946 LIFE OF DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LI.D. 



gorge comes out the beautiful stream which gives its name (Kitangule) to the 

 district, and which forms its principal water supply, although there are several 

 other smaller streams. To the northward, and round to the west and south- 

 west, are high ridges and detached hills, the whole enclosing a basin about ten 

 miles wide. The whole of this was covered with a fine and comparatively 

 short grass, such as I had often seen in the great pasture lands of the south. 

 There was but little bush, except along the course of the ravines. The large 

 spreading mimosa, growing in its usual fashion, here a solitary tree, there 

 a clump of half-a-dozen, gave to the open parts of the basin quite a park-like 

 appearance. As this lovely scene was viewed from the height which we had 

 attained, I could not help saying to my South African servant, ' Oh that 

 I had a wagon and a span of oxen now, and a proper African whip.' 



"As might be expected, when we descended into the Kitange basin, 

 considerable flocks and herds began to appear. But what was most interest- 

 ing to me, from a missionary point of view (although to men with empty 

 stomachs and good appetites the appearance of flocks and herds was by no 

 means uninteresting), was the sight of the villages with which the whole of 

 this great basin was dotted over. Look wherever I would, I could not fail 

 to discover several of these, often within rifle-shot of one another. Up the 

 sides of the great mountain, on both sides of the Kitange gorge, as far as the 

 eye could reach — east, west, north, and south — they were to be seen. The 

 villages are mostly of the Tembe kind. This mode of building seems neces- 

 sary in this part of the country, where they have none of the protection 

 afforded by the thickets nearer the coast. One of the saddest features of 

 the state of things in East Africa is the constant fear which the people 

 have of being attacked. It is a rare thing to see a male above the age of 

 twelve to fifteen, by day or by night — in the town or out of it, without arms 

 of some kind. 



"I need not say that this is another very important and inviting missionary 

 sphere. If there is anywhere a country so near the Equator where Europeans 

 could live and enjoy health, Kitange is such. Kitange combines pastoral and 

 agricultural advantages, although, in the latter respect, it is not equal to the 

 Nguru district. The population of Kitange consists principally of Wakaguru, 

 although there are a few people from other tribes there. Even the Masai 

 are represented there. The people of Kitange get much iron ore in the Ka- 

 guru-Usagara mountains." 



Of the twenty-six days from Saadani to Mpwapwa, nineteen were march- 

 ing days, and included stages of varying duration. " Mpwapwa," says Mr. 

 Price, "is decidedly dry, high and dry, and therefore healthy; and this is saying 

 a good deal of a place in Equatorial Africa. There is nothing like a swamp, 

 or anything that would generate malaria any where near, so far as I could see 

 or hear. In fact, I could not conceive the place to be otherwise than healthy for 



