i8o In the Heart of Africa 



entered the village the ground rocked at every step, and at the 

 edge even sank below the water line. In the centre it was stable. 

 As the inhabitants, who belonged to the Wakingwa race, had 

 nearly all their household effects with them, we came across little 

 worthy of mention excepting some beautiful plaited work. As 

 there was no one from whom we could make purchases, we left 

 everything standing in the huts as we found it. 



Hot as it had been during the first days of the journey, we 

 were to experience cold later. A few minutes after our departure 

 from the floating village a torrential storm of such violence broke 

 over us that further progress was impossible. 



Being unable to make any headway against the storm, or to 

 see ahead of us on account of the streaming rain, the boats were 

 soon piled on the shore, with their bottoms turned towards the 

 slant of the rain. So we remained sitting in our boats with the 

 waves splashing up over the gunwales. We had to sit still 

 until the raging gale subsided, for no human efforts were of any 

 avail in the face of such an outburst. The storm, as usual, did 

 not last long, but a fine rain kept drizzling on for some time, 

 which sufficed to chill us in our thin clothes, which were wet 

 through in spite of our mackintoshes. 



Presently a small boat propelled by two men with long poles 

 came swiftly towards us. " Barua, bana — letters, master," they 

 cried. A heavy bag was handed over and immediately opened. 

 It was the European mail, greetings from home, which reached us 

 there in so strange a fashion. They shortened our lengthy 

 journey in a most agreeable fashion, for it was four o'clock in the 

 afternoon, after ten hours' travelling, before we sighted the huts 

 of the small hamlet of Kissenji lying ahead. There we landed, 

 glad to be able to stretch our stiffened limbs. 



We remained one day for Weidemann's caravan, which we had 

 arranged to meet here. It came along late in the evening in a 

 perfectly exhausted condition. They had had a hard time of it. 

 The floods had assumed unexpected dimensions. For hours the 

 men had been forced to wade along in water up to their thighs, 

 and in places even up to their necks ; the mules and dogs had to 



