352 THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



clay. On long marches we then take the opportunity 

 of stopping to discuss the contents of two baskets which 

 are carried by a slave under the eye of the Goanese. 



If the stage be prolonged towards noon, the caravan 

 lags, straggles, and suffers sorely. The heat of the 

 ground, against which the horniest sole never becomes 

 proof, tries the feet like polished-leather boots on 

 a quarter-deck in the dog-days near the Line, and 

 some tribulation is caused by the cry M'iba hapa ! — 

 thorns here ! The Arabs and the Baloch must often halt 

 to rest. The slaves ensconce themselves in snug places; 

 the porters, propping their burdens against trees, curl 

 up, dog-like, under the shade ; some malinger ; and this, 

 the opportunity preferred for desertion, is an anxious 

 hour to the proprietor ; who, if he would do his work 

 " deeclily," must be the last in the kraal. Still the men 

 rarely break down. As in Indian marching, the African 

 caravan prefers to end the day, rather than to begin it, 

 with a difficulty — the ascent of a hill, or the fording of 

 a stream. They prefer the strip of jungle at the further 

 end of a district or a plantation, for safety as well as 

 for the comfort of shade. They avoid the vicinity of 

 rocks; and on desert plains they occupy some slightly 

 rising ground, where the night-cold is less severe than 

 in the lower levels. 



At length an increased hubbub of voices, blended 

 with bells, drums, fifes, and horns, and sometimes a few 

 musket-shots, announce that the van is lodged, and the 

 hubbub of the halt confirms the pleasing intelligence 

 that the journey is shortened by a stage. Each selfish 

 body then hurries forward to secure the best boothy 

 in the kraal, or the most comfortable hut in the 

 village, and quarrels seem serious. Again, however, 

 the knife returns home guiltless of gore, and the 

 spear is used only as an instrument for sound bela- 



