EOVUMA BAY. 419 



On the 22d they reached Rovuma bay, and anchored about 

 two miles from the mouth of the river, in five fathoms water. 

 Two or three days careful inspection of the river and the neigh- 

 boring lands was enough to reveal the fact that there would be 

 very great difficulty in conveying the animals to the interior by 

 that route, and, following the advice of Lieutenant Garforth and 

 the captain of the dhow, the party turned back to Mikindany 

 bay, which lies twenty-five miles north of Rovuma, and on the 

 evening of the 24th landed all the animals and bade farewell to 

 the noble gentleman who had so kindly assisted them with his 

 ship. Our great traveller was now once more safely on African 

 soil, and the great sea ebbing and flowing heedlessly between 

 him and the sympathies and affection of all who could in any 

 sort appreciate his noble self-sacrifice or comprehend the nature 

 and importance of his undertakings. But he was inured to the 

 dangers, the privations, the loneliness and toils of travel. He 

 was self-reliant, and needed little else than the freedom to look 

 up to give him confidence. He did not underrate the difficul- 

 ties of African travel, he knew them too well ; but it was his 

 theory that " the sweat of one's brow is no longer a curse when 

 one works for God," and he had become accustomed to appre- 

 ciate severe exertion because it enhanced the charms of repose. 



The town of Kindany, as a starting point for a great expedi- 

 tion, was no better than no place ; the only advantage it offered 

 was that which would have existed as well had there been no 

 town there. The harbor is described as unsurpassed, if indeed 

 it is equalled, by any on the coast. It is entered by a deep 

 narrow channel, and inside, sheltered by semicircular highlands, 

 is the deep bay, about two miles square, where vessels enjoy 

 uncommon security from the winds which so often fall merci- 

 lessly on the small coasting ships of the region. There are a 

 number of houses lying along this bay, small square structures 

 of wattle and daub ; but there would be no evidence that the 

 harbor had been in use, or even known before the recent settle- 

 ment of its present claimants, if a few lingering ruins had not 

 endured the wear of centuries with their hints of an old time. 

 The people who live in the small square houses — the present 

 Kindanians — are the poorest possible specimens of the genus 

 homo, " the low-coast Arabs, three-quarters African." They are 



