54 THE LAKE REGIONS OP CENTRAL AFRICA. 



less extortionate than their neighbours. It is a sandy 

 spot, clear of white ants, but shut out by villages and 

 cultivation from the lovely view of the lake. To one 

 standing at Kawele all these districts and villages are 

 within two or three miles, and a distant glance discloses 

 the possessions of half-a-dozen independent tribes. 



Caravans entering Ujiji from the land side usually 

 encamp in the outlying villages on the right or left bank 

 of the Euche, at considerable inconvenience, for some 

 days. The origin of this custom appears to date from 

 olden time. In East Africa, as a rule, every stranger 

 is held to be hostile before he has proved friendly in- 

 tentions, and many tribes do not admit him into their 

 villages without a special invitation. Thus, even in 

 the present day, the visitor in the countries of the 

 Somal and Galla, the Wamasai and the Wakwafi, must 

 sit under some tree outside the settlement till a depu- 

 tation of elders, after formally ascertaining his purpose, 

 escort him to their homes. The modern reason for the 

 custom, which prevails upon the coast, as well as on the 

 banks of the Tanganyika, is rather commercial than 

 political. The caravan halts upon neutral ground, and 

 the sultans or chiefs of the different villages send select 

 messengers carrying various presents: in the interior 

 ivory and slaves, and in the maritime regions cloth and 

 provisions, technically called " Magubiko," and intended 

 as an earnest of their desire to open trade. Sweet 

 words and fair promises win the day ; the Mtongi, or 

 head of the caravan, after a week of earnest deliberation 

 with all his followers, chooses his host, temporary 

 lodgings are provided for the guests, and the value of 

 the retaining fees is afterwards recovered in Honga and 

 Kiremba — blackmail and customs. This custom was 

 known in Southern Africa by the name of "marts;" 



