from which I came upon a third village, called Simambaya
Sendeni, about three miles beyond Vundene.
This was the largest village I had yet come to, and
possessed a stone mosque. The village is situated on rising
ground close to the sea, with a harbour or landing-place for
dhows. The walls of the houses were plastered with bright
red earth, and the village had a prosperous look. The people
owned neither cattle nor donkeys, owing to the prevalence
of the Ganda f ly ; they had, however, flocks of goats, which
they purchased from the Somalis. There were some fine
tamarind trees and a few lanky tapering coco-nuts in the
village, which the people informed me were not tapped for
“ tembu,” as their appearance at first led me to suppose; the
chief products cultivated here are millet and cotton.
Leaving this village, which the people told me I was the
first white man to pass through, I arrived about a mile further
on at the village of M’Swakini, divided from Sendeni by
dense thick bush, amongst which I noticed many umbrellashaped
mimosas. The ground was of a deep red colour, an
evidence of iron in the soil, and in places there was a good
deal of coral outcrop. In the small cultivated area round
the village I observed a tobacco patch and some castor-oil
plants.
Hence onwards the way led uninterruptedly over an
undulating country covered with dense bush, chiefly umbrellashaped
mimosa, growing so thickly together as to form a
green arch overhead, the soil a rich deep chocolate loam.
RUBU.
This continued till I reached the large village of Rubu. As
the crow flies it is about six miles from Mattaroni, but owing
to the windings of the path and the slow progress made by
my caravan, it had taken me three and a half hours to reach.
Mohamed bin Saif, the brother of Mze Saif, who had arrived
here with my further supplies of rice and shark’s flesh the
evening before, came out to meet me accompanied by the
elders of the town, and escorted me to a large baobab tree
under which I camped. I had a second visit from Mohamed
bin Saif in the afternoon, and paid him for the loads brought
F F