74 Wanderings in Eastern Africa. 
length at Makerunge. The day was drawing to a 
close, and we had still some distance to travel. 
There was no train, omnibus, cab, cart, truck, or 
wheel-barrow, yet we had a good many things to 
carry. I was to learn how things were done in East 
Africa. A gun was fired, and in a few moments 
some of the villagers came down to us. These and 
our boatmen were engaged as porters. Soon each 
man, with a load upon his head, was upon the road. 
The narrowness of the path compelled us to march 
in Indian file. We had scarcely commenced before 
the sun sank, and darkness veiled the scene. It be- 
came dismal in the extreme. First through tall 
grass, and then beneath dark trees, whose gaunt 
forms were just seen, we made our way, I knew not 
whither. Presently a deep grunt was heard, and the 
startled porters threw down their loads, crying, " Tui ! 
tui ! " (a leopard ! a leopard ! ) The animal, however, 
more frightened than the men, had hurried on his 
I way, and could not be found. The path was in some 
places very rocky, and in others beset with deep 
holes, so that we were stumbling over the one or 
falling into the other the whole way. Towards the 
end of the journey I became aware that we were 
crossing some kind of stream, but the darkness was 
so dense that we could see nothing ; then climbing 
the face of a steep mountain, we reached the mission 
station at Ribe. Those, however, were its early days. 
An iron-hut had been put up, and a few mud- 
cottages had been built, but comfort had not yet 
been attained ; it was a " dreary lodge " in that vast 
wilderness." Some Wanika brought us a little water, 
but nothing more was obtainable, so that we had to 
