8o THE REDISCOVERED COUNTRY 



found the ground under another big tree swept clean 

 and bare, and three grass bandas ready for us. We 

 pitched our tents, the men theirs, the donkeys were 

 already bomaed — ^and we utilized only half the space 

 under that great tree ! It was 64 feet in circumference, 

 and its branches extended 120 yards. 



We sent back men to the last camp with instruc- 

 tions to lie there to-night, and to-morrow to bring some 

 potto loads we had to leave there. About 8 130, to our 

 surprise, they returned with the loads, having made 

 thirty-one miles in all, over mountains, and over twenty 

 miles of it loaded! 



We had swarms of visitors, with the most impor- 

 tant of whom we exchanged courtesies. The German 

 askaris, very trim in their uniforms, reported formally, 

 saluted, and returned to their fort. Found another 

 donkey dead. 



This night the village held a grand n^goma — for- 

 tunately at a distance — in honour of the advent of the 

 first white men since the Germans established the post 

 in '96. The askaris are changed every two months, 

 and apparently are never inspected. The Mohamme- 

 dan month of Ramadan, the month of fasting, is now 

 on. The good Moslem is supposed to eat between 

 sunset and sunrise. As we have about fifty per cent, of 

 that faith in our safari, we called up AH, and asked him 

 how about it — whether men like porters working hard 

 had to keep it. 



