In three hours and a quarter we had made a clear ascent of 2200 feet above the Lake.  The first persons we met were two men and a boy, who were out hunting with a dog and basket-trap.  This is laid down in the run of some small animal; the dog chases it, and it goes into the basket which is made of split bamboo, and has prongs looking inwards, which prevent its egress:  mouse traps are made in the same fashion.  I suspected that the younger of the men had other game in view, and meant, if fit opportunity offered, to insert an arrow in a Waiyau, who was taking away his wife as a slave.  He told me before we had gained the top of the ascent that some Waiyau came to a village, separated from his by a small valley, picked a quarrel with the inhabitants, and then went and took the wife and child of a poorer countryman to pay these pretended offences.

8th October, 1866.—­At the first village we found that the people up here and those down below were mutually afraid of each other.  Kimsusa came to the bottom of the range, his last act being the offer of a pot of beer, and a calabash of Toku, which latter was accepted.  I paid his wives for carrying our things:  they had done well, and after we gained the village where we slept, sang and clapped their hands vigorously till one o’clock in the morning, when I advised them to go to sleep.  The men he at last provided were very faithful and easily satisfied.  Here we found the headman, Kawa, of Mpalapala, quite as hospitable.  In addition to providing a supper, it is the custom to give breakfast before starting.  Resting on the 8th to make up for the loss of rest on Sunday; we marched on Tuesday (the 9th), but were soon brought to a stand by Gombwa, whose village, Tamiala, stands on another ridge.

Gombwa, a laughing, good-natured man, said that he had sent for all his people to see me; and I ought to sleep, to enable them to look on one the like of whom had never come their way before.  Intending to go on, I explained some of my objects in coming through the country, advising the people to refrain from selling each other, as it ends in war and depopulation.  He was cunning, and said, “Well, you must sleep here, and all my people will come and hear those words of peace.”  I explained that I had employed carriers, who expected to be paid though I had gone but a small part of a day; he replied, “But they will go home and come again to-morrow, and it will count but one day:”  I was thus constrained to remain.

9th October, 1866.—­Both barometer and boiling-point showed an altitude of upwards of 4000 feet above the sea.  This is the hottest month, but the air is delightfully clear, and delicious.  The country is very fine, lying in long slopes, with mountains rising all around, from 2000 to 3000 feet above this upland.  They are mostly jagged and rough (not rounded like those near to Mataka’s):  the long slopes are nearly denuded of trees, and the patches of cultivation are so large and often squarish