MAZARA. 19 



to go to their village for their paddles and their kit^^ 

 they would not start that day, but promised to come 

 early next morning ; so we had nothing for it but to 

 sleep in the mouth of the river. 



At 8 A.M. on the morning of the 28th, we started 

 with a fair breeze up the river, through extensive 

 mangrove swamps, reaching the canal which runs 

 from the Kongoni to the Zambesi. We left the Kon- 

 goni, and after a couple of hours sailing and pulling, 

 found ourselves in the main stream of the Zambesi, a 

 ■fine broad river, but very low, constantly getting on 

 sandbanks. I had command of one of the whalers, 

 while Mr. Young took the iron boat, and Stacy 

 brought the whaler we got from the Petrel. The 

 first night we slept in the boats by a large sandbank 

 in the middle of the river, and had a few mosquitoes. 



During the five days occupied in reaching Shupan- 

 ga, little occurred worthy of note. I shot some 

 flamingo, and on the evening of the 29th killed a 

 very fine water-buck and wounded another, which I 

 did not get. The weather was very changeable. 

 Sometimes there were calms, during which, when 

 practicable, we tracked the boats along the bank, 

 and occasionally sudden and heavy squalls, when we 

 flew along under close reefs. My boat, being far too 

 deep in the water, took in a good deal of it. One of 

 these squalls carried away my awning and mast. 

 However, as it was only the clamp that gave, it was 

 soon rigged again. 



On the 1st August we visited Mazara, about 

 seven miles below Shupanga. This had once been a 



* Consisting of a grass mat to sleep on, and a store of tobacco. 



c 2 



