Chap. XIII. the lakelet chia. 359 



continuous village of temporary huts. The people had 

 brought a little corn with them ; but they said, " What 

 shall we eat when that is done ? When we plant corn, 

 the wild beasts (Zinyama, as they call the Mazitu) come 

 and tase it. When we plant cassava, they do the same. 

 How are we to live ? " A poor blind woman, thinking 

 we were Mazitu, rushed off in front of us with outspread 

 arms, lifting the feet high, in the manner peculiar to 

 those who have lost their sight, and jumped into the reeds 

 of a stream for safety. 



In our way along the shores we crossed several running 

 rivulets of clear cold water, which, from having reeds at 

 their confluences, had not been noticed in our previous 

 exploration in the boat. One of these was called Mokola, 

 and another had a strong odour of sulphuretted hydrogen. 

 We rea3hed Molamba on the 8th September, and found 

 our old acquaintance, Nkomo, there still. One of the 

 advantages of travelling along the shores of the Lake was, 

 that we could bathe anywhere in its clear fresh water. 

 To us, who had been obliged so often to restrain our 

 inclination in the Zambesi and Shire for fear of crocodiles, 

 this was pleasant beyond measure. The water now was 

 of the same temperature as it was on our former visit, or 

 72° Fahr. T'ie immense depth of the Lake prevents the 

 rays of the srn from raising the temperature as high as 

 that of the Shire and Zambesi ; and the crocodiles, having 

 always clear ^ater in the Lake, and abundance of fish, 

 rarely attack nan ; many of these reptiles could be seen 

 basking on the rocks. 



A day's m^rch beyond Molamba brought us to the 

 lakelet Chia, which lies parallel with the Lake. It is 

 three or four miles long, by from one to one and a half 

 broad, and communicates with the Lake by an arm of 

 good depth, but with some rocks in it. As we passed up 

 between the Lakd and the eastern shore of this lakelet, we 



