386 NYAMPUNGO, THE RAIN-CHARMER. 



the powerful rays of the sun, we were all completely tired 

 out. He likewise gave us a bad character at every village 

 we passed, calling to them that they were to allow him to 

 lead us astray, as we were a bad set. Sekwebu knew 

 every word he said, and, as he became intolerable, I dis- 

 missed him, giving him six feet of calico I had bought from 

 native traders, and telling him that his tongue was a 

 nuisance. It is in general best, when a scolding is neces- 

 sary, to give it in combination with a present, and then end 

 it by good wishes. This fellow went off smiling ; and my 

 men remarked, " His tongue is cured now." 



loth. — The head-man of these parts is named Nyampungo. 

 1 sent the last fragment of cloth we had, with a request 

 that we should be furnished with a guide to the next chief. 

 After a long conference with his council, the cloth was 

 returned with a promise of compliance and a request for 

 some beads only. This man is supposed to possess the 

 charm for rain, and other tribes send to him to beg it. 

 This shows that what we inferred before was correct, — that 

 less rain falls in this country than in Londa. Nyampungo 

 behaved in quite a gentlemanly manner, presented me 

 with some rice, and told my people to go among all the 

 villages and beg for themselves. An old man, father-in-law 

 of the chief, told me that he had seen books before, but 

 never knew what they meant. They pray to departed 

 chiefs and relatives, but the idea of praying to God seemed 

 new, and they heard it with reverence. As this was an 

 intelligent old man, I asked him about the silver; but he 

 was as ignorant of it as the rest, and said, " We never dug 

 silver, but we have washed for gold in the sands of the 

 livers Mazoe and Luia, which unite in the Luenya." I 

 think that this is quite conclusive on the question of no 

 silver having been dug by the natives of this district. 

 Nyampungo is afflicted with a kind of disease called Se 

 sen da, which I imagine to be a species of leprosy common 

 in this quarter, — though they are a cleanly people. They 

 never had cattle. The chief's father had always lived in 



