Wa Ruchigga Mountains 



'• safari " had done two days without any, relying on 

 our promises of double rations at this camp, and here 

 we were without a pound. I managed to induce the 

 natives to bring in some peas, which I divided out, 

 but as there were only eleven small baskets, they did 

 not go far among thirty-five soldiers and a hundred 

 porters. The latter, however, seemed to take things 

 as a matter of course, and carried their loads the next 

 day with a philosophic cheeriness, rarely, if ever, met 

 with among Europeans. 



I pitched my tent on the edge of a spur over- 

 looking a long valley, hemmed in by imposing look- 

 ing mountains. On the left, and snugly situated, 

 was the native village. The valley was a mass of 

 cultivation, and had a river running down its centre. 

 How peaceful its appearance, and what a paradise 

 for the natives ! Reposing undisturbed in this quiet 

 valley, protected on all sides by ranges of mountains, 

 which extended as far as the eye could discern, with 

 plenteous crops, the result of a minimum of labour; 

 to eat and to sleep, with scarce a care in the world, 

 and undisturbed by uneasy and ambitious desires, 

 it seemed a shame to civilize the Wa Ruchigga 

 natives. At the same time, I learned that a 

 mysterious disease had recently decimated their 

 numbers, and following close on the heels of this 

 disaster, a hostile tribe had swooped down and 

 nearly exterminated them. They showed great 

 curiosity at the sight of a white man, and were 

 quite pathetic in their entreaties for cloth to clothe 

 themselves. Further on I saw numerous signs of 



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