Page:Two kings of Uganda.djvu/40

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"THE TERRIBLE GARDEN."

man ventured to approach while I stood still for inspection; he cautiously advanced one finger till it touched my beard, and then timidly withdrew it. The next thing which attracted his attention was my ear; he again put out his hand and very gently took hold of it, feeling it to see what it was made of, but I had no time to spare them for more minute examination.

Water was always a difficulty in Ugogo, and at one camp it was so bad as to be, I should think, poisonous; it did not lose its horrible stench even when made into strong coffee. It was here that one of our companions, Hannington, became so ill that we almost despaired of his life. In fact he sent for us to say farewell. We revived him, however, with stimulants, and in a day or two more he was able to be carried forward.

We passed out of Ugogo into the great wilderness called the "Mugunda Mukali," which separates Ugogo and Unyamwezi. This Mugunda Mukali, "or terrible garden," takes at least six days to pass through, and food has to be carried to last during that time. Our porters bought their meal, and, wrapping it in a piece of calico, slung it round their waists; this, and the calabash for water and the cooking-pot which every fifth or sixth man carried, completed their outfit. The dreaded banditti, or Ruga-ruga, also infest this wilderness, and it was while journeying here that a young Englishman named Penrose lost his life some years before. He had been sent out by the Church Missionary Society, and was