186 
■AFRICA AND ITS EXPLORATION. 
towards me as though they expected an order to 
return. Their hearts are full of misgivings. Slowly, 
however, we move through the dull, dead waters ; 
slowly we pass by the dull grey rocks of Lutari Point, 
and still slower do the boatmen row when the rugged 
t- . oo 
rocks shut off’ the view of Kagehyi and front them with 
their bare rude masses. 
Five miles brought us to Igusa, a settlement doubtless 
pleasant enough under a fair sky, but hearing this 
afternoon its share of the universal gloom. Without a 
guide or interpreter, we bore in for a little reed-lined 
creek. A fisherman, with a head of hair resembling a 
thick mop, came down to the boat. He had, it seems, 
visited Kagehyi two or three days before, and recognised 
us. A better acquaintance was soon begun, and ended 
in his becoming captivated with our promises of 
rewards and offering his services as guide. The boat- 
men were overjoyed ; for the guide, whose name was 
Saramba, proved to have been one of Sungoro’s boatmen 
in some of that Arab’s trading excursions to Ururi. We 
passed a cheerless night, for the reeds turned out to 
be the haunt of a multitude of mosquitoes, and the 
air was cold. However, with Saramba as guide, we 
promised ourselves better quarters in future. 
At 6 a.m., after Saramba’s appearance, w r e resumed 
our voyage, and continued on our way eastward, 
clinging to the shores of Sima. At 11 a.m. the clouds, 
which had long been gathering over the horizon to the 
north-west, discharged both squall and gale, and the 
scene soon became wild beyond description. We 
steered from the shore, and were soon involved in the 
dreadful chaos of watery madness and uproar. The 
wind swept us over the fierce waves, the Lady Alice 
bounding forward like a wild courser. It lashed the 
waters into spray and foam, and hurled them over the 
devoted crew and boat. With a mere rag presented to 
the gale, we drove unresistingly along. Strange islets 
in the neighbourhood of Masliakka became then objects 
of terror to us, but w r e passed them in safety and saw 
the grey hills of Magu far in front of us. The boatmen 
