When Kasimakate,
The Head Man Of This Village, Came Home And Found Out The Catastrophe,
He Cast Himself Into The Lake, And Is Supposed To Be In It Still.
The Name Is Derived From "Ilolo", Despair, Because This Man Gave Up All Hope
When His Family Was Destroyed.
Monenga was put to death.
This may be a faint tradition of the Deluge, and it is remarkable
as the only one I have met with in this country.
Heavy rains prevented us from crossing the plain in front (N.N.W.) in one day,
and the constant wading among the grass hurt the feet of the men.
There is a footpath all the way across, but as this is worn down
beneath the level of the rest of the plain, it is necessarily
the deepest portion, and the men, avoiding it, make a new walk by its side.
A path, however narrow, is a great convenience, as any one
who has traveled on foot in Africa will admit. The virtual want of it here
caused us to make slow and painful progress.
Ants surely are wiser than some men, for they learn by experience.
They have established themselves even on these plains,
where water stands so long annually as to allow the lotus,
and other aqueous plants, to come to maturity. When all the ant horizon
is submerged a foot deep, they manage to exist by ascending to little houses
built of black tenacious loam on stalks of grass, and placed higher
than the line of inundation.
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