An

M'zizima, spheres of marble-sized white porcelain, and triangular pieces of shell, rounded at the corners. erect fair girl, daughter of a chief, paid us a visit, accompanied by six maids, and sat silently for half an hour. She had a spiral circle of wool shaved off the crown of her head; her only ornament was a necklace of green beads she wore the usual wrapper, and across her shoulders a strip of scarlet cloth was thrown; her other fineries were probably left at home. The women of the district generally had grace and gentleness in their manner.

The plump little negro girls who came about our camp, standing with crossed arms and looking very frightened, are never allowed to shave their heads till they get married, consequently the hair is in matted tufts or mops, very ugly, with a triangular or square space shaved on the crown: if ornamented with cowries, the black wool appears to more advantage. They are not allowed to wear the usual clothing of women, but have the skin of a goat, with the hair inside, round their loins, and so arranged that from the waist to the knee it remains open, exposing completely the right thigh. Not having lived in their villages, we could not see any of their customs. The chief of Usui's residence, entitled Quikooroo, was a set of grass huts, encircled by three concentric fences of thorn, the largest one being two to three miles round. The other huts in the valley had no fence whatever, except where planted round with a dense quickset of euphorbia, growing from twelve to twenty feet high. Sometimes by the pathway we observed cairns of stones, such as are found all over the world, and our leading porters generally threw their mite on the heap. In Hindostan

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LANGUAGE AND DANCING.

they would be called "Peer ke jaggeh," places of devotion; and our Seedees called them "M'zeemoo." A rock was also passed, on which our porters placed pebbles.

The language of the country was quite unintelligible to our men-I mean as spoken by the Watusi, who are the reigning race here; but they did not find it difficult to pick up some words and phrases. It was not so hard as the dialect of Unyamuezi, which they considered more "bharee" (difficult). If one Seedee wishes to address another by saying, "I say," or "Old fellow!" he calls "Sōmoh!"-if a Muezi, " Doogoh yango!"-if a M'sui, "Kunewāni!"-if a M'ganda, "Awangéh!" There is no similarity in these; consequently, to speak to any M'ganda, two interpreters were at first necessary, until our men picked up some of their language; but in their numerals they were almost the same.

The style of dance at Myonga's seemed to be peculiar to the country. It was conducted, without arms or any rough coarseness, by moonlight, in an open space, all the lads and lasses collecting without music. A circle was formed, singing and clapping of hands commenced, and either a woman made her most graceful curtsy to a favourite in the crowd, and retired skilfully backwards to her place, or a young fellow bounded into the centre, threw himself into attitudes, performed some gymnastic feat, bowed to the prettiest, and then made way for the next champion or fair lady.

After I had joined Speke at Bogweh on the 7th October 1861, a letter was received by him from Colonel Rigby, the consul at Zanzibar, dated 31st

STRANGER VISITORS.

135

October 1860, advising the despatch of brandy, biscuit, and cigars, &c.; and that our letters were in another packet. We, of course, were delighted at receiving this news-a whole year had elapsed without any communication whatever from the outer world; but where were the letters and supplies? "Oh, they must have been lost in Ugogo, where the Arabs had gone to fight!" Whatever was the cause, our letters were cut off from us for the period of twenty-seven monthsviz., from October 1860 to February 1863, when we got to Gondokoro. We had consequently to content ourselves with the news of the countries around us. Stories from men who had seen snow on the top of Kilimanjaro; with accounts of a tribe to the south of it who rode on horseback, and a salt lake called Lebassa in that direction; or the appearance of a M'ganda, tall, stout, broad-nostrilled, seen for the first time, gave me a longing desire, from his manly and true African look, to reach his country. The dress of this people was formed of gaily-coloured goat-skins and bark cloths, well arranged, striking, and becoming; their accoutrements and drums were got up with neatness and simplicity; their drapery perfectly concealed the whole body, except the head, feet, and hands; and once a strapping girl, of a tribe still farther off, was shown to us as an Unyoro. Having since then seen her race, known by the extraction of the lower incisors, I can state that we were not imposed upon.

In the next chapter will be described the country of Karague, which reminded me of the English Lake district. An Arab caravan, like our own, but of 250 loads, had got ahead of us, and having settled their tax with the Usui chief, the men were plodding on to

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OUR TABLE-ATTENDANT.

the ivory and slave mart. In their file two men and a girl were in chains together-no doubt recent investments. Our Seedees, by their curious ways, continued to amuse us. Our table-attendant, Mabrook, or Burton's "bull-headed Mabruki," was a thorough African, so opposite to what an Indian servant is. Ever naked from head to waist (and looking gross with fatness), he would come up to "lay the table," whistling or singing, with a bunch of knives, spoons, and forks in his hand; having placed the tin lids and pots at our feet, he would squat on the ground beside them and dole out our dinner. Should he have to clean your plate, a bunch of grass or a leaf is generally within his reach; and, if he has to remove the plate, he seldom returns without wiping his mouth. He chaffs his comrades as he sits by you; and dinner over, you see him eating with your spoons and drinking out of the teapot or the spout of the kettle.

CHAPTER VIII.

KARAGUE, NOVEMBER 25 TO APRIL 14, 1862-THE ROYAL FAMILY

- HABITS OF THE SULTAN RUMANIKA CRUSADER-LIKE CUSTOM AT NEW MOON-IDOLATRY—THE SULTAN'S BROTHERS DESCRIPTION OF KARAGUE AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD ILLNESS OF THE AUTHOR-ENGLISH GARDEN PEASE-MARKETS, COFFEE-TRADERS-EARLIEST INFORMATION REGARDING THE NILE THE TWO RACES OF KARAGUE, THE WAHUMA AND WAYAMBO-THE PRINCESSES-ROYAL RESIDENCE-MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

THE royal family of Karague consisted of three brothers and their families. Their father, Dagara, had died about eight years previous to our visit. He had lived to a good old age; was almost a giant in height, with leprous hands, of the Wahuma caste; was esteemed a wise and sagacious prince, and was very popular with the people. On his death, his body was sewn up in the skin of a cow, and placed inside a hut, with several women and cattle, who were there all left to die and moulder to dust. The question of succession was disputed by three surviving sons, and the test as to who should ultimately rule was that some sacred emblem would be placed before all, and whoever should raise it from the ground would become the reigning sovereign.