BAGAMOTO TO MPWAPWA. 31 dim, the stars come twinkling out in the deep blue sky, the bats flit about with their sharp, ear-piercing " tweet, tweet," the goat-sucker floats by on silent wings, and the murmur of the waves on the coral strand is borne softly to our ears, we turn our steps homewards, and our first day on African soil is over.

A week of constant toil followed, repacking loads, breaking in refractory donkeys, hiring porters, teaching our servants to pitch tents, paying and receiving visits, and getting all ready for the long march into the interior, and finally writing letters for the monthly mail which was about to leave for England.

At length on July 28th the last loads were packed, the runaways collected, and Smith and I set off for Shumba Gonera, the first camp from Bagamoyo, but distant only three miles. I was delayed at Shamba Gonera, till August 14th, when my Mswahili interpreter having arrived, I moved on, bidding a long farewell to civilisation and taking a last look at the ocean. We only succeeded in crossing the Kingani river that day, our donkeys being terribly hindered by the numerous swamps, and encamped on a low sandy clearing on its northern bank. The Kingani is at this point a tidal river, and swarms .

with hippopotami and crocodiles. I tried a few shots unsuccessfully at the hippopotami ; but next morning I got some good rifle practice at the crocodiles as they lay asleep on a sandbank on the opposite