274 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



hours. In one point they resemble the Bedouins of 

 Arabia : the chief will entertain his guests hospitably 

 as long as they remain in his village, but he will 

 plunder them the moment they leave it. 



On the 19th January the expected down-caravan 

 of Wanyamwezi arrived, and I found no difficulty in 

 completing our carriage — a fair proof^ be it remarked, 

 that I had not lost the confidence of the people. The 

 Mtongi, however, was, or perhaps pretended to be, ill ; 

 we were, therefore, delayed for another day in a place 

 which had no charms for us. 



The 21st January enabled us to bid adieu to Zungo- 

 mero and merrily to take the foothpath way. We 

 madeKonduchi on the 3rd February, after twelve marches, 

 which were accomplished in fifteen days. There was 

 little of interest or adventure in this return-line, of 

 which the nine first stations had already been visited 

 and described. As the Yegea mud, near Dut'humi, 

 Was throat-deep, we crossed it lower down : it was still 

 a weary trudge of several miles through thick slabby 

 mire, which admitted a man to his knees. In places, 

 after toiling under a sickly sun, we crept under the 

 tunnels of thick jungle-growth veiling the Mgazi and 

 other streams ; the dank and fetid cold caused a deadly 

 sensation of faintness, which was only relieved by a 

 glass of aether- sherbet, a pipe or two of the strongest 

 tobacco, and half an hour's repose. By degrees 

 it was found necessary to abandon the greater part 

 of the remaining outfit and the luggage : the Wany- 

 amwezi, as they neared their destination, became 

 even less manageable than before, and the sons of 

 Kamji now seemed to consider their toils at an end. 

 On the 25th January we forded the cold, strong, yellow 

 stream of the Mgeta, whose sandy bed had engulfed my 



