172 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. VII. 



made by the feet of elephants or buffaloes. In the ooze 

 generally the water comes half-way up the shoe, and we go 

 plash, plash, plash, in the lawn-like glade. There are no 

 people here now in these lovely wild valleys ; but to-day Ave 

 came to mounds made of old for planting grain, and slag 

 from iron furnaces. The guide was rather offended because 

 he did not get meat and meal, though he is accustomed to 

 leaves at home, and we had none to give except by wanting 

 ourselves : he found a mess without much labour in the 

 forest. My stock of meal came to an end to-day, but Simon 

 gave me some of his. It is not the unpleasantness of eating- 

 unpalatable food that teases one, but we are never satisfied ; 

 I could brace myself to dispose of a very unsavoury mess, 

 and think no more about it; but this maere engenders a 

 craving which plagues day and night incessantly. 



10th January. — We crossed the Muasi, flowing strongly to 

 the east to the Loangwa River. 



In the afternoon an excessively heavy thunderstorm 

 wetted us all to the skin before any shelter could be made. 

 Two of our men wandered, and other two remained behind 

 lost, as our track was washed out by the rains. The country 

 is a succession of enormous waves, all covered with jungle, 

 and no traces of paths ; we were in a hollow, and our firing 

 was not heard till this morning, when we ascended a height 

 and were answered. I am thankful that no one was lost, for 

 a man might wander a long time before reaching a village. 

 Simon gave me a little more of his meal this morning, and 

 went without himself: I took my belt up three holes to 

 relieve hunger. We got some wretched wild fruit like that 

 called " jambos" in India, and at midday reached the village 

 of Chafuuga. Famine here too, but some men had killed an 

 elephant and came to sell the dried meat : it was high, and 

 so were their prices ; but we are obliged to give our best 

 from this craving hunger. 



12th January. — Sitting down this morning near a tree 

 my head was just one yard off a good-sized cobra, coiled up 



