THE "LITTLE TAMARIND." 



161 



escarpment, is called Mzizi Mdogo, or the " Little Ta- 

 marind," to distinguish it from the " Great Tamarind " 

 station which lies beyond. There was no vestige of 

 building upon the spot — no sight nor sound of man — 

 the blood-feud and the infernal slave-trade had made a 

 howling desert of the land. We found, however, a 

 tattered kraal erected by the last passing caravan, and, 

 spent with fatigue, we threw ourselves on the short grass 

 to rest. The porters and the asses did not appear till 

 the evening, when it became apparent that two of the 

 latter had been lost by their drivers, Hayja and Kha- 

 misi, sons of Ramji, who preferred sitting in the 

 shade, and chatting with passing caravans, to the sore 

 task of doing their duty. The animals were recovered 

 on the morrow, by sundry parties sent in search. During 

 the fordings of the Mgeta, however, they had not been un- 

 packed ; our salt and sugar, therefore, had melted away; 

 soap, cigars, mustard, and arsenical paste, were in pulp; 

 the tea was spoiled, the compressed vegetables presently 

 became musty, and the gunpowder in a tire-proof copper 

 magazine was caked like stale bread. 



There was a wondrous change of climate at Mzizi 

 Mdogo ; strength and health returned as if by magic ; 

 even the Goanese siaook off the obstinate bilious remit- 

 tents of Zungomero. Truly delicious was the escape 

 from the nebulous skies, the fog-driving gusts, the pelt- 

 ing rain, the clammy mists veiling a gross growth of 

 fetor, the damp raw cold, rising as it were from the 

 earth, and the alternations of fiery and oppressive 

 heat ; in fact, from the cruel climate of the river- valley, 

 to the pure sweet mountain-air, alternately soft and 

 balnry, cool and reviving, and to the aspect of clear 

 blue skies, which lent their tints to highland ridges 



VOL. I. M 



