196 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



but differing in details. The Mtamba has a large, heavy, 

 and fleshy leaf ; its fruit is not smooth like that of the 

 Mkuyu, but knobbed with green excrescences, and the 

 bole is loftier than the common sycomore's trunk. The 

 roots of the older trees, rising above the earth, draw up 

 a quantity of mould which, when the wood is decayed 

 or destroyed, forms the dwarf mounds that in many parts 

 encumber the surface of the country. Traces of exten- 

 sive cultivation — fields of bajri or panicum, the staple 

 cereal which here supplants the normal African holcus, 

 or Kafir corn, and plantations of luxuriant maize, of 

 beans, of the vetch known as the voiandzeia subterranea, 

 of tobacco, and other plants — showed that this district is 

 beyond the reach of the coast-kidnappers. From the rising 

 ground on the left hand we heard the loud tattoo of the 

 drum. The Baloch, choosing to be alarmed, fired several 

 shots, much to the annoyance of the irascible Kidogo, who 

 had laid down as a law that waste of powder in this region 

 was more likely to invite than to prevent an attack. As 

 we ascended the Fiumara it narrowed rapidly, and its 

 head was encumbered with heaps of boulders from which 

 sprang a runnel of the sweetest water. The camping- 

 ground was upon the left bank of the bed. The guide 

 called it Ndabi, probably from a small gnarled tree here 

 abundant, bearing a fruit like a pale red currant, which 

 tastes like sweetened gum dissolved in dirty water. I 

 lost no time in sending for provisions, which were scarce 

 and dear. Bombay failed in procuring a sheep, though the 

 Baloch, by paying six cloths, were more fortunate. One 

 of Kidogo's principles of action, in which he was abetted 

 by Said bin Salim, was to prevent our buying provisions, 

 however necessary, at high prices, fearing lest the tariff 

 thus established might become an " ada," a precedent or 

 custom for future travellers, himself and others. We 



