water our animals we plucked large fronds of Osmunda
regalis and the tree fern. To our left we passed a
huge split rock, just a square block of granite eighty-
feet high split into four parts, so that narrow paths
lead from each side into the heart of it. It was one
of the most extraordinary- natural stone formations I
have ever seen, and the natives call it Lumbo. A
relation of Umgabe’s rules over a fantastic kraal,
called Baramazimba, hard by this rock ; its huts are
situated in such inaccessible corners that you wonder
how the inhabitants ever get to them. Huge trees
sheltered the entrance to this village, beneath which
men were seated on the ground playing isafuba,
the mysterious game of the Makalangas, with sixty
holes m rows in the g;round. Ten men. can play at
this game, and it consists in removing bits of pottery
or stones from one hole to the other in an unaccountable
manner. We watched it scores of times
whilst in the country, and always gave it up as a bad
job, deciding that it must be like draughts or chess,
learnt by them from the former civilised race who
dwelt here. This game is played in different places
with different numbers . of holes—sometimes only
thirty-two holes dug in the ground—always in rows
of four. It has a close family relationship to the
game called pullangooly of India, played in a fish—
the sisoo fish, made of wood—which opens like a
chess-board, and has fourteen holes in two rows of
seven, small beans being employed as counters. The
same game hails also from Singapore and from the
West Coast of Africa, where it is played with twelve
holes and is called wary. In short, wherever Arabian
influence has been felt this game in some form or
other is always found, and forms for us another link
in the chain of evidence connecting the Mashonaland
ruins with an Arabian influence. The Makalangas
are also far superior to other neighbouring Kaffir
races in calculating, probably owing to the influence
of this very game.
At midday We reached Umgabe’s kraal and found
our host only just recovering from the effects' of drinking
too much beer, and he had a relapse in the course
of the afternoon to Celebrate our arrival. He allotted
us two huts, which we proceeded to have cleaned
out. My wife and I occupied one, delightfully
situated beneath a spreading cork tre e ; it was about
twelve feet in diameter, and in the centre was the
fireplace of cement with a raised seat by it on which
the cook usually sits when stirring the pot. We
spread our rugs where it appeared most level; but
during the night, in spite of our candle, the rats
careered about us to such an alarming extent that
sleep was next to impossible, and we had ample time
at our disposal for contemplating our abode.
On one side was a raised place for the family jars,
huge earthenware things covered with slabs of stone,
containing meal, caterpillars, locusts, and other
edibles. On the opposite side was a stable for the
calves, which we were able to banish; but we could
not so easily control the cocks and hens which came
in at all the holes, nor the rats which darted amongst
the smoke-begrimed rafters when day dawned.