AT MIKOCHENI 



75 



Mikocheni, where we were now camped, is on the shores of 

 the Pangani river, 1,800 feet above the sea-level, and is over- 

 shadowed by many trees, chiefly doum palms ; hence its name, 

 which signifies, near the doum palms. 1 Outside the thicket, on 

 the banks of the stream, the view extends on the north to the 

 precipitous Pare mountains, rising from 2,618 to 2,945 feet 

 above the plain, and on the east to the isolated Mount Lasa, 

 whilst beyond them both is the still visible Usambara range. 



Mikocheni is often visited by caravans, and the ground is 

 strewn with the rubbish left behind by them, so that there is 

 of course plenty of vermin ; scorpions abound, and there are 

 such countless fleas that the luckless traveller does not get a 

 moment's peace. 



Here a plan was ripened which was the result of our 

 separation, The tract of country on the Pangani, some forty- 

 three miles in extent, between Mikocheni and Upuni was still 

 quite unknown — that is to say, it had not yet been explored by 

 Europeans. Count Teleki was very much interested in this 

 district ; but it would not do to attempt to traverse it with the 

 whole Expedition, so I was to be sent on by the ordinary 

 caravan route, skirting the Pare range to Same, where we 

 were to meet again. Count Teleki started on March 13, with 

 about eighty men, to follow the course of the river, and I re- 

 mained encamped another day, to give my people time to rest. 



I turned this pause to account by climbing one of the 

 lower heights of the Pare range, so as to look down upon the 



1 This is how most of the caravan halting-places get their names. For instance, 

 Mxkivajuni means near the tamarinds ; Mibuyuni, near the baobabs; Miwirimi, 

 near the medlars. Other names of frequent occurrence are Mtoni, or near the 

 stream ; Massimani, near the water-hole. Other places are named after the wild 

 animals in their neighbourhood ; for instance, Malago hanga means the home of 

 the guinea-fowl ; Malago tembos, the elephant camp ; and Malago faru, the 

 rhinoceros haunt ; these names being retained long after all the animals are ex- 

 terminated. When the camp is by the path it is called Indyiani ; if it is in a 

 wood it is nsitoni, and if it is on a thorny steppe it is nyihani or porini ; and so on. 



