54 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



April, But we got across without accident, except to one pagazi, who 



1873. preferred trying to wade the river to trusting himself to the 



slippery bridge, and was swept away by the current. He was 



rescued with no further damage than wetting his load, though 



such an escape was scarcely to be expected. 



An Arab caravan for the coast passing us here, we availed 

 ourselves of the opportunity of dispatching a mail for Zanzibar. 



Buying provisions for crossing the Makata swamp occupied 

 the next day. There was no trouble in obtaining the supplies 

 we required, as the natives crowded into camp with beans, 

 pumpkins, vegetable marrows, honey, eggs, and corn for sale. 

 Concerning the difficulties of this passage, there were rumors 

 almost sufficient to deter the stoutest from attempting it, if al- 

 lowance had not been made for the tendency of the negro to 

 exaggeration. Ilamees came over to see us in the afternoon, 

 which was miserably wet, and Dillon endeavored to amuse and 

 astonish him with some card tricks. But great was his surprise 

 on finding that Plamees could outdo him. 



A branch of a tree falling upon my three-pole tent, made a 

 rent six feet long; and if I had not taken the precaution of 

 having an inner lining fitted at Kikoka, I should have been com- 

 pelled to seek fresh quarters with Dillon in his Abyssinian tent. 



An enormous amount of bother fell to our lot in the morn- 

 ing, for the men had gorged themselves to such an extent that 

 they were very much disinclined to march, and would fain have 

 remained a few days more in this veritable land of plenty. We 

 had to drive them out of camp one by one, and no sooner were 

 our backs turned than they would dodge in again, or hide with 

 their loads among the bushes and long grass. 



By dint of perseverance, we at length got them away, and 

 marching close under the end of the Kihondo mountain range 

 — which rises sheer out of the plain to a height of seven or 

 eight hundred feet — arrived at Simbo, the last camp before en- 

 tering upon the toils and labors of the Makata swamp. 



I may mention that Simbo is more a generic than a particular 

 term, and, unless a more definite name can be borrowed from 

 some neighboring village, is frequently applied to places where 

 water is found in holes or by digging — that being the meaning 

 of the word. 



