lugli grasses; whilst near the villages were found good
gardens of plantains, and numerous Palmyra trees. The
rainy season being not far off, the villagers were busy in
burning rubble and breaking their ground. Within their
reach everywhere is the sarsaparilla vine, but growing as
a weed, for they know nothing of its value.
Kising up from the deep valley of Mdunhwi, we had to
cross another high ridge before descending to To Tzanzi, 132A. . ° ° & the also deep valley of Chongiid, as picturesque
a country as the middle heights of the Himalayas,
dotted on the ridges and spur-slopes by numerous small
conical-hut villages; but all so poor that we could not,
had we wanted it, have purchased provisions for a day’s
consumption.
Leaving this valley, we rose to the table of Manyovi,
ToManyongs, overhung with much higher hills, looking,
14iA' according to the accounts of our Hottentots,
as they eyed the fine herds of cattle grazing on the slopes,
so like the range in Kafraria, that they formed their
expectations accordingly, and appeared, for the first time
since leaving the coast, happy at the prospect before them,
little dreaming that such rich places were seldom to be
met with. The Wanyamtiezi porters even thought they
had found a paradise, and forthwith threw down their
loads as the villagers came to offer them grain for sale;
so that, had I not had the Wanguana a little under control,
we should not have completed our distance that day,
and so reached Manyonge, which reminded me, by its
ugliness, of the sterile Somali land.
Proceeding through the semi-desert rolling table-land—
To RfimSma, in one place occupied by men who build their
15tk villages in large open squares of flat-topped
mud huts, which, when I have occasion to refer to them in
future, I shall call by their native name tembe—we could
see on the right hand the massive mountains overhanging
the Mukondokua river, to the front the western chain of
these hills, and to the left the high crab-claw shaped ridge,
which, extending from the western chain, circles round
conspicuously above the swelling knolls which lie between
the two main rocky ridges. Contorted green thorn-trees,
“ elephant-foot” stumps, and aloes, seem to thrive best
here, by their very nature indicating what the country is,
a poor stony land. Our camp was pitched by the river
Rümüma, where, sheltered from the winds, and enriched
by alluvial soil, there ought to have been no scarcity; but
still the villagers had nothing to sell.
On we went again to Marenga Mkhali, the “ Salt Water,
to breakfast, and camped in the crooked green
To Camp, uth.. y& vte carrying water on for our
supper. This kind of travelling—forced marches—hard
as it may appear, was what we liked best, for we felt that
we were shortening the journey, and in doing so, shortening
the risks of failure by disease, by war, by famine, and
py mutiny. We had here no grasping chiefs to detain us
for presents, nor had our men time to become irritable and
truculent, concoct devices for stopping the way, or fight
amongst themselves.
On again, and at last we arrived at the foot of the
western chain; but not all together. Some
To inengé, 17th- overcome by heat and thirst, lay
scattered along the road, while the corporal of the Hottentots
allowed his mule to stray from him, never dreaming
the »■■nimfli would travel far from his comrades, and, in
following after him, was led such a long way into the
bush, that my men became alarmed for his safety, knowing
as they did that the “ savages” were out living like
monkeys on the calabash fruit, and looking out for any
windfalls, such as stragglers worth plundering, that might
comp, in their way. At first the Wangiiana attempted to
track down the corporal; but finding he would not answer
their repeated shots, and fearful for their own safety, they
came'into camp and reported the case. Losing no time,