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



This is much colder than his country. Another is blind 

 from ophthalmia. 



Great hopes are held that the war which has lasted 

 a full year will now be brought to a close, and Mirambo 

 either be killed or flee. As he is undoubtedly an able man, 

 his flight may involve much trouble and guerilla warfare. 



Clear cold weather, and sickly for those who have only 

 thin clothing, and not all covered. 



The women work very hard in providing for their 

 husbands' kitchens. The rice is the most easily prepared 

 grain : three women stand round a huge wooden mortar with 

 pestles in their hands, a gallon or so of the un'husked rice — 

 called Mopunga here and paddy in India — is poured in, and 

 the three heavy pestles worked in exact time ; each jerks 

 up her body as she lifts the pestle and strikes it into the 

 mortar with all her might, lightening the labour with some 

 wild ditty the while, though one hears by the strained voice 

 that she is nearly out of breath. When the husks are pretty 

 well loosened, the grain is put into a large plate-shaped 

 basket and tossed so as to bring the chaff to one side, the 

 vessel is then heaved downwards and a little horizontal 

 motion given to it which throws the refuse out ; the par- 

 tially cleared grain is now returned to the mortar, again 

 pounded and cleared of husks, and a semicircular toss of 

 the vessel sends all the remaining unhusked grain to one 

 side, which is lifted out with the hand, leaving the chief 

 part quite clean : they certainly work hard and well. The 

 maize requires more labour by far: it is first pounded to 

 remove the outer scales from the grain, then steeped for 

 three days in water, then pounded, the scales again sepa- 

 rated by the shallow-basket tossings, then pounded fine, and 

 the fine white flour separated by the basket from certain 

 hard rounded particles, which are cooked as a sort of 

 granular porridge — -" Mtyelle." 

 - When Ntaoeka chose to follow us rather than go to the 



