A WAHUMA VILLAGE. 43 



thick foliage upon the dark red ground. An almost ghostly 

 silence reigns over all ; only at times the mighty banana 

 leaves rustle softly, just as if they dreamed. The ghostly 

 forms of large bats flit through the air ; Cosmetomis Spekii, 

 the " father of the four wings," flies silently with its long 

 feathers fluttering ; bluish lights mark the trail of large glow- 

 worms, and buzzing moths in sombre garb are almost invisible 

 to the eye in the darkness of the night. A deep, sweet breath 

 of peace is wafted over the face of nature. 



As usual, all my traps were packed up and placed before my 

 hut door, and I myself was ready for the march, sitting under 

 a tree. No porters, however, appeared, and when I, after 

 waiting for them a whole hour, sent for my guides, they pre- 

 ferred not to come, but sent me word that I could unpack my 

 goods again, as they intended to remain here both to-day and 

 to-morrow. At last my patience was exhausted. I sent word 

 to them immediately that they had better take good care of my 

 things, as I intended to set off at once. My words were fol- 

 lowed by deeds, and, accompanied only by my few people and 

 the porters who were carrying the ammunition, I started on 

 my way, compass in hand. 



Over very high mountainous ground we climbed up to Mount 

 Sempa, the summit of which, tradition says, no human being 

 can ever reach, because hyenas guard the way, warning off 

 wanderers from the mountain. Leaving it to the right, and 

 gradually getting higher, we passed a neat zeriba, and shortly 

 afterwards a village inhabited by dark-coloured Wahiirna herds- 

 men. Six or seven houses for cattle, and two or three for 

 herds, encircled by high, thick, thorn hedges, formed the dirty 

 and neglected compounds, of which there were four or five on 

 the road. On account of the character of the Wahiima, who 

 live almost entirely on milk, cultivation worth naming was not 

 to be seen. A small, newly planted field of sweet potatoes and 

 a few gourd plants twining over the hedges, and that was all. 

 From this height, which is quite covered by granite blocks, a 

 steep .descent leads to a swampy plain covered by high grass, 

 through which a small stream flows to the east. This was the 

 first running water we had seen since we left Mruli. 



We were now in Muambia, which district I reached last year 



