18G7.] ILLNESS. LAKE LIEMBA AT LAST. 203 



I went outside the hut, but there they swarmed everywhere ; 

 they covered the legs, biting furiously ; it is only when they 

 are tired that they leave off. 



One good trait of the Balungu up here is, they retire 

 when they see food brought to anyone, neither Babisa nor 

 Makoa had this sense of delicacy : the Babemba are equally 

 polite. 



We have descended considerably into the broad valley of 

 the Lake, and it feels warmer than on the heights. Cloth 

 here is more valuable, inasmuch as bark-cloth is scarce. 

 The skins of goats and wild animals are used, and the kilt 

 is very diminutive among the women. 



22nd March. — Cross Loela, thirty feet wide and one deep, 

 and meet with tsetse fly, though we have seen none since 

 we left Chitapangwa's. Kasonso gave us a grand reception, 

 and we saw men present from Tanganyika; I saw cassava 

 here, but not in plenty. 



28th March. — Set-in rain and Chuma fell ill. There are 

 cotton bushes of very large size here of the South American 

 kind. After sleeping in various villages and crossing nu- 

 merous streams, we came to Mombo's village, near the ridge 

 overlooking the Lake. 



Slst March, and 1st April, 1867. — I was too ill to march 

 through. I offered to go on the 1st, but Kasonso's son, who 

 was with us, objected. We went up a low ridge of hills at 

 its lowest part, and soon after passing the summit the blue 

 water loomed through the trees. I was detained, but soon 

 heard the boys firing their muskets on reaching the edge 

 of the ridge, which allowed of an undisturbed view. This 

 is the south-eastern end of Liemba, or, as it is sometimes 

 called, Tanganyika.* We had to descend at least 2000 

 feet before we got to the level of the Lake. It seems 



* It subsequently proved to be the southern extremity of this great 

 Lake. 



