DIFFICULTIES. 



379 



zibar wet-monsoon. I was still under the impression 

 that we were encountering the Choti Barsat or Little 

 Rains of Bengal and Bombay ; and curious to say, the 

 Arabs of Unyanyembe one and all declared, even after the 

 wet-monsoon had reached its height, that the Masika 

 in Unyamwezi is synchronous with that of the island 

 and the coast, namely, in early April. 



The Rains in Eastern Africa are, like the summer in 

 England, the only healthy and enjoyable season : the 

 contrast between the freshness of the air and the ver- 

 dure of the scenery after the heat, dust, and desolation 

 that preceded the first showers, was truly luxurious. 

 Yet the Masika has many disadvantages for travellers. 

 The Wanyamwezi, who were sowing their fields, de- 

 clined to act porters, and several Arab merchants, who 

 could not afford the expenditure required to hire un- 

 willing men, were halted perforce in and near Unyan- 

 yembe. The peasants would come in numbers ; offer to 

 accompany the caravan ; stand, stare, and laugh their 

 vacant laughs; lift and balance their packs; chaffer 

 about hire ; promise to return next morning, and de- 

 finitively disappear. With the utmost exertion Snay 

 bin Amir could collect only ten men, and they were all 

 ready to desert. Moreover, the opening of the Masika is 

 ever unhealthy ; strangers suffer severely from all sudden 

 changes of temperature ; Unyamwezi speedily became 



"As full of agues as the sun in March." 



Another cause of delay became imminent ; my com- 

 panion was comparatively strong, but the others were 

 prostrated by sickness. Valentine first gave in ; he was 

 nearly insensible for three days and nights, the usual 

 period of the Mukunguru or " Seasoning " of Unyamwezi 

 — a malignant bilious remittent — which left him 



