clusters,” seemed verily “ knots of paradise.”
Like hunted beasts of the chace, we sought the
gloom and solitude of the wilds. Along the
meandering and embowered creeks, hugging the
shadows of the o’er-arching woods, we sought
for that safety which man refused us.
The great river grew sea-like in breadth below
Irebu on the morning of the 24th: indeed, it
might have been 100 miles in breadth for aught
we knew, deep-buried as we were among the
islands. Yet there were broad and deep channels
on every side of us, as well as narrow creeks
between lengthy islands. The volume of water
appeared exhaustless, though distributed over
such an enormous width. There was water
sufficient to float the most powerful steamers that
float in the Mississippi. Here and there amongst
the verdured isles gleamed broad humps of
white sand, but on either side were streams
several hundred yards wide, with as much as
three fathoms’ depth of water in the channels.
At noon we reached south latitude i° 37' 22".
The Mompurengi natives appeared on an island
and expressed their feelings by discharging two
guns at us, which we did not resent, but steadily
held on our way. An hour afterwards faithful
Amina, wife of Kacheche, breathed her last,
making a most affecting end.
Being told by Kacheche that his poor wife
was dying, I drew my boat alongside of the
rFeb. 24, >8771 AMINA’S DEATH.
L Mompurengi- J
canoe she was lying in. She was quite sensible,
but very weak. “Ah, master!” she said, _ 1
shall never see the sea again. Your child Amina
is dying. I have so wished to see the cocoa-
nuts and the mangoes; but no— Amina is dying
—dying in a pagan land. She will nevet see
Zanzibar. The master has been good to his
children, and Amina remembers it. It is a bad
world, master, and you have lost your way m
it. Good-bye, master; do not forget poor little
Amina!” .
While floating down, we dressed Amina m
her shroud, and laid her tenderly out and at
sunset consigned her body to the depths of the
silent river.
The morning of the 25th saw us once again
on the broad stream floating down. We got a
view of the mainland to the right, and discovered
it to be very low. We hurried away into the
island creeks, and floated down amongst many
reedy, grassy islets, the haunt of bold hippopotami,
one of which made a rush at a canoe
with open month; but contented himself fortunately
with a paddle, which he crunched into
splinters. . , Q,
At noon we had reached south latitude 1 50
12" About 4 P.M. we came to what appeared
to be a river, 1500 yards wide, issuing from
north-north-east, while the course that we had
followed was from the north-east during t e