186 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



has done her best for the happiness of mankind, man, 

 doomed to misery, must work out his own unhappiness? 

 That night was spent at the deserted village by our men 

 in drumming, singing, and gleaning all that Khalfan's 

 gang had left ; they were, moreover, kept awake by fear 

 lest they might be surprised by the remnants of the 

 villagers. 



Late in the morning of the 24th of August, after 

 losing another ass, torn by a cynhyama, we followed the 

 path that leads from Mbumi along the right bank of the 

 Mukondokwa River to its ford. The marescent vegeta- 

 tion, and the tall, stiff, and thick-stalked grass, dripped 

 with dew, which struck cold as a freezing-mixture. The 

 path was slippery with mud, and man and beast were ren- 

 dered wild by the cruel stings of a small red ant and a 

 huge black pismire. The former cross the road in dense 

 masses like the close columns of an army. They are 

 large-headed, showing probably that they are the defen- 

 ders of the republic, and that they perform the duties 

 of soldiers in their excursions. Though they cannot 

 spring, they show great quickness in fastening them- 

 selves to the foot or ankle as it brushes over them. The 

 pismire, known to the people as the " chungu-fundo," or 

 " siyafu" from the Arabic " siyaf," is a horse-ant, about 

 an inch in length, whose bulldog-like head and powerful 

 mandibles enable it to destroy rats and mice, lizards 

 and snakes. It loves damp places upon the banks of 

 rivers and stagnant waters ; it burrows but never raises 

 hills, and it appears scattered for miles over the paths. 

 Like the other species, it knows neither fear nor sense of 

 fatigue ; it rushes to annihilation without hesitating, 

 and it cannot be expelled from a hut except by fire or 

 boiling water. Its bite, which is the preamble to its 

 meal, burns like a pinch with a red-hot needle ; and when 



