9 th Ju ly 1858.—The caravan, consisting of one
Kirangozi, twenty pagazis, ten Beluches as guard,
Bombay, Mabruki, and G-aetano, escorting a kit sufficient
for six weeks, left Kazd to form camp at noon.
The Beluches were all armed with their own guns,
save one, who carried one of Captain Burton’s double
rifles, an eight-bore by W. Richards.* I took with me
for sporting purposes, as well as for the defence of the
expedition, one large five-bore elephant-gun, also lent
by Captain Burton; and of my own, one two-grooved
four-gauge single rifle, one polygrooved twenty-gauge
double, and one double smooth twelve-bore, all by
John Blissett of High Holborn. The village they
selected to form up in was three miles distant on
the northern extremity of this, the Unyanyembé district.
I commenced the journey myself at 6 p .m ., as soon
as the two donkeys I took with me to ride were caught
and saddled. I t was a dreary beginning. The escort
of Beluches who accompanied me had throughout the
former journeys been in great disgrace, and were in
consequence all sullen in their manner, and walked
with heavy gait and downcast countenances, looking
very much as if they considered they had sold themselves
when striking such a heavy bargain with us,
for they evidently saw nothing before them but drudgery
and a continuance of past hardships. The nature of
* Captain Burton started with two huge elephant-guns, one double
rifle, one pea-rifle, one air-gun, two revolving pistols, and a cross-bow,
all of which he used for display to amuse the Arabs.
the track increased the general gloom; it lay through
fields of jowari (holcus) across the plain of Unyan-
yembd. In the shadow of night, the stalks, awkwardly
lying across the path, tripped up the traveller
at every step; and whilst his hands, extended to the
front, were grasping at darkness to preserve his equilibrium,
the heavy bowing ears, ripe and ready to drop,
would bang against his eyes. Further, the heavy
sandy soil aided not a little in ruffling the temper;
but it was soon over, though all our mortification did
not here cease. The pagazis sent forward had deposited
their loads and retired home to indulge, it is
suspected, in those potations deep of the universal
pombd (African small-beer) that always precede a
journey, hunt, or other adventure—without leaving
a word to explain the reason of their going, or even
the time which they purposed being absent.
10 th Ju ly .—The absence of the pagazis caused a
halt, for none of them appeared again until after dark.
The Beluches, gloomy, dejected, discontented, and ever
grumbling, form as disagreeable a party as it was ever
the unfortunate lot of any man to command.
11 th.—We started on the journey northwards at
7 a .m ., and, soon clearing the cultivated plain, bade
adieu to Unyanyembd. The track passed down a
broad valley with a gentle declination, which was
full of tall but slender forest-trees, and was lined on
either side by low hills. We passed one dry nullah,
the Grombd, which drains the regions westward
into the Malagarazi river, some pools of water, and