Life at Kisigau, 
327 
way, one of the largest of them being an assemblage 
of perhaps twenty small huts, the more roomy ledges 
which are found here and there being selected as the 
sites upon which they are built. At one of them we 
were heartily received by an old man, who said his 
name was Muzungu (white man), but this I afterwards 
discovered was only a little of his pleasantry. He placed 
before me a large bowl of *^sima" (porridge), which I 
just tasted and then gave to my men. Beram was in 
his glory. I tried to place before the would-be Muzungu 
the bread of eternal life, but for that he had no taste. 
Katumu received me with the gushing heartiness 
of a father over a long lost son. Poor old man, his 
years were indeed those of labour and sorrow. He 
wanted to set the women to work cooking for me, 
but I would not hear of it. He then insisted on 
giving me a fowl, some sweet potatoes, and a couple 
of melons. He begged for cloth, beads, etc. He 
also asked me for a gun, for his sons to go to the 
Usambara wars with; that is, to assist them in mur- 
dering and plundering the Wasambara. I told him 
I was a man of peace, and had come to him with a 
message of peace ; that I could not give him a gun, but 
that I would send him a piece of cloth and some 
beads. I tried to direct his attention from Usam- 
bara and Kisigau to the land beyond the grave to 
which he had approached so near, but he turned his 
eyes from the sight. His sons gathered about him, 
black and scowling; I thought I had never seen more 
savage-looking men ; and I preached to them also 
the word of life. They listened sullenly, but did not 
seem to take in what they heard. 
The descent to the camp occupied me an hour and 
