i6 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



with the natives, and in the management of several 

 plantations. 



Gustave Denhardt, in company with his brother and 

 the late Dr. Fischer, had been the first to ascend the 

 Tana River. At this time he had been a resident of 

 that portion of the country about twelve years ; during 

 which period he had endeared himself to the natives, 

 and had acquired a considerable influence over them. 

 Both Messrs. Denhardt and Teide proved of the great- 

 est assistance to our expedition, and we are much 

 indebted to them for their kind offices. 



Having decided to make use of the Tana River as a 

 means of transporting a portion of our goods a distance 

 of 200 miles into the interior, it became necessary for 

 me to engage canoes and boatmen for the purpose. 

 Shortly after my arrival at Mkonumbi, Mr. Denhardt 

 and I set out for Kau, on the banks of the Tana River, 

 to arrange our little river column. We engaged eight 

 large dug-outs ; and, through Mr. Denhardt's relations 

 with the natives inhabiting this portion of the banks 

 of the Tana, I was enabled to engage twenty boatmen. 



These people are called Pokomo. They are here 

 small cultivators, and derive most of the means for 

 their subsistence from their canoes, which are much in 

 demand to convey the produce (such as rice, corn, etc.) 

 grown near the banks of the Tana at inland points to 

 the coast, whence it is shipped to Lamoo. Living, as 

 they do, in small, ill-protected villages, they are an 

 easy mark for the raiders from Pumwani and Jongeni ; 

 who, when the crops are ripe, swarm down upon the 

 Pokomo, and force them to cut their crops and carry 

 them away to these two towns. In physique, as a 



