THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 79 



M'ganga to his joy discovers that the askari who 

 brought us the letter is his brother-in-law. Ramadan 

 begins, and all our good Moslems must abstain food 

 and drink from sunrise to sunset. 



August 6. — Started off at 6 130 over a high rocky pass 

 with good trail through the hills to southwest. Shortly 

 we looked out over a tumbled valley of hills with an- 

 other high rampart five or six miles away. Made out 

 through our glasses the village of N'digadigu perched 

 high, like the other. It was five or six times the size of 

 Olsambu, and the fertile vaUey was cultivated far and 

 wide. On the slope I killed a kongoni for meat with 

 two shots at 210 and 260. Crossed a flowing stream 

 and came to a fine upsloping grass and cultivated land 

 with water singing dowTi innumerable winding ditches, 

 and the finest single big trees, spaced here and there, 

 I have ever seen. They are very green, with wide 

 leaves, thick great branches spreading far, spacious 

 domes, and thick, grateful shade. Flowering aloes were 

 all about, and groves of strange twisted or stately 

 euphorbias about some of which python-like vines 

 were doing their choking best. Paths ran in all di- 

 rections. We made several false starts, once landing 

 at the fortified gate of the village, but at last found our 

 donkeys camped near the askari post. This had been 

 constructed under one of the aforementioned big trees, 

 with a heav>' twisted outside boma, a ditch and pali- 

 sades. Two Monumwezi askaris occupied it. We 



