nd kissed his hands, and fired, till
the sound of shouting, lullilooing, clapping of hands, and shooting
was deafening: Mohamad was quite overcome by this demonstration, and
it was long before he could still them.
On the way to this village from the south we observed an extensive
breadth of land, under ground-nuts which are made into oil: a large
jar of this is sold for a hoe. The ground-nuts were now in flower, and
green maize ready to be eaten. People all busy planting,
transplanting, or weeding; they plant cassava on mounds prepared for
it, on which they have sown beans, sorghum, maize, pumpkins: these
ripen, and leave the cassava a free soil. The sorghum or dura is sown
thickly, and when about a foot high--if the owner has been able to
prepare the soil elsewhere--it is transplanted, a portion of the
leaves being cut off to prevent too great evaporation and the death of
the plant.
_17th January, 1868._--The Wanyamwesi and people of Garaganza say that
we have thirteen days' march from this to the Tanganyika Lake. It is
often muddy, and many rivulets are to be crossed.
Mohamad is naturally anxious to stay a little while with his son, for
it is a wet season, and the mud is disagreeable to travel over: it is
said to be worse near Ujiji: he cooks small delicacies for me with the
little he has, and tries to make me comfortable. Vinegar is made from
bananas, and oil from ground-nuts. I am anxious to be off, but
chiefly to get news.
I find that many Unyamwesi people are waiting here, on account of the
great quantity of rainwater in front: it would be difficult, they say,
to get canoes on Tanganyika, as the waves are now large.
_24th January, 1868._--Two of Mohamad Bogharib's people came from
Casembe's to trade here, and a body of Syde bin Habib's people also
from Garaganza, near Kaze, they report the flooded lands on this side
of Lake Tanganyika as waist and chest deep. Bin Habib, being at
Katanga, will not stir till the rains are over, and I fear we are
storm-stayed till then too. The feeders of the Marungu are not
fordable just now, and no canoes are to be had.
_26th and 27th January, 1868._--I am ill with fever, as I always am
when stationary.
_28th January, 1868._--Better, and thankful to Him of the Greatest
Name. We must remain; it is a dry spot, and favourable for
ground-nuts. _Hooping-cough_ here.
_30th January, 1868._--The earth cooled by the rain last night sets
all to transplanting dura or sorghu
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