A Thousand Miles in a Machilla 



marching, the porters being close behind us with 

 John in quite a cheerful mood. After breakfast 

 we came upon a marsh, where men and women 

 were fishing, and from these we learned that there 

 was a village on the opposite bank in which grain 

 could be bought. Musiro's village had been almost 

 denuded of food; and as our men were in 

 consequence short of supplies, we decided to stop 

 and send representatives of the various messes to 

 see what they could get. Instead of the half 

 hour we expected to be delayed, we waited two 

 solid hours, and then only got under way after 

 great shouting and despatching of messengers. 

 Fortunately the day was cool, and we were just 

 as well under the trees as in our tents. 



In less than an hour we reached a stream which, 

 though then nearly dry, looked as if it could be dig- 

 nified in the wet season by the name of river ; and 



here A decided to halt, thinking it was the 



tributary of the Luambwa, which was the objective 

 of our day s march. Next day we found out that we 

 were mistaken, and that the real river was still about 

 four miles further on. 



Our camp, pitched on high ground overlooking 

 the dry watercourse, was a nice one with a pretty 

 view. That night it poured in torrents. 



The dawn of the 28th broke in heavy rain, and 

 we were unable to make a move before 10 a.m. ; 

 even then the conditions were far from promising. 

 About an hour after starting we crossed a small river, 

 fifteen to twenty yards broad, which was evidently 

 the tributary of the Luambwa we thought we had 



218 



