234 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chai\ IX. 



and then along it northwards till it vanished in forest. Slept 

 without a fresh supply of water. 



25th September. — Off at 5.30 a.m., through the same well- 

 grown forest we have passed and came to a village stockade, 

 where the gates were shut, and the men all outside, in fear 

 of the Arabs ; we then descended from the ridge on which 

 it stood, about a thousand feet, into an immense plain, with 

 a large river in the distance, some ten miles off. 



26th September. — Two and a half hours brought us to the 

 large river we saw yesterday; it is more than a mile wide 

 and full of papyrus and other aquatic plants and very 

 difficult to ford, as the papyrus roots are hard to the bare 

 feet, and we often plunged into holes up to the waist. A 

 loose mass floated in the middle of our path ; one could 

 sometimes get on along this while it bent and heaved under 

 the weight, but through it he would plunge and find great 

 difficulty to get out : the water under this was very cold 

 from evaporation ; it took an hour and a half to cross it. 

 It is called Chisera, and winds away to the west to fall 

 into the Kalongosi and Moero. Many animals, as elephants, 

 tahetsis, zebras, and buffaloes, graze on the long sloping- 

 banks of about a quarter of a mile down, while the ranges 

 of hills we crossed as mere ridges now appear behind us in 

 the south. 



21th September. — The people are numerous and friendly. 

 One elephant was killed, and we remained to take the 

 ivory from the dead beast ; buffaloes and zebras were also 

 killed. It was so cloudy that no observations could be 

 taken to determine our position, but Chisera rises in Lopere. 

 Further west it is free of papyrus, and canoes are required 

 to cross it. 



28$ September. — Two hours north brought us to the 

 Kamosenga, a river eight yards wide, of clear water which 

 ran strongly among aquatic plants. Hippopotami, buffalo, 

 and zebra abound. This goes into the Chisera eastwards ; 



