RUMOURS OF THE VICINITY OF BRIGANDS. 255 
inroads of civilisation or the hostile assaults of their 
neighbours. 
Of the journey back I need not say much, as it was 
all over the same ground that we passed on our march 
up. Being downhill, most of the way, it was easier 
and pleasanter going, and on account of the time of 
year water was more plentiful. The only long journey 
we had to undergo was from Maungu to Ziwani, where 
on this occasion we found sufficient water. Game was 
also more abundant on the line of march, and between 
Taveta and Maungu we saw quantities of mpallah, 
ostrich, Granti, hartebeest, zebra, oryx-beisa, stein- 
bok, eland, giraffe, besides a few wart-hog and one or 
two lesser kudu. We were certainly inconvenienced 
by heavy rain most of the time, which made progression 
tiring, as, owing to the light and friable nature of the 
soil, the path became most slippery. However, I should 
not complain, for these rains enabled us to break the 
long march of forty-five miles from little Langora to 
Mu-komeni, as we found, half-way at Ziwa-mazungu, 
a dirty puddle of sufficient water to allow us to encamp 
for the night. 
On nearing Matate we had to be on the qui vive, for we 
received the intelligence at Mu-komeni that Mabrouki, 
a rebellious subject of the Sultan of Zanzibar, was 
hereabouts, living by brigandage and lying in wait to 
loot passing caravans, and that he had recently attacked 
and killed a few of the hundred men that Count Tcleki 
had sent back to the coast, to fetch up the surplus 
loads he had been obliged to leave behind. We 
