1866.] RICHARD FALLS OUT OF THE MARCH. 47 



tribe north of him and the Rovuma) stealing his people. 

 Lat. of village, 11° 22' 49" S. The river being about 2' north, 

 still shows that it makes a trend to the north after we pass 

 Ngoniano. Makochera has been an elephant hunter. Few 

 acknowledge as a reason for slaving that sowing and spinning 

 cotton for clothing is painful. I waited some days for the 

 Nassick boys, who are behind, though we could not buy any 

 food except at enormous prices and long distances off. 

 ! 1th June. — The havildar and two sepoys came up with 

 Abraham, but Richard, a Nassick boy, is still behind from 

 weakness. I sent three off to help him with the only 

 ■cordials we could muster. The sepoys sometimes profess 

 inability to come on, but it is unwillingness to encounter 

 hardship : I must move on whether they come or not, for 

 we cannot obtain food here. I sent the sepoys some cloth, 

 and on the 8th proposed to start, but every particle of food 

 had been devoured the night before, so we despatched two 

 parties to scour the country round, and give any price rather 

 than want. 



I could not prevail on Makochera to give me a specimen 

 of poetry ; he was afraid, neither he nor his forefathers 

 had ever seen an Englishman. He thought that God was 

 not good because He killed so many people. Dr. Eoscher 

 must have travelled as an Arab if he came this way, for he 

 was not known.* 



9th June. — We now left and marched through the same 

 sort of forest, gradually ascending in altitude as we went 

 west, then we came to huge masses of granite, or syenite, 

 with flakes peeling off. They are covered with a plant 

 with grassy-looking leaves and rough stalk which strips 

 into portions similar to what are put round candles as orna- 



* It will be remembered tbat this German traveller was murdered near 

 Lake Xyassa. The native chiefs denounced his assassins, and sent them 

 to Zanzibar, where they were executed. — Ed. 



