350 HOSPITALITY OF THE PEOPLE. CHAP. XIII. 



the village was very sweet. We liad dined the evening 

 before on a pigeon each, and had eaten only a handful of 

 kitedzi porridge this afternoon. The good wife of the 

 village took a little corn which she had kept for seed, 

 ground it after dark, and made it into porridge. This, and 

 a cup of wild vegetables of a sweetish taste for a relish, a 

 little boy brought in and put down, with several vigorous 

 claps of his hands, in the manner which is esteemed 

 polite, and which is strictly enjoined on all children. 



On the third day of separation, Akosanjere, the head- 

 man of this village, conducted us forward to our party 

 who had gone on to Nseze, a district to the westward. 

 This incident is mention ed, not for any interest it pos- 

 sesses, apart from the idea of the people it conveys. We 

 were completely separated from our men for nearly three 

 days, and had nothing wherewith to purchase food. The 

 people were sorely pressed by famine and war, and their 

 hospitality, poor as it was, did them great credit, and was 

 most grateful to us. Our own men had become confused 

 and wandered, but had done their utmost to find us ; on 

 our rejoining them, the ox was slain, and all, having been 

 on short commons, rejoiced in this " day of slaughter." 

 Akosanjere was, of course, rewarded to his heart's content. 



As we pursued our way, we came close up to a range 

 of mountains, the most prominent peak .of which is called 

 Mvai. This is a great, bare, rounded block of granite 

 shooting up from the rest of the chain. It and several 

 other masses of rock are of a light grey colour, with 

 white patches, as if of lichens; the sides and summits 

 are generally thinly covered with rather scraggy trees. 

 There are several other prominent peaks — one, for in- 

 stance, still further north, called Chirobve. Each has a 

 name, but we could never ascertain that there was an 

 appellation which applied to the whole. This fact, and 

 our wish to commemorate the name of Dr. Kirk, induced 





