THE WAKIMBU. 



19 



which infests the forest-patches of Unyamwezi : it is 

 about the size of a small wasp, and is so fatal that cattle 

 attacked by it are at once killed and eaten before they 

 become carrion from its venomous effects. In parts 

 the country is dotted with ant-hills, which, when old, 

 become hard as sandstone : they are generally built by 

 the termite under some shady tree, which prevents too 

 rapid drying, and apparently the people have not 

 learned, like their brethren in South Africa, to use them 

 as ovens. 



From Tura westward to Unyanyembe, the central 

 district of Unyamwezi, caravans usually number seven 

 marches, making a total of 60 rectilinear geographical 

 miles. As far as Kigwa there is but one line of route ; 

 from that point travelling parties diverge far and wide, 

 like ships making their different courses. 



The races requiring notice in this region are two, the 

 Wakimbu and the Wanyamwezi. 



The Wakimbu, who are emigrants into Unyamwezi, 

 claim a noble origin, andclerive themselves from thebroad 

 lands running south of Unyanyembe as far westward as 

 K'hokoro. About twenty masika, wet monsoons, or years 

 ago, according to themselves, in company with their 

 neighbours, the Wakonongo and the Wamia, they left 

 Nguru, Usanga, and Usenga, in consequence of the 

 repeated attacks of the Warori, and migrated to Kipiri, 

 the district lying south of Tura; they have now ex- 

 tended into Mgunda Mk'hali and Unyanyembe, where 

 they hold the land by permission of the Wanyamwezi. 

 In these regions there are few obstacles to immigrants. 

 They visit the Sultan, make a small present, obtain per- 

 mission to settle, and name the village after their own 

 chief ; but the original proprietors still maintain their rights 

 to the soil. The Wakimbu build firmly stockaded villages, 



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