BAGAMOTO TO MPWAPWA. 35

and bright green palms, broke the monotony of the

stream ; now and then a solitary crane would fly

slowly by, doves cooed in the thick shade, while in

the evening the red rays of the setting sun as it

sank behind the purple mountains of Ng'uru formed

a picture of surpassing beauty. One tree in the Wami valley struck me particularly ; it had a large white-barked trunk, which grew straight as an

arrow to a height of eighty or ninety feet without

throwing out a single branch, till it ended in a large

dome-shaped head of dark-green foliage. For three

days we followed the valley of the Wami in a N.W.

direction, occasionally leaving its banks and plung-

ing into the forest, when the river made a detour to

the N., and on the third day we reached the village

of Kwedibago, about a quarter of a mile from the

river-bank. This village was conspicuous from

some large fig-trees which grew near it, and which,

though bare of leaves, were covered with small figs which were just ripe, and attracted large flocks of

pigeons and parrots.

At this point the Wami had to be crossed, and on

August 26th we accomplished this feat. At an early hour the caravan had reached a spot on the banks of

the river where a bridge had been constructed. The

banks here were about fifteen feet high, and two

stout creepers had been carried across and secured

to trees on either side; strong cross-pieces were

fastened to these at intervals, and on them long poles

D 2