On the 6th, Muabo, the great chief of these parts, came to call on
Mohamad: several men got up and made some antics before him, then
knelt down and did obeisance, then Muabo himself jumped about a
little, and all applauded. He is a good-natured-looking man, fond of a
joke, and always ready with a good-humoured smile: he was praised very
highly, Mpwéto was nothing to Muabo mokolu, the great Muabo; and he
returned the praise by lauding Tipo Tipo and Mpamari, Mohamad's native
name, which means, "Give me wealth, or goods." Mohamad made a few of
the ungainly antics like the natives, and all were highly pleased, and
went off rejoicing.

Some Arabs believe that a serpent on one of the islands in the Nyanza
Lake has the power of speaking, and is the same that beguiled Eve. It
is a crime at Ujiji to kill a serpent, even though it enters a house
and kills a kid! The native name, for the people of Ujiji is Wayeiyé,
the very same as the people on the Zouga, near Lake Ngami. They are
probably an offshoot from Ujiji.[61]

There are underground stone houses in Kabiuré, in the range called
Kakoma, which is near to our place of detention. _15th March,
1868._--The roots of the Nyumbo or Noombo open in four or five months
from the time of planting, those planted by me on the 6th February
have now stalks fifteen inches long. The root is reported to be a very
wholesome food, never disagreeing with the stomach; and the raw root
is an excellent remedy in obstinate vomiting and nausea; four or five
tubers are often given by one root, in Marungu they attain a size of
six inches in length by two in diameter.

_16th March, 1868._--We started for Mpwéto's village, which is