42 TKAYEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



During the rainy season, when the lake swells, and 

 the country becomes super-saturated, the inundations 

 are so great that all travelling becomes suspended. 

 The early morning was wasted by the unreasonable 

 pagazis in the following absurd manner. It will be 

 remembered that, on starting from Unyanyembe, these 

 cunning rascals begged for cloth as a necessary protec- 

 tion against the cold. This seemed reasonable enough, 

 if they had not just before that received their hire in 

 cloth ; for the nights were so cold that I should have 

 been sorry to be as naked as they were ; but their real 

 motive for asking was only to increase their stock for 

 this present occasion, as we now shall see. Two days 

 ago they broke ground with great difficulty, and only 

 on my assuring them that I would wait at the place 

 a day or two on my return from the Lake, as they 

 expressed their desire to make a few halts there, and 

 barter their hire of. cloth for jembes (iron hoes), to 

 exchange again at Unyanyembe, where those things 

 fetch double the price they do in these especially iron 

 regions. Kow to-day, these dissembling creatures, 

 distrusting my word as they would their own brethren's, 

 stoutly refused to proceed until their business was 

 completed, suspecting I should break my word on 

 returning, and would not then wait for them. They 

 had come all this way especially for their own benefit, 

 and now meant to profit by their trouble. Fortunately, 

 the jemadar and some other Belooches, who of late 

 had shown great energy and zeal in promoting my 



