LETTER FROM LIEUTENANT G. SHERGOLD SMITH. 809 



large trees obstructed the channel here and there ; but we suffered less incon- 

 venience from without than from within. Our own steam power was at fault, 

 and we had constantly to stop and anchor in order to raise sufficient steam 

 to go on with. Mackay attributes it in some measure to the muddy water 

 and in part to the coal. With wood only we could scarcely keep 15 lbs. of 

 steam. "With 60 lbs. of steam we attained a speed of 6 — 6£ miles an hour ; 

 screws fully immersed. 



"As we ascended the river the country became more open and hilly, 

 and apparently better populated, although no village of any size was seen 

 on its banks. Fowls, goats, and sheep, were not plentiful, and high prices 

 were charged accordingly. Indian corn and sugar-cane were cultivated. As 

 far as we could learn from the aged natives, no trade by boats had ever been 

 carried on. They all pointed to its tortuous course as a reason for preferring 

 the road to the river. We found that after toiling all day and covering per- 

 haps twenty miles of water, we had only advanced two hours of actual dis- 

 tance from point to point. The river, which during the freshets had been a 

 rapid torrent, twenty feet deep in places and over one hundred and twenty 

 yards wide, was now about seven to eight feet deep, and fifty to sixty yards 

 wide, falling, by our measurement taken on entering and leaving, at the 

 rate of one foot per week. In six weeks' time it would be f ordable ; and 

 even the ' Daisy' would scarcely float in the pools which would mark the 

 river's bed 



" At the last village near which we stopped, Bomauni, the chief, Gulu- 

 liausi by name, became very exacting, and wanted a hongo of the value 

 of three slaves — forty dollars. We gave him two cloths, receiving in re- 

 turn a goat and some corn. We learned from the men whom the chief sent 

 to negotiate — for he would not appear in person, nor allow us to enter his 

 village — that some time ago a rebellion took place in their country — Udol — 

 and that the Western tribes seceded from this chief's rule and set up a sepa- 

 rate kingdom, into which no townsmen, as the Zanzibar people are called, 

 were to be allowed to enter. These people have a bad name on the river, 

 and the guide who had come with us from Saadani refused to go any farther. 



" We stopped off Bomauni part of Saturday and all Sunday. I was glad 

 of the rest, for the fever, which had attacked me on the Wednesday, was now 

 at its worst, and I was a trouble to all. On Monday I decided to return, as 

 I saw no prospect of our being able to utilize the river. 1. The current is 

 too rapid for our rate of speed. 2. The river is so tortuous that a land jour- 

 ney could be performed in half the time. 3. It was falling so rapidly that, 

 had we succeeded in getting up, it would have been doubtful whether we 

 should have sufficient water to return. The river, in my judgment is useless 

 for purposes of trade, and I very much question if it has ever been used 

 as a means of conveying goods to the coast. 

 4c 



