1809.] THE MANYUEMA HILLS. 25 



of the camp for necessary purposes, lest the Maiiyuema 

 should kill them. Here was the barrier to traders going 

 north, for the very people among whom we now are, murdered 

 anyone carrying a tusk, till last year, when Moene-mokaia, 

 or Katomba, got into friendship with Moenekuss, who pro- 

 tected his people, and always behaved in a generous sen- 

 sible manner. Dilongo, now a chief here, came to visit us : 

 his elder brother died, and he was elected ; he does not 

 wash in consequence, and is very dirty. 



Two buffaloes were killed yesterday. The people have 

 their bodies tattooed with new and full moons, stars, croco- 

 diles, and Egyptian gardens. 



19th September. — We crossed several rivulets three yards 

 to twelve yards, and calf deep. The mountain where we 

 camped is called Sangomelambe. 



20th September. — Up to a broad range of high mountains 

 of light grey granite ; there are deep dells on the top filled 

 with gigantic trees, and having running rills in them. Some 

 trees appear with enormous roots, buttresses in fact like 

 mangroves in the coast swamps, six feet high at the trunk 

 and flattened from side to side to about three inches in 

 diameter. There are many villages dotted over the slopes 

 which we climbed ; one had been destroyed, and revealed 

 the hard clay walls and square forms of Manyuema houses. 

 Our path lay partly along a ridge, with a deep valley on 

 each side : one on the left had a valley filled with primeval 

 forests, into which elephants when Avounded escape com- 

 pletely. The forest was a dense mass, without a bit of 

 ground to be seen except a patch on the S.W., the bottom 

 of this great valley was 2000 feet below us, then ranges of 

 mountains with villages on their bases rose as far as they 

 could reach. On our right there was another deep but 

 narrow gorge, and mountains much higher than on our 

 ridge close adjacent. Our ridge looked like a glacier, 

 and it wound from side to side, and took us to the edge 



