en be ready. Leopards
abound here. The Lake now seems broader than ever.

I could not conceive that a hole in the cartilage of the nose could be
turned to any account except to hold an ornament, though that is
usually only a bit of grass, but a man sewing the feathers on his
arrows used his nose-hole for holding a needle! In coming on to
Kangalola we found the country swimming: I got separated from the
company, though I saw them disappear in the long grass not a hundred
yards off and shouted, but the splashing of their feet prevented any
one hearing. I could not find a path going south, so I took one to the
east to a village; the grass was so long and tangled, I could scarcely
get along, at last I engaged a man to show me the main path south, and
he took me to a neat village of a woman--Nyinakasangaand would go no
further, "Mother Kasanga," as the name means, had been very handsome,
and had a beautiful daughter, probably another edition of herself, she
advised my waiting in the deep shade of the Ficus indica, in which her
houses were placed. I fired a gun, and when my attendants came gave
her a string of beads, which made her express distress at my "leaving
without drinking anything of hers." People have abandoned several
villages on account of the abundance of ferocious wild beasts.

_23rd April, 1868._--Through very thick tangled Nyassi grass to
Chikosi's burned village; Nsama had killed him. We spent the night in
a garden hut, which the fire of the village had spared. Turnips were
growing in the ruins. The Nyassi, or long coarse grass, hangs over the
paths, and in pushing it aside the sharp seeds penetrate the clothes
and are very annoying. The grass itself rubs on the face and eyes
disagreeably: when it is burned off and greensward covers the soil it
is much more pleasant walking.

24th _April, 1868._--We leave Chikosi's ruins and make for the ford of
the Kalungosi. Marigolds are in full bloom all over the forest, and so
are foxgloves. The river is here fully 100 yards broad with 300 yards
of flood on its western bank; so deep we had to remain in the canoes
till within 50 yards of the higher ground. The people here chew the
pith of the papyrus, which is three inches in diameter and as white as
snow: it has very little sweetness or anything else in it. The headman
of the village to which we went was out cutting wood for a garden, and
his wife refused us a hut, but when Kansabala came in the evening he
scolded his