i6o 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



able to get a sight at him, he had quenched his thirst 

 and disappeared in the bushes. That night my poor 

 men went supperless to bed, and during the night the 

 porter, who had been suffering from exhaustion and the 

 effects of dysentery, died. We were careful to bury him 

 in such a manner that his grave would not be noticed 

 by the natives ; as these people do not bury their dead, 

 but throw them to the hyenas, being much averse to the 

 interment of a corpse in their territory, as they consider 

 it will have an evil effect upon their crops. 



The next day Lieutenant von Hohnel and I went to 

 a neighbouring hill and surveyed the Wamsara territory. 

 We found that we were encamped near the edge of a 

 forest. From the forest to the highest peak of the 

 Jombeni range, quite ten miles away, all was cultivation. 

 Between us and the peak there stretched a wide valley, 

 surrounded by low, red-clay hills. The available surface 

 of the valley seemed to be covered with half-grown 

 millet. On the hillsides we counted a large number of 

 beehive-shaped straw huts. On this morning we had 

 been awakened by the cries of men, instead of the 

 barking of zebra or the howl of the hungry hyena. 

 Warriors and old men came in parties of twenty and 

 thirty, until at length about 300 were in sight. No 

 women came. This we knew to be a bad sign, as 

 the natives invariably show their peaceful intentions to 

 a caravan by permitting their women to visit it. Then, 

 too, almost all trading is done by the women ; so from 

 their absence we apprehended another day of no market. 



After a great deal of talk, Motio succeeded in pur- 

 chasing three yams and a package of tobacco. We 

 found the tobacco of the Wamsara to be very strong, 



