IX 



TRAVELS m EASTERN AFRICA 



445 



from the Wakamba villages two or three days' march 

 distant. Almost daily he made attempts to cross the 

 river, and upon one occasion got within fifty yards of 

 the other bank, when owing to a shower of rain the 

 river suddenly rose, and it was with the utmost diffi- 

 culty that he and his men managed to avoid being 

 drowned. 



He at length decided to march to Hameye, and 

 there cross the river by means of the canoes possessed 

 by the Pokomo; but the rains had made the south 

 bank of the Tana so soft, and the undergrowth was 

 so thick, that he was forced to turn back. He then 

 decided to advance up the Tana until it decreased in 

 size, and then endeavour to cross. After four days' 

 marching he reached a tribe called Wathaka, who in- 

 habit both banks of the Tana at a point not more 

 than three days' march from Daitcho. These people 

 received him kindly, and volunteered to transport him 

 and all his goods to the opposite bank; which they 

 did. 



The Wathaka are really extraordinary swimmers. 

 They worked in the water in pairs. Each would put 

 a hand on the shoulder of his partner, and their arms 

 thus formed a resting-place for the men they were to 

 transport across the stream. The loads of merchan- 

 dise they transported in a different manner. They 

 made it up in parcels weighing about twenty pounds 

 each, which they placed upon their heads, and then 

 plunged into the stream. They did not swim with 

 the loads, but permitted themselves to be carried along 

 with the current, which here swept in the direction of 

 the opposite bank. Every few moments they would 



