ADDRESS BEFORE BRITISH SCIENCE ASSOCIATION. 367 
They turned out to be the most outrageous scoundrels and thieves I had yet met, 
It isimpossible to convey to you the miserable life we led during the five weeks 
we were in their country. They had not the slightest acquaintance with traders, 
and they had no respect for the white man. The chiefs demanded exorbitant 
mhongo, and made us stop wherever they took the fancy. The people were by 
no means loth to help themselves by tearing the clothes off the backs of the men, 
even in crowds. Several times they turned out to fight us. Arrows and spears. 
have been aimed at me within a few feet; at one village a crowd had got hold of 
one of my men, and I only forced my way in just in time to deflect a descending. 
axe which would have ended his days; and yet we had to show ourselves firm as 
well as pacific. ‘The slightest accident or blood drawn, and not a soul of us 
would have escaped. How we ever escaped with our lives I cannot comprehend. 
Imagine being awakened in the dead of the night in your tent by your blanket 
being torn from under you, just in time to catch hold of your azimuth compass 
and to find your watch gone. Such was one of my nights’ adventures. Fortu- 
nately they got frightened at the watch, and the chief brought it back next day. 
These facts will give you some faint notion of our troubles. We reached Mtowa 
on March to, destitute of almost everything. To my delight, however, I heard 
that Mr. Hore was expected every day on his way by canoe to the south end of 
the lake. On the 23d we started, crossed the lake to Kungwe, and reached Ka- 
rema on the right of the 26th. As weneared the shore we were hailed by the 
jolly voice of Captain Carter, whom we found gun in hand and bursting with sto- 
ries of his wonderful adventures in sport and war, keeping us fixed on our seats 
all night in his tent as he launched them forth. We went over to visit the Belgian 
international party at their temporary quarters to-day. Captain Carter had his 
elephant ready to take us across the marsh. Karema is one of the most extraor- 
dinary places for a station that could be found on the lake—a wide expanse of 
marsh, a small village, no shelter for boats, only shallow water dotted with 
stumps of rock, no room to be got, and natives hostile; far from any line of 
trade. The party have commenced building forts and walls, digging ditches in 
regular military fashion. At the tablethere sat down an Englishman, an Irish- 
man, a Scotchman, a Frenchman, a Belgian and a German, representing five ex- 
_peditions, and you will doubtless be pleased to learn that of all these (thanks to 
yourself) the Scotchman, though the smallest, and having to travel through en- 
tirely new country, had been the most successful of all. Afterleaving Karema 
we had a moderately good voyage across the lake to Jendwe, at which we ar-. 
rived on the 7th of April. I was much pleased to find everything in good order 
and the men all in pretty good health. What annoyed me more was the news 
that my projected route to Kedwa was impassable. Merere had recommenced 
the war with the Wabehe, and to pass from the one country to the other would be 
quite impossible. Under the circumstances there was nothing for it but to down 
helm and run before the wind with all sails set, with the result of landing me ona 
route which has now often resounded under the iron heel of the English traveler 
