Through the Wilderness. 309 
the south, and so, without a path, make our way to a 
place where a passage through the wood could be 
effected with less difficulty. We found, however, 
anything but an easy path, having to go upon our 
hands and knees, the men dragging their loads after 
them as best they could. 
This district is called Uina wa Mamba (Crocodile 
Hole), for what reason I was not able to discover. 
Having made our way through the wood, we entered 
a more open country ; and a little farther on we passed 
the Ungurunga za Kirmiri, a name applied to certain 
bare rocks lying in the bottom of the valley, and con- 
taining weather-worn holes, in which rain collects and 
is preserved for some time after it is exhausted else- 
where, so affording a supply of the precious fluid to 
travellers and hunters. Ungurunga, as applied to 
these hollowed rocks, will occur several times in the 
course of this narrative. 
Abe Mlongo left us here. A little rain fell at the 
time, just enough to wet us and make travelling un- 
comfortable. But we pushed on. Gradually the grass 
became less green, until scarcely any greenness re- 
mained, all becoming as dry as a desert. Vegetation 
there was indeed, but it looked as if it had been blasted. 
I was surprised at this, as I had selected the time of 
year when I thought Nature would be seen in her best 
dress. I felt disappointed, for anything more unin- 
teresting it would be difficult to imagine. The withered 
grass ; the bare stunted trees, just thick enough, as a 
rule, to shut out all view of the country, but sometimes 
thickening into a close jungle; together with the broken, 
irregular undulations in which the land lies, formed 
scenery remarkable only for its want of the attractive 
