Cause of our detention in the hungry wilderness of
Ugombo, I was not in a frame of mind to forgive him; so, to
prevent any future truant tricks on his part, I was under the
necessity of including him with the chained gangs of runaways.
Two more of our donkeys died, and to prevent any of the valuable
baggage being left behind, I was obliged to send Farquhar off on my
own riding-ass to the village of Mpwapwa, thirty miles off, under
charge of Mabruki Burton.
To save the Expedition from ruin, I was reluctantly compelled to
come to the conclusion that it were better for me, for him, and
concerned, that he be left with some kind chief of a village,
with a six months' supply of cloth and beads, until he got well,
than that he make his own recovery impossible.
The 16th of May saw us journeying over the plain which lies
between Ugombo and Mpwapwa, skirting close, at intervals, a low
range of trap-rock, out of which had become displaced by some
violent agency several immense boulders. On its slopes grew the
kolquall to a size which I had not seen in Abyssinia. In the plain
grew baobab, and immense tamarind, and a variety of thorn.
Within five hours from Ugombo the mountain range deflected towards
the north-east, while we continued on a north-westerly course,
heading for the lofty mountain-line of the Mpwapwa. To our left
towered to the blue clouds the gigantic Rubeho. The adoption of
this new road to Unyanyembe by which we were travelling was now
explained - we were enabled to avoid the passes and stiff steeps of
Rubeho, and had nothing worse to encounter than a broad smooth
plain, which sloped gently to Ugogo.
After a march of fifteen miles we camped at a dry mtoni, called
Matamombo, celebrated for its pools of bitter. water of the colour
of ochre. Monkeys and rhinoceroses, besides kudus, steinboks, and
antelopes, were numerous in the vicinity. At this camp my little
dog "Omar" died of inflammation of the bowels, almost on the
threshold of the country - Ugogo - where his faithful watchfulness
would have been invaluable to me.
The next day's march was also fifteen miles in length, through one
interminable jungle of thorn-bushes. Within two miles of the camp,
the road led up a small river bed, broad as an avenue, clear to the
khambi of Mpwapwa; which was situated close to a number of streams
of the purest water.
The following morning found us much fatigued after the long marches
from Ugombo, and generally disposed to take advantage of the
precious luxuries Mpwapwa offered to caravans fresh from the
fly-plagued lands of the Waseguhha and Wadoe. Sheikh Thani - clever
but innocently-speaking old Arab - was encamped under the grateful
umbrage of a huge Mtamba sycamore, and had been regaling himself
with fresh milk, luscious mutton, and rich bullock humps, ever
since his arrival here, two days before; and, as he informed me,
it did not suit his views to quit such a happy abundance so soon
for the saline nitrous water of Marenga Mkali, with its several
terekezas, and manifold disagreeables.
