IN SIGHT OF NYEMPS 



433 



on the sontli was a swamp, and near to its northern edge was 

 Nyemps Mdogo, or the smaller settlement. All this was pointed 

 out by Juma Mussa as eagerly as if the very promised land 

 were before us, and he wound up every statement with the 

 words ' Kescho Samaki, kescho ugali, kescho maboga, kescho 

 taschibba ! ' ('To-morrow there'll be fish, to-morrow there'll be 

 panada, to-morrow there'll be gourds, to-morrow our stomachs 

 will be full ! ') 



When we had gazed our fill, we proceeded on our way, 

 chiefly close to the edge of a ravine some 1,000 feet deep, 

 following a well-trodden game track not unlike an Alpine path, 

 leading for a considerable distance at a uniform height to the 

 edge of the slope, where a cleft with a gentle trend led down 

 into a wide valley. On our way down we had been able to 

 search the districts below us for water, and had noted a little 

 fresh green patch, probably a spring, looking like an oasis 

 amongst its dreary surroundings, at which we decided to camp. 

 We thought it very likely that Count Teleki, though he had 

 come by a different route, had been here before us, but we 

 found no traces of his caravan. 



We started again the next morning in the best of spirits, 

 cut across the valley, coming to another one on the west, 

 separated from the first by a low ridge, and found ourselves at 

 the edge of the last terrace some 1,000 feet above the plain of 

 Nyemps. This last stage of our mountain journey was so very 

 steep that the greatest caution was needed, and we carefully 

 sought for the best place at which to make the descent. Pre- 

 sently we had but one long mass, stretching away for several 

 miles and rising up perpendicularly to a height of over 90 feet, 

 between us and the plain. We safely surmounted this last 

 obstruction, and pressed on over a barren sand}' steppe to 

 a little inviting-looking acacia with fresh green foliage in 

 the distance. The sun was oppressively hot, and we paused for 

 VOL. I. F F 



