leave to pass. After two and a half days' parley he fought, killed two
Makondé, and mortally wounded a headman, which settled the matter; no
fresh demand has been made. Ali's brother also resisted the same sort
of demand, fought several times, or until three Makondé and two of his
people were killed; they then made peace, and no other exactions have
been made.

_11th May, 1866._--We now found a difficulty in getting our carriers
along, on account of exhaustion from want of food. In going up a sand
stream called Nyédé, we saw that all moist spots had been planted with
maize and beans, so the loss caused by the Mazitu, who swept the land
like a cloud of locusts, will not be attended by much actual
starvation. We met a runaway woman: she was seized by Ali, and it was
plain that he expected a reward for his pains. He thought she was a
slave, but a quarter of a mile off was the village she had left, and
it being doubtful if she were a runaway at all, the would-be fugitive
slave-capture turned out a failure.

_12th May, 1866._--About 4' E.N.E. of Matawatawa, or Nyamatololé, our
former turning point.

_13th May, 1866._--We halted at a village at Matawatawa. A
pleasant-looking lady, with her face profusely tattooed, came forward
with a bunch of sweet reed, or _Sorghum saceliaratum_, and laid it at
my feet, saying, "I met you here before," pointing to the spot on the
river where we turned. I remember her coming then, and that I asked
the boat to wait while she went to bring us a basket of food, and I
think it was given to Chiko, and no return made. It is sheer
kindliness that prompts them sometimes, though occasionally people do
make presents with a view of getting a larger one in return: it is