Almost every day we saw
one, sometimes two, of these relics of dead, and forgotten
humanity.
Shortly after this we emerged from the forest, and entered a
mbuga, or plain, in which we saw a couple of giraffes, whose long
necks were seen towering above a bush they had been nibbling at.
This sight was greeted with a shout; for we now knew we had
entered the game country, and that near the Gombe creek, or river,
where we intended to halt, we should see plenty of these animals.
A walk of three hours over this hot plain brought us to the
cultivated fields of Manyara. Arriving before the village-gate,
we were forbidden to enter, as the country was throughout in a
state of war, and it behoved them to be very careful of admitting
any party, lest the villagers might be compromised. We were, however,
directed to a khambi to the right of the village, near some pools
of clear water, where we discovered some half dozen ruined huts,
which looked very uncomfortable to tired people.
After we had built our camp, the kirangozi was furnished with some
cloths to purchase food from the village for the transit of a
wilderness in front of us, which was said to extend nine marches,
or 135 miles.
