200 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. VIII. 



boys ; but when I pointed out the boy who had done it, he 

 said that he had been ordered to do it by the chief. If we 

 had gone in now we should have been looked on as having 

 come under considerable obligations. 



8th March. — We went on to a village on the Looinbe, 

 where the people showed an opposite disposition, for not 

 a soul was in it — all were out at their farms. When the 

 good wife of the place came she gave us all huts, which 

 saved us from a pelting shower. The boys herding 

 the goats did not stir as we passed down the sides of the 

 lovely valley. The Loombe looks a sluggish stream from a 

 distance. The herdsman said we were welcome, and he 

 would show the crossing next day, he also cooked some food 

 for us. 



Guided by our host, we went along the Loombe west- 

 wards till we reached the bridge (rather a rickety affair), 

 which, when the water is low may be used as a weir. 

 The Loombe main stream is 66 feet wide, 6 feet deep, 

 with at least 200 feet of flood beyond it. The water was 

 knee deep on the bridge, but clear; the flooded part beyond 

 was waist deep and the water flowing fast. 



All the people are now transplanting tobacco from the 

 spaces under the eaves of the huts into the fields. It seems 

 unable to bear the greater heat of summer : they plant also- 

 a kind of liranda, proper for the cold weather. We thought 

 that we were conferring a boon in giving peas, but Ave found 

 them generally propagated all over the country already, 

 and in the cold time too. We went along the Diola River 

 to an old hut and made a fire ; thence across country ta 

 another river, called Loendawe, 6 feet wide, and 9 feet deep. 



10th March. — I have been ill of fever ever since we left 

 Moaniba's ; every step I take jars in the chest, and I am. 

 very weak; I can scarcely keep up the march, though 

 formerly I was always first, and had to hold in my pace 

 not to leave the people altogether. I have a constant 



