252 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



tamarind, and sent our men abroad to collect pro- 

 visions. Tobacco was cheap, as at Rudi, grain and milk, 

 whether fresh or sour, were expensive, and two shukkahs 

 were demanded for a lamb or a young goat. The 

 people of Mporota are notorious pilferers, About noon- 

 tide a loud " hooroosh " and the scampering of spear- 

 men over the country announced a squabble ; presently 

 our people reappeared driving before them a flock 

 which they had seized in revenge for a daring attempt 

 at larceny. I directed them to retain one fine specimen 

 — the lex talionis is ever the first article of the penal 

 code in the East — and to return the rest. Notwith- 

 standing these energetic measures, the youth Taufiki 

 awaking in the night with a shriek like one affected by 

 nightmare, found that a Mhehe robber had snatched his 

 cloth, and favoured by the shades had escaped with im- 

 punity. The illness of Said bin Salim detained us for 

 a dav in this den of thieves. 



The 12th December carried us in three hours from 

 Mporota to Ikuka of Uhehe. The route wound over red 

 steps amongst low stony hills, the legs of the spider- 

 like system, and the lay of the heights was in exceeding 

 confusion. Belted by thorny scrub and forests of wild 

 fruit trees — some edible, others poisonous — were several 

 villages, surrounded by fields, especially rich in ground- 

 nuts. Beyond Ikuka the road entered stony and 

 rugged land, with a few sparse cultivations almost 

 choked by thick bushy jungle ; the ragged villages con- 

 tained many dogs, and a few peculiarly hideous human 

 beings. Thence it fell into a fine Fiumara, with pure 

 sweet water in pools, breaking the surface of loose white 

 sand ; upon the banks, red soil, varying from a few 

 inches to 20 feet in depth, overlay bands and lines of 

 rounded pebbles, based on beds of granite, schiste, and 



