953 LIFE OF DA VII) LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



tain time of tide, are surrounded by water. The main part of the place 

 stands near the sea, and is a straggling collection of mud and straw huts, with 

 one room set apart for the reception of strangers. It was raining on the day 

 I was there, and walking across the muddy wastes was like walking on ice 

 which had been ploughed. A friendly man invited me first under his um- 

 brella, then into his house, and, whilst waiting, sent one of his slave-boys to 

 pick some green cocoa-nuts for the juice. The way these boys climb a tree 

 is by tying their feet about four inches apart, and by fingers and toes dexter- 

 ously used they quickly reach the fruit. 



" There is a peculiar relationship here called ' little mother.' It is aunt, 

 the mother's sister. One day we were asked to give some money to purchase 

 medicine for the ' little mother ;' and rather to the young man's discomfiture, 

 we asked to see her. On arriving, we found her lying on one of the country 

 beds, wooden frame, with cocoa-nut fibre rope forming the net between, and 

 the doctor examining could not discover anything wrong. She was offered 

 medicine, but said her only cure lay in a dollar. As we met that disease so 

 often, we were obliged to leave the cure to nature. 



" On our return, we passed through the French Mission property, a well 

 cultivated estate of about seventy acres. It stands out as a silent witness to 

 the native population of what labour well directed can achieve. Eight years 

 ago all was jungle and forest; to-day it yields more than sufficient to supply 

 its two hundred or more boys and girls; also, I believe the vegetable and 

 animal wants of the European staff, but of that I am not quite sure. Since 

 my stay at Bagamoyo the maximum temperature has been 82°, and minimum 

 67°, with a regular sea-breeze, making the air cool and work pleasant." 



Writing from Mpwapwa, under date October 14th, 1876, Lieut. Smith 

 gives an outline of the journey to that place. He and Dr. Smith reached Phuni 

 on the 23rd of September ; and, having on the march received a letter from 

 Mr. Mackay, saying he was very ill, Lieut. Smith hurried forward to render 

 what assistance he could. On the 26th he crossed the Wami by a capital 

 bridge for Africa, part suspension, part tressle, the suspenders being formed 

 of lianes and stout creepers. As they approached Mpwapwa the country be- 

 came hilly, and sheep villages were scattered along the route. Cattle also 

 became plentiful, and the people appeared more independent and bold in 

 manner. The last two days were saddened, as they found themselves in the 

 track of an inhuman leader, the men of whose caravan, dying of small-pox 

 and dysentery, were left on the road. They removed the dead and stayed 

 by the dying, but they were past human aid. 



Three weeks later, under date Nov. 7th, Lieut. Smith writes from Un- 

 yambwa : " I have been obliged," he says, " to send our sick brother Mackay 

 back to Mpwapwa, or, if he feels strong enough, to Zanzibar. I am afraid to 

 trust him to the long marches. During the afternoon, the heat from the 



