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THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



dropped dark hints touching patience and the power of 

 Allah to make things easy. Abdullah rendered the ex- 

 pression intelligible by asking me if I considered the 

 caravan strong enough to dare the dangers of the road 

 — which he grossly exaggerated — between Unyamwezi- 

 Land and Ujiji. I replied that I did, and that even if 

 I did not, such bugbears should not cause delay ; Ab- 

 dullah smiled, but was too polite to tell me that he did 

 not believe me. 



A " doux marcher" of 2 hrs. 40' on the 3rd 

 November, led us to the western limit of the Ru- 

 buga District. During the usual morning-halt under 

 a clump of shady milk-bush, I was addressed by 

 Maura or Maula, the Sultan of a large neighbouring 

 village of Wanyamwezi : being a civilised man and a 

 coast-traveller, he could not allow the caravan of the 

 " Wazungu" to pass his quarters without presenting to 

 him a bullock, and extracting from him a little cloth. 

 Like most chiefs in the " Land of the Moon," he was a 

 large-limbed, gaunt, angular, tall old man, with a black 

 oily skin, seamed with wrinkles ; and long wiry pigtails 

 thickened with grease, melted butter, and castor-oil, de- 

 pending from the sides of his purbald head. His dress 

 — an old Barsati round the loins, and a grimy Subai 

 loosely thrown over the shoulders — was redolent of 

 boiled frankincense; his ankles were concealed by a 

 foot -depth of brass and copper " Sambo," thin wires 

 twisted round a little bundle of elephant's, buffalo's, 

 or zebra's hair; and he wore single-soled sandals, 

 decorated with four disks of white shell, about the size 

 of a crown-piece, bound to the thongs that passed be- 

 tween the toes and girt the heel. He recognised the 

 Baloch, greeted all kindly, led the way to his village, 

 ordered lodgings to be cleared and cleaned, caused the 

 cartels or bedsteads, — the first seen by us for many 



