Two hours'
march south is Jiweh la Mkoa, on the old road, towards which the
road which we have been travelling since leaving Bagamoyo was now
rapidly leading.
Unyanyembe being near, the pagazis and soldiers having behaved
excellently during the lengthy marches we had lately made, I
purchased a bullock for three doti, and had it slaughtered for
their special benefit. I also gave each a khete of red beads to
indulge his appetite for whatever little luxury the country
afforded. Milk and honey were plentiful, and three frasilah of
sweet potatoes were bought for a shukka, equal to about 40 cents of
our money.
The 13th June brought us to the last village of Magunda Mkali, in
the district of Jiweh la Singa, after a short march of eight miles
and three-quarters. Kusuri - so called by the Arabs - is called
Konsuli by the Wakimbu who inhabit it. This is, however, but one
instance out of many where the Arabs have misnamed or corrupted
the native names of villages and districts.
Between Ngaraiso and Kusuri we passed the village of Kirurumo, now
a thriving place, with many a thriving village near it. As we
passed it, the people came out to greet the Musungu, whose advent
had been so long heralded by his loud-mouthed caravans, and whose
soldiers had helped them win the day in a battle against their
fractious brothers of Jiweh la Mkoa.
A little further on we came across a large khambi, occupied by
Sultan bin Mohammed, an Omani Arab of high descent, who, as soon as
he was notified of my approach, came out to welcome me, and invite
me to his khambi. As his harem lodged in his tent, of course I was
not invited thither; but a carpet outside was ready for his visitor.
After the usual questions had been asked about my health, the news
of the road, the latest from Zanzibar and Oman, he asked me if I
had much cloth with me. This was a question often asked by owners
of down caravans, and the reason of it is that the Arabs, in their
anxiety to make as much as possible of their cloth at the ivory
ports on the Tanganika and elsewhere, are liable to forget that
they should retain a portion for the down marches. As, indeed,
I had but a bale left of the quantity of cloth retained for
provisioning my party on the road, when outfitting my caravans
on the coast, I could unblushingly reply in the negative.
I halted a day at Kusuri to give my caravan a rest, after its
long series of marches, before venturing on the two days' march
through the uninhabited wilderness that separates the district of
Jiweh la Singa Uyanzi from the district of Tura in Unyanyembe.
Hamed preceded, promising to give Sayd bin Salim notice of my
coming, and to request him to provide a tembe for me.
