CHAPTER II.

UZARAMO.

The Nature of the Country.-The Order of March.-The Beginning of our Taxation.-Sultan Lion's Claw and Sultan Monkey's Tail.-The Kingani.-Jealousies and Difficulties in the Camp.-The Murderer of M. Maizan.

We were now in U-zà-Ramo, which may mean the country of Ramo, though I have never found any natives who could enlighten me on the derivation of this obviously triple word. The extent of the country, roughly speaking, stretches from the coast to the junction or bifurcation of the Kingani and its upper branch, the Mgéta River, westward; and from the Kingani, north, to the Lufigi River, south; though in the southern portions several sub-tribes have encroached upon the lands. There are no hills in Uzaramo; but the land in the central line, formed like a ridge between the two rivers, furrow fashion, consists of slightly elevated flats and terraces, which, in the rainy season, throw off their surplus waters to the north and south by nullahs into these rivers. The country is uniformly well covered with trees and large grasses, which, in the rainy season, are too thick, tall, and green to be pleasant; though in the dry season, after the grasses have been burnt, it is agreeable enough, though not pretty, owing to the flatness of the land. The villages are not large or numerous, but widely spread, consisting generally of conical grass huts, while others are gable-ended, after the coastfashion-a small collection of ten or twenty comprising one village. Over these villages certain head men, titled Phanzé, hold

jurisdiction, who take black-mail from travelers with high presumption when they can. Generally speaking, they live upon the coast, and call themselves Diwans, headsmen, and subjects of the Sultan Majid; but they no sooner hear of the march of a caravan than they transpose their position, become sultans in their own right, and levy taxes accordingly.

The Wazaramo are strictly agriculturists; they have no cows, and but few goats. They are of low stature and thick set, and

their nature tends to the boisterous. Expert slave-hunters, they mostly clothe themselves by the sale of their victims on the coast, though they do business by the sale of goats and grain as well. Nowhere in the interior are natives so well clad as these creatures. In dressing up their hair, and otherwise smearing their bodies with ochreish clay, they are great dandies. They always keep their bows and arrows, which form their national arm, in excellent order, the latter well poisoned, and carried in quivers nicely carved. To intimidate a caravan and extort a hongo or tax, I have seen them drawn out in line as if prepared for battle; but a few soft words were found sufficient to make them all withdraw and settle the matter at issue by arbitration in some appointed place. A few men without property can cross their lands fearlessly, though a single individual with property would stand no chance, for they are insatiable thieves. But little is seen of these people on the journey, as the chiefs take their taxes by deputy, partly out of pride, and partly because they think they can extort more by keeping in the mysterious distance. At the same

time, the caravan prefers camping in the jungles beyond the vil lages to mingling with the inhabitants, where rows might be engendered. We sometimes noticed albinos with grayish-blue eyes and light straw-colored hair. Not unfrequently we would pass on the track-side small heaps of white ashes, with a calcined bone or two among them. These, we were told, were the relics of burnt witches. The caravan track we had now to travel on leads along the right bank of the Kingani valley, overlooking Uzégŭra, which, corresponding with Uzaramo, only on the other side of the Kingani, extends northward to the Pangani River, and is intersected in the centre by the Wami River, of which more hereafter.

Starting on a march with a large mixed caravan, consisting of 1 corporal and 9 privates, Hottentots-1 jemadar and To Bomani, 3d. 25 privates, Beluchs-1 Arab Cafila Bashi and 75 freed slaves-1 kirangozi or leader, and 100 negro porters-12 mules untrained, 3 donkeys, and 22 goats-one could hardly expect to find every body in his place at the proper time for breaking ground; but, at the same time, it could hardly be expected that ten men, who had actually received their bounty-money, and had sworn fidelity, should give one the slip the very first day. Such, however, was the case. Ten out of the thirty-six given by the sultan ran away, because they feared that the white men, whom they believed to be cannibals, were only taking them into the interior to eat them; and one pagazi, more honest than the freed men, deposited his pay upon the ground, and ran away too. Go we must, however, for one desertion is sure to lead to more; and go we did. Our procession was in this fashion: The kirangozi, with a load on his shoulder, led the way, flag in hand, followed by the pagazis carrying spears or bows and arrows in their hands, and bearing their share of the baggage in the shape either of bolster-shaped loads of cloth and beads covered with matting, each tied into the fork of a three-pronged stick, or else coils of brass or copper wire tied in even weights to each end of sticks which they laid on the shoulder; then helter-skelter came the Wanguana, carrying carbines in their hands, and boxes, bundles, tents, cooking-pots-all the miscellaneous property on their heads; next the Hottentots, dragging the refractory mules laden with ammunition-boxes, but very lightly, to save the animals for the future; and, finally, Sheikh Said and the Beluch escort, while the goats, sick women, and stragglers brought up the rear. From

first to last, some of the sick Hottentots rode the hospital donkeys, allowing the negroes to tug their animals; for the smallest ailment threw them broadcast on their backs.

In a little while we cleared from the rich gardens, mango clumps, and cocoa-nut-trees, which characterize the fertile coastline. After traversing fields of grass well clothed with green trees, we arrived at the little settlement of Bomani, where camp was formed, and every body fairly appointed to his place. The process of camp-forming would be thus: Sheikh Said, with Bombay under him, issues cloths to the men for rations at the rate of one fourth load a day (about 15 lbs.) among 165; the Hottentots cook our dinners and their own, or else lie rolling on the ground overcome by fatigue; the Beluchs are supposed to guard the camp, but prefer gossip and brightening their arms. Some men are told off to look after the mules, donkeys, and goats while out grazing; the rest have to pack the kit, pitch our tents, cut boughs for huts and for fencing in the camp-a thing rarely done, by-theby. After cooking, when the night has set in, the everlasting dance begins, attended with clapping of hands and jingling small bells strapped to the legs, the whole being accompanied by a constant repetition of senseless words, which stand in place of the song to the negroes; for song they have none, being mentally incapacitated for musical composition, though as timists they are not to be surpassed.

What remains to be told is the daily occupation of Captain Grant, myself, and our private servants. Beginning at the foot: Rahan, a very peppery little negro, who had served in a British man-of-war at the taking of Rangoon, was my valet; and Baraka, who had been trained much in the same manner, but had seen engagements at Multan, was Captain Grant's. They both knew Hindustani; but while Rahan's services at sea had been short, Baraka had served nearly all his life with Englishmen was the smartest and most intelligent negro I ever saw-was invaluable to Colonel Rigby as a detector of slave-traders, and enjoyed his confidence completely; so much so, that he said, on parting with him, that he did not know where he should be able to find another man to fill his post. These two men had now charge of our tents and personal kit, while Baraka was considered the general of the Wanguana forces, and Rahan a captain of ten.

My first occupation was to map the country. This is done by timing the rate of march with a watch, taking compass-bearings

along the road or on any conspicuous marks-as, for instance, hills off it-and by noting the watershed-in short, all topographical objects. On arrival in camp every day came the ascertaining, by boiling a thermometer, of the altitude of the station above the sea-level; of the latitude of the station by the meridian altitude of a star taken with a sextant; and of the compass variation. by azimuth. Occasionally there was the fixing of certain crucial stations, at intervals of sixty miles or so, by lunar observations, or distances of the moon either from the sun or from certain giv. en stars, for determining the longitude, by which the originaltimed course can be drawn out with certainty on the map by proportion. Should a date be, lost, you can always discover it by taking a lunar distance and comparing it with the Nautical Almanac, by noting the time when a star passes the meridian if your watch is right, or by observing the phases of the moon, or her rising or setting, as compared with the Nautical Almanac. The rest of my work, besides sketching and keeping a diary, which was the most troublesome of all, consisted in making geological and zoological collections. With Captain Grant rested the botanical collections and thermometrical registers. He also boiled one of the thermometers, kept the rain-gauge, and undertook the photography; but after a time I sent the instruments back, considering this work too severe for the climate, and he tried instead sketching with water-colors, the results of which form the chief part of the illustrations in this book. The rest of our day went in breakfasting after the march was over-a pipe, to prepare us for rummaging the fields and villages to discover their contents for scientific purposes-dinner close to sunset, and tea and pipe before turning in at night.

To Ikamburu, 4th.

A short stage brought us to Ikambůru, included in the district of Nzasa, where there is another small village presided over by Phanzé Khombé la Simba, meaning Claw of Lion. He, immediately after our arrival, sent us a present of a basket of rice, value one dollar, of course expecting a return, for absolute generosity is a thing unknown to the negro. Not being aware of the value of the offering, I simply requested the sheikh to give him four yards of American sheeting, and thought no more about the matter, until presently I found the cloth returned. The "sultan" could not think of receiving such a paltry present from me, when on the former journey he got so much; if he showed this cloth at home, nobody would believe