamed, after vainly searching for his runaways and the valuable property

he had lost, followed us, and tried once more, when he saw us encamped

at Msalalo, to pass us; but his pagazis failed him, the march having

been so long.

Welled Ngaraiso was reached on the 15th, after a three and a half hours'

march. It is a flourishing little place, where provisions were almost

twice as cheap as they were at Unyambogi. Two hours' march south is

Jiweh la Mkoa, on the old road, towards which the road which we have

been travelling since leaving Bagamoyo was now rapidly leading.

Unyanyembe being near, the pagazis and soldiers having behaved

excellently during the lengthy marches we had lately made, I purchased

a bullock for three doti, and had it slaughtered for their special

benefit. I also gave each a khete of red beads to indulge his appetite

for whatever little luxury the country afforded. Milk and honey were

plentiful, and three frasilah of sweet potatoes were bought for a

shukka, equal to about 40 cents of our money.

The 13th June brought us to the last village of Magunda Mkali, in the

district of Jiweh la Singa, after a short march of eight miles and

three-quarters. Kusuri--so called by the Arabs--is called Konsuli by the

Wakimbu who inhabit it. This is, however, but one instance out of many

where the Arabs have misnamed or corrupted the native names of villages

and districts.

Between Ngaraiso and Kusuri we passed the village of Kirurumo, now a

thriving place, with many a thriving village near it. As we passed it,

the people came out to greet the Musungu, whose advent had been so long

heralded by his loud-mouthed caravans, and whose soldiers had helped

them win the day in a battle against their fractious brothers of Jiweh

la Mkoa.

A little further on we came across a large khambi, occupied by Sultan

bin Mohammed, an Omani Arab of high descent, who, as soon as he was

notified of my approach, came out to welcome me, and invite me to his

khambi. As his harem lodged in his tent, of course I was not invited

thither; but a carpet outside was ready for his visitor. After the usual

questions had been asked about my health, the news of the road, the

latest from Zanzibar and Oman, he asked me if I had much cloth with

me. This was a question often asked by owners of down caravans, and

the reason of it is that the Arabs, in their anxiety to make as much

as possible of their cloth at the ivory ports on the Tanganika and

elsewhere, are liable to forget that they should retain a portion for

the down marches. As, indeed, I had but a bale left of the quantity of

cloth retained for provisioning my party on the road, when outfitting my

caravans on the coast, I could unblushingly reply in the negative.

I halted a day at Kusuri to give my caravan a rest, after its long

series of marches, before venturing on the two days' march through the

uninhabited wilderness that separates the district of Jiweh la Singa

Uyanzi from the district of Tura in Unyanyembe. Hamed preceded,

promising to give Sayd bin Salim notice of my coming, and to request him

to provide a tembe for me.

On the 15th, having ascertained that Sheikh Thani would be detained

several days at Kusuri, owing to the excessive number of his people who

were laid up with that dreadful plague of East Africa, the small-pox, I

bade him farewell, and my caravan struck out of Kusuri once more for the

wilderness and the jungle. A little before noon we halted at the Khambi

of Mgongo Tembo, or the Elephant's Back--so called from a wave of rock

whose back, stained into dark brownness by atmospheric influences, is

supposed by the natives to resemble the blue-brown back of this monster

of the forest. My caravan had quite an argument with me here, as to

whether we should make the terekeza on this day or on the next. The

majority was of the opinion that the next day would be the best for

a terekeza; but I, being the "bana," consulting my own interests,

insisted, not without a flourish or two of my whip, that the terekeza

should be made on this day.

Mgongo Tembo, when Burton and Speke passed by, was a promising

settlement, cultivating many a fair acre of ground. But two years ago

war broke out, for some bold act of its people upon caravans, and the

Arabs came from Unyanyembe with their Wangwana servants, attacked them,

burnt the villages, and laid waste the work of years. Since that time

Mgongo Tembo has been but blackened wrecks of houses, and the fields a

sprouting jungle.

A cluster of date palm-trees, overtopping a dense grove close to the

mtoni of Mgongo Tembo, revived my recollections of Egypt. The banks of

the stream, with their verdant foliage, presented a strange contrast to

the brown and dry appearance of the jungle which lay on either side.

At 1 P.M. we resumed our loads and walking staffs, and in a short time

were en route for the Ngwhalah Mtoni, distant eight and three-quarter

miles from the khambi. The sun was hot; like a globe of living, seething

flame, it flared its heat full on our heads; then as it descended

towards the west, scorched the air before it was inhaled by the lungs

which craved it. Gourds of water were emptied speedily to quench the

fierce heat that burned the throat and lungs. One pagazi, stricken

heavily with the small-pox, succumbed, and threw himself down on the

roadside to die. We never saw him afterwards, for the progress of a

caravan on a terekeza, is something like that of a ship in a hurricane.

The caravan must proceed--woe befall him who lags behind, for hunger and

thirst will overtake him--so must a ship drive before the fierce gale to

escape foundering--woe befall him who falls overboard!

An abundance of water, good, sweet, and cool, was found in the bed of

the mtoni in deep stony reservoirs. Here also the traces of furious

torrents were clearly visible as at Mabunguru.

The Nghwhalah commences in Ubanarama to the north--a country famous for

its fine breed of donkeys--and after running south, south-south-west,

crosses the Unyanyembe road, from which point it has more of a westerly

turn.

On the 16th we arrived at Madedita, so called from a village which

was, but is now no more. Madedita is twelve and a half miles from the

Nghwhalah Mtoni. A pool of good water a few hundred yards from the

roadside is the only supply caravans can obtain, nearer than Tura in

Unyamwezi. The tsetse or chufwa-fly, as called by the Wasawahili, stung

us dreadfully, which is a sign that large game visit the pool sometimes,

but must not be mistaken for an indication that there is any in the

immediate neighbourhood of the water. A single pool so often frequented

by passing caravans, which must of necessity halt here, could not be

often visited by the animals of the forest, who are shy in this part of

Africa of the haunts of man.

At dawn the neat day we were on the road striding at a quicker pace

than on most days, since we were about to quit Magunda Mali for the more

populated and better land of Unyamwezi. The forest held its own for

a wearisomely long time, but at the end of two hours it thinned, then

dwarfed into low jungle, and finally vanished altogether, and we

had arrived on the soil of Unyamwezi, with a broad plain, swelling,

subsiding, and receding in lengthy and grand undulations in our front

to one indefinite horizontal line which purpled in the far distance. The

view consisted of fields of grain ripening, which followed the contour

of the plain, and which rustled merrily before the morning breeze that

came laden with the chills of Usagara.

At 8 A.M. we had arrived at the frontier village of Unyamwezi, Eastern

Tura, which we invaded without any regard to the disposition of the few

inhabitants who lived there. Here we found Nondo, a runaway of Speke's,

one of those who had sided with Baraka against Bombay, who, desiring to

engage himself with me, was engaging enough to furnish honey and sherbet

to his former companions, and lastly to the pagazis. It was only a

short breathing pause we made here, having another hour's march to reach

Central Tura.

The road from Eastern Tura led through vast fields of millet, Indian

corn, holcus sorghum, maweri, or panicum, or bajri, as called by

the Arabs; gardens of sweet potatoes, large tracts of cucumbers,

water-melons, mush-melons, and pea-nuts which grew in the deep furrows

between the ridges of the holcus.

Some broad-leafed plantain plants were also seen in the neighbourhood of

the villages, which as we advanced became very numerous. The villages of

the Wakimbu are like those of the Wagogo, square, flat-roofed, enclosing

an open area, which is sometimes divided into three or four parts by

fences or matama stalks.

At central Tura, where we encamped, we had evidence enough of the

rascality of the Wakimbu of Tura. Hamed, who, despite his efforts to

reach Unyanyembe in time to sell his cloths before other Arabs came with

cloth supplies, was unable to compel his pagazis to the double march

every day, was also encamped at Central Tura, together with the Arab

servants who preferred Hamed's imbecile haste to Thani's cautious

advance. Our first night in Unyamwezi was very exciting indeed. The

Musungu's camp was visited by two crawling thieves, but they were soon

made aware by the portentous click of a trigger that the white man's

camp was well guarded.

Hamed's camp was next visited; but here also the restlessness of

the owner frustrated their attempts, for he was pacing backwards and

forwards through his camp, with a loaded gun in his hand; and the

thieves were obliged to relinquish the chance of stealing any of his

bales. From Hamed's they proceeded to Hassan's camp (one of the Arab

servants), where they were successful enough to reach and lay hold of a

couple of bales; but, unfortunately, they made a noise, which awoke the

vigilant and quick-eared slave, who snatched his loaded musket, and in a

moment had shot one of them through the heart. Such were our experiences

of the Wakimbu of Tura.

On the 18th the three caravans, Hamed's, Hassan's, and my own, left Tura

by a road which zig-zagged towards all points through the tall matama

fields. In an hour's time we had passed Tura Perro, or Western Tura, and

had entered the forest again, whence the Wakimbu of Tura obtain their

honey, and where they excavate deep traps for the elephants with which

the forest is said to abound. An hour's march from Western Tura brought

us to a ziwa, or pond. There were two, situated in the midst of a small

open mbuga, or plain, which, even at this late season, was yet soft

from the water which overflows it during the rainy season. After resting

three hours, we started on the terekeza, or afternoon march.

It was one and the same forest that we had entered soon after leaving

Western Tura, that we travelled through until we reached the Kwala

Mtoni, or, as Burton has misnamed it on his map, "Kwale." The water of

this mtoni is contained in large ponds, or deep depressions in the wide

and crooked gully of Kwala. In these ponds a species of mud-fish, was

found, off one of which I made a meal, by no means to be despised by one

who had not tasted fish since leaving Bagamoyo. Probably, if I had my

choice, being, when occasion demands it, rather fastidious in my tastes,

I would not select the mud-fish.

From Tura to the Kwala Mtoni is seventeen and a half miles, a distance

which, however easy it may be traversed once a fortnight, assumes a

prodigious length when one has to travel it almost every other day,

at least, so my pagazis, soldiers, and followers found it, and their

murmurs were very loud when I ordered the signal to be sounded on the

march. Abdul Kader, the tailor who had attached himself to me, as a

man ready-handed at all things, from mending a pair of pants, making

a delicate entremets, or shooting an elephant, but whom the interior

proved to be the weakliest of the weakly, unfit for anything except

eating and drinking---almost succumbed on this march.

Long ago the little stock of goods which Abdul had brought from Zanzibar

folded in a pocket-handkerchief, and with which he was about to buy

ivory and slaves, and make his fortune in the famed land of Unyamwezi,

had disappeared with the great eminent hopes he had built on them, like

those of Alnaschar the unfortunate owner of crockery in the Arabian

tale. He came to me as we prepared for the march, with a most dolorous

tale about his approaching death, which he felt in his bones, and

weary back: his legs would barely hold him up; in short, he had utterly

collapsed--would I take mercy on him, and let him depart? The cause of

this extraordinary request, so unlike the spirit with which he had left

Zanzibar, eager to possess the ivory and slaves of Unyamwezi, was that

on the last long march, two of my donkeys being dead, I had ordered that

the two saddles which they had carried should be Abdul Kader's load

to Unyanyembe. The weight of the saddles was 16 lbs., as the spring

balance-scale indicated, yet Abdul Kader became weary of life, as,

he counted the long marches that intervened between the mtoni and

Unyanyembe. On the ground he fell prone, to kiss my feet, begging me in

the name of God to permit him to depart.

As I had had some experience of Hindoos, Malabarese, and coolies

in Abyssinia, I knew exactly how to deal with a case like this.

Unhesitatingly I granted the request as soon as asked, for as much

tired as Abdul Kader said he was of life, I was with Abdul Kader's

worthlessness. But the Hindi did not want to be left in the jungle, he

said, but, after arriving in Unyanyembe. "Oh," said I, "then you must

reach Unyanyembe first; in the meanwhile you will carry those saddles

there for the food which you must eat."

As the march to Rubuga was eighteen and three-quarter miles, the pagazis

walked fast and long without resting.

Rubuga, in the days of Burton, according to his book, was a prosperous

district. Even when we passed, the evidences of wealth and prosperity

which it possessed formerly, were plain enough in the wide extent of its

grain fields, which stretched to the right and left of the Unyanyembe

road for many a mile. But they were only evidences of what once were

numerous villages, a well-cultivated and populous district, rich in

herds of cattle and stores of grain. All the villages are burnt down,

the people have been driven north three or four days from Rubuga, the

cattle were taken by force, the grain fields were left standing, to be

overgrown with jungle and rank weeds. We passed village after village

that had been burnt, and were mere blackened heaps of charred timber and

smoked clay; field after field of grain ripe years ago was yet standing

in the midst of a crop of gums and thorns, mimosa and kolquall.

We arrived at the village, occupied by about sixty Wangwana, who have

settled here to make a living by buying and selling ivory. Food is

provided for them in the deserted fields of the people of Rubuga. We

were very tired and heated from the long march, but the pagazis had all

arrived by 3 p.m.

At the Wangwana village we met Amer bin Sultan, the very type of an

old Arab sheikh, such as we read of in books, with a snowy beard, and

a clean reverend face, who was returning to Zanzibar after a ten years'

residence in Unyanyembe. He presented me with a goat; and a goatskin

full of rice; a most acceptable gift in a place where a goat costs five

cloths.

After a day's halt at Rubuga, during which I despatched soldiers

to notify Sheikh Sayd bin Salim and Sheikh bin Nasib, the two chief

dignitaries of Unyanyembe, of my coming, on the 21st of June we resumed

the march for Kigwa, distant five hours. The road ran through another

forest similar to that which separated Tura from Rubuga, the country

rapidly sloping as we proceeded westward. Kigwa we found to have been

visited by the same vengeance which rendered Rubuga such a waste.

The next day, after a three and a half hours' rapid march, we crossed

the mtoni--which was no mtoni--separating Kigwa from Unyanyembe

district, and after a short halt to quench our thirst, in three and a

half hours more arrived at Shiza. It was a most delightful march, though

a long one, for its picturesqueness of scenery which every few minutes

was revealed, and the proofs we everywhere saw of the peaceable and

industrious disposition of the people. A short half hour from Shiza we

beheld the undulating plain wherein the Arabs have chosen to situate the

central depot which commands such wide and extensive field of trade. The

lowing of cattle and the bleating of the goats and sheep were everywhere

heard, giving the country a happy, pastoral aspect.

The Sultan of Shiza desired me to celebrate my arrival in Unyanyembe,

with a five-gallon jar of pombe, which he brought for that purpose.

As the pombe was but stale ale in taste, and milk and water in colour,

after drinking a small glassful I passed it to the delighted soldiers

and pagazis. At my request the Sultan brought a fine fat bullock, for

which he accepted four and a half doti of Merikani. The bullock was

immediately slaughtered and served out to the caravan as a farewell

feast.

No one slept much that night, and long before the dawn the fires were

lit, and great steaks were broiling, that their stomachs might rejoice

before parting with the Musungu, whose bounty they had so often tasted.

Six rounds of powder were served to each soldier and pagazi who owned

a gun, to fire away when we should be near the Arab houses. The meanest

pagazi had his best cloth about his loins, and some were exceedingly

brave in gorgeous Ulyah "Coombeesa Poonga" and crimson "Jawah," the

glossy "Rehani," and the neat "Dabwani." The soldiers were mustered in

new tarbooshes, and the long white shirts of the Mrima and the Island.

For this was the great and happy day which had been on our tongues ever

since quitting the coast, for which we had made those noted marches

latterly--one hundred and seventy-eight and a half miles in sixteen

days, including pauses--something over eleven miles a day.

The signal sounded and the caravan was joyfully off with banners flying,

and trumpets and horns blaring. A short two and a half hours' march

brought us within sight of Kwikuru, which is about two miles south of

Tabora, the main Arab town; on the outside of which we saw a long line

of men in clean shirts, whereat we opened our charged batteries, and

fired a volley of small arms such as Kwikuru seldom heard before. The

pagazis closed up and adopted the swagger of veterans: the soldiers

blazed away uninterruptedly, while I, seeing that the Arabs were

advancing towards me, left the ranks, and held out my hand, which was

immediately grasped by Sheikh Sayd bin Salim, and then by about two

dozen people, and thus our entrée into Unyanyembe was effected.