DISCOVEEY OF THE VICTORIA N'YANZA. 19 



be caught until the evening, when all the cattle are 

 driven in together. Further, she could not afford to 

 lose so interesting a personage as her guest, and vol- 

 unteered to give me a shakedown for the night. I 

 begged she would consider my position the absolute 

 necessity for my hurrying and not insist on my ac- 

 ceptance of the bullock, or be offended by my refus- 

 ing her kind offer to remain there, but permit our 

 immediate departure. She replied that the word had 

 gone forth, so the animal must be given; and if I 

 still persisted in going, at any rate three porters could 

 remain behind and drive it on afterwards. To this 

 I reluctantly consented, and only on the kirangozi's 

 promise to march the following morning. Then, with 

 the usual farewell salutation, "Kuahere, Mzungu," 

 from my pertinacious hostess, I was not sorry to re- 

 trace my steps, a good five hours' walk. We re-entered 

 camp at 7.20 P.M., which is long after dark in these 

 regions so near to the equator. All palaces here are like 

 all the common villages beyond Unyamuezi proper, and 

 are usually constructed on the same principle as this 

 one. They consist of a number of mushroom-shaped 

 grass huts, surrounded by a tall slender palisading, 

 and having streets or passages of the same wooden 

 construction, some winding, some straight, and others 

 crosswise, with outlets at certain distances leading 

 into the different courts, each court usually contain- 

 ing five or six huts partitioned off with poles as the 

 streets are. These courts serve for dividing the dif- 



