From this it will be perceived that the wants
of Nyangwe are very tolerably supplied. And
how like any other market-place it was! with
its noise and murmur of human voices. The
same rivalry in extolling their wares, the eager
quick action, the emphatic gesture, the inquisitive
look, the facial expressions of scorn and triumph
anxiety, joy, plausibility, were all there. I
discovered, too, the surprising fact that the
aborigines of Manyema possess just the same
inordinate ideas in respect to their wares as
London, Paris, and New York shopkeepers.
Perhaps the Manyema people are not so voluble,
but they compensate for lack of language by
gesture and action, which are unspeakably
eloquent.
During this month of the year the Lualaba
reached its lowest level. Our boat, the Lady
A lice, after almost being re-built, was launched
in the river, and with sounding-line and sextant
on board, my crew and I, eager to test the boat
on the grey-brown waters of the Great River,
pushed off at xi A.M. and rowed for an island
opposite, 800 yards distant, taking soundings as
we went.
The following are the figures, noted down
after each trial with the lead, beginning thirty
yards from shore, and ending at the low brush-
covered island opposite Nyangwe:—
[Nyangwe6'] SOME DETAILS ABOUT THE LUALABA. 157
18 23 24 «5
19 24 24 v* 15
18 25 22 IS1/* ¡ ¡ ¡ ¡ I 24 i/i 23 14
20 25 22 13
201/» 26 21 12
19 2 7 19 9
21 27*/* 17 91/*
16 8
—the total of which gives a mean of 18 feet 9
inches.
The easternmost island in mid-river is about
100 yards across at its widest part, and between
it and another island is a distance of from 250
to 300 yards. * From the second island to the
low shore opposite Nyangwe is about 250 yards,
and these channels have a slightly swifter flow
than the main river. The mean depth of the
central channel was 12% feet, the westernmost
1 x feet, and the entire width of clear water flow
was about 1300 yards. During the months of
April, May, and June, and the early part of
July, the Lualaba is full, and overspreads the
low lands westward for nearly a mile and a
half. The Lualaba then may be said to be
from four thousand to five thousand yards wide
opposite Nyangwe.
The Arabs, wherever they settle throughout
Africa, endeavour to introduce the seeds of the
vegetables and fruit-trees which grow in their
beloved island of Zanzibar. At Unyanyembe,