62 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



a time I sent the instruments back, considering tins work 

 too severe for the climate, and he tried instead, sketching 

 with water-colors, the results of which form the chief part of the 

 illustrations in my book. The rest of our day went in break- 

 fasting after the march was over a pipe, to prepare us for rum- 

 maging the fields and villages to discover their contents for 

 scientific purposes dinner close to sunset, and tea and pipe 

 before turning in at night." 



FIRST SIGHT OF HIPPOPOTAMI. 



THE journey was without special incident until the vicinity of 

 Mbume was reached, when they parsed an immense lagoon in 

 which many hippopotami were seen sporting very near, as if 

 inviting attack. There were also numerous traces of elephants, 

 buffaloes, rhinoceros and antelopes, but no stoppage was made 

 for a hunt. 



They had now proceeded far enough into the interior to be 

 almost constantly beset by native chiefs, who demanded tribute 

 for the privilege of crossing their respective districts. On the 

 24th of October the party reached the Ugogo plateau, the inhabi- 

 tants of which are a fierce, repulsive and dangerous people. 

 The men, indeed, are never seen without their usual arms the 

 spear, the shield, and the assegai. They live in flat-topped, 

 square, tembe villages, wherever springs of water are found, 

 keep cattle in plenty, and farm enough generally to supply not 

 only their own wants, but those of the thousands who annually 

 pass in caravans. They are extremely fond of ornaments, the 

 most common of \vhich is an ugly tube of the gourd thrust 

 through the lower lobe of the ear. Their color is a soft ruddy 

 brown, with a slight infusion of black, not unlike that of a rich 

 plum. Impulsive by nature, and exceedingly avaricious, they 

 pester travelers beyond all conception by thronging the road, 

 jeering, quizzing, and pointing at them ; and in camp, by intru- 

 sively forcing their way into the midst of the kit, and even into 

 the stranger's tentt 



