104 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



.July, spoken discharged his rifle in despite of my orders, upon which 



^^'''^- I liad him disarmed, and promised punishment on the morrow. 



Anothei' then suggested that I had better punish them all, as 



it was their custom, and they intended to follow it ; and him I 



also disarmed. 



This custom of tiring on the occasion of a new moon was not 

 only a waste of ammunition, but was also very dangerous, as 

 the men never looked in what direction their rifles were point- 

 ing, but sent the bullets whizzing about the camp. I therefore 

 determined to put a check upon the practice. 



When about to proceed, on Jul}^ 20th, I found that some pa- 

 gazi, as well as the askari who had been disarmed for disobedi- 

 ence of orders when " moon- struck," had deserted; but one of 

 these pagazi was exceptionally honorable, for, though personal- 

 ly breaking his engagement, he had been thoughtful enough to 

 hire another man to carry his load as far as Unyanyembe. 



Crossing two small ranges of rocky hills, and then through 

 forest and jungle with many palmyras, we halted for breakfast ; 

 and, resuming our march, continued on the move until sunset, 

 when we were obliged to camji without reaching water. On 

 the way, several antelopes and a lemur were seen, and Bombay 

 and Issa reported having passed a herd of twelve elephants. 



Suddenly there was great excitement among the men, and a 

 cry was raised that a venomous snake was in camp. They im- 

 mediately rushed upon it with their sticks, and, when I arrived, 

 it was so mangled and crushed that it was impossible to discov- 

 er the species, whether venomous or not. The men declared 

 that its bite was deadly, for the notion usual among uneducated 

 people that every snake is poisonous prevailed here. 



Kipireh, the point we had hoped to reach the night before, 

 so as to enjoy the advantage of its fresh spring-water, was ar- 

 rived at two hours after leaving camp ; and here a dispute arose 

 between ourselves and our men. 



The day being still young, and the inhabitants assuring us 

 that water was to be found a short way in front, we thought it 

 best to push forward, although our kirangosi declared that Ave 

 could not arrive at any watering-place till the next day. Sus- 

 pecting the kirangosi of laziness, and the natives appearing un- 

 friendly, we forqed our men forward ; but, after marching an- 



