At Anchor, On A Still Evening,
They Were Excessively Annoying; And The Sooner We Took Refuge Under
Our Mosquito Curtains, The Better.
The miserable and sleepless night
that only one mosquito inside the curtain can cause, is so well
known, and has been so often described, that it is needless to
describe it here.
One soon learns, from experience, that to beat out
the curtains thoroughly before entering them, so that not one of
these pests can possibly be harboured within, is the only safeguard
against such severe trials to one's tranquillity and temper.
A few miles above Mboma we came again to the village (16 degrees 44
minutes 30 seconds S.) of the chief Tingane, the beat of whose war-
drums can speedily muster some hundreds of armed men. The bows and
poisoned arrows here are of superior workmanship to those below.
Mariano's slave-hunting parties stood in great awe of these barbed
arrows, and long kept aloof from Tingane's villages. His people were
friendly enough with us now, and covered the banks with a variety of
articles for sale. The majestic mountain, Chipirone, to which we
have given the name of Mount Clarendon, now looms in sight, and
further to the N.W. the southern end of the grand Milanje range rises
in the form of an unfinished sphinx looking down on Lake Shirwa. The
Ruo (16 degrees 31 minutes 0 seconds S.) is said to have its source
in the Milanje mountains, and flows to the S.W., to join the Shire
some distance above Tingane's. A short way beyond the Ruo lies the
Elephant marsh, or Nyanja Mukulu, which is frequented by vast herds
of these animals.
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