THE JETTING WATER. 



159 



From Central Zungomero to the nearest ascent of the 

 Usagara Mountains is a march of five hours. The route, 

 emerging from the cultivated districts, leaves to the 

 right the Wigo Hills, so called, probably, from the fish- 

 ing weirs in the stagnant waters below, and in. the 

 Mgeta River, which flows through the plain. On the 

 left, and distant four or five miles, is a straggling line 

 of low cones : at the foot of one, somewhat larger than 

 its neighbours, rises the thermal spring known to the 

 people as the Maji ya W'heta, the Geyser, jetting- water, 

 or fontaine qui bouille. Its position is a gentle slope 

 between the hill-base and a dwarf Savannah which is 

 surrounded by high walls of jungly forest, and the water- 

 shed is from south to north. The hot water boils and 

 bubbles out of a white sand, here and there stained and 

 encrusted with oxide of iron. Upon the surface lie 

 caked and scaly sheets of calcareous tufa, expressed by 

 the spring, and around it are erratic boulders blackened 

 probably by the thermal fumes. The earth is dark, 

 sometimes sandy, and sprinkled over with fragments of 

 qnartzite and sandstone ; in other places a screen of brab- 

 tree backs a bold expanse of ground, treacherous, boggy, 

 and unstable as water. The area is about 200 feet in 

 diameter, and the centre of ebullition is unapproachable, 

 owing to the heat and the instability of the soil. Ac- 

 cording to the guides, it is subject to occasional erup- 

 tions, when the water bursts out with violence, and 

 fragments of lime are flung high in the air. Animals 

 are said to refuse it, and tales are told of wild beasts 

 having been bogged in the seething mire. 



With the Mgeta thrown on the left hand, we passed 

 by a path almost invisible, through dense grass and 

 trees, and presently we entered the luxuriant cultiva- 



