192 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



lasting two long excursions into Eastern Africa, it still 

 outlives and probably will outlive many of the showy 

 articles now supplied by the trade. Finally, a ship's 

 compass, mounted in gimbals for boat-work and in- 

 dented for upon the Engineer's Stores, Bombay, soon 

 became lumber, its oscillations were too sluggish to be 

 useful. 



We left Kadetamare on the 25th August, to ascend 

 the fluviatile valley of the Mukondokwa. According 

 to the guides this stream is the upper course of the 

 Kingani Kiver, with which it anastomoses in Uzaramo 

 (?) It cuts its way through the chain to which it 

 gives a name, by a transversal valley perpendicular to 

 the lay, and so conveniently disposed that the moun- 

 tains seem rather to be made for their drain than the 

 drain for its mountains. The fluviatile valley is ap- 

 parently girt on all sides by high peaks, with homesteads 

 smoking and cattle grazing on all sides. Crippled by 

 the night-cold that rose from the river-bed, and then 

 wet through with the dew that dripped from the tall 

 grass, we traversed, within ear-shot of the frightened 

 villagers who hailed one another from the heights, 

 some fields of grain and tobacco that had been late- 

 ly reaped. After an hour and a-half of marching 

 we arrived at the second ford of the Mukondokwa. 

 Receiving less drainage than in the lower bed, the 

 stream was narrower and only knee-deep ; the landing- 

 place of sloppy mud caused, however, many acci- 

 dents to the asses, and on inspecting our stores a few 

 days afterwards we found them all soft and mil- 

 dewed. The reader will wonder that on these occasions 

 we did not personally inspect the proceedings of our 

 careless followers. The fact is we were physically and 



