XII.] MIRAMBO'S HEAD -QUARTERS. 151 



the matter by paying twenty-two doti. A present was then January, 

 asked for Taka's mother ; bnt I refused to give any thing, ex- ^^'^^- 

 pressing my opinion that he was fully able to take care of his 

 own mother. 



Tlie messengers informed me that if I visited Taka he would 

 give me some provisions ; but as this would have entailed a 

 delay of two or three days, I declined the invitation. Guides 

 were placed at our disposal, and we marched across a j)erfectly 

 level country until just at the close of the day's journey, when 

 we breasted a small hill close to a village named Kwatosi, and 

 camped on its summit. 



I was greatly amused by one of the guides, who displayed 

 much pride at possessing an umbrella. He kept it open the 

 whole day, continually spinning it round and round in a most 

 ludicrous fashion ; and when we came to some jungle he added 

 to the absurdity of his appearance by taking off his only article 

 of clothing — his loin-cloth — and placing it on his head after 

 having carefully folded it. The sight of a perfectly naked ne- 

 gro walking under an umbrella was too much for my gravity, 

 and I fairly exploded with laughter. 



Nothing but boundless plain covered with jungle was to be 

 seen from the camp, the only break on the horizon being two 

 small hills far away to the north-north-west. These were said 

 to be Mirambo's head-cpiarters, which the Arabs had never at- 

 tacked, the strength of the position being so great that it was 

 felt that to make the attempt would be to court defeat. 



We passed the sites of many deserted villages which had 

 been destroyed quite lately in the war, and, after camping one 

 night in the jungle, arrived at the capital of ITtende, the cen- 

 tral district of Ugara. The chief was^noderate in his demands 

 for mhongo, and would have been satisfied "svith six doti, had 

 not a son of Taka, who unfortunately arrived at that moment, 

 said to him, " Don't be a fool ! my father got twenty-two. You 

 ask the same." This caused much haggling and arguing, as I 

 was greatly averse to complying with his increased claim. Still, 

 he managed to get the twenty-two doti in the end, by prohibit- 

 ing his people from selling food to us until he was paid. 



In the village there were many of Mirambo's men, who gra- 

 ciously informed us that they would certainly have attacked 



