Evening star., 1923-06-03
striking Scenes Presented Among Races in the Land of vi

the crest of a kopje in the center of
a plain encircled by rugged hills.
i X
i MAJ. II was in charge of this
lS1 lonely but powerful post. a most
hospitable and kindly man, who had
hunted in the Canadian Rockies and
Travelled the shores of Tanganyika
twenty years ago. There also was
Maj. B, from Kondoa-Irangi a
neighboring post about $50 miles
away.
L was grimy and very sloppy, but
the majors and I, lolling in long
chairs, with hands crossed comfort
ably on our stomachs. had a very
refreshing discussion on Tudor archi-
! lecture and interior decorations, on
o. Henry and Stephen Leacock before
1 moved off the same day, limpingly
leading my askaris over the hills and
away into a still more rugged wilderness.
| This wilderness was virtually
| waterless and stretched away to the
districts bordering the southern tip
/ Of Victoria Nyanza. 1t was rich
| game country, but trackless and with
out water at this season. though at
| other times great floods suddenly
| sweep over broad expanses Of it. We
| were obliged to dig for hours in dry,
sandy courses to obtain drink: while
! for food 1 shot kongoni, wildebeest,
Gland and antelope without stopping
! the column or prolonging a single
| halt
Once at dawn on the plain of the
Sibiti 1 shot one of the huge. black
named lions for which the place is
/ famous, while two others rose from
the dust nearby and ran away like
! frightened dogs. All sorts of game
| lived in the bush and along the
/ fringes of the plain, and wild fowls in
| places were as numerous as chickens
| in a run.
| One day. at the end of a waterless
march, he halted and made a very
| dry bivouac in a hopelessly sandy
| course. We dug for hours without
finding the slightest evidence of
moisture. Our tongues were large
and mouths had little saliva in them.
Sitting dejectedly outside the camp. I
watched a troop of balloons with ris-
+, ing interest. Though droll. they are
dangerous IL you arouse their i'll will.
So 1 did not laugh to offend the lum-
| bering elders, for 1 find they also
are bound by laws, have their con-
/ ventions and live up to them. The
old men are rough and surly, cynical
with their women folk and annoyed
at the chattering of the children.
| The women are patient, but sly,
| dragging their whimpering "totoes"
about or clouting the more lusty or
mischievous youngsters. The youths
are forever planning intrigues under
the baleful CLEAN of the old mems
reddening eyes and suffering their
furious onslaughts If discovered.
| However, I followed the troop and
they brought me to a grove of palms
bearing large. .hbrous nuts filled with
| a substance like rich vanilla custard.
| for which we were almost as grateful
as though each were a gouTd of
water.
Eventually we entered the Muanza
district, where the huts become high
| and conical and are capped with
ostrich eggs. Stockades encircle
| them and the meal is stored in vast
rock caverns.
! My men were very tired and my
| foot now in a dangerous condition.
The poison had apparently gone into
my leg, so that the pain had spread
from knee to groin. while the foot
itself. due to crude giraffe hide san
dals 1 had cut with rough. parchment
liks thongs, was blistered, raw and
filthy. Two of the askaris also had
bad feet. A great water blister from
heel to toe covered the foot of one,
while the other. afflicted in the same
manner, had cut the swelling skin
with a sheath knife, so that the bot
| tom of the foot was completely raw.
Neither of these askaris said a word
to me about his feet and would not
drop behind. At the same time l
could not let down on the pace.
| Finally, turning our backs on
Mbulu, we set out on the return trek
| to Sanja. over a hundred and eighty
miles away. Dawn found us on the
edge of the escarpment once more.
X
90 we turned our faces away from
! - the Land of Mists and commenced
the 3.00O-foot plunge down to the fat.
crab plain.