Extensive Fields Of Grain Had Heralded The Neighbourhood Of The Villages, At The Sight Of Which We Were Conscious That The Caravan Was Quickening Its Pace, As Approaching Its Halting-Place.

As the Wasungu drew within the populated area, crowds of Wagogo used their utmost haste to see them before they passed by.

Young and old of both genders pressed about us in a multitude - a very howling mob. This excessive demonstrativeness elicited from my sailor overseer the characteristic remark, " Well, I declare, these must be the genuine Ugogians, for they stare! stare - there is no end to their staring. I'm almost tempted to slap 'em in the face!" In fact, the conduct of the Wagogo of Nyambwa was an exaggeration of the general conduct of Wagogo. Hitherto, those we had met had contented themselves with staring and shouting; but these outstepped all bounds, and my growing anger at their excessive insolence vented itself in gripping the rowdiest of them by the neck, and before he could recover from his astonishment administering a sound thrashing with my dog-whip, which he little relished. This proceeding educed from the tribe of starers all their native power of vituperation and abuse, in expressing which they were peculiar. Approaching in manner to angry tom-cats, they jerked their words with something of a splitting hiss and a half bark. The ejaculation, as near as I can spell it phonetically, was "hahcht" uttered in a shrill crescendo tone. They paced backwards and forwards, asking themselves, "Are the Wagoga to be beaten like slaves by this Musungu? A Mgogo is a Mgwana (a free man); he is not used to be beaten, - hahcht." But whenever I made motion, flourishing my whip, towards them, these mighty braggarts found it convenient to move to respectable distances from the irritated Musungu.

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