STILL RUNNING TEE GAUNTLET ON THE EIVER. 489 
villages before cockcrow, to occupy some place near tlie 
falls which would enable Frank and a few of the chiefs, 
to begin transporting the vessels overland, and to con- 
tinue the work even though we might be actively 
engaged by the Wenya. 
At 5 a.m. I led thirty-five men from the camp, and 
after a desperate struggle through the tangled jungle 
emerged near the place where the right bank swept 
round to the straits, over and above which a large 
number of villages were situated. A shallow branch, 
40 yards wide, supplied by thin streams of water that 
poured down a dyke of loose rocks 20 feet high from 
the great river, separated the right bank from the point 
occupied by the settlements. During the wet months it 
was evident that this dyke must be washed by a furious 
cataract, and that the right branch is then almost im- 
passable, and it is for this reason probably that the 
locality was chosen by the Wenya. At this season, 
however, we crossed over to the inhabited island with- 
out trouble, and resolved to guard the approach to this 
branch. From our camp to this point there was not the 
slightest danger to fear from the river ; and Uledi and 
his boat-mates were therefore signalled to bring the boat 
and canoes near to the dyke. 
After waiting until 9 a.m. for the islanders to begin 
their attack, I sent a few scouts through the brushwood 
to ascertain what the Wenya were doing, and within an 
hour they returned to say that nothing could be heard 
of them. Moving forwards by the path, we discovered 
to our good fortune that the people had abandoned the 
island apparently. The extent of the villages proved 
them to be a populous community, and the manner in 
which they were arranged gave them an appearance 
resembling a town on the Upper Nile. Each village,, 
however, was distinct from the next, though only short 
distances separated them, and each possessed four or five 
streets 30 feet wide, running in parallel lines, with cross 
alleys leading from one side of the village to the other. 
The entire population of this town or cluster of villages, 
might be moderately estimated at 6000. On the oppo- 
