gi gave us all a friendly harangue by way of greeting; and taking
the fowl by one leg, swayed it to and fro close to the ground in front
of his assembled visitors. After this ceremony had been also repeated
by the familiar, Chongi then took the gourd and twig, and sprinkled
the contents all over us; retired to the Uganga, or magic house--a
very diminutive hut--sprinkled pombe over it; and, finally, spreading a
cow-skin under a tree, bade us sit, and gave us a jorum of pombe, making
many apologies that he could not show us more hospitality, as famine had
reduced his stores. What politeness in the midst of such barbarism!!!
Nowhere had we seen such naked creatures, whose sole dress consisted of
bead, iron, or brass ornaments, with some feathers or cowrie-beads on
the head. Even the women contented themselves with a few fibres hung
like tails before and behind. Some of our men who had seen the Watuta in
Utambara, declared these savages to resemble them in every particular,
save one small specialty in their costume, alluded to in the description
of the Zulu Kafir's dress. The hair of the men was dressed in the same
fantastic fashion, and the women placed half-gourds over the baby as it
rode on its mother's back. They also, like the Kidi people, whom they
much fear, carry diminutive stools to sit upon wherever they go.

Their habitat extends from this to the Asua river, whilst the Madi
occupy all the country west of this meridian to the Nile, which is far
beyond sight. The villages are composed of little conical huts of
grass, on a framework of bamboo raised above low mud walls. There are no
sultans here of any consequence, each village appointing its own chief.
The granitic hills, like those of Unyamuezi, are extremely pretty,
and clad with trees, contrasting strangely with the grassy downs of
indefinite extend around, which give the place, when compared with the
people, the appearance of a paradise within the infernal regions. From
the site of Koki we saw the hills behind which, according to Bombay,
Petherick was situated with his vessels; and we also saw a nearer hill,
behind which his advanced post of elephant-hunters were waiting our
arrival.

I tried to ascertain if there were any prefixes, as in the South African
dialects, by which one might determine the difference between the people
and the country; but I was assured that both here and in the adjacent
countries these people saw Chopi, Kidi, Gani, Madi, Bari, alike f