[22]. Sheet X. from S. lat. 6° 38′ to S. lat. 4° 23′ (Tom Shoal) is the offending member in commission and omission. It places Chala (Kwala) point 14 instead of 45 miles North of Tanga, and thus the latter, which is parallel with the Northern third of Pemba Island, is thrown 25 miles north of it. Wasin Island, between Mombasah and Tanga, is transferred five miles South of the latter. It also omits the ruins of Mtangata. North of this, the ‘Island and Ports of Mombaza’ are remarkably correct, but further North again the Coast, owing to the sickness of the surveyors, was perfunctorily laid down: they seem not to have landed at Makdishu, nor to have sought the debouchure of the Juba river. The late Lieut. Carless, I.N., did not extend his admirable labours beyond Ra’as Hafun. Southward, also, many important places were left unnoticed by Capt. Owen. The Rufiji river is omitted, and the Tanchi inlet (about S. lat. 9° 55′), a little above the mouth of the Lindi river, does not appear upon the chart: it was till lately a nest of slavers, who shared their secret with certain Zanzibar merchants, till unpleasantly disturbed by H. B. Majesty’s ship Grecian. In a return made to the House of Commons from the Hydrographic Department (1848) it was stated that ‘many researches might probably be made from Delagoa Bay to the Red Sea’; I therefore proposed (April 19, 1856) a fresh survey of the Coast, but the project found an obstacle in the Persian War.
[23]. Mvo is the Mvubu of the Kafir tongues: here the generally used term for the Hippopotamus is Kiboko. I agree with the Rev. Mr Wakefield (p. 307), that the diminutive forms, Kiboko, plural Viboko (Viboko-ni, p. 316), are preferred to the root-name Boko, plural Maboko. It may, however, be doubted if Boko, like Lima, be not the intensitive of Mboko and Mlima, a hippopotamus and a mountain.
[24]. Mr Wakefield (J. R. G. Society for 1870, p. 304) gives 11 marches: of these, however, 4 are 12 hour marches, 2 are of 8 hours, 1 is of 7 hours, and 4 are of 6 hours.
[25]. The following is a native list of the stages between Tanga and Chaga: I leave it as written in 1857, and the reader will find the first part almost identical with Mr Wakefield’s Route No. 1. I was surprised to see the coincidence.
1. Tanga to Bwetti: 1 whole day (others say two), through the Wadigo and Wasegeju jungle to a stream.
2. Dongo Khundu (red earth): half a day to a day, path straight easy through the Wasegeju and Wadigo.
3. The Umba river: 1 day of jungle march.
4. The Mto Mchanga (Sand river): 1 day of wilderness march.
5. Mbaramo in the Usumbara country, many streams: 1 day’s march. The hill belongs to King Kimwere’s sons, and some make it the 3rd station.
6. Gonja in the Pare country: 1 long day, the men generally dividing it and sleeping in a jungle. Water is found flowing from a hill.