Chinde to Blantyre 



quickly shifted with our baggage, and off we started 

 again. These houseboats are just ordinary barges, 

 in the middle of which a cabin about six feet high 

 has been built with a straw or matchboard roof and 

 sides and a door at each end. Inside there is 

 room for a couple of beds, camp-chairs, table, and 

 provision box; the baggage is stowed under the 

 deck. A crew of eight men pole the boat along at 

 a good pace, singing most of the time a song with 

 pretty rhythm and refrain; it was a well-known 

 boating-song of these parts, but new to us, and more 

 musical than the boat-songs sung by natives on the 

 White Nile. 



We travelled for seven hours in this fashion with- 

 out stopping. The air was not unduly hot, and it 

 was pleasant enough, though we should have been 

 glad of a better luncheon, the provisions we found 

 on board being somewhat scanty. The scene was 

 ever-changing reed-covered banks, natives bathing 

 in the river, an occasional village, and fish drying 

 in the sun. 



About five o'clock we pulled up alongside one 

 of these villages to get some dinner and give the 

 men a rest, upon which we joined forces with 

 another houseboat belonging to the official of the 

 African Lakes Company, whose servant proved a 

 very fair cook. We were luckily able to buy poultry 

 and eggs, so did not fare badly. 



At 6.30 P.M. we started off again, and then our 

 troubles commenced. A terrible smell rose from 

 the stagnant mud of the river, and we had to shut 

 both doors to keep out the foul air and the mos- 



ii 



