rs or a stamp of the
foot was enough to send them flying helter-skelter from my tent, which
they generally crowded round in ranks five deep. For once in a way this
was amusing enough; but when it came to be repeated every day and all
day, one had really a little too much of a good thing."

Of the discomforts of an African march the Bishop made light, his sense
of humour often enabling him to enjoy a good laugh at occurrences which
would have irritated some men almost beyond endurance. Of some of the
hardships, however, his letters and diary give glimpses--

"Our first experience in this region was not a pleasant one. We had sent
our men on before while we dallied with our friends at Mpwapwa. When we
reached the summit of the pass we could see various villages with their
fires in the plains below, but nowhere was the camp to be discerned. It
was a weary time before we could alight on it, and when we did, what a
scene presented itself to our gaze!

"The wind was so high that the camp fires were extinguished, and the men
had betaken themselves to a deep trench cut through the sandy plain by
a mountain torrent, but now perfectly dry; hence our difficulty in
making out where the camp was. Two of the tents were in a prostrate
condition, while the others were fast getting adrift. Volumes of dust
were swamping beds, blankets, boxes, buckets, and in fact everything;
and a more miserable scene could scarcely be beheld by a party of
benighted pilgrims. It was no use staring at it. I seized a hammer and
tent pegs, forgot I was tired, and before very long had things fairly to
rights; but I slept that night in a dust-heap.

"Nor did the morning mend matters, and to encourage us the Mpwapwa
brethren prophesied this state of things all through Ugogo. It is bad
enough in a hot climate to have dust in your hair and down your neck,
and filling your boxes; but when it comes to food, and every mouthful
you take grates your teeth, I leave you to imagine the pleasure of
tent-life in a sandy plain.

"A day or two after this we arrived at a camp where the water was
excessively bad. We had to draw it for everybody from one deep hole, and
probably rats, mice, lizards, and other small animals had fallen in and
been drowned, and allowed to remain and putrefy. The water smelt most
dreadfully, no filtering or boiling seemed to have any effect upon it,
and soup, coffee, and all food were flavoured by it.

"That afternoon I went for a stroll with