Jan. i, 1895.] THE TROPIC \L AGRICULTURIST, 
49' 
the dog, who was speedily expelled from it, (it 
was a misfortune he didn't take all his lieas 
with him) and with the waterproof over the 
lower extremities, I managed to keep dry till 
daylight, which was more than could he said of 
some of my clothes and other things which had 
heen placed in the other room. "Farewell," 
"good rest," in various languages, and away we 
all go for live and twenty blessed miles across 
country to Migeela, one of the stations of the 
universities' mission. 
It turned out a dreadful day's journey. 
Along the partly finished line the mud was ankle- 
deep ; on the grass and chena land the narrow 
native paths were full of water, which had 
worn the centre of the track into a narrow 
gutter into which the feet slipped at every step ; 
the grass was high, waist high, and in places 
overhead ; the rain came down in torrents ; it 
was no use being carried through streams and 
swamps, as the lower half of me was thoroughly 
soaked, so, well up the thigh in some 
places, we had to wade through water and 
mud, the old white umbrella gaily bobbing 
about above the grass and bushes, whilst its 
owner cussed the country and the weather as much 
as he liked, and no body heeded. For full 10 
miles out of the 25, our feet were under water 
and a jolly line mess my garments were in 
when we reached the Mission station at Migeela. 
In the afternoon the weather cleared and the 
sun came out, which did n't, however, improve the 
tracks very much except that the streams along 
the slopes ceased to run, and we need no longer 
" walk by faith and not by sight." The porters 
had one or two tumbles, but fortunately nothing 
was broken, though the water got into one of the 
boxes and wet all the contents at one end. Dread, 
Crosse and Blackwell's ham and chicken and 
Andrew Usher's whisky helped to keep body and 
soul together. It's an old joke amongst some of 
my Ceylon friends that I used to drink Rhine 
wine out of a saucepan, but now they may say, 
with about an equal amount of veracity, that I 
drank 
WHISKY AND WATER OUT OF A WASH-HAND 
BASIN, 
both stories being founded on fact. And so the 
sun shone, the country was brilliant in green and 
gold of various shades, and the Usambara hills — 
nearer at hand — came into sight once more — as 
the good fathers and doctor at Migeela hastened 
to offer their services. A warm hath — a full 
gallon of good tea (followed by a bottle of beer) 
and dry togs and then K. VY. was once again 
" clothed and in his right mind. ' Dinner, along 
talk with the doctor and (as l'epys writes) " so 
to bed." 
CHAPTER. IV. 
The morning opened fair — and after sleeping the 
sleep of the just and a comfortable daybreak 
feed, the boxes were again put in order, a cordial 
good-bye from the doctor, and we passed the 
Church — with service going on — for was it not the 
Sabbath-day; anything, however, but a day of rest 
for us, as it turned >ut. As we ncared the mountain 
slopes the paths became steeper, and several 
veritable hill short-cuts had to be negotiated — 
water waist deep in the hollows and streams and 
swamps galore -the hushes and grass at times 
so tall and thick, you couldn't see your feet, or a 
man a couple of yards ahead, slither and slip- 
ping, up-hill and downdale in the dense under- 
gcowth of the lower hills, the only thing want- 
ing ]to complete the difficulty was a pouring rain, 
wuuii held oh' till hue in the afternoon and 
nearly finished us off — as will be seen by-and- 
bye. Up and down, round about, over 
rocks and precipitious paths, over rivers, 
wet to the waist — mile after mile, till 
"voila"! iron-roofed buildings perched up on 
the opposite hill almost near enough to "coocy," 
but all in good time, on and on, down, down the 
valley till we reached a big river, with sufficient 
remains of a temporary bridge to allow us to pass 
dry shod — that is, if we hadn't been soaking wet 
for the previous five hours. Surely now our 
troubles are ended — "take this note — and go 
ahead at double quick pace and tell the Bhanas 
we'll be up presently." Take it "aisy" for a while, 
the last drop of whisky, rest our wet and weary 
limbs and now for the haven of rest. "Poor 
deluded man ! why 
THE GREAT DIFFICULTY OF THE JOURNEY 
is before you, a straight, or rather serpentine, 
short cut of 1,000 feet on end is just ahead." No- 
thing doubting, nothing fearing, we faced the 
brae side, up and up, slipping and sliding, up and 
up, puffing and blowing, up and up using bad 
language, up and up surely there'll be a finish 
soon, or is it like the sailor's rope which had no 
end, for it was cut off and lost long ago. With 
beating heart, perspiration running down the face, 
shorter and shorter steps, and shaking knees, 
still onwards and upwards, a halt and then another, 
and still another at shorter and shorter intervals, 
the sturdy leader of the porters lending a sup- 
porting hand, and still Excelsior. Must rest here, 
an utter collapse on a friendly stone, and 
then came the thunder crash and a mighty 
torrent of rain. However, the Mackintosh 
was handy and seated on the stone, the water 
actually poured off in sheets. With painful steps 
and slow, the summit was reached at last 3,000 
odd feet above the sea, utterly done up, ex- 
hausted, hardly able to speak, and totter along 
a quarter mile of decent cut road, when hur- 
roosh ! there is the bungalow, and better still 
an old Ceylon planter hurrying along to meet 
us. "That short cut!! my dear sir, I haven't 
breath enough left in my body to speak of it as 
I would wish, nor can I call to mind expressions 
sufficiently strong to express my opinion of it, 
but I'll get the dictionary tomorrow and see if I 
can find any adequate terms of objurgation." 
Beer (hurroosh again), bath, tea and ham, dry 
clothes and I'm 
AT HOME ON DEREKMA ESTATE USAMBARA, 
and except being stiff next day, none the worse 
in head or stomach for my first 50 miles march 
in Africa. 
Chapter V. 
Wild beasts, such as lions, elephants, rhino- 
ceroses, &c. , seldom trouble these regions so near 
the coast, but leopards seem to abound. After 
dinner at Pungwe Station the alarm was given, 
bat the night was dark ami nothing could be 
seen, but next morning it was discovered that 
a leopard had invaded the fowl-house and killed 
S or t> head of ducks and fowls. A short time 
ago a leopard passed within a few yards of the 
window before which I am now writing. The 
travelling hordes of 
BLACK ANTS 
are even more troublesome than the wild animals. 
During the first night on the estate, the alarm 
was given by the goats, and everyone had to 
rouse out ami re-cue the fowls and sheep and 
pu ppies. One night no less han ."> columns of 
the ants were found converting on the fowl: 
house, and since then a lire is kept burning 
every evening to have hot ashes and burning 
