At Chiromo 17 



natural history specimens and the preparation of col- 

 lections. De Borely was separated from us for a long 

 time, because he commanded a depot camp which 

 served as our headquarters, around which Bertrand 

 and I have ranged for nearly a year. 



The season was fairly advanced when we reached 

 Chiromo, on the river Shire, a northern tributary of 

 the Zambesi ; it was mid-September, and hardly worth 

 while undertaking anything seriously that year, the 

 good season ending in November to give place to 

 a period of abundant rain, the season when the grass 

 is high and swamps are numerous. 



It was necessary, therefore, to prepare to winter, 

 as they say in certain parts of Africa, that is, to pass 

 under shelter the rainy season, which is really the 

 summer. 



Chiromo seemed to us to be a convenient spot 

 on which to pitch our camp. Three months after- 

 wards we had to abandon it, having been first of all 

 visited by locusts which ruin the country, then by a 

 fire which nearly ruined ourselves, and finally by a 

 flood which almost cost us our lives. So the ex- 

 pedition moved towards the west, again visiting 

 the countries of the Magandjas, between the Zam- 

 besi and the Shire, Makanga, Undi, and western 

 Maravi, which had been the theatre of our previous 

 exploits. During our stay at Chiromo I set to 

 work immediately to reorganise my staff of hunters. 

 I had sent emissaries into the districts where Msiam- 

 biri, Rodzani, Tchigallo, and Tambarika lived, so as to 

 give them notice of my return, and to inform them 



