tem of language were wholly changed—as, for example,
Poho poho wingi bongo, means “we do not understand;”
Mazi, $jj f i r e Pi, “ water;” Pe, “ there is none;” Bugra,
“ cow.” In sound, the language of these people resembles
that of the Tibet Tartars. Chongi considers himself the
greatest man in the country, and of noble descent, his
great-grandfather having been a Minima, born at Ururi,
in Unyoro, and appointed by the then reigning king to
rule over this country, and keep the Kidi people in
check.
30 th.—We halted, at the earnest solicitation of Chongi,
as well as of the Chopi porters, who said they required a
day to lay in grain, as the Wichwezi, or mendicant sorcerers—
for so they thought fit to designate Petheriek’s
elephant-hunters-p-had eaten up the country all about
them, and those who went before with Bombay to visit
their camp could get no food.
1st.—We halted again at the request of all parties, and
much to the delight of old Chongi, who supplied us with
abundant pombd, promised a cow, that we should not be
put to any extra expense by stopping, and said that without
fail he would furnish us with guides who knew a short
cut across country, by which we might reach the Wich-
wezi camp in one march, instead of going by the circuitous
route which Bombay formerly took. The cow, however,
never came, as the old man did not intend to give
his own, and his officers refused to obey his orders in
giving one of theirs.
We left Koki with difficulty, in consequence of the
m dtia 2a porters refusing to carry any loads,
leaving the burden of lifting them on the
country people, as they said, “We have endured all the
trouble and hardships of bringing these visitors through
the wilderness; and now, as they have visited you, it is
your place to help them on.” The consequence was, we
had to engage fresh porters at every village, each in turn
saying he had done all the work which with justice fell
to his lot, till at last we arrived at the borders of a jungle,
where the men last engaged, feeling tired of their work,
pleaded ignorance of the direct road, and turned off to
the longer one, where villages and men were in abundance,
thus upsetting all our plans, and doubling the
actual distance.
To pass the night half-way was now imperative, as
we had been the whole day travelling without making
good much ground. From the Gani people we had, without
any visible change, mingled with the Madi people,
who dress in the same naked fashion as their neighbours,
and use bows and arrows. Their villages were all surrounded
with bomas (fences), and the country in its general
aspect resembled that of Northern Unyamudzi. At one
place, the good-natured simple people, as soon as we
reached their village, spread a skin, deposited a stool
upon it, and placed in front two pots of pombd At the
village where we put up, however, the women and children
of the head man at first all ran away, and the head
man him self was very shy of us, thinking we were some
unearthly creatures. He became more reconciled to us,
however, when he perceived we fed like rational beings;
and, calling his family in by midnight, presented us with
pombfi, and made many apologies for having allowed us
to dine without a drop of his beer, for he was very glad
to see us.
2 0