CHAPTER XXII.
SOME VIEWS OF THE PEOPLE.
Burton and his companion, Speke, remained for over three months at Ujiji, a small province situated upon Lake Tanganyika. It has a convenient situation as a mart, and was a central point for the establishment of trading depots by the Arabs as early as 1840. It was their custom to send decoy slaves with their agents, to navigate the waters of the lake, for the purpose of collecting ivory and slaves upon its shores.
The atmosphere of Ujiji has great humidity, and its soil, consequently, great fertility. The large forest trees and the profusion of ferns give abundant evidence that the province is one of the most productive in this portion of Africa. Vegetables, which in other sections grow only under cultivation, here have a spontaneous growth.
The Arabs found rice of an excellent quality could be raised upon the shores of the lake. It grew very luxuriantly, sometimes to the height of eight or nine feet. The natives, however, found that the ravages of the monkey, the elephant, and the hippopotamus were such as to spoil their rice fields, and turned their attention to the cultivation of sorghum, for which they have a preference.
"The bazaar at Ujiji is well supplied. Fresh fish of various kinds is always procurable, except during the violence of the rains; the people, however, invariably cut it up and clean it before bringing it to market. Good honey abounds after the wet monsoon. By the favor of the chief, milk and butter may be purchased every day. Long-tailed sheep and well-bred goats, poultry and eggs—the two latter are never eaten by the people—are brought in from the adjoining countries. The Arabs breed a few Manilla ducks, and the people rear, but will not sell, pigeons."
It will be interesting to know the meaning of the various prefixes to native words used in speaking of the land and people of Africa. Captain Burton uses these prefixes invariably in his journal and letters. They are U, meaning the country; Ki, meaning the language; Wa, the people in a body; and M, an individual. These prefixes are used in connection with some special stem or root, as jiji, chosen by a native tribe. Thus we find U-jiji, the country of jiji; Ki-jiji, the language of jiji. Wa-jiji, the people of jiji; M-jiji, an individual in jiji. This little explanation will tend to help us in our understanding of the various African words we shall meet in our reading.
"The Wajiji are a burly race of barbarians, far stronger than the tribes hitherto traversed, with dark skins, plain features, and straight, sturdy limbs," we are told in Burton's account of his explorations in the region along the shores of the lake. "They are larger and heavier men than the Wanyamwezi, and the type, as it approaches Central Africa, becomes rather negro than negroid.
"Their feet and hands are large and flat, their voices are harsh and strident, and their looks as well as their manners are independent almost to insolence. Many, of both sexes and all ages, are disfigured by the smallpox. The Arabs have vainly taught them inoculation."