158 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



Arabo- African blood, however, neglecting the appointed 

 station in the eagerness of hurry, he marched on with 

 Said bin Majid's men to at least double the distance, 

 thus placing himself out of Kannena's reach, and 

 throwing all my arrangements into direst confusion. 



Meanwhile, having breakfasted, we sat till the after- 

 noon in the now empty and deserted Tembe, expecting 

 the return of the slaves. As none appeared, I was 

 induced by the utter misery depicted in the coun- 

 tenances of the Baloch, and trusting that the return- 

 porters would meet us on the way, to give orders for a 

 march about 4 p.m., to mount my manchil, and to set 

 out carried by only two men. Scarcely had I left the 

 Tembe when a small party, headed by Said bin Salim's 

 four children, passed by me at speed. Though sum- 

 moned to halt, they sped onwards, apparently intending 

 to fetch the loads from the house, and thus to relieve 

 those left behind as a guard ; it proved afterwards that 

 they were bound for the bazar to buy plantains for their 

 patroon. Meanwhile, hurrying on with one Baloch, the 

 astute Gul Mohammed, Valentine, and three sons of 

 Ramji, as the shades of evening closed around us, we 

 reached, without guide or direction from the surly 

 villagers, the ferry of the Ruche River. Disappointed 

 at not finding the camp at the place proposed, we were 

 punted across the Styx-like stream ; and for what reason 

 no man could say, the party took the swampy road along 

 the Bay of Ukaranga. The mosquitos stung like 

 wasps ; the loud spoutings and the hollow bursts of 

 bellow, snort, and grunt of the hippopotami — in these 

 lands they are brave as the bulls of the Spanish sierras 

 — and the roar of the old male crocodile startled the 

 party, whilst the porters had difficulty in preserving 

 their balance as they waded through water waist-deep, 

 and crept across plains of mud, mire, and sea-ooze. 



