Chap. XXIV. THE LAKELET CHIA. 505 



tinuous village of temporary huts. The people had brought 

 a little corn with them ; but they said, " What shall we eat 

 when that is done ? When we plant corn, the wild beasts 

 (Zinyama, as they call the Mazitu) come and take it. When 

 we plant cassava, they do the same. How are we to live?" 

 A poor blind woman, thinking we were Mazitu, rushed off in 

 front of us with outspread arms, lifting the feet high, in the 

 manner peculiar to those who have lost their sight, and 

 jumped into the reeds of a stream for safety. 



In our way along the shores we crossed several running 

 rivulets of clear cold water, which, from having reeds at their 

 confluences, had not been noticed in our previous exploration 

 in the boat. One of these was called Mokola, and another 

 had a strong odour of sulphuretted hydrogen. We reached 

 Molamba on the 8th September, and found our old acquaint- 

 ance, Nkomo, there still. One of the advantages of travel- 

 ling along the shores of the Lake was, that we could bathe 

 anywhere in its clear fresh water. To us, who had been 

 obliged so often to restrain our inclination in the Zambesi and 

 Shire for fear of crocodiles, this was pleasant beyond mea- 

 sure. The water now was of the same temperature as it was 

 on our former visit, or 72° Fahr. The immense depth of 

 the Lake prevents the rays of the sun from raising the tem- 

 perature as high as that of the Shire and Zambesi; and 

 the crocodiles, having always clear water in 'the Lake, 

 and abundance of fish, rarely attack man ; many of these 

 reptiles could be seen basking on the rocks. 



A day's march beyond Molamba brought us to the lakelet 

 Chia, which lies parallel with the Lake. It is three or four 

 miles long, by from one to one and a half broad, and com- 

 municates with the Lake by an arm of good depth, but with 

 some rocks in it. As we passed up between the Lake and 

 the eastern shore of this lakelet, we did not see any 



