XXXIV.] UGUNDA. 455 



Indeed, the name Unyanyembe points to tlie extensive culti- 

 vation, U^ country ; nya^ a form of the preposition ya^ signi- 

 fying " of," the n being introduced for the sake of euphony, 

 and yemhe, hoes : the whole meaning " country of the hoes," or 

 " cultivated country." 



This country is dotted with innumerable villages surrounded 

 by impenetrable hedges of the "milk-bush." The juice of this 

 plant is so acrid that if a small portion gets into the eye, it gives 

 almost intolerable anguish, and frequently causes blindness. 

 Wheat, onions, and different sorts of herbs and vegetables, as 

 well as fruit-trees, imported from the coast, are cultivated by 

 the Arabs round their settlement. 



The southern part of Unyanyembe is intersected with numer- 

 ous small rocky hills ; but to the north it is more level, running 

 into the plains of the Masai in one direction, and to those bor- 

 dering the mid-course of the Malagarazi on the other. 



Large herds of cattle are possessed both by Arabs and na- 

 tives ; but their numbers have of late years been much dimin- 

 ished by constant petty wars. 



South-west of Unyanyembe the rocky hills cease, and the 

 broad alluvial plain is partly occupied by jungle, and partly by 

 the plantations of the people of Ugunda. Ugunda also means 

 a cultivated country, Mgunda being synonymous with the Ki- 

 suahili Sltamha, meaning a farm or plantation, and Ugunda a 

 country of farms. 



The drainage here is very partial, large tracts being in the 

 rainy season only fit for growing rice. The main drain of the 

 country is the Wale nullah, which afterward joins the Southern 

 ISTgombe, and forms part of the system of the Malagarazi. 



Beyond the farthest settlements of the Wagunda lies a broad 

 plain, bounded on the west by the Southern Kgombe. This 

 plain is swampy in places, and it is well wooded in many parts, 

 but there is littlp or no tangled undergrowth. Open and park- 

 like stretches form the feeding-grounds of innumerable herds 

 of game, among others the rhinoceros, lion, and buffalo. 



The Southern l^gombe, in the dry season and at the com- 

 mencement of the rains, consists of long reaches of open water 

 separated from each other by sand-bars — what our Australian 

 brothers would call creeks — but which unite toward the end of 



