56 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



CHAPTEE lY. 



The Makata Swamp. — Mud Traps. — The Makata River. — A Native Bridge. — Trans- 

 porting Donkeys. — Rehenneko. — Laid up. — A Strike among the Men. — Routine in 

 Camp. — Visitors. — A Swaggering Hahf-caste. — News from Murphy. — His Arrival. 

 — Death of Moffat. — Organizing the Fresh Arrivals. — The Strength of the Expedi- 

 tion. — Women and Slaves. — Losses by Death and Desertion. — Armament. — Our 

 Dogs and Donkeys. — Ready. 



April, On the 26tli of April we started from Sinibo for tlie dreaded 



1873. Makata swamp, a large, level plain lying between the Usagara 

 Mountains and those near Simbaweni, offering no particular 

 difficulties of passage in the dry season, but becoming convert- 

 ed by the rains into a vast expanse of mud, with two or three 

 troublesome morasses on the western side. 



Two hours' marching through pleasant wooded country, with 

 red sandy soil, gave us our first introduction to the Makata, 

 which then appeared in its worst form. 



The foot-prints of elephants, giraffes, and buffaloes had form- 

 ed numerous holes in the clayey mud, some being at least knee- 

 deep and full of water, and many of our donkeys were trapped 

 in them. But they managed to bring their loads into camp in 

 safety, although one had nearly been strangled by its driver, 

 who made a running noose round its neck and attempted to 

 drag it out of a hole by main force. 



Five hours in heavy rain were occupied in getting over five 

 miles of this road, and during that time we had often to lend a 

 hand in loading and unloading the poor donkeys, besides pre- 

 venting the men from straggling, since they all wished to halt 

 in the middle of the mud. 



This would have been a fatal mistake, there being no bushes 

 with which to build huts, or to provide fuel for the camp-fires ; 

 and a night's exposure to the rain and cold, with no dry sleep- 

 ing-place, must have crippled most of them. So I continued on 

 the march until 3 p.m., when we arrived at the site of an old 



