the neighbourhood, and dinner at sunset, then tea
and pipe before turning in at night.

Scarcely had they commenced the journey than the petty chiefs demanded
tribute, which it was necessary to pay. The porters also struck for
higher wages; but, the leaders going on, they thought better of the
matter, and followed.

The poor Hottentots suffered much from the climate, and were constantly
on the sick-list. The Waguana treated them with great contempt, and one
day, while a little Tot was trying to lift his pack on his mule a large
black grasped him, pack and all, in his muscular arms, lifting them
above his head, paraded him round the camp amid much laughter, and then,
putting him down, loaded his mule and patted him on the back.

"A day's march being concluded, the sheikh and Bombay arrange the camp,
issuing cloths to the porters for the purchase of rations, the tents are
pitched, the Hottentots cook, some look after the mules and donkeys,
others cut boughs for huts and fencing, while the Beloochs are supposed
to guard the camp, but prefer gossiping and brightening their arms,
while Captain Grant kills two buck antelopes to supply the larder."

The country through which they were passing belongs to to the tribe of
Wazaramo. It is covered with villages, the houses of which are mostly
of a conical shape, composed of hurdle-work and plastered with clay, and
thatched with grass or reeds. They profess to be the subjects of the
Sultan of Zanzibar. They are arrant rogues, and rob travellers, when
they can, by open violence. They always demand more tribute than they
expect to get, and generally use threats as a means of extortion. One
of their chiefs, the Lion-Claw, was very troublesome, sending back the
presents which had been made him, and threatening dire vengeance if his
demands were not complied with. Further on, Monkey's-Tail, another
chief, demanded more tribute; but Speke sent word that he should smell
his powder if he came for it; and, exhibiting the marksmanship of his
men, Monkey's-Tail thought better of it, and got nothing.

The people, though somewhat short, are not bad-looking. Though their
dress is limited, they adorn themselves with shells, pieces of tin, and
beads, and rub their bodies with red clay and oil, till their skins
appear like new copper. Their hair is woolly, and they twist it into a
number of tufts, each of which is elongated by the fibres of bark. They
have one good quality, not gener