Journey to Kilima Njaro : the Start. 295 
inconvenienced our men. The constant stooping, push- 
ing, and dragging away from the clutches of thorns 
must be very vexatious to them, and I wonder they 
bear their annoyances so well. Necessity, however, 
is a hard taskmaster. The men know there is no 
appeal against its tyranny, so remain dumb, that is — 
sometimes. 
We were now in the country of the Waduruma, 
having passed over the border of Rabai yesterday. A 
few people were met with who came from their minda 
(plantation) to the road, for the sake of looking at the 
charo (caravan). Coming upon a small village, hidden 
in the wood a little to the left of the path, and wishing 
to enquire the way, we sent to reconnoitre the people. 
At first they kept close, for some reason being afraid 
to show themselves, but they eventually turned out, 
and gave us the information we sought. The Wadu- 
ruma are notorious for wilfully misdirecting travellers, 
but they did not treat us in this way. 
At Ngoni we were overtaken by a civil old man, 
accompanied by tw^o women, Ngoni is a small stream 
which gives its name to the whole district Small as 
this stream is, it is said to take its rise at a long 
distance to the north-west ; but this, as I afterwards 
found, is a fiction, one instance of the unreliableness 
of native information. A little beyond Ngoni we 
passed over the Mto wa Kumbulu, a small gully con- 
taining only a very little running water. 
During the fore part of the day we saw but little of 
the country, on account of its being obscured by the 
woods through which he passed. But now and then we 
got a peep at smilling valleys and beautifully rounded 
hills, covered with tall grasses, copse-wood, and furze. 
