DISCOVERY OF THE VICTORIA X'YANZA. 73 



pleting their traffic, have lighter hearts, and begin to 

 feel a freshness dawn upon them. We soon entered 

 our old village in iXera, having completed fourteen 

 miles. Here the chief, who had travelled up the 

 western shore of the X'yanza, assured me that canoes 

 like the Tanganyika ones were used by the natives, 

 and were made from large trees which grew on the 

 mountain- slopes overlooking the lake. The disagree- 

 able-mannered "Wasukumas (or north men) are now 

 left behind ; their mode of articulation is most pain- 

 ful to the civilised ear. Each word uttered seems to 

 begin with a T'hu or T'ha, producing a sound like 

 that of spitting sharply at an offensive object. Any 

 stranger with his back turned would fancy himself 

 insulted by the speaker. The country throughout is 

 well stocked with cattle, and bullocks are cheap two 

 dhotis, equal to four dollars, being the price of a 

 moderate-sized animal ; but milch cows are dear in 

 consequence of the great demand for sour curd. 

 Sheep and goats sell according to their skins : a large 

 one is preferred to a shukka, equal to one dollar ; but 

 a dhoti, the proper price of three small goats, is scarcely 

 the value of the largest. The bane of this people is 

 their covetousness. They do not object to sell cheaply 

 to a poor man, yet they hang back at the sight of 

 much cloth, and price their stock, not at its value, but 

 at what they want, or think they may get, obstinately 

 abiding by their decision to the last. Cattle are driven 

 from this to Unyanyembe, and consequently must be 



