THE FORT OF TAMBARA 81 



cursory examination giving rise to serious dissension 

 between the two, the operator resuming his task 

 thereafter with a pained expression of wounded 

 dignity. 



About 4 p.m. we reach Ankwasi, the head- 

 quarters of the Guengue Prazo, the property of my 

 old friend Senhor J. de Moctezuma. 



We proceed at 5.30, and tie up for the night a 

 Httle below Tambara, which we shall see early 

 to-morrow morning. 



The following day the Fort of Tambara is 

 passed at an early hour. It is a whitewashed, 

 stone structure built to imitate the old types of 

 Portuguese stronghold. It occupies a fine com- 

 manding position on the extremity of a high ridge 

 overlooking the river, but, considering the character 

 of the natives as a defence against whom it has 

 been devised, it must have cost about eight or 

 ten times the amount of money and labour that 

 it need have done. This building is, 1 am informed, 

 the dwelling of the sub-district collector, under the 

 direction of the chief official at Sena. The banks 

 of the river are very thickly populated hereabout, 

 the gardens of maize, millet, and other commodities 

 extending in many places to the water's edge, and 

 even to the islands in mid-channel. Creditably 

 devised life-sized figures of men made of straw and 

 reeds, with imitation guns in their hands, are 

 stationed at intervals on the river bank to scare 

 away hippopotami, which I am told do great 

 damage to the native crops. 



And now, straight ahead, a barrier of low, undu- 

 lating hiUs proclaims our nearness to the beautiful 



6 



