GULLS ON THE TANGANYIKA. 



61 



are accustomed to do at Aden when preparing to migrate. 

 The common kingfisher is a large bird with a white and 

 grey plume, a large and strong black bill, and a crest 

 which somewhat resembles that of the Indian bulbul: 

 it perches upon the branches over the waters, and in 

 flight and habits resembles other halcyons. A long and 

 lank black plotus, or diver, is often seen skimming the 

 waters, and sandpipers run along the yellow sands. 

 The other birds are the white-breasted " parson-crow," 

 partridges, and quails seen in Urundi ; swallows in pas- 

 sage, curlews, motacillae, muscicapae, and various pas- 

 serines. Banae, some of them noisy in the extreme, 

 inhabit the sedges close to the lake. The termite does 

 great damage in the sweet red soils about Kawele : it is 

 less feared when the ground is dry and sandy. The 

 huts are full of animal life- — snakes, scorpions, ants of 

 various kinds, whose armies sometimes turn the occu- 

 pants out of doors; the rafters are hollowed out by 

 xylophagous insects ; the walls are riddled by mason- 

 bees, hideous spiders veil the corners with thick webs, 

 the chirp of the cricket is heard both within and out of 

 cloors, cockroaches destroy the provisions, and large 

 brown mosquitoes and flies, ticks and bugs, assault the 

 inhabitants. 



The rise in the price of slaves and ivory has compelled 

 Arab merchants, as will be seen in another chapter, to 

 push their explorations beyond the Tanganyika Lake. 

 Ujiji is, however, still the great slave-mart of these re- 

 gions, the article being collected from all the adjoining 

 tribes of Urundi, Uhha, Uvira, and Marungu. The native 

 dealers, however, are so acute, that they are rapidly 

 ruining this their most lucrative traffic. They sell 

 cheaply, and think to remunerate themselves by aiding 

 and abetting desertion. Merchants, therefore, who do 



