Day or on the next.
The majority was of the opinion that the next day would be the
best for a terekeza; but I, being the "bana," consulting my
own interests, insisted, not without a flourish or two of my
whip, that the terekeza should be made on this day.
Mgongo Tembo, when Burton and Speke passed by, was a promising
settlement, cultivating many a fair acre of ground. But two years
ago war broke out, for some bold act of its people upon caravans,
and the Arabs came from Unyanyembe with their Wangwana servants,
attacked them, burnt the villages, and laid waste the work of
years. Since that time Mgongo Tembo has been but blackened wrecks
of houses, and the fields a sprouting jungle.
A cluster of date palm-trees, overtopping a dense grove close to
the mtoni of Mgongo Tembo, revived my recollections of Egypt.
The banks of the stream, with their verdant foliage, presented
a strange contrast to the brown and dry appearance of the jungle
which lay on either side.
At 1 P.M. we resumed our loads and walking staffs, and in a short
time were en route for the Ngwhalah Mtoni, distant eight and
three-quarter miles from the khambi.
