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diff --git a/5157.txt b/5157.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..453a6c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/5157.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16949 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of How I Found Livingstone, by Henry M. Stanley + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: How I Found Livingstone + +Author: Henry M. Stanley + +Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5157] +Last Updated: August 18, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW I FOUND LIVINGSTONE *** + + + + +Produced by Geoffrey Cowling + + + + + + + +HOW I FOUND LIVINGSTONE + +Travels, Adventures and Discoveries in Central Africa including four +months residence with Dr. Livingstone + +By Sir Henry M. Stanley, G.C.B. + +Abridged + + + + +CHAPTER I.-- INTRODUCTORY. MY INSTRUCTIONS TO FIND AND RELIEVE +LIVINGSTONE. + + +On the sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand +eight hundred and sixty-nine, I was in Madrid, fresh from the carnage +at Valencia. At 10 A.M. Jacopo, at No.-- Calle de la Cruz, handed me a +telegram: It read, "Come to Paris on important business." The telegram +was from Mr. James Gordon Bennett, jun., the young manager of the 'New +York Herald.' + +Down came my pictures from the walls of my apartments on the second +floor; into my trunks went my books and souvenirs, my clothes were +hastily collected, some half washed, some from the clothes-line half +dry, and after a couple of hours of hasty hard work my portmanteaus were +strapped up and labelled "Paris." + +At 3 P.M. I was on my way, and being obliged to stop at Bayonne a +few hours, did not arrive at Paris until the following night. I went +straight to the 'Grand Hotel,' and knocked at the door of Mr. Bennett's +room. + +"Come in," I heard a voice say. Entering, I found Mr. Bennett in bed. +"Who are you?" he asked. + +"My name is Stanley," I answered. + +"Ah, yes! sit down; I have important business on hand for you." + +After throwing over his shoulders his robe-de-chambre Mr. Bennett asked, +"Where do you think Livingstone is?" + +"I really do not know, sir." + +"Do you think he is alive?" + +"He may be, and he may not be," I answered. + +"Well, I think he is alive, and that he can be found, and I am going to +send you to find him." + +"What!" said I, "do you really think I can find Dr Livingstone? Do you +mean me to go to Central Africa?" + +"Yes; I mean that you shall go, and find him wherever you may hear that +he is, and to get what news you can of him, and perhaps"--delivering +himself thoughtfully and deliberately--"the old man may be in +want:--take enough with you to help him should he require it. Of +course you will act according to your own plans, and do what you think +best--BUT FIND LIVINGSTONE!" + +Said I, wondering at the cool order of sending one to Central Africa to +search for a man whom I, in common with almost all other men, believed +to be dead, "Have you considered seriously the great expense you are +likely, to incur on account of this little journey?" + +"What will it cost?" he asked abruptly. + +"Burton and Speke's journey to Central Africa cost between L3,000 and +L5,000, and I fear it cannot be done under L2,500." + +"Well, I will tell you what you will do. Draw a thousand pounds now; and +when you have gone through that, draw another thousand, and when that +is spent, draw another thousand, and when you have finished that, draw +another thousand, and so on; but, FIND LIVINGSTONE." + +Surprised but not confused at the order--for I knew that Mr. Bennett +when once he had made up his mind was not easily drawn aside from his +purpose--I yet thought, seeing it was such a gigantic scheme, that he +had not quite considered in his own mind the pros and cons of the case; +I said, "I have heard that should your father die you would sell the +'Herald' and retire from business." + +"Whoever told you that is wrong, for there is not, money enough in New +York city to buy the 'New York Herald.' My father has made it a +great paper, but I mean to make it greater. I mean that it shall be a +newspaper in the true sense of the word. I mean that it shall publish +whatever news will be interesting to the world at no matter what cost." + +"After that," said I, "I have nothing more to say. Do you mean me to go +straight on to Africa to search for Dr. Livingstone?" + +"No! I wish you to go to the inauguration of the Suez Canal first, +and then proceed up the Nile. I hear Baker is about starting for Upper +Egypt. Find out what you can about his expedition, and as you go up +describe as well as possible whatever is interesting for tourists; and +then write up a guide--a practical one--for Lower Egypt; tell us about +whatever is worth seeing and how to see it. + +"Then you might as well go to Jerusalem; I hear Captain Warren is making +some interesting discoveries there. Then visit Constantinople, and find +out about that trouble between the Khedive and the Sultan. + +"Then--let me see--you might as well visit the Crimea and those old +battle-grounds, Then go across the Caucasus to the Caspian Sea; I hear +there is a Russian expedition bound for Khiva. From thence you may get +through Persia to India; you could write an interesting letter from +Persepolis. + +"Bagdad will be close on your way to India; suppose you go there, and +write up something about the Euphrates Valley Railway. Then, when you +have come to India, you can go after Livingstone. Probably you will hear +by that time that Livingstone is on his way to Zanzibar; but if not, +go into the interior and find him. If alive, get what news of his +discoveries you can; and if you find he is dead, bring all possible +proofs of his being dead. That is all. Good-night, and God be with you." + +"Good-night, Sir," I said, "what it is in the power of human nature to +do I will do; and on such an errand as I go upon, God will be with me." + +I lodged with young Edward King, who is making such a name in New +England. He was just the man who would have delighted to tell the +journal he was engaged upon what young Mr. Bennett was doing, and what +errand I was bound upon. + +I should have liked to exchange opinions with him upon the probable +results of my journey, but I dared not do so. Though oppressed with the +great task before me, I had to appear as if only going to be present at +the Suez Canal. Young King followed me to the express train bound +for Marseilles, and at the station we parted: he to go and read the +newspapers at Bowles' Reading-room--I to Central Africa and--who knows? + +There is no need to recapitulate what I did before going to Central +Africa. + +I went up the Nile and saw Mr. Higginbotham, chief engineer in Baker's +Expedition, at Philae, and was the means of preventing a duel between +him and a mad young Frenchman, who wanted to fight Mr. Higginbotham with +pistols, because that gentleman resented the idea of being taken for an +Egyptian, through wearing a fez cap. I had a talk with Capt. Warren at +Jerusalem, and descended one of the pits with a sergeant of engineers +to see the marks of the Tyrian workmen on the foundation-stones of the +Temple of Solomon. I visited the mosques of Stamboul with the Minister +Resident of the United States, and the American Consul-General. I +travelled over the Crimean battle-grounds with Kinglake's glorious books +for reference in my hand. I dined with the widow of General Liprandi +at Odessa. I saw the Arabian traveller Palgrave at Trebizond, and Baron +Nicolay, the Civil Governor of the Caucasus, at Tiflis. I lived with the +Russian Ambassador while at Teheran, and wherever I went through +Persia I received the most hospitable welcome from the gentlemen of +the Indo-European Telegraph Company; and following the examples of many +illustrious men, I wrote my name upon one of the Persepolitan monuments. +In the month of August, 1870, I arrived in India. + +On the 12th of October I sailed on the barque 'Polly' from Bombay +to Mauritius. As the 'Polly' was a slow sailer, the passage lasted +thirty-seven days. On board this barque was a William Lawrence +Farquhar--hailing from Leith, Scotland--in the capacity of first-mate. +He was an excellent navigator, and thinking he might be useful to me, +I employed him; his pay to begin from the date we should leave Zanzibar +for Bagamoyo. As there was no opportunity of getting, to Zanzibar +direct, I took ship to Seychelles. Three or four days after arriving +at Mahe, one of the Seychelles group, I was fortunate enough to get +a passage for myself, William Lawrence Farquhar, and an Arab boy from +Jerusalem, who was to act as interpreter--on board an American whaling +vessel, bound for Zanzibar; at which port we arrived on the 6th of +January, 1871. + +I have skimmed over my travels thus far, because these do not concern +the reader. They led over many lands, but this book is only a narrative +of my search after Livingstone, the great African traveller. It is +an Icarian flight of journalism, I confess; some even have called it +Quixotic; but this is a word I can now refute, as will be seen before +the reader arrives at the "Finis." + +I have used the word "soldiers" in this book. The armed escort a +traveller engages to accompany him into East Africa is composed of free +black men, natives of Zanzibar, or freed slaves from the interior, +who call themselves "askari," an Indian name which, translated, means +"soldiers." They are armed and equipped like soldiers, though they +engage themselves also as servants; but it would be more pretentious in +me to call them servants, than to use the word "soldiers;" and as I +have been more in the habit of calling them soldiers than "my +watuma"--servants--this habit has proved too much to be overcome. I have +therefore allowed the word "soldiers" to appear, accompanied, however, +with this apology. + +But it must be remembered that I am writing a narrative of my own +adventures and travels, and that until I meet Livingstone, I presume +the greatest interest is attached to myself, my marches, my troubles, +my thoughts, and my impressions. Yet though I may sometimes write, "my +expedition," or "my caravan," it by no means follows that I arrogate to +myself this right. For it must be distinctly understood that it is the +"'New York Herald' Expedition," and that I am only charged with its +command by Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the 'New York +Herald,' as a salaried employ of that gentleman. + +One thing more; I have adopted the narrative form of relating the story +of the search, on account of the greater interest it appears to possess +over the diary form, and I think that in this manner I avoid the +great fault of repetition for which some travellers have been severely +criticised. + + + +CHAPTER II. -- ZANZIBAR. + +On the morning of the 6th January, 1871, we were sailing through the +channel that separates the fruitful island of Zanzibar from Africa. The +high lands of the continent loomed like a lengthening shadow in the grey +of dawn. The island lay on our left, distant but a mile, coming out +of its shroud of foggy folds bit by bit as the day advanced, until it +finally rose clearly into view, as fair in appearance as the fairest of +the gems of creation. It appeared low, but not flat; there were gentle +elevations cropping hither and yon above the languid but graceful tops +of the cocoa-trees that lined the margin of the island, and there were +depressions visible at agreeable intervals, to indicate where a cool +gloom might be found by those who sought relief from a hot sun. With +the exception of the thin line of sand, over which the sap-green water +rolled itself with a constant murmur and moan, the island seemed buried +under one deep stratum of verdure. + +The noble bosom of the strait bore several dhows speeding in and out of +the bay of Zanzibar with bellying sails. Towards the south, above the +sea line of the horizon, there appeared the naked masts of several +large ships, and to the east of these a dense mass of white, flat-topped +houses. This was Zanzibar, the capital of the island;--which soon +resolved itself into a pretty large and compact city, with all the +characteristics of Arab architecture. Above some of the largest houses +lining the bay front of the city streamed the blood-red banner of the +Sultan, Seyd Burghash, and the flags of the American, English, North +German Confederation, and French Consulates. In the harbor were thirteen +large ships, four Zanzibar men-of-war, one English man-of-war--the +'Nymphe,' two American, one French, one Portuguese, two English, and +two German merchantmen, besides numerous dhows hailing from Johanna +and Mayotte of the Comoro Islands, dhows from Muscat and Cutch--traders +between India, the Persian Gulf, and Zanzibar. + +It was with the spirit of true hospitality and courtesy that Capt. +Francis R. Webb, United States Consul, (formerly of the United States +Navy), received me. Had this gentleman not rendered me such needful +service, I must have condescended to take board and lodging at a house +known as "Charley's," called after the proprietor, a Frenchman, who has +won considerable local notoriety for harboring penniless itinerants, and +manifesting a kindly spirit always, though hidden under such a rugged +front; or I should have been obliged to pitch my double-clothed American +drill tent on the sandbeach of this tropical island, which was by no +means a desirable thing. + +But Capt. Webb's opportune proposal to make his commodious and +comfortable house my own; to enjoy myself, with the request that I would +call for whatever I might require, obviated all unpleasant alternatives. + +One day's life at Zanzibar made me thoroughly conscious of my ignorance +respecting African people and things in general. I imagined I had read +Burton and Speke through, fairly well, and that consequently I had +penetrated the meaning, the full importance and grandeur, of the work I +was about to be engaged upon. But my estimates, for instance, based upon +book information, were simply ridiculous, fanciful images of African +attractions were soon dissipated, anticipated pleasures vanished, and +all crude ideas began to resolve themselves into shape. + +I strolled through the city. My general impressions are of crooked, +narrow lanes, white-washed houses, mortar-plastered streets, in the +clean quarter;--of seeing alcoves on each side, with deep recesses, +with a fore-ground of red-turbaned Banyans, and a back-ground of flimsy +cottons, prints, calicoes, domestics and what not; or of floors crowded +with ivory tusks; or of dark corners with a pile of unginned and loose +cotton; or of stores of crockery, nails, cheap Brummagem ware, tools, +&c., in what I call the Banyan quarter;--of streets smelling very +strong--in fact, exceedingly, malodorous, with steaming yellow and +black bodies, and woolly heads, sitting at the doors of miserable huts, +chatting, laughing, bargaining, scolding, with a compound smell of +hides, tar, filth, and vegetable refuse, in the negro quarter;--of +streets lined with tall, solid-looking houses, flat roofed, of great +carved doors with large brass knockers, with baabs sitting cross-legged +watching the dark entrance to their masters' houses; of a shallow +sea-inlet, with some dhows, canoes, boats, an odd steam-tub or two, +leaning over on their sides in a sea of mud which the tide has just left +behind it; of a place called "M'nazi-Moya," "One Cocoa-tree," whither +Europeans wend on evenings with most languid steps, to inhale the sweet +air that glides over the sea, while the day is dying and the red sun is +sinking westward; of a few graves of dead sailors, who paid the forfeit +of their lives upon arrival in this land; of a tall house wherein lives +Dr. Tozer, "Missionary Bishop of Central Africa," and his school of +little Africans; and of many other things, which got together into such +a tangle, that I had to go to sleep, lest I should never be able to +separate the moving images, the Arab from the African; the African from +the Banyan; the Banyan from the Hindi; the Hindi from the European, &c. + +Zanzibar is the Bagdad, the Ispahan, the Stamboul, if you like, of East +Africa. It is the great mart which invites the ivory traders from the +African interior. To this market come the gum-copal, the hides, the +orchilla weed, the timber, and the black slaves from Africa. Bagdad had +great silk bazaars, Zanzibar has her ivory bazaars; Bagdad once traded +in jewels, Zanzibar trades in gum-copal; Stamboul imported Circassian +and Georgian slaves; Zanzibar imports black beauties from Uhiyow, +Ugindo, Ugogo, Unyamwezi and Galla. + +The same mode of commerce obtains here as in all Mohammedan +countries--nay, the mode was in vogue long before Moses was born. The +Arab never changes. He brought the custom of his forefathers with him +when he came to live on this island. He is as much of an Arab here as +at Muscat or Bagdad; wherever he goes to live he carries with him his +harem, his religion, his long robe, his shirt, his slippers, and his +dagger. If he penetrates Africa, not all the ridicule of the negroes can +make him change his modes of life. Yet the land has not become Oriental; +the Arab has not been able to change the atmosphere. The land is +semi-African in aspect; the city is but semi-Arabian. + +To a new-comer into Africa, the Muscat Arabs of Zanzibar are studies. +There is a certain empressement about them which we must admire. They +are mostly all travellers. There are but few of them who have not been +in many dangerous positions, as they penetrated Central Africa in search +of the precious ivory; and their various experiences have given +their features a certain unmistakable air of-self-reliance, or of +self-sufficiency; there is a calm, resolute, defiant, independent air +about them, which wins unconsciously one's respect. The stories that +some of these men could tell, I have often thought, would fill many a +book of thrilling adventures. + +For the half-castes I have great contempt. They are neither black nor +white, neither good nor bad, neither to be admired nor hated. They are +all things, at all times; they are always fawning on the great Arabs, +and always cruel to those unfortunates brought under their yoke. If I +saw a miserable, half-starved negro, I was always sure to be told +he belonged to a half-caste. Cringing and hypocritical, cowardly and +debased, treacherous and mean, I have always found him. He seems to be +for ever ready to fall down and worship a rich Arab, but is relentless +to a poor black slave. When he swears most, you may be sure he lies +most, and yet this is the breed which is multiplied most at Zanzibar. + +The Banyan is a born trader, the beau-ideal of a sharp money-making man. +Money flows to his pockets as naturally as water down a steep. No pang +of conscience will prevent him from cheating his fellow man. He excels +a Jew, and his only rival in a market is a Parsee; an Arab is a babe to +him. It is worth money to see him labor with all his energy, soul and +body, to get advantage by the smallest fraction of a coin over a native. +Possibly the native has a tusk, and it may weigh a couple of frasilahs, +but, though the scales indicate the weight, and the native declares +solemnly that it must be more than two frasilahs, yet our Banyan will +asseverate and vow that the native knows nothing whatever about it, and +that the scales are wrong; he musters up courage to lift it--it is a +mere song, not much more than a frasilah. "Come," he will say, "close, +man, take the money and go thy way. Art thou mad?" If the native +hesitates, he will scream in a fury; he pushes him about, spurns the +ivory with contemptuous indifference,--never was such ado about nothing; +but though he tells the astounded native to be up and going, he never +intends the ivory shall leave his shop. + +The Banyans exercise, of all other classes, most influence on the trade +of Central Africa. With the exception of a very few rich Arabs, almost +all other traders are subject to the pains and penalties which usury +imposes. A trader desirous to make a journey into the interior, whether +for slaves or ivory, gum-copal, or orchilla weed, proposes to a Banyan +to advance him $5,000, at 50, 60, or 70 per cent. interest. The Banyan +is safe enough not to lose, whether the speculation the trader is +engaged upon pays or not. An experienced trader seldom loses, or if +he has been unfortunate, through no deed of his own, he does not lose +credit; with the help of the Banyan, he is easily set on his feet again. + +We will suppose, for the sake of illustrating how trade with the +interior is managed, that the Arab conveys by his caravan $5,000's worth +of goods into the interior. At Unyanyembe the goods are worth $10,000; +at Ujiji, they are worth $15,000: they have trebled in price. Five doti, +or $7.50, will purchase a slave in the markets of Ujiji that will fetch +in Zanzibar $30. Ordinary menslaves may be purchased for $6 which would +sell for $25 on the coast. We will say he purchases slaves to the full +extent of his means--after deducting $1,500 expenses of carriage to +Ujiji and back--viz. $3,500, the slaves--464 in number, at $7-50 per +head--would realize $13,920 at Zanzibar! Again, let us illustrate trade +in ivory. A merchant takes $5,000 to Ujiji, and after deducting $1,500 +for expenses to Ujiji, and back to Zanzibar, has still remaining $3,500 +in cloth and beads, with which he purchases ivory. At Ujiji ivory is +bought at $20 the frasilah, or 35 lbs., by which he is enabled with +$3,500 to collect 175 frasilahs, which, if good ivory, is worth about +$60 per frasilah at Zanzibar. The merchant thus finds that he has +realized $10,500 net profit! Arab traders have often done better than +this, but they almost always have come back with an enormous margin of +profit. + +The next people to the Banyans in power in Zanzibar are the Mohammedan +Hindis. Really it has been a debateable subject in my mind whether the +Hindis are not as wickedly determined to cheat in trade as the Banyans. +But, if I have conceded the palm to the latter, it has been done very +reluctantly. This tribe of Indians can produce scores of unconscionable +rascals where they can show but one honest merchant. One of the +honestest among men, white or black, red or yellow, is a Mohammedan +Hindi called Tarya Topan. Among the Europeans at Zanzibar, he has become +a proverb for honesty, and strict business integrity. He is enormously +wealthy, owns several ships and dhows, and is a prominent man in the +councils of Seyd Burghash. Tarya has many children, two or three of +whom are grown-up sons, whom he has reared up even as he is himself. But +Tarya is but a representative of an exceedingly small minority. + +The Arabs, the Banyans, and the Mohammedan Hindis, represent the higher +and the middle classes. These classes own the estates, the ships, and +the trade. To these classes bow the half-caste and the negro. + +The next most important people who go to make up the mixed population of +this island are the negroes. They consist of the aborigines, Wasawahili, +Somalis, Comorines, Wanyamwezi, and a host of tribal representatives of +Inner Africa. + +To a white stranger about penetrating Africa, it is a most interesting +walk through the negro quarters of the Wanyamwezi and the Wasawahili. +For here he begins to learn the necessity of admitting that negroes are +men, like himself, though of a different colour; that they have passions +and prejudices, likes and dislikes, sympathies and antipathies, tastes +and feelings, in common with all human nature. The sooner he perceives +this fact, and adapts himself accordingly, the easier will be his +journey among the several races of the interior. The more plastic his +nature, the more prosperous will be his travels. + +Though I had lived some time among the negroes of our Southern States, +my education was Northern, and I had met in the United States black men +whom I was proud to call friends. I was thus prepared to admit any black +man, possessing the attributes of true manhood or any good qualities, to +my friendship, even to a brotherhood with myself; and to respect him +for such, as much as if he were of my own colour and race. Neither his +colour, nor any peculiarities of physiognomy should debar him with me +from any rights he could fairly claim as a man. "Have these men--these +black savages from pagan Africa," I asked myself, "the qualities +which make man loveable among his fellows? Can these men--these +barbarians--appreciate kindness or feel resentment like myself?" was my +mental question as I travelled through their quarters and observed their +actions. Need I say, that I was much comforted in observing that they +were as ready to be influenced by passions, by loves and hates, as I +was myself; that the keenest observation failed to detect any great +difference between their nature and my own? + +The negroes of the island probably number two-thirds of the entire +population. They compose the working-class, whether enslaved or free. +Those enslaved perform the work required on the plantations, the +estates, and gardens of the landed proprietors, or perform the work of +carriers, whether in the country or in the city. Outside the city they +may be seen carrying huge loads on their heads, as happy as possible, +not because they are kindly treated or that their work is light, but +because it is their nature to be gay and light-hearted, because they, +have conceived neither joys nor hopes which may not be gratified at +will, nor cherished any ambition beyond their reach, and therefore have +not been baffled in their hopes nor known disappointment. + +Within the city, negro carriers may be heard at all hours, in couples, +engaged in the transportation of clove-bags, boxes of merchandise, &c., +from store to "godown" and from "go-down" to the beach, singing a kind +of monotone chant for the encouragement of each other, and for the +guiding of their pace as they shuffle through the streets with +bare feet. You may recognise these men readily, before long, as old +acquaintances, by the consistency with which they sing the tunes they +have adopted. Several times during a day have I heard the same couple +pass beneath the windows of the Consulate, delivering themselves of +the same invariable tune and words. Some might possibly deem the songs +foolish and silly, but they had a certain attraction for me, and I +considered that they were as useful as anything else for the purposes +they were intended. + +The town of Zanzibar, situate on the south-western shore of the island, +contains a population of nearly one hundred thousand inhabitants; that +of the island altogether I would estimate at not more than two hundred +thousand inhabitants, including all races. + +The greatest number of foreign vessels trading with this port are +American, principally from New York and Salem. After the American come +the German, then come the French and English. They arrive loaded with +American sheeting, brandy, gunpowder, muskets, beads, English cottons, +brass-wire, china-ware, and other notions, and depart with ivory, +gum-copal, cloves, hides, cowries, sesamum, pepper, and cocoa-nut oil. + +The value of the exports from this port is estimated at $3,000,000, and +the imports from all countries at $3,500,000. + +The Europeans and Americans residing in the town of Zanzibar are either +Government officials, independent merchants, or agents for a few great +mercantile houses in Europe and America. + +The climate of Zanzibar is not the most agreeable in the world. I have +heard Americans and Europeans condemn it most heartily. I have also seen +nearly one-half of the white colony laid up in one day from sickness. A +noxious malaria is exhaled from the shallow inlet of Malagash, and the +undrained filth, the garbage, offal, dead mollusks, dead pariah dogs, +dead cats, all species of carrion, remains of men and beasts unburied, +assist to make Zanzibar a most unhealthy city; and considering that it +it ought to be most healthy, nature having pointed out to man the means, +and having assisted him so far, it is most wonderful that the ruling +prince does not obey the dictates of reason. + +The bay of Zanzibar is in the form of a crescent, and on the +south-western horn of it is built the city. On the east Zanzibar is +bounded almost entirely by the Malagash Lagoon, an inlet of the sea. It +penetrates to at least two hundred and fifty yards of the sea behind +or south of Shangani Point. Were these two hundred and fifty yards cut +through by a ten foot ditch, and the inlet deepened slightly, Zanzibar +would become an island of itself, and what wonders would it not effect +as to health and salubrity! I have never heard this suggestion made, but +it struck me that the foreign consuls resident at Zanzibar might suggest +this work to the Sultan, and so get the credit of having made it as +healthy a place to live in as any near the equator. But apropos of this, +I remember what Capt. Webb, the American Consul, told me on my first +arrival, when I expressed to him my wonder at the apathy and inertness +of men born with the indomitable energy which characterises Europeans +and Americans, of men imbued with the progressive and stirring instincts +of the white people, who yet allow themselves to dwindle into pallid +phantoms of their kind, into hypochondriacal invalids, into hopeless +believers in the deadliness of the climate, with hardly a trace of that +daring and invincible spirit which rules the world. + +"Oh," said Capt. Webb, "it is all very well for you to talk about energy +and all that kind of thing, but I assure you that a residence of four or +five years on this island, among such people as are here, would make you +feel that it was a hopeless task to resist the influence of the example +by which the most energetic spirits are subdued, and to which they must +submit in time, sooner or later. We were all terribly energetic when we +first came here, and struggled bravely to make things go on as we were +accustomed to have them at home, but we have found that we were +knocking our heads against granite walls to no purpose whatever. These +fellows--the Arabs, the Banyans, and the Hindis--you can't make them go +faster by ever so much scolding and praying, and in a very short time +you see the folly of fighting against the unconquerable. Be patient, and +don't fret, that is my advice, or you won't live long here." + +There were three or four intensely busy men, though, at Zanzibar, who +were out at all hours of the day. I know one, an American; I fancy +I hear the quick pit-pat of his feet on the pavement beneath the +Consulate, his cheery voice ringing the salutation, "Yambo!" to every +one he met; and he had lived at Zanzibar twelve years. + +I know another, one of the sturdiest of Scotchmen, a most +pleasant-mannered and unaffected man, sincere in whatever he did +or said, who has lived at Zanzibar several years, subject to the +infructuosities of the business he has been engaged in, as well as to +the calor and ennui of the climate, who yet presents as formidable a +front as ever to the apathetic native of Zanzibar. No man can charge +Capt. H. C. Fraser, formerly of the Indian Navy, with being apathetic. + +I might with ease give evidence of the industry of others, but they are +all my friends, and they are all good. The American, English, German, +and French residents have ever treated me with a courtesy and kindness +I am not disposed to forget. Taken as a body, it would be hard to find +a more generous or hospitable colony of white men in any part of the +world. + + + +CHAPTER III. -- ORGANIZATION OF THE EXPEDITION. + + +I was totally ignorant of the interior, and it was difficult at first to +know, what I needed, in order to take an Expedition into Central Africa. +Time was precious, also, and much of it could not be devoted to inquiry +and investigation. In a case like this, it would have been a godsend, I +thought, had either of the three gentlemen, Captains Burton, Speke, +or Grant, given some information on these points; had they devoted a +chapter upon, "How to get ready an Expedition for Central Africa." The +purpose of this chapter, then, is to relate how I set about it, that +other travellers coming after me may have the benefit of my experience. + +These are some of the questions I asked myself, as I tossed on my bed at +night:-- + +"How much money is required?" + +"How many pagazis, or carriers? + +"How many soldiers?" + +"How much cloth?" + +"How many beads?" + +"How much wire?" + +"What kinds of cloth are required for the different tribes?" + +Ever so many questions to myself brought me no clearer the exact point +I wished to arrive at. I scribbled over scores of sheets of paper, made +estimates, drew out lists of material, calculated the cost of keeping +one hundred men for one year, at so many yards of different kinds of +cloth, etc. I studied Burton, Speke, and Grant in vain. A good deal of +geographical, ethnological, and other information appertaining to the +study of Inner Africa was obtainable, but information respecting the +organization of an expedition requisite before proceeding to Africa, was +not in any book. The Europeans at Zanzibar knew as little as possible +about this particular point. There was not one white man at Zanzibar who +could tell how many dotis a day a force of one hundred men required to +buy food for one day on the road. Neither, indeed, was it their business +to know. But what should I do at all, at all? This was a grand question. + +I decided it were best to hunt up an Arab merchant who had been engaged +in the ivory trade, or who was fresh from the interior. + +Sheikh Hashid was a man of note and of wealth in Zanzibar. He had +himself despatched several caravans into the interior, and was +necessarily acquainted with several prominent traders who came to +his house to gossip about their adventures and gains. He was also the +proprietor of the large house Capt. Webb occupied; besides, he lived +across the narrow street which separated his house from the Consulate. +Of all men Sheikh Hashid was the man to be consulted, and he was +accordingly invited to visit me at the Consulate. + +From the grey-bearded and venerable-looking Sheikh, I elicited more +information about African currency, the mode of procedure, the quantity +and quality of stuffs I required, than I had obtained from three months' +study of books upon Central Africa; and from other Arab merchants +to whom the ancient Sheikh introduced me, I received most valuable +suggestions and hints, which enabled me at last to organize an +Expedition. + +The reader must bear in mind that a traveller requires only that which +is sufficient for travel and exploration that a superfluity of goods or +means will prove as fatal to him as poverty of supplies. It is on +this question of quality and quantity that the traveller has first to +exercise his judgment and discretion. + +My informants gave me to understand that for one hundred men, 10 doti, +or 40 yards of cloth per diem, would suffice for food. The proper course +to pursue, I found, was to purchase 2,000 doti of American sheeting, +1,000 doti of Kaniki, and 650 doti of the coloured cloths, such as +Barsati, a great favourite in Unyamwezi; Sohari, taken in Ugogo; +Ismahili, Taujiri, Joho, Shash, Rehani, Jamdani or Kunguru-Cutch, blue +and pink. These were deemed amply sufficient for the subsistence of +one hundred men for twelve months. Two years at this rate would require +4,000 doti = 16,000 yards of American sheeting; 2,000 doti = 8,000 yards +of Kaniki; 1,300 doti = 5,200 yards of mixed coloured cloths. This was +definite and valuable information to me, and excepting the lack of some +suggestions as to the quality of the sheeting, Kaniki, and coloured +cloths, I had obtained all I desired upon this point. + +Second in importance to the amount of cloth required was the quantity +and quality of the beads necessary. Beads, I was told, took the place +of cloth currency among some tribes of the interior. One tribe preferred +white to black beads, brown to yellow, red to green, green to white, and +so on. Thus, in Unyamwezi, red (sami-sami) beads would readily be taken, +where all other kinds would be refused; black (bubu) beads, though +currency in Ugogo, were positively worthless with all other tribes; the +egg (sungomazzi) beads, though valuable in Ujiji and Uguhha, would be +refused in all other countries; the white (Merikani) beads though +good in Ufipa, and some parts of Usagara and Ugogo, would certainly be +despised in Useguhha and Ukonongo. Such being the case, I was obliged to +study closely, and calculate the probable stay of an expedition in the +several countries, so as to be sure to provide a sufficiency of each +kind, and guard against any great overplus. Burton and Speke, for +instance, were obliged to throw away as worthless several hundred fundo +of beads. + +For example, supposing the several nations of Europe had each its own +currency, without the means of exchange, and supposing a man was about +to travel through Europe on foot, before starting he would be apt to +calculate how many days it would take him to travel through France; how +many through Prussia, Austria, and Russia, then to reckon the expense +he would be likely to incur per day. If the expense be set down at a +napoleon per day, and his journey through France would occupy thirty +days, the sum required forgoing and returning might be properly set down +at sixty napoleons, in which case, napoleons not being current money +in Prussia, Austria, or Russia, it would be utterly useless for him +to burden himself with the weight of a couple of thousand napoleons in +gold. + +My anxiety on this point was most excruciating. Over and over I studied +the hard names and measures, conned again and again the polysyllables; +hoping to be able to arrive some time at an intelligible definition +of the terms. I revolved in my mind the words Mukunguru, Ghulabio, +Sungomazzi, Kadunduguru, Mutunda, Samisami, Bubu, Merikani, Hafde, +Lunghio-Rega, and Lakhio, until I was fairly beside myself. Finally, +however, I came to the conclusion that if I reckoned my requirements at +fifty khete, or five fundo per day, for two years, and if I purchased +only eleven varieties, I might consider myself safe enough. The purchase +was accordingly made, and twenty-two sacks of the best species were +packed and brought to Capt. Webb's house, ready for transportation to +Bagamoyo. + +After the beads came the wire question. I discovered, after considerable +trouble, that Nos. 5 and 6--almost of the thickness of telegraph +wire--were considered the best numbers for trading purposes. While beads +stand for copper coins in Africa, cloth measures for silver; wire +is reckoned as gold in the countries beyond the Tan-ga-ni-ka.* Ten +frasilah, or 350 lbs., of brass-wire, my Arab adviser thought, would be +ample. + + + * It will be seen that I differ from Capt. Burton in the + spelling of this word, as I deem the letter "y" superfluous. + + +Having purchased the cloth, the beads, and the wire, it was with no +little pride that I surveyed the comely bales and packages lying piled +up, row above row, in Capt. Webb's capacious store-room. Yet my work +was not ended, it was but beginning; there were provisions, +cooking-utensils, boats, rope, twine, tents, donkeys, saddles, bagging, +canvas, tar, needles, tools, ammunition, guns, equipments, hatchets, +medicines, bedding, presents for chiefs--in short, a thousand things not +yet purchased. The ordeal of chaffering and haggling with steel-hearted +Banyans, Hindis, Arabs, and half-castes was most trying. For instance, I +purchased twenty-two donkeys at Zanzibar. $40 and $50 were asked, which +I had to reduce to $15 or $20 by an infinite amount of argument worthy, +I think, of a nobler cause. As was my experience with the ass-dealers so +was it with the petty merchants; even a paper of pins was not purchased +without a five per cent. reduction from the price demanded, involving, +of course, a loss of much time and patience. + +After collecting the donkeys, I discovered there were no pack-saddles +to be obtained in Zanzibar. Donkeys without pack-saddles were of no use +whatever. I invented a saddle to be manufactured by myself and my white +man Farquhar, wholly from canvas, rope, and cotton. + +Three or four frasilahs of cotton, and ten bolts of canvas were required +for the saddles. A specimen saddle was made by myself in order to test +its efficiency. A donkey was taken and saddled, and a load of 140 +lbs. was fastened to it, and though the animal--a wild creature of +Unyamwezi--struggled and reared frantic ally, not a particle gave +way. After this experiment, Farquhar was set to work to manufacture +twenty-one more after the same pattern. Woollen pads were also purchased +to protect the animals from being galled. It ought to be mentioned here, +perhaps, that the idea of such a saddle as I manufactured, was first +derived from the Otago saddle, in use among the transport-trains of the +English army in Abyssinia. + +A man named John William Shaw--a native of London, England, lately +third-mate of the American ship 'Nevada'--applied to me for work. Though +his discharge from the 'Nevada' was rather suspicious, yet he possessed +all the requirements of such a man as I needed, and was an experienced +hand with the palm and needle, could cut canvas to fit anything, was +a pretty good navigator, ready and willing, so far as his professions +went.. I saw no reason to refuse his services, and he was accordingly +engaged at $300 per annum, to rank second to William L. Farquhar. +Farquhar was a capital navigator and excellent mathematician; was +strong, energetic, and clever. + +The next thing I was engaged upon was to enlist, arm, and equip, a +faithful escort of twenty men for the road. Johari, the chief dragoman +of the American Consulate, informed me that he knew where certain of +Speke's "Faithfuls" were yet to be found. The idea had struck me before, +that if I could obtain the services of a few men acquainted with the +ways of white men, and who could induce other good men to join the +expedition I was organizing, I might consider myself fortunate. More +especially had I thought of Seedy Mbarak Mombay, commonly called +"Bombay," who though his head was "woodeny," and his hands "clumsy," was +considered to be the "faithfulest" of the "Faithfuls." + +With the aid of the dragoman Johari, I secured in a few hours the +services of Uledi (Capt. Grant's former valet), Ulimengo, Baruti, +Ambari, Mabruki (Muinyi Mabruki--Bull-headed Mabruki, Capt. Burton's +former unhappy valet)--five of Speke's "Faithfuls." When I asked them if +they were willing to join another white man's expedition to Ujiji, +they replied very readily that they were willing to join any brother +of "Speke's." Dr. John Kirk, Her Majesty's Consul at Zanzibar, who was +present, told them that though I was no brother of "Speke's," I spoke +his language. This distinction mattered little to them: and I heard +them, with great delight, declare their readiness to go anywhere with +me, or do anything I wished. + +Mombay, as they called him, or Bombay, as we know him, had gone to +Pemba, an island lying north of Zanzibar. Uledi was sure Mombay +would jump with joy at the prospect of another expedition. Johari was +therefore commissioned to write to him at Pemba, to inform him of the +good fortune in store for him. + +On the fourth morning after the letter had been despatched, the famous +Bombay made his appearance, followed in decent order and due rank by +the "Faithfuls" of "Speke." I looked in vain for the "woodeny head" and +"alligator teeth" with which his former master had endowed him. I saw +a slender short man of fifty or thereabouts, with a grizzled head, an +uncommonly high, narrow forehead, with a very large mouth, showing teeth +very irregular, and wide apart. An ugly rent in the upper front row of +Bombay's teeth was made with the clenched fist of Capt. Speke in Uganda +when his master's patience was worn out, and prompt punishment became +necessary. That Capt. Speke had spoiled him with kindness was +evident, from the fact that Bombay had the audacity to stand up for a +boxing-match with him. But these things I only found out, when, months +afterwards, I was called upon to administer punishment to him myself. +But, at his first appearance, I was favourably impressed with Bombay, +though his face was rugged, his mouth large, his eyes small, and his +nose flat. + +"Salaam aliekum," were the words he greeted me with. "Aliekum salaam," +I replied, with all the gravity I could muster. I then informed him I +required him as captain of my soldiers to Ujiji. His reply was that he +was ready to do whatever I told him, go wherever I liked in short, be a +pattern to servants, and a model to soldiers. He hoped I would give him +a uniform, and a good gun, both of which were promised. + +Upon inquiring for the rest of the "Faithfuls" who accompanied Speke +into Egypt, I was told that at Zanzibar there were but six. Ferrajji, +Maktub, Sadik, Sunguru, Manyu, Matajari, Mkata, and Almas, were dead; +Uledi and Mtamani were in Unyanyembe; Hassan had gone to Kilwa, and +Ferahan was supposed to be in Ujiji. + +Out of the six "Faithfuls," each of whom still retained his medal for +assisting in the "Discovery of the Sources of the Nile," one, +poor Mabruki, had met with a sad misfortune, which I feared would +incapacitate him from active usefulness. + +Mabruki the "Bull-headed," owned a shamba (or a house with a garden +attached to it), of which he was very proud. Close to him lived a +neighbour in similar circumstances, who was a soldier of Seyd Majid, +with whom Mabruki, who was of a quarrelsome disposition, had a feud, +which culminated in the soldier inducing two or three of his comrades to +assist him in punishing the malevolent Mabruki, and this was done in a +manner that only the heart of an African could conceive. They tied +the unfortunate fellow by his wrists to a branch of a tree, and after +indulging their brutal appetite for revenge in torturing him, left him +to hang in that position for two days. At the expiration of the second +day, he was accidentally discovered in a most pitiable condition. His +hands had swollen to an immense size, and the veins of one hand having +been ruptured, he had lost its use. It is needless to say that, when the +affair came to Seyd Majid's ears, the miscreants were severely punished. +Dr. Kirk, who attended the poor fellow, succeeded in restoring one hand +to something of a resemblance of its former shape, but the other hand is +sadly marred, and its former usefulness gone for ever. + +However, I engaged Mabruki, despite his deformed hands, his ugliness and +vanity, because he was one of Speke's "Faithfuls." For if he but wagged +his tongue in my service, kept his eyes open, and opened his mouth at +the proper time, I assured myself I could make him useful. + +Bombay, my captain of escort, succeeded in getting eighteen more free +men to volunteer as "askari" (soldiers), men whom he knew would not +desert, and for whom he declared himself responsible. They were an +exceedingly fine-looking body of men, far more intelligent in appearance +than I could ever have believed African barbarians could be. They hailed +principally from Uhiyow, others from Unyamwezi, some came from Useguhha +and Ugindo. + +Their wages were set down at $36 each man per annum, or $3 each per +month. Each soldier was provided with a flintlock musket, powder horn, +bullet-pouch, knife, and hatchet, besides enough powder and ball for 200 +rounds. + +Bombay, in consideration of his rank, and previous faithful services +to Burton, Speke and Grant, was engaged at $80 a year, half that sum +in advance, a good muzzle-loading rifle, besides, a pistol, knife, and +hatchet were given to him, while the other five "Faithfuls," Ambari, +Mabruki, Ulimengo, Baruti, and Uledi, were engaged at $40 a year, with +proper equipments as soldiers. + +Having studied fairly well all the East African travellers' books +regarding Eastern and Central Africa, my mind had conceived the +difficulties which would present themselves during the prosecution of my +search after Dr. Livingstone. + +To obviate all of these, as well as human wit could suggest, was my +constant thought and aim. + +"Shall I permit myself, while looking from Ujiji over the waters of +the Tanganika Lake to the other side, to be balked on the threshold of +success by the insolence of a King Kannena or the caprice of a Hamed +bin Sulayyam?" was a question I asked myself. To guard against such a +contingency I determined to carry my own boats. "Then," I thought, "if +I hear of Livingstone being on the Tanganika, I can launch my boat and +proceed after him." + +I procured one large boat, capable of carrying twenty persons, with +stores and goods sufficient for a cruise, from the American Consul, for +the sum of $80, and a smaller one from another American gentleman for +$40. The latter would hold comfortably six men, with suitable stores. + +I did not intend to carry the boats whole or bodily, but to strip them +of their boards, and carry the timbers and thwarts only. As a substitute +for the boards, I proposed to cover each boat with a double canvas skin +well tarred. The work of stripping them and taking them to pieces fell +to me. This little job occupied me five days. + +I also packed them up, for the pagazis. Each load was carefully weighed, +and none exceeded 68 lbs. in weight. John Shaw excelled himself in the +workmanship displayed on the canvas boats; when finished, they fitted +their frames admirably. The canvas--six bolts of English hemp, No. +3--was procured from Ludha Damji, who furnished it from the Sultan's +storeroom. + +An insuperable obstacle to rapid transit in Africa is the want of +carriers, and as speed was the main object of the Expedition under my +command, my duty was to lessen this difficulty as much as possible. +My carriers could only be engaged after arriving at Bagamoyo, on the +mainland. I had over twenty good donkeys ready, and I thought a +cart adapted for the footpaths of Africa might prove an advantage. +Accordingly I had a cart constructed, eighteen inches wide and five feet +long, supplied with two fore-wheels of a light American wagon, more for +the purpose of conveying the narrow ammunition-boxes. I estimated that +if a donkey could carry to Unyanyembe a load of four frasilahs, or 140 +lbs., he ought to be able to draw eight frasilahs on such a cart, +which would be equal to the carrying capacity of four stout pagazis or +carriers. Events will prove, how my theories were borne out by practice. + +When my purchases were completed, and I beheld them piled up, tier after +tier, row upon row, here a mass of cooking-utensils, there bundles of +rope, tents, saddles, a pile of portmanteaus and boxes, containing every +imaginable thing, I confess I was rather abashed at my own temerity. +Here were at least six tons of material! "How will it ever be possible," +I thought, "to move all this inert mass across the wilderness stretching +between the sea, and the great lakes of Africa? Bah, cast all doubts +away, man, and have at them! 'Sufficient for the day is the evil +thereof,' without borrowing from the morrow." + +The traveller must needs make his way into the African interior after +a fashion very different from that to which he has been accustomed in +other countries. He requires to take with him just what a ship must have +when about to sail on a long voyage. He must have his slop chest, his +little store of canned dainties, and his medicines, besides which, he +must have enough guns, powder, and ball to be able to make a series of +good fights if necessary. He must have men to convey these miscellaneous +articles; and as a man's maximum load does not exceed 70 lbs., to convey +11,000 lbs. requires nearly 160 men. + +Europe and the Orient, even Arabia and Turkestan, have royal ways +of travelling compared to Africa. Specie is received in all those +countries, by which a traveller may carry his means about with him on +his own person. Eastern and Central Africa, however, demand a necklace, +instead of a cent; two yards of American sheeting, instead of half a +dollar, or a florin, and a kitindi of thick brass-wire, in place of a +gold piece. + +The African traveller can hire neither wagons nor camels, neither +horses nor mules, to proceed with him into the interior. His means of +conveyance are limited to black and naked men, who demand at least $15 a +head for every 70 lbs. weight carried only as far as Unyanyembe. + +One thing amongst others my predecessors omitted to inform men bound for +Africa, which is of importance, and that is, that no traveller should +ever think of coming to Zanzibar with his money in any other shape than +gold coin. Letters of credit, circular notes, and such civilized things +I have found to be a century ahead of Zanzibar people. + +Twenty and twenty-five cents deducted out of every dollar I drew on +paper is one of the unpleasant, if not unpleasantest things I have +committed to lasting memory. For Zanzibar is a spot far removed from all +avenues of European commerce, and coin is at a high premium. A man +may talk and entreat, but though he may have drafts, cheques, circular +notes, letters of credit, a carte blanche to get what he wants, out of +every dollar must, be deducted twenty, twenty-five and thirty cents, +so I was told, and so was my experience. What a pity there is no +branch-bank here! + +I had intended to have gone into Africa incognito. But the fact that a +white man, even an American, was about to enter Africa was soon known +all over Zanzibar. This fact was repeated a thousand times in the +streets, proclaimed in all shop alcoves, and at the custom-house. The +native bazaar laid hold of it, and agitated it day and night until my +departure. The foreigners, including the Europeans, wished to know the +pros and cons of my coming in and going out. + +My answer to all questions, pertinent and impertinent, was, I am going +to Africa. Though my card bore the words + + ________________________________________ + | | + | HENRY M. STANLEY. | + | | + | | + | New York Herald. | + |________________________________________| + +very few, I believe, ever coupled the words 'New York Herald' with a +search after "Doctor Livingstone." It was not my fault, was it? + +Ah, me! what hard work it is to start an expedition alone! What with +hurrying through the baking heat of the fierce relentless sun from shop +to shop, strengthening myself with far-reaching and enduring patience +far the haggling contest with the livid-faced Hindi, summoning courage +and wit to brow-beat the villainous Goanese, and match the foxy Banyan, +talking volumes throughout the day, correcting estimates, making up +accounts, superintending the delivery of purchased articles, measuring +and weighing them, to see that everything was of full measure and +weight, overseeing the white men Farquhar and Shaw, who were busy on +donkey saddles, sails, tents, and boats for the Expedition, I felt, when +the day was over, as though limbs and brain well deserved their rest. +Such labours were mine unremittingly for a month. + +Having bartered drafts on Mr. James Gordon Bennett to the amount of +several thousand dollars for cloth, beads, wire, donkeys, and a thousand +necessaries, having advanced pay to the white men, and black escort +of the Expedition, having fretted Capt. Webb and his family more than +enough with the din of preparation, and filled his house with my goods, +there was nothing further to do but to leave my formal adieus with the +Europeans, and thank the Sultan and those gentlemen who had assisted me, +before embarking for Bagamoyo. + +The day before my departure from Zanzibar the American Consul, having +just habited himself in his black coat, and taking with him an extra +black hat, in order to be in state apparel, proceeded with me to the +Sultan's palace. The prince had been generous to me; he had presented me +with an Arab horse, had furnished me with letters of introduction to his +agents, his chief men, and representatives in the interior, and in many +other ways had shown himself well disposed towards me. + +The palace is a large, roomy, lofty, square house close to the fort, +built of coral, and plastered thickly with lime mortar. In appearance +it is half Arabic and half Italian. The shutters are Venetian blinds +painted a vivid green, and presenting a striking contrast to the +whitewashed walls. Before the great, lofty, wide door were ranged in +two crescents several Baluch and Persian mercenaries, armed with +curved swords and targes of rhinoceros hide. Their dress consisted of a +muddy-white cotton shirt, reaching to the ancles, girdled with a leather +belt thickly studded with silver bosses. + +As we came in sight a signal was passed to some person inside the +entrance. When within twenty yards of the door, the Sultan, who was +standing waiting, came down the steps, and, passing through the ranks, +advanced toward us, with his right hand stretched out, and a genial +smile of welcome on his face. On our side we raised our hats, and shook +hands with him, after which, doing according as he bade us, we passed +forward, and arrived on the highest step near the entrance door. He +pointed forward; we bowed and arrived at the foot of an unpainted +and narrow staircase to turn once more to the Sultan. The Consul, I +perceived, was ascending sideways, a mode of progression which I saw was +intended for a compromise with decency and dignity. At the top of the +stairs we waited, with our faces towards the up-coming Prince. Again we +were waved magnanimously forward, for before us was the reception-hall +and throne-room. I noticed, as I marched forward to the furthest end, +that the room was high, and painted in the Arabic style, that the carpet +was thick and of Persian fabric, that the furniture consisted of a dozen +gilt chairs and a chandelier, + +We were seated; Ludha Damji, the Banyan collector of customs, a +venerable-looking old man, with a shrewd intelligent face, sat on the +right of the Sultan; next to him was the great Mohammedan merchant Tarya +Topan who had come to be present at the interview, not only because he +was one of the councillors of His Highness, but because he also took a +lively interest in this American Expedition. Opposite to Ludha sat Capt. +Webb, and next to him I was seated, opposite Tarya Topan. The Sultan sat +in a gilt chair between the Americans and the councillors. Johari +the dragoman stood humbly before the Sultan, expectant and ready to +interpret what we had to communicate to the Prince. + +The Sultan, so far as dress goes, might be taken for a Mingrelian +gentleman, excepting, indeed, for the turban, whose ample folds in +alternate colours of red, yellow, brown, and white, encircled his head. +His long robe was of dark cloth, cinctured round the waist with his rich +sword-belt, from which was suspended a gold-hilted scimitar, encased in +a scabbard also enriched with gold: His legs and feet were bare, and had +a ponderous look about them, since he suffered from that strange curse +of Zanzibar--elephantiasis. His feet were slipped into a pair of watta +(Arabic for slippers), with thick soles and a strong leathern band over +the instep. His light complexion and his correct features, which are +intelligent and regular, bespeak the Arab patrician. They indicate, +however, nothing except his high descent and blood; no traits of +character are visible unless there is just a trace of amiability, and +perfect contentment with himself and all around. + +Such is Prince, or Seyd Burghash, Sultan of Zanzibar and Pemba, and the +East coast of Africa, from Somali Land to the Mozambique, as he appeared +to me. + +Coffee was served in cups supported by golden finjans, also some +cocoa-nut milk, and rich sweet sherbet. + +The conversation began with the question addressed to the Consul. + +"Are you well?" + +Consul.--"Yes, thank you. How is His Highness?" + +Highness.--"Quite well!" + +Highness to me.--"Are you well?" + +Answer.--"Quite well, thanks!" + +The Consul now introduces business; and questions about my travels +follow from His Highness-- + +"How do you like Persia?" + +"Have you seen Kerbela, Bagdad, Masr, Stamboul?" + +"Have the Turks many soldiers?" + +"How many has Persia?" + +"Is Persia fertile?" + +"How do you like Zanzibar?" + +Having answered each question to his Highness' satisfaction, he handed +me letters of introduction to his officers at Bagamoyo and Kaole, and a +general introductory letter to all Arab merchants whom I might meet on +the road, and concluded his remarks to me, with the expressed hope, that +on whatever mission I was bound, I should be perfectly successful. + +We bowed ourselves out of his presence in much the same manner that we +had bowed ourselves in, he accompanying us to the great entrance door. + +Mr. Goodhue of Salem, an American merchant long resident in Zanzibar, +presented me, as I gave him my adieu, with a blooded bay horse, imported +from the Cape of Good Hope, and worth, at least at Zanzibar, $500. + +Feb. 4.--By the 4th of February, twenty-eight days from the date of my +arrival at Zanzibar, the organization and equipment of the "'New +York Herald' Expedition" was complete; tents and saddles had been +manufactured, boats and sails were ready. The donkeys brayed, and the +horses neighed impatiently for the road. + +Etiquette demanded that I should once more present my card to the +European and American Consuls at Zanzibar, and the word "farewell" was +said to everybody. + +On the fifth day, four dhows were anchored before the American +Consulate. Into one were lifted the two horses, into two others the +donkeys, into the fourth, the largest, the black escort, and bulky +moneys of the Expedition. + +A little before noon we set sail. The American flag, a present to the +Expedition by that kind-hearted lady, Mrs. Webb, was raised to the +mast-head; the Consul, his lady, and exuberant little children, Mary +and Charley, were on the housetop waving the starry banner, hats, and +handkerchiefs, a token of farewell to me and mine. Happy people, and +good! may their course and ours be prosperous, and may God's blessing +rest on us all! + + + +CHAPTER IV. -- LIFE AT BAGAMOYO. + + +The isle of Zanzibar with its groves of cocoa-nut, mango, clove, +and cinnamon, and its sentinel islets of Chumbi and French, with its +whitewashed city and jack-fruit odor, with its harbor and ships that +tread the deep, faded slowly from view, and looking westward, the +African continent rose, a similar bank of green verdure to that which +had just receded till it was a mere sinuous line above the horizon, +looming in a northerly direction to the sublimity of a mountain chain. +The distance across from Zanzibar to Bagamoyo may be about twenty-five +miles, yet it took the dull and lazy dhows ten hours before they dropped +anchor on the top of the coral reef plainly visible a few feet below the +surface of the water, within a hundred yards of the beach. + +The newly-enlisted soldiers, fond of noise and excitement, discharged +repeated salvos by way of a salute to the mixed crowd of Arabs, Banyans, +and Wasawahili, who stood on the beach to receive the Musungu (white +man), which they did with a general stare and a chorus of "Yambo, bana?" +(how are you, master?) + +In our own land the meeting with a large crowd is rather a tedious +operation, as our independent citizens insist on an interlacing of +fingers, and a vigorous shaking thereof before their pride is satisfied, +and the peaceful manifestation endorsed; but on this beach, well lined +with spectators, a response of "Yambo, bana!" sufficed, except with one +who of all there was acknowledged the greatest, and who, claiming, like +all great men, individual attention, came forward to exchange another +"Yambo!" on his own behalf, and to shake hands. This personage with a +long trailing turban, was Jemadar Esau, commander of the Zanzibar force +of soldiers, police, or Baluch gendarmes stationed at Bagamoyo. He had +accompanied Speke and Grant a good distance into the interior, and they +had rewarded him liberally. He took upon himself the responsibility of +assisting in the debarkation of the Expedition, and unworthy as was his +appearance, disgraceful as he was in his filth, I here commend him for +his influence over the rabble to all future East African travellers. + +Foremost among those who welcomed us was a Father of the Society of +St.-Esprit, who with other Jesuits, under Father Superior Horner, have +established a missionary post of considerable influence and merit at +Bagamoyo. We were invited to partake of the hospitality of the Mission, +to take our meals there, and, should we desire it, to pitch our camp +on their grounds. But however strong the geniality of the welcome and +sincere the heartiness of the invitation, I am one of those who prefer +independence to dependence if it is possible. Besides, my sense of the +obligation between host and guest had just had a fine edge put upon +it by the delicate forbearance of my kind host at Zanzibar, who had +betrayed no sign of impatience at the trouble I was only too conscious +of having caused him. I therefore informed the hospitable Padre, that +only for one night could I suffer myself to be enticed from my camp. + +I selected a house near the western outskirts of the town, where there +is a large open square through which the road from Unyanyembe enters. +Had I been at Bagamoyo a month, I could not have bettered my location. +My tents were pitched fronting the tembe (house) I had chosen, enclosing +a small square, where business could be transacted, bales looked over, +examined, and marked, free from the intrusion of curious sightseers. +After driving the twenty-seven animals of the Expedition into the +enclosure in the rear of the house, storing the bales of goods, and +placing a cordon of soldiers round, I proceeded to the Jesuit Mission, +to a late dinner, being tired and ravenous, leaving the newly-formed +camp in charge of the white men and Capt. Bombay. + +The Mission is distant from the town a good half mile, to the north of +it; it is quite a village of itself, numbering some fifteen or sixteen +houses. There are more than ten padres engaged in the establishment, +and as many sisters, and all find plenty of occupation in educing from +native crania the fire of intelligence. Truth compels me to state that +they are very successful, having over two hundred pupils, boys and +girls, in the Mission, and, from the oldest to the youngest, they show +the impress of the useful education they have received. + +The dinner furnished to the padres and their guest consisted of as many +plats as a first-class hotel in Paris usually supplies, and cooked with +nearly as much skill, though the surroundings were by no means equal. +I feel assured also that the padres, besides being tasteful in their +potages and entrees, do not stultify their ideas for lack of that +element which Horace, Hafiz, and Byron have praised so much. The +champagne--think of champagne Cliquot in East Africa!--Lafitte, La Rose, +Burgundy, and Bordeaux were of first-rate quality, and the meek and +lowly eyes of the fathers were not a little brightened under the +vinous influence. Ah! those fathers understand life, and appreciate its +duration. Their festive board drives the African jungle fever from their +doors, while it soothes the gloom and isolation which strike one with +awe, as one emerges from the lighted room and plunges into the depths +of the darkness of an African night, enlivened only by the wearying +monotone of the frogs and crickets, and the distant ululation of the +hyena. It requires somewhat above human effort, unaided by the ruby +liquid that cheers, to be always suave and polite amid the dismalities +of native life in Africa. + +After the evening meal, which replenished my failing strength, and for +which I felt the intensest gratitude, the most advanced of the pupils +came forward, to the number of twenty, with brass instruments, +thus forming a full band of music. It rather astonished me to hear +instrumental sounds issue forth in harmony from such woolly-headed +youngsters; to hear well-known French music at this isolated port, +to hear negro boys, that a few months ago knew nothing beyond the +traditions of their ignorant mothers, stand forth and chant Parisian +songs about French valor and glory, with all the sangfroid of gamins +from the purlieus of Saint-Antoine. + +I had a most refreshing night's rest, and at dawn I sought out my +camp, with a will to enjoy the new life now commencing. On counting the +animals, two donkeys were missing; and on taking notes of my African +moneys, one coil of No. 6 wire was not to be found. Everybody had +evidently fallen on the ground to sleep, oblivious of the fact that +on the coast there are many dishonest prowlers at night. Soldiers were +despatched to search through the town and neighbourhood, and Jemadar +Esau was apprised of our loss, and stimulated to discover the animals +by the promise of a reward. Before night one of the missing donkeys was +found outside the town nibbling at manioc-leaves, but the other animal +and the coil of wire were never found. + +Among my visitors this first day at Bagamoyo was Ali bin Salim, a +brother of the famous Sayd bin Salim, formerly Ras Kafilah to Burton +and Speke, and subsequently to Speke and Grant. His salaams were very +profuse, and moreover, his brother was to be my agent in Unyamwezi, so +that I did not hesitate to accept his offer of assistance. But, alas, +for my white face and too trustful nature! this Ali bin Salim turned out +to be a snake in the grass, a very sore thorn in my side. I was invited +to his comfortable house to partake of coffee. I went there: the coffee +was good though sugarless, his promises were many, but they proved +valueless. Said he to me, "I am your friend; I wish to serve you., what +can I do for you?" Replied I, "I am obliged to you, I need a good friend +who, knowing the language and Customs of the Wanyamwezi, can procure me +the pagazis I need and send me off quickly. Your brother is acquainted +with the Wasungu (white men), and knows that what they promise they make +good. Get me a hundred and forty pagazis and I will pay you your price." +With unctuous courtesy, the reptile I was now warmly nourishing; said, +"I do not want anything from you, my friend, for such a slight service, +rest content and quiet; you shall not stop here fifteen days. To-morrow +morning I will come and overhaul your bales to see what is needed." I +bade him good morning, elated with the happy thought that I was soon to +tread the Unyanyembe road. + +The reader must be made acquainted with two good and sufficient reasons +why I was to devote all my energy to lead the Expedition as quickly as +possible from Bagamoyo. + +First, I wished to reach Ujiji before the news reached Livingstone that +I was in search of him, for my impression of him was that he was a man +who would try to put as much distance as possible between us, rather +than make an effort to shorten it, and I should have my long journey for +nothing. + +Second, the Masika, or rainy season, would soon be on me, which, if it +caught me at Bagamoyo, would prevent my departure until it was over, +which meant a delay of forty days, and exaggerated as the rains were by +all men with whom I came in contact, it rained every day for forty days +without intermission. This I knew was a thing to dread; for I had my +memory stored with all kinds of rainy unpleasantnesses. For instance, +there was the rain of Virginia and its concomitant horrors--wetness, +mildew, agues, rheumatics, and such like; then there were the English +rains, a miserable drizzle causing the blue devils; then the rainy +season of Abyssinia with the flood-gates of the firmament opened, and +an universal down-pour of rain, enough to submerge half a continent in +a few hours; lastly, there was the pelting monsoon of India, a steady +shut-in-house kind of rain. To which of these rains should I compare +this dreadful Masika of East Africa? Did not Burton write much about +black mud in Uzaramo? Well, a country whose surface soil is called black +mud in fine weather, what can it be called when forty days' rain beat on +it, and feet of pagazis and donkeys make paste of it? These were natural +reflections, induced by the circumstances of the hour, and I found +myself much exercised in mind in consequence. + +Ali bin Salim, true to his promise, visited my camp on the morrow, with +a very important air, and after looking at the pile of cloth bales, +informed me that I must have them covered with mat-bags. He said he +would send a man to have them measured, but he enjoined me not to make +any bargain for the bags, as he would make it all right. + +While awaiting with commendable patience the 140 pagazis promised by +Ali bin Salim we were all employed upon everything that thought could +suggest needful for crossing the sickly maritime region, so that we +might make the transit before the terrible fever could unnerve us, +and make us joyless. A short experience at Bagamoya showed us what we +lacked, what was superfluous, and what was necessary. We were visited +one night by a squall, accompanied by furious rain. I had $1,500 worth +of pagazi cloth in my tent. In the morning I looked and lo! the drilling +had let in rain like a sieve, and every yard of cloth was wet. It +occupied two days afterwards to dry the cloths, and fold them again. The +drill-tent was condemned, and a No. 5 hemp-canvas tent at onto prepared. +After which I felt convinced that my cloth bales, and one year's +ammunition, were safe, and that I could defy the Masika. + +In the hurry of departure from Zanzibar, and in my ignorance of how +bales should be made, I had submitted to the better judgment and ripe +experience of one Jetta, a commission merchant, to prepare my bales for +carriage. Jetta did not weigh the bales as he made them up, but piled +the Merikani, Kaniki, Barsati, Jamdani, Joho, Ismahili, in alternate +layers, and roped the same into bales. One or two pagazis came to my +camp and began to chaffer; they wished to see the bales first, before +they would make a final bargain. They tried to raise them up--ugh! ugh! +it was of no use, and withdrew. A fine Salter's spring balance was hung +up, and a bale suspended to the hook; the finger indicated 105 lbs. or +3 frasilah, which was just 35 lbs. or one frasilah overweight. Upon +putting all the bales to this test, I perceived that Jetta's guess-work, +with all his experience, had caused considerable trouble to me. + +The soldiers were set to work to reopen and repack, which latter task +is performed in the following manner:--We cut a doti, or four yards +of Merikani, ordinarily sold at Zanzibar for $2.75 the piece of thirty +yards, and spread out. We take a piece or bolt of good Merikani, and +instead of the double fold given it by the Nashua and Salem mills, we +fold it into three parts, by which the folds have a breadth of a foot; +this piece forms the first layer, and will weigh nine pounds; the second +layer consists of six pieces of Kaniki, a blue stuff similar to the +blouse stuff of France, and the blue jeans of America, though much +lighter; the third layer is formed of the second piece of Merikani, the +fourth of six more pieces of Kaniki, the fifth of Merikani, the sixth +of Kaniki as before, and the seventh and last of Merikani. We have thus +four pieces of Merikani, which weigh 36 lbs., and 18 pieces of Kaniki +weighing also 36 lbs., making a total of 72 lbs., or a little more than +two frasilahs; the cloth is then folded singly over these layers, each +corner tied to another. A bundle of coir-rope is then brought, and two +men, provided with a wooden mallet for beating and pressing the bale, +proceed to tie it up with as much nicety as sailors serve down rigging. + +When complete, a bale is a solid mass three feet and a half long, a +foot deep, and a foot wide. Of these bales I had to convey eighty-two to +Unyanyembe, forty of which consisted solely of the Merikani and Kaniki. +The other forty-two contained the Merikani and coloured cloths, which +latter were to serve as honga or tribute cloths, and to engage another +set of pagazis from Unyanyembe to Ujiji, and from Ujiji to the regions +beyond. + +The fifteenth day asked of me by Ali bin Salim for the procuring of the +pagazis passed by, and there was not the ghost of a pagazi in my camp. +I sent Mabruki the Bullheaded to Ali bin Salim, to convey my salaams and +express a hope that he had kept his word. In half an hour's time Mabruki +returned with the reply of the Arab, that in a few days he would be able +to collect them all; but, added Mabruki, slyly, "Bana, I don't believe +him. He said aloud to himself, in my hearing, 'Why should I get the +Musungu pagazis? Seyd Burghash did not send a letter to me, but to the +Jemadar. Why should I trouble myself about him? Let Seyd Burghash write +me a letter to that purpose, and I will procure them within two days."' + +To my mind this was a time for action: Ali bin Salim should see that it +was ill trifling with a white man in earnest to start. I rode down to +his house to ask him what he meant. + +His reply was, Mabruki had told a lie as black as his face. He had never +said anything approaching to such a thing. He was willing to become my +slave--to become a pagazi himself. But here I stopped the voluble Ali, +and informed him that I could not think of employing him in the capacity +of a pagazi, neither could I find it in my heart to trouble Seyd +Burghash to write a direct letter to him, or to require of a man who +had deceived me once, as Ali bin Salim had, any service of any nature +whatsoever. It would be better, therefore, if Ali bin Salim would stay +away from my camp, and not enter it either in person or by proxy. + +I had lost fifteen days, for Jemadar Sadur, at Kaole, had never stirred +from his fortified house in that village in my service, save to pay a +visit, after the receipt of the Sultan's letter. Naranji, custom-house +agent at Kaoie, solely under the thumb of the great Ludha Damji, had +not responded to Ludha's worded request that he would procure pagazis, +except with winks, nods, and promises, and it is but just stated how I +fared at the hands of Ali bin Salim. In this extremity I remembered the +promise made to me by the great merchant of Zanzibar--Tarya Topan--a +Mohammedan Hindi--that he would furnish me with a letter to a young man +named Soor Hadji Palloo, who was said to be the best man in Bagamoyo to +procure a supply of pagazis. + +I despatched my Arab interpreter by a dhow to Zanzibar, with a very +earnest request to Capt. Webb that he would procure from Tarya Topan the +introductory letter so long delayed. It was the last card in my hand. + +On the third day the Arab returned, bringing with him not only the +letter to Soor Hadji Palloo, but an abundance of good things from +the ever-hospitable house of Mr. Webb. In a very short time after the +receipt of his letter, the eminent young man Soor Hadji Palloo came to +visit me, and informed me he had been requested by Tarya Topan to hire +for me one hundred and forty pagazis to Unyanyembe in the shortest time +possible. This he said would be very expensive, for there were scores +of Arabs and Wasawabili merchants on the look out for every caravan that +came in from the interior, and they paid 20 doti, or 80 yards of cloth, +to each pagazi. Not willing or able to pay more, many of these merchants +had been waiting as long as six months before they could get their +quota. "If you," continued he, "desire to depart quickly, you must pay +from 25 to 40 doti, and I can send you off before one month is ended." +In reply, I said, "Here are my cloths for pagazis to the amount of +$1,750, or 3,500 doti, sufficient to give one hundred and forty men 25 +doti each. The most I am willing to pay is 25 doti: send one hundred and +forty pagazis to Unyanyembe with my cloth and wire, and I will make +your heart glad with the richest present you have ever received." With a +refreshing naivete, the "young man" said he did not want any present, +he would get me my quota of pagazis, and then I could tell the "Wasungu" +what a good "young man" he was, and consequently the benefit he would +receive would be an increase of business. He closed his reply with the +astounding remark that he had ten pagazis at his house already, and if I +would be good enough to have four bales of cloth, two bags of beads, +and twenty coils of wire carried to his house, the pagazis could leave +Bagamoyo the next day, under charge of three soldiers. + +"For," he remarked, "it is much better and cheaper to send many small +caravans than one large one. Large caravans invite attack, or are +delayed by avaricious chiefs upon the most trivial pretexts, while small +ones pass by without notice." + +The bales and the beads were duly carried to Soor Hadji Palloo's house, +and the day passed with me in mentally congratulating myself upon my +good fortune, in complimenting the young Hindi's talents for business, +the greatness and influence of Tarya Topan, and the goodness of Mr. +Webb in thus hastening my departure from Bagamoyo. I mentally vowed a +handsome present, and a great puff in my book, to Soor Hadji Palloo, and +it was with a glad heart that I prepared these soldiers for their march +to Unyayembe. + +The task of preparing the first caravan for the Unyanyembe road informed +me upon several things that have escaped the notice of my predecessors +in East Africa, a timely knowledge of which would have been of infinite +service to me at Zanzibar, in the purchase and selection of sufficient +and proper cloth. + +The setting out of the first caravan enlightened me also on the subject +of honga, or tribute. Tribute had to be packed by itself, all of +choice cloth; for the chiefs, besides being avaricious, are also very +fastidious. They will not accept the flimsy cloth of the pagazi, but +a royal and exceedingly high-priced dabwani, Ismahili, Rehani, or a +Sohari, or dotis of crimson broad cloth. The tribute for the first +caravan cost $25. Having more than one hundred and forty pagazis to +despatch, this tribute money would finally amount to $330 in gold, with +a minimum of 25c. on each dollar. Ponder on this, O traveller! I lay +bare these facts for your special instruction. + +But before my first caravan was destined to part company with me, +Soor Hadji Palloo--worthy young man--and I were to come to a definite +understanding about money matters. The morning appointed for departure +Soor Hadji Palloo came to my hut and presented his bill, with all the +gravity of innocence, for supplying the pagazis with twenty-five doti +each as their hire to Unyanyembe, begging immediate payment in money. +Words fail to express the astonishment I naturally felt, that this +sharp-looking young man should so soon have forgotten the verbal +contract entered into between him and myself the morning previous, which +was to the effect that out of the three thousand doti stored in my tent, +and bought expressly for pagazi hire, each and every man hired for me +as carriers from Bagamoyo to Unyanyembe, should be paid out of the store +there in my tent, when I asked if he remembered the contract, he replied +in the affirmative: his reasons for breaking it so soon were, that he +wished to sell his cloths, not mine, and for his cloths he should want +money, not an exchange. But I gave him to comprehend that as he was +procuring pagazis for me, he was to pay my pagazis with my cloths; that +all the money I expected to pay him, should be just such a sum I thought +adequate for his trouble as my agent, and that only on those terms +should he act for me in this or any other matter, and that the "Musungu" +was not accustomed to eat his words. + +The preceding paragraph embodies many more words than are contained +in it. It embodies a dialogue of an hour, an angry altercation of +half-an-hour's duration, a vow taken on the part of Soor Hadji Palloo, +that if I did not take his cloths he should not touch my business, many +tears, entreaties, woeful penitence, and much else, all of which were +responded to with, "Do as I want you to do, or do nothing." Finally came +relief, and a happy ending. Soor Hadji Palloo went away with a bright +face, taking with him the three soldiers' posho (food), and honga +(tribute) for the caravan. Well for me that it ended so, and that +subsequent quarrels of a similar nature terminated so peaceably, +otherwise I doubt whether my departure from Bagamoyo would have happened +so early as it did. While I am on this theme, and as it really engrossed +every moment of my time at Bagamoyo, I may as well be more explicit +regarding Boor Hadji Palloo and his connection with my business. + +Boor Hadji Palloo was a smart young man of business, energetic, quick at +mental calculation, and seemed to be born for a successful salesman. His +eyes were never idle; they wandered over every part of my person, over +the tent, the bed, the guns, the clothes, and having swung clear round, +began the silent circle over again. His fingers were never at rest, they +had a fidgety, nervous action at their tips, constantly in the act of +feeling something; while in the act of talking to me, he would lean over +and feel the texture of the cloth of my trousers, my coat, or my shoes +or socks: then he would feel his own light jamdani shirt or dabwain +loin-cloth, until his eyes casually resting upon a novelty, his body +would lean forward, and his arm was stretched out with the willing +fingers. His jaws also were in perpetual motion, caused by vile habits +he had acquired of chewing betel-nut and lime, and sometimes tobacco and +lime. They gave out a sound similar to that of a young shoat, in the +act of sucking. He was a pious Mohammedan, and observed the external +courtesies and ceremonies of the true believers. He would affably greet +me, take off his shoes, enter my tent protesting he was not fit to sit +in my presence, and after being seated, would begin his ever-crooked +errand. Of honesty, literal and practical honesty, this youth knew +nothing; to the pure truth he was an utter stranger; the falsehoods he +had uttered during his short life seemed already to have quenched the +bold gaze of innocence from his eyes, to have banished the colour of +truthfulness from his features, to have transformed him--yet a stripling +of twenty--into a most accomplished rascal, and consummate expert in +dishonesty. + +During the six weeks I encamped at Bagamoyo, waiting for my quota of +men, this lad of twenty gave me very much trouble. He was found out half +a dozen times a day in dishonesty, yet was in no way abashed by it. He +would send in his account of the cloths supplied to the pagazis, stating +them to be 25 paid to each; on sending a man to inquire I would find the +greatest number to have been 20, and the smallest 12. Soor Hadji Palloo +described the cloths to be of first-class quality, Ulyah cloths, worth +in the market four times more than the ordinary quality given to the +pagazis, yet a personal examination would prove them to be the flimsiest +goods sold, such as American sheeting 2 1/2 feet broad, and worth $2.75 +per 30 yards a piece at Zanzibar, or the most inferior Kaniki, which is +generally sold at $9 per score. He would personally come to my camp +and demand 40 lbs. of Sami-Sami, Merikani, and Bubu beads for posho, +or caravan rations; an inspection of their store before departure from +their first camp from Bagamoyo would show a deficiency ranging from 5 +to 30 lbs. Moreover, he cheated in cash-money, such as demanding $4 for +crossing the Kingani Ferry for every ten pagazis, when the fare was $2 +for the same number; and an unconscionable number of pice (copper coins +equal in value to 3/4 of a cent) were required for posho. It was every +day for four weeks that this system of roguery was carried out. Each day +conceived a dozen new schemes; every instant of his time he seemed to +be devising how to plunder, until I was fairly at my wits' end how to +thwart him. Exposure before a crowd of his fellows brought no blush of +shame to his sallow cheeks; he would listen with a mere shrug of the +shoulders and that was all, which I might interpret any way it pleased +me. A threat to reduce his present had no effect; a bird in the hand was +certainly worth two in the bush for him, so ten dollars' worth of goods +stolen and in his actual possession was of more intrinsic value than the +promise of $20 in a few days, though it was that of a white man. + +Readers will of course ask themselves why I did not, after the first +discovery of these shameless proceedings, close my business with him, +to which I make reply, that I could not do without him unless his equal +were forthcoming, that I never felt so thoroughly dependent on any one +man as I did upon him; without his or his duplicate's aid, I must have +stayed at Bagamoyo at least six months, at the end of which time the +Expedition would have become valueless, the rumour of it having been +blown abroad to the four winds. It was immediate departure that was +essential to my success--departure from Bagamoyo--after which it might +be possible for me to control my own future in a great measure. + +These troubles were the greatest that I could at this time imagine. +I have already stated that I had $1,750 worth of pagazis' clothes, +or 3,500 doti, stored in my tent, and above what my bales contained. +Calculating one hundred and forty pagazis at 25 doti each, I supposed I +had enough, yet, though I had been trying to teach the young Hindi that +the Musungu was not a fool, nor blind to his pilfering tricks, though +the 3,500 doti were all spent; though I had only obtained one hundred +and thirty pagazis at 25 doti each, which in the aggregate amounted to +3,200 doti: Soor Hadji Palloo's bill was $1,400 cash extra. His plea was +that he had furnished Ulyah clothes for Muhongo 240 doti, equal in value +to 960 of my doti, that the money was spent in ferry pice, in presents +to chiefs of caravans of tents, guns, red broad cloth, in presents to +people on the Mrima (coast) to induce them to hunt up pagazis. Upon this +exhibition of most ruthless cheating I waxed indignant, and declared to +him that if he did not run over his bill and correct it, he should go +without a pice. + +But before the bill could be put into proper shape, my words, threats, +and promises falling heedlessly on a stony brain, a man, Kanjee by name, +from the store of Tarya Topan, of Zanzibar, had to come over, when the +bill was finally reduced to $738. Without any disrespect to Tarya Topan, +I am unable to decide which is the most accomplished rascal, Kanjee, +or young Soor Hadji Palloo; in the words of a white man who knows them +both, "there is not the splitting of a straw between them." Kanjee is +deep and sly, Soor Hadji Palloo is bold and incorrigible. But peace be +to them both, may their shaven heads never be covered with the troublous +crown I wore at Bagamoyo! + +My dear friendly reader, do not think, if I speak out my mind in this +or in any other chapter upon matters seemingly trivial and unimportant, +that seeming such they should be left unmentioned. Every tittle related +is a fact, and to knew facts is to receive knowledge. + +How could I ever recite my experience to you if I did not enter upon +these miserable details, which sorely distract the stranger upon his +first arrival? Had I been a Government official, I had but wagged my +finger and my quota of pagazis had been furnished me within a week; but +as an individual arriving without the graces of official recognition, +armed with no Government influence, I had to be patient, bide my time, +and chew the cud of irritation quietly, but the bread I ate was not all +sour, as this was. + +The white men, Farquhar and Shaw, were kept steadily at work upon +water-proof tents of hemp canvas, for I perceived, by the premonitory +showers of rain that marked the approach of the Masika that an ordinary +tent of light cloth would subject myself to damp and my goods to mildew, +and while there was time to rectify all errors that had crept into my +plans through ignorance or over haste, I thought it was not wise to +permit things to rectify themselves. Now that I have returned uninjured +in health, though I have suffered the attacks of twenty-three fevers +within the short space of thirteen months; I must confess I owe my life, +first, to the mercy of God; secondly, to the enthusiasm for my work, +which animated me from the beginning to the end; thirdly, to having +never ruined my constitution by indulgence in vice and intemperance; +fourthly, to the energy of my nature; fifthly, to a native hopefulness +which never died; and, sixthly, to having furnished myself with a +capacious water and damp proof canvas house. And here, if my experience +may be of value, I would suggest that travellers, instead of submitting +their better judgment to the caprices of a tent-maker, who will +endeavour to pass off a handsomely made fabric of his own, which is +unsuited to all climes, to use his own judgment, and get the best and +strongest that money will buy. In the end it will prove the cheapest, +and perhaps be the means of saving his life. + +On one point I failed, and lest new and young travellers fall into the +same error which marred much of my enjoyment, this paragraph is written. +One must be extremely careful in his choice of weapons, whether for +sport or defence. A traveller should have at least three different +kinds of guns. One should be a fowling-piece, the second should be +a double-barrelled rifle, No. 10 or 12, the third should be a +magazine-rifle, for defence. For the fowling-piece I would suggest No. +12 bore, with barrels at least four feet in length. For the rifle for +larger game, I would point out, with due deference to old sportsmen, of +course, that the best guns for African game are the English Lancaster +and Reilly rifles; and for a fighting weapon, I maintain that the +best yet invented is the American Winchester repeating rifle, or the +"sixteen, shooter" as it is called, supplied with the London Eley's +ammunition. If I suggest as a fighting weapon the American Winchester, I +do not mean that the traveller need take it for the purpose of offence, +but as the beat means of efficient defence, to save his own life against +African banditti, when attacked, a thing likely to happen any time. + +I met a young man soon after returning from the interior, who declared +his conviction that the "Express," rifle was the most perfect weapon +ever invented to destroy African game. Very possibly the young man may +be right, and that the "Express" rifle is all he declares it to be, but +he had never practised with it against African game, and as I had +never tried it, I could not combat his assertion: but I could relate +my experiences with weapons, having all the penetrating powers of the +"Express," and could inform him that though the bullets penetrated +through the animals, they almost always failed to bring down the game at +the first fire. On the other hand, I could inform him, that during +the time I travelled with Dr. Livingstone the Doctor lent me his heavy +Reilly rifle with which I seldom failed to bring an animal or two home +to the camp, and that I found the Fraser shell answer all purposes for +which it was intended. The feats related by Capt. Speke and Sir Samuel +Baker are no longer matter of wonderment to the young sportsman, when +he has a Lancaster or a Reilly in his hand. After very few trials he can +imitate them, if not excel their Leeds, provided he has a steady hand. +And it is to forward this end that this paragraph is written. African +game require "bone-crushers;" for any ordinary carbine possesses +sufficient penetrative qualities, yet has not he disabling qualities +which a gun must possess to be useful in the hands of an African +explorer. + +I had not been long at Bagamoyo before I went over to Mussoudi's +camp, to visit the "Livingstone caravan" which the British Consul +had despatched on the first day of November, 1870, to the relief of +Livingstone. The number of packages was thirty-five, which required as +many men to convey them to Unyanyembe. The men chosen to escort this +caravan were composed of Johannese and Wahiyow, seven in number. Out of +the seven, four were slaves. They lived in clover here--thoughtless of +the errand they had been sent upon, and careless of the consequences. +What these men were doing at Bagamoyo all this time I never could +conceive, except indulging their own vicious propensities. It would +be nonsense to say there were no pagazis; because I know there were +at least fifteen caravans which had started for the interior since the +Ramadan (December 15th, 1870). Yet Livingstone's caravan had arrived at +this little town of Bagamoyo November 2nd, and here it had been lying +until the 10th February, in all, 100 days, for lack of the limited +number of thirty-five pagazis, a number that might be procured within +two days through consular influence. + +Bagamoyo has a most enjoyable climate. It is far preferable in every +sense to that of Zanzibar. We were able to sleep in the open air, and +rose refreshed and healthy each morning, to enjoy our matutinal bath in +the sea; and by the time the sun had risen we were engaged in various +preparations for our departure for the interior. Our days were enlivened +by visits from the Arabs who were also bound for Unyanyembe; by comical +scenes in the camp; sometimes by court-martials held on the refractory; +by a boxing-match between Farquhar and Shaw, necessitating my prudent +interference when they waxed too wroth; by a hunting excursion now and +then to the Kingani plain and river; by social conversation with the +old Jemadar and his band of Baluches, who were never tired of warning me +that the Masika was at hand, and of advising me that my best course was +to hurry on before the season for travelling expired. + +Among the employees with the Expedition were two Hindi and two Goanese. +They had conceived the idea that the African interior was an El Dorado, +the ground of which was strewn over with ivory tusks, and they had +clubbed together; while their imaginations were thus heated, to embark +in a little enterprise of their own. Their names were Jako, Abdul Kader, +Bunder Salaam, and Aranselar; Jako engaged in my service, as carpenter +and general help; Abdul Kader as a tailor, Bunder Salaam as cook, and +Aranselar as chief butler. + +But Aranselar, with an intuitive eye, foresaw that I was likely to prove +a vigorous employer, and while there was yet time he devoted most of +it to conceive how it were possible to withdraw from the engagement. He +received permission upon asking for it to go to Zanzibar to visit his +friends. Two days afterwards I was informed he had blown his right eye +out, and received a medical confirmation of the fact, and note of the +extent of the injury, from Dr. Christie, the physician to His Highness +Seyd Burghash. His compatriots I imagined were about planning the same +thing, but a peremptory command to abstain from such folly, issued after +they had received their advance-pay, sufficed to check any sinister +designs they may have formed. + +A groom was caught stealing from the bales, one night, and the chase +after him into the country until he vanished out of sight into the +jungle, was one of the most agreeable diversions which occurred to wear +away the interval employed in preparing for the march. + +I had now despatched four caravans into the interior, and the fifth, +which was to carry the boats and boxes, personal luggage, and a few +cloth and bead loads, was ready to be led by myself. The following is +the order of departure of the caravans. + +1871. Feb. 6.--Expedition arrived at Bagamoyo. + +1871. Feb. 18.--First caravan departs with twenty-four pagazis and three +soldiers. + +1871. Feb. 21.--Second caravan departs with twenty-eight pagazis, two +chiefs, and two soldiers. + +1871. Feb. 25.--Third caravan departs with twenty-two pagazis, ten +donkeys, one white man, one cook, and three soldiers. + +1871. March. 11.--Fourth caravan departs with fifty-five pagazis, two +chiefs, and three soldiers. + +1871. March. 21.--Fifth caravan departs with twenty-eight pagazis, +twelve soldiers, two white men, one tailor, one cook, one interpreter, +one gun-bearer, seventeen asses, two horses, and one dog. + +Total number, inclusive of all souls, comprised in caravans connected +with the "New York Herald' Expedition," 192. + + + +CHAPTER V. -- THROUGH UKWERE, UKAMI, AND UDOE TO USEGUHHA. + + + Leaving Bagamoyo for the interior.--Constructing a Bridge.-- + Our first troubles.--Shooting Hippopotami.--A first view of + the Game Land.--Anticipating trouble with the Wagogo.--The + dreadful poison--flies.--Unlucky adventures while hunting.-- + The cunning chief of Kingaru.--Sudden death of my two + horses.--A terrible experience.--The city of the "Lion + Lord." + + +On the 21st of March, exactly seventy-three days after my arrival at +Zanzibar, the fifth caravan, led by myself, left the town of Bagamoyo +for our first journey westward, with "Forward!" for its mot du guet. As +the kirangozi unrolled the American flag, and put himself at the head of +the caravan, and the pagazis, animals, soldiers, and idlers were lined +for the march, we bade a long farewell to the dolce far niente of +civilised life, to the blue ocean, and to its open road to home, to the +hundreds of dusky spectators who were there to celebrate our departure +with repeated salvoes of musketry. + +Our caravan is composed of twenty-eight pagazis, including the +kirangozi, or guide; twelve soldiers under Capt. Mbarak Bombay, in +charge of seventeen donkeys and their loads; Selim, my interpreter, in +charge of the donkey and cart and its load; one cook and sub, who is +also to be tailor and ready hand for all, and leads the grey horse; +Shaw, once mate of a ship, now transformed into rearguard and overseer +for the caravan, who is mounted on a good riding-donkey, and wearing a +canoe-like tepee and sea-boots; and lastly, on, the splendid bay horse +presented to me by Mr. Goodhue, myself, called Bana Mkuba, "the big +master," by my people--the vanguard, the reporter, the thinker, and +leader of the Expedition. + +Altogether the Expedition numbers on the day of departure three white +men, twenty-three soldiers, four supernumeraries, four chiefs, and one +hundred and fifty-three pagazis, twenty-seven donkeys, and one cart, +conveying cloth, beads, and wire, boat-fixings, tents, cooking utensils +and dishes, medicine, powder, small shot, musket-balls, and metallic +cartridges; instruments and small necessaries, such as soap, sugar, tea, +coffee, Liebig's extract of meat, pemmican, candles, &c., which make +a total of 153 loads. The weapons of defence which the Expedition +possesses consist of one double-barrel breech-loading gun, smooth bore; +one American Winchester rifle, or "sixteen-shooter;" one Henry rifle, +or "sixteen-shooter;" two Starr's breech-loaders, one Jocelyn +breech-loader, one elephant rifle, carrying balls eight to the pound; +two breech-loading revolvers, twenty-four muskets (flint locks), six +single-barrelled pistols, one battle-axe, two swords, two daggers +(Persian kummers, purchased at Shiraz by myself), one boar-spear, +two American axes 4 lbs. each, twenty-four hatchets, and twenty-four +butcher-knives. + + +The Expedition has been fitted with care; whatever it needed was not +stinted; everything was provided. Nothing was done too hurriedly, yet +everything was purchased, manufactured, collected, and compounded with +the utmost despatch consistent with efficiency and means. Should it fail +of success in its errand of rapid transit to Ujiji and back, it must +simply happen from an accident which could not be controlled. So much +for the _personnel_ of the Expedition and its purpose, until its _point +de mire_ be reached. + +We left Bagamoyo the attraction of all the curious, with much eclat, and +defiled up a narrow lane shaded almost to twilight by the dense umbrage +of two parallel hedges of mimosas. We were all in the highest spirits. +The soldiers sang, the kirangozi lifted his voice into a loud bellowing +note, and fluttered the American flag, which told all on-lookers, "Lo, a +Musungu's caravan!" and my heart, I thought, palpitated much too quickly +for the sober face of a leader. But I could not check it; the enthusiasm +of youth still clung to me--despite my travels; my pulses bounded with +the full glow of staple health; behind me were the troubles which had +harassed me for over two months. With that dishonest son of a Hindi, +Soor Hadji Palloo, I had said my last word; of the blatant rabble, of +Arabs, Banyans, and Baluches I had taken my last look; with the Jesuits +of the French Mission I had exchanged farewells, and before me beamed +the sun of promise as he sped towards the Occident. Loveliness glowed +around me. I saw fertile fields, riant vegetation, strange trees--I +heard the cry of cricket and pee-wit, and sibilant sound of many +insects, all of which seemed to tell me, "At last you are started." What +could I do but lift my face toward the pure-glowing sky, and cry, "God +be thanked!" + +The first camp, Shamba Gonera, we arrived at in 1 hour 30 minutes, equal +to 3 1/4 miles. This first, or "little journey," was performed very +well, "considering," as the Irishman says. The boy Selim upset the cart +not more than three times. Zaidi, the soldier, only once let his donkey, +which carried one bag of my clothes and a box of ammunition, lie in +a puddle of black water. The clothes have to be re-washed; the +ammunition-box, thanks to my provision, was waterproof. Kamna perhaps +knew the art of donkey-driving, but, overjoyful at the departure, had +sung himself into oblivion of the difficulties with which an animal of +the pure asinine breed has naturally to contend against, such as not +knowing the right road, and inability to resist the temptation of +straying into the depths of a manioc field; and the donkey, ignorant of +the custom in vogue amongst ass-drivers of flourishing sticks before +an animal's nose, and misunderstanding the direction in which he was +required to go, ran off at full speed along an opposite road, until his +pack got unbalanced, and he was fain to come to the earth. But these +incidents were trivial, of no importance, and natural to the first +"little journey" in East Africa. + +The soldiers' point of character leaked out just a little. Bombay turned +out to be honest and trusty, but slightly disposed to be dilatory. +Uledi did more talking than work; while the runaway Ferajji and the +useless-handed Mabruki Burton turned out to be true men and staunch, +carrying loads the sight of which would have caused the strong-limbed +hamals of Stamboul to sigh. + +The saddles were excellent, surpassing expectation. The strong hemp +canvas bore its one hundred and fifty-pounds' burden with the strength +of bull hide, and the loading and unloading of miscellaneous baggage +was performed with systematic despatch. In brief, there was nothing to +regret--the success of the journey proved our departure to be anything +but premature. + +The next three days were employed in putting the finishing touches to +our preparations for the long land journey and our precautions against +the Masika, which was now ominously near, and in settling accounts. + +Shamba Gonera means Gonera's Field. Gonera is a wealthy Indian widow, +well disposed towards the Wasungu (whites). She exports much cloth, +beads, and wire into the far interior, and imports in return much ivory. +Her house is after the model of the town houses, with long sloping roof +and projecting eaves, affording a cool shade, under which the pagazis +love to loiter. On its southern and eastern side stretch the cultivated +fields which supply Bagamoyo with the staple grain, matama, of East +Africa; on the left grow Indian corn, and muhogo, a yam-like root +of whitish colour, called by some manioc; when dry, it is ground and +compounded into cakes similar to army slapjacks. On the north, just +behind the house, winds a black quagmire, a sinuous hollow, which in +its deepest parts always contains water--the muddy home of the +brake-and-rush-loving "kiboko" or hippopotamus. Its banks, crowded +with dwarf fan-palm, tall water-reeds, acacias, and tiger-grass, afford +shelter to numerous aquatic birds, pelicans, &c. After following a +course north-easterly, it conflows with the Kingani, which, at distance +of four miles from Gonera's country-house; bends eastward into the sea. +To the west, after a mile of cultivation, fall and recede in succession +the sea-beach of old in lengthy parallel waves, overgrown densely +with forest grass and marsh reeds. On the spines of these land-swells +flourish ebony, calabash, and mango. + +"Sofari--sofari leo! Pakia, pakia!"--"A journey--a journey to day! Set +out!--set out!" rang the cheery voice of the kirangozi, echoed by that +of my servant Selim, on the morning of the fourth day, which was fixed +for our departure in earnest. As I hurried my men to their work, and +lent a hand with energy to drop the tents, I mentally resolved that, +if my caravans a should give me clear space, Unyanyembe should be our +resting-place before three months expired. By 6 A.M. our early breakfast +was despatched, and the donkeys and pagazis were defiling from Camp +Gonera. Even at this early hour, and in this country place, there was +quite a collection of curious natives, to whom we gave the parting +"Kwaheri" with sincerity. My bay horse was found to be invaluable for +the service of a quarter-master of a transport-train; for to such was I +compelled to compare myself. I could stay behind until the last donkey +had quitted the camp, and, by a few minutes' gallop, I could put myself +at the head, leaving Shaw to bring up the rear. + +The road was a mere footpath, and led over a soil which, though +sandy, was of surprising fertility, producing grain and vegetables +a hundredfold, the sowing and planting of which was done in the most +unskilful manner. In their fields, at heedless labor, were men and women +in the scantiest costumes, compared to which Adam and Eve, in their +fig-tree apparel, must have been _en grande tenue_. We passed them with +serious faces, while they laughed and giggled, and pointed their index +fingers at this and that, which to them seemed so strange and bizarre. + +In about half an hour we had left the tall matama and fields of +water-melons, cucumbers, and manioc; and, crossing a reedy slough, +were in an open forest of ebony and calabash. In its depths are deer in +plentiful numbers, and at night it is visited by the hippopotami of the +Kingani for the sake of its grass. In another hour we had emerged from +the woods, and were looking down upon the broad valley of the Kingani, +and a scene presented itself so utterly different from what my foolish +imagination had drawn, that I felt quite relieved by the pleasing +disappointment. Here was a valley stretching four miles east and west, +and about eight miles north and south, left with the richest soil to its +own wild growth of grass--which in civilization would have been a most +valuable meadow for the rearing of cattle--invested as it was by dense +forests, darkening the horizon at all points of the compass, and folded +in by tree-clad ridges. + +At the sound of our caravan the red antelope bounded away to our right +and the left, and frogs hushed their croak. The sun shone hot, and +while traversing the valley we experienced a little of its real African +fervour. About half way across we came to a sluice of stagnant water +which, directly in the road of the caravan, had settled down into an +oozy pond. The pagazis crossed a hastily-constructed bridge, thrown up +a long time ago by some Washensi Samaritans. It was an extraordinary +affair; rugged tree limbs resting on very unsteady forked piles, and it +had evidently tested the patience of many a loaded Mnyamwezi, as it +did those porters of our caravan. Our weaker animals were unloaded, the +puddle between Bagamoyo and Genera having taught us prudence. But +this did not occasion much delay; the men worked smartly under Shaw's +supervision. + +The turbid Kingani, famous for its hippopotami, was reached in a short +time, and we began to thread the jungle along its right bank until we +were halted point-blank by a narrow sluice having an immeasurable depth +of black mud. The difficulty presented by this was very grave, though +its breadth was barely eight feet; the donkeys, and least of all the +horses, could not be made to traverse two poles like our biped carriers, +neither could they be driven into the sluice, where they would quickly +founder. The only available way of crossing it in safety was by means +of a bridge, to endure in this conservative land for generations as the +handiwork of the Wasungu. So we set to work, there being no help for it, +with American axes--the first of their kind the strokes of which ever +rang in this part of the world--to build a bridge. Be sure it was made +quickly, for where the civilized white is found, a difficulty must +vanish. The bridge was composed of six stout trees thrown across, over +these were laid crosswise fifteen pack saddles, covered again with a +thick layer of grass. All the animals crossed it safely, and then for a +third time that morning the process of wading was performed. The Kingani +flowed northerly here, and our course lay down its right bank. A half +mile in that direction through a jungle of giant reeds and extravagant +climbers brought us to the ferry, where the animals had to be again +unloaded--verily, I wished when I saw its deep muddy waters that I +possessed the power of Moses with his magic rod, or what would have +answered my purpose as well, Aladdin's ring, for then I could have found +myself and party on the opposite side without further trouble; but not +having either of these gifts I issued orders for an immediate crossing, +for it was ill wishing sublime things before this most mundane prospect. + +Kingwere, the canoe paddler, espying us from his brake covert, on the +opposite side, civilly responded to our halloos, and brought his huge +hollowed tree skilfully over the whirling eddies of the river to where +we stood waiting for him. While one party loaded the canoe with our +goods, others got ready a long rape to fasten around the animals' necks, +wherewith to haul them through the river to the other bank. After seeing +the work properly commenced, I sat down on a condemned canoe to amuse +myself with the hippopotami by peppering their thick skulls with my No. +12 smooth-bore. The Winchester rifle (calibre 44), a present from the +Hon. Edward Joy Morris--our minister at Constantinople--did no more than +slightly tap them, causing about as much injury as a boy's sling; it was +perfect in its accuracy of fire, for ten times in succession I struck +the tops of their heads between the ears. One old fellow, with the look +of a sage, was tapped close to the right ear by one of these bullets. +Instead of submerging himself as others had done he coolly turned round +his head as if to ask, "Why this waste of valuable cartridges on +us?" The response to the mute inquiry of his sageship was an +ounce-and-a-quarter bullet from the smooth-bore, which made him bellow +with pain, and in a few moments he rose up again, tumbling in his death +agonies. As his groans were so piteous, I refrained from a useless +sacrifice of life, and left the amphibious horde in peace. + +A little knowledge concerning these uncouth inmates of the African +waters was gained even during the few minutes we were delayed at the +ferry. When undisturbed by foreign sounds, they congregate in shallow +water on the sand bars, with the fore half of their bodies exposed +to the warm sunshine, and are in appearance, when thus somnolently +reposing, very like a herd of enormous swine. When startled by the noise +of an intruder, they plunge hastily into the depths, lashing the waters +into a yellowish foam, and scatter themselves below the surface, when +presently the heads of a few reappear, snorting the water from their +nostrils, to take a fresh breath and a cautious scrutiny around them; +when thus, we see but their ears, forehead, eyes and nostrils, and as +they hastily submerge again it requires a steady wrist and a quick hand +to shoot them. I have heard several comparisons made of their appearance +while floating in this manner: some Arabs told me before I had seen them +that they looked like dead trees carried down the river; others, who in +some country had seen hogs, thought they resembled them, but to my mind +they look more like horses when swimming their curved necks and +pointed ears, their wide eyes and expanded nostrils, favor greatly this +comparison. + +At night they seek the shore, and wander several miles over the country, +luxuriating among its rank grasses. To within four miles of the town +of Bagamoyo (the Kingani is eight miles distant) their wide tracks are +seen. Frequently, if not disturbed by the startling human voice, they +make a raid on the rich corn-stalks of the native cultivators, and a +dozen of them will in a few minutes make a frightful havoc in a large +field of this plant. Consequently, we were not surprised, while delayed +at the ferry, to hear the owners of the corn venting loud halloos, like +the rosy-cheeked farmer boys in England when scaring the crows away from +the young wheat. + +The caravan in the meanwhile had crossed safely--bales, baggage, +donkeys, and men. I had thought to have camped on the bank, so as to +amuse myself with shooting antelope, and also for the sake of procuring +their meat, in order to save my goats, of which I had a number +constituting my live stock of provisions; but, thanks to the awe and +dread which my men entertained of the hippopotami, I was hurried on to +the outpost of the Baluch garrison at Bagamoyo, a small village called +Kikoka, distant four miles from the river. + +The western side of the river was a considerable improvement upon the +eastern. The plain, slowly heaving upwards, as smoothly as the beach of +a watering-place, for the distance of a mile, until it culminated in +a gentle and rounded ridge, presented none of those difficulties which +troubled us on the other side. There were none of those cataclysms +of mire and sloughs of black mud and over-tall grasses, none of that +miasmatic jungle with its noxious emissions; it was just such a scene +as one may find before an English mansion--a noble expanse of lawn +and sward, with boscage sufficient to agreeably diversify it. After +traversing the open plain, the road led through a grove of young ebony +trees, where guinea-fowls and a hartebeest were seen; it then wound, +with all the characteristic eccentric curves of a goat-path, up and +down a succession of land-waves crested by the dark green foliage of +the mango, and the scantier and lighter-coloured leaves of the enormous +calabash. The depressions were filled with jungle of more or less +density, while here and there opened glades, shadowed even during noon +by thin groves of towering trees. At our approach fled in terror flocks +of green pigeons, jays, ibis, turtledoves, golden pheasants, quails and +moorhens, with crows and hawks, while now and then a solitary pelican +winged its way to the distance. + +Nor was this enlivening prospect without its pairs of antelope, and +monkeys which hopped away like Australian kangaroos; these latter were +of good size, with round bullet heads, white breasts, and long tails +tufted at the end. + +We arrived at Kikoka by 5 P.M., having loaded and unloaded our pack +animals four times, crossing one deep puddle, a mud sluice, and a river, +and performed a journey of eleven miles. + +The settlement of Kikoka is a collection of straw huts; not built after +any architectural style, but after a bastard form, invented by indolent +settlers from the Mrima and Zanzibar for the purpose of excluding as +much sunshine as possible from the eaves and interior. A sluice and some +wells provide them with water, which though sweet is not particularly +wholesome or appetizing, owing to the large quantities of decayed matter +which is washed into it by the rains, and is then left to corrupt in it. +A weak effort has been made to clear the neighbourhood for providing +a place for cultivation, but to the dire task of wood-chopping and +jungle-clearing the settlers prefer occupying an open glade, which they +clear of grass, so as to be able to hoe up two or three inches of soil, +into which they cast their seed, confident of return. + +The next day was a halt at Kikoka; the fourth caravan, consisting solely +of Wanyamwezi, proving a sore obstacle to a rapid advance. Maganga, its +chief, devised several methods of extorting more cloth and presents from +me, he having cost already more than any three chiefs together; but his +efforts were of no avail further than obtaining promises of reward if he +would hurry on to Unyanyembe so that I might find my road clear. + +On the 2(7?)th, the Wanyamwezi having started, we broke camp soon after +at 7 am. The country was of the same nature as that lying between +the Kingani and Kikokaa park land, attractive and beautiful in every +feature. + +I rode in advance to secure meat should a chance present itself, but +not the shadow of vert or venison did I see. Ever in our +front--westerly--rolled the land-waves, now rising, now subsiding, +parallel one with the other, like a ploughed field many times magnified. +Each ridge had its knot of jungle or its thin combing of heavily +foliaged trees, until we arrived close to Rosako, our next halting +place, when the monotonous wavure of the land underwent a change, +breaking into independent hummocks clad with dense jungle. On one of +these, veiled by an impenetrable jungle of thorny acacia, rested Rosako; +girt round by its natural fortification, neighbouring another village +to the north of it similarly protected. Between them sank a valley +extremely fertile and bountiful in its productions, bisected by a small +stream, which serves as a drain to the valley or low hills surrounding +it. + +Rosako is the frontier village of Ukwere, while Kikoka is the +north-western extremity of Uzaramo. We entered this village, and +occupied its central portion with our tents and animals. A kitanda, +or square light bedstead, without valance, fringe, or any superfluity +whatever, but nevertheless quite as comfortable as with them, was +brought to my tent for my use by the village chief. The animals were, +immediately after being unloaded, driven out to feed, and the soldiers +to a man set to work to pile the baggage up, lest the rain, which during +the Masika season always appears imminent, might cause irreparable +damage. + +Among other experiments which I was about to try in Africa was that of +a good watch-dog on any unmannerly people who would insist upon coming +into my tent at untimely hours and endangering valuables. Especially did +I wish to try the effect of its bark on the mighty Wagogo, who, I was +told by certain Arabs, would lift the door of the tent and enter whether +you wished them or not; who would chuckle at the fear they inspired, and +say to you, "Hi, hi, white man, I never saw the like of you before; are +there many more like you? where do you come from?" Also would they take +hold of your watch and ask you with a cheerful curiosity, "What is this +for, white man?" to which you of course would reply that it was to tell +you the hour and minute. But the Mgogo, proud of his prowess, and more +unmannerly than a brute, would answer you with a snort of insult. I +thought of a watch-dog, and procured a good one at Bombay not only as a +faithful companion, but to threaten the heels of just such gentry. + +But soon after our arrival at Rosako it was found that the dog, whose +name was "Omar," given him from his Turkish origin, was missing; he had +strayed away from the soldiers during a rain-squall and had got lost. +I despatched Mabruki Burton back to Kikoka to search for him. On the +following morning, just as we were about to leave Rosako, the faithful +fellow returned with the lost dog, having found him at Kikoka. + +Previous to our departure on the morning after this, Maganga, chief +of the fourth caravan, brought me the unhappy report that three of his +pagazis were sick, and he would like to have some "dowa"--medicine. +Though not a doctor, or in any way connected with the profession, I had +a well-supplied medicine chest--without which no traveller in Africa +could live--for just such a contingency as was now present. On visiting +Maganga's sick men, I found one suffering from inflammation of the +lungs, another from the mukunguru (African intermittent). They all +imagined themselves about to die, and called loudly for "Mama!" "Mama!" +though they were all grown men. It was evident that the fourth caravan +could not stir that day, so leaving word with Magauga to hurry after me +as soon as possible, I issued orders for the march of my own. + +Excepting in the neighbourhood of the villages which we have passed +there were no traces of cultivation. The country extending between the +several stations is as much a wilderness as the desert of Sahara, though +it possesses a far more pleasing aspect. Indeed, had the first man at +the time of the Creation gazed at his world and perceived it of the +beauty which belongs to this part of Africa, he would have had no cause +of complaint. In the deep thickets, set like islets amid a sea of grassy +verdure, he would have found shelter from the noonday heat, and a safe +retirement for himself and spouse during the awesome darkness. In the +morning he could have walked forth on the sloping sward, enjoyed its +freshness, and performed his ablutions in one of the many small streams +flowing at its foot. His garden of fruit-trees is all that is required; +the noble forests, deep and cool, are round about him, and in their +shade walk as many animals as one can desire. For days and days let a +man walk in any direction, north, south, east, and west, and he will +behold the same scene. + +Earnestly as I wished to hurry on to Unyanyembe, still a heart-felt +anxiety about the arrival of my goods carried by the fourth caravan, +served as a drag upon me and before my caravan had marched nine miles +my anxiety had risen to the highest pitch, and caused me to order a camp +there and then. The place selected for it was near a long straggling +sluice, having an abundance of water during the rainy season, draining +as it does two extensive slopes. No sooner had we pitched our camp, +built a boma of thorny acacia, and other tree branches, by stacking them +round our camp, and driven our animals to grass; than we were made aware +of the formidable number and variety of the insect tribe, which for a +time was another source of anxiety, until a diligent examination of the +several species dispelled it. + +As it was a most interesting hunt which I instituted for the several +specimens of the insects, I here append the record of it for what it is +worth. My object in obtaining these specimens was to determine whether +the genus _Glossina morsitans_ of the naturalist, or the tsetse +(sometimes called setse) of Livingstone, Vardon, and Gumming, said to +be deadly to horses, was amongst them. Up to this date I had been nearly +two months in East Africa, and had as yet seen no tsetse; and my horses, +instead of becoming emaciated--for such is one of the symptoms of a +tsetse bite--had considerably improved in condition. There were three +different species of flies which sought shelter in my tent, which, +unitedly, kept up a continual chorus of sounds--one performed the basso +profondo, another a tenor, and the third a weak contralto. The first +emanated from a voracious and fierce fly, an inch long, having a ventral +capacity for blood quite astonishing. + +This larger fly was the one chosen for the first inspection, which was +of the intensest. I permitted one to alight on my flannel pyjamas, which +I wore while en deshabille in camp. No sooner had he alighted than his +posterior was raised, his head lowered, and his weapons, consisting +of four hair-like styles, unsheathed from the proboscis-like bag which +concealed them, and immediately I felt pain like that caused by a +dexterous lancet-cut or the probe of a fine needle. I permitted him to +gorge himself, though my patience and naturalistic interest were sorely +tried. I saw his abdominal parts distend with the plenitude of the +repast until it had swollen to three times its former shrunken girth, +when he flew away of his own accord laden with blood. On rolling up my +flannel pyjamas to see the fountain whence the fly had drawn the fluid, +I discovered it to be a little above the left knee, by a crimson bead +resting over the incision. After wiping the blood the wound was similar +to that caused by a deep thrust of a fine needle, but all pain had +vanished with the departure of the fly. + +Having caught a specimen of this fly, I next proceeded to institute a +comparison between it and the tsetse, as described by Dr. Livingstone on +pp. 56-57, 'Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa' (Murray's +edition of 1868). The points of disagreement are many, and such as to +make it entirely improbable that this fly is the true tsetse, though my +men unanimously stated that its bite was fatal to horses as well as to +donkeys. A descriptive abstract of the tsetse would read thus: "Not much +larger than a common house-fly, nearly of the same brown colour as the +honey-bee. After-part of the body has yellow bars across it. It has a +peculiar buzz, and its bite is death to the horse, ox, and dog. On man +the bite has no effect, neither has it on wild animals. When allowed +to feed on the hand, it inserts the middle prong of three portions into +which the proboscis divides, it then draws the prong out a little +way, and it assumes a crimson colour as the mandibles come into brisk +operation; a slight itching irritation follows the bite." + +The fly which I had under inspection is called mabunga by the natives. +It is much larger than the common housefly, fully a third larger than +the common honey-bee, and its colour more distinctly marked; its head is +black, with a greenish gloss to it; the after-part of the body is marked +by a white line running lengthwise from its junction with the trunk, and +on each side of this white line are two other lines, one of a crimson +colour, the other of a light brown. As for its buzz, there is no +peculiarity in it, it might be mistaken for that of a honey-bee. When +caught it made desperate efforts to get away, but never attempted to +bite. This fly, along with a score of others, attacked my grey horse, +and bit it so sorely in the legs that they appeared as if bathed in +blood. Hence, I might have been a little vengeful if, with more than the +zeal of an entomologist, I caused it to disclose whatever peculiarities +its biting parts possessed. + +In order to bring this fly as life-like as possible before my readers, I +may compare its head to most tiny miniature of an elephant's, because it +has a black proboscis and a pair of horny antennae, which in colour and +curve resemble tusks. The black proboscis, however, the simply a hollow +sheath, which encloses, when not in the act of biting, four reddish +and sharp lancets. Under the microscope these four lancets differ in +thickness, two are very thick, the third is slender, but the fourth, of +an opal colour and almost transparent, is exceedingly fine. This last +must be the sucker. When the fly is about to wound, the two horny +antennae are made to embrace the part, the lancets are unsheathed, and +on the instant the incision is performed. This I consider to be the +African "horse-fly." + +The second fly, which sang the tenor notes more nearly resembled in size +and description the tsetse. It was exceedingly nimble, and it occupied +three soldiers nearly an hour to capture a specimen; and, when it was +finally caught, it stung most ravenously the hand, and never ceased +its efforts to attack until it was pinned through. It had three or four +white marks across the after-part of its body; but the biting parts of +this fly consisted of two black antennae and an opal coloured style, +which folded away under the neck. When about to bite, this style was +shot out straight, and the antennae embraced it closely. After death the +fly lost its distinctive white marks. Only one of this species did +we see at this camp. The third fly, called "chufwa," pitched a weak +alto-crescendo note, was a third larger than the house fly, and had long +wings. If this insect sang the feeblest note, it certainly did the most +work, and inflicted the most injury. Horses and donkeys streamed with +blood, and reared and kicked through the pain. So determined was it not +to be driven before it obtained its fill, that it was easily despatched; +but this dreadful enemy to cattle constantly increased in numbers. The +three species above named are, according to natives, fatal to +cattle; and this may perhaps be the reason why such a vast expanse of +first-class pasture is without domestic cattle of any kind, a few goats +only being kept by the villagers. This fly I subsequently found to be +the "tsetse." + +On the second morning, instead of proceeding, I deemed it more prudent +to await the fourth caravan. Burton experimented sufficiently for me +on the promised word of the Banyans of Kaole and Zanzibar, and waited +eleven months before he received the promised articles. As I did not +expect to be much over that time on my errand altogether, it would be +ruin, absolute and irremediable, should I be detained at Unyanyembe so +long a time by my caravan. Pending its arrival, I sought the pleasures +of the chase. I was but a tyro in hunting, I confess, though I had shot +a little on the plains of America and Persia; yet I considered myself +a fair shot, and on game ground, and within a reasonable proximity to +game, I doubted not but I could bring some to camp. + +After a march of a mile through the tall grass of the open, we gained +the glades between the jungles. Unsuccessful here, after ever so much +prying into fine hiding-places and lurking corners, I struck a trail +well traversed by small antelope and hartebeest, which we followed. It +led me into a jungle, and down a watercourse bisecting it; but, after +following it for an hour, I lost it, and, in endeavouring to retrace it, +lost my way. However, my pocket-compass stood me in good stead; and by +it I steered for the open plain, in the centre of which stood the camp. +But it was terribly hard work--this of plunging through an African +jungle, ruinous to clothes, and trying to the cuticle. In order to +travel quickly, I had donned a pair of flannel pyjamas, and my feet were +encased in canvas shoes. As might be expected, before I had gone a +few paces a branch of the acacia horrida--only one of a hundred such +annoyances--caught the right leg of my pyjamas at the knee, and ripped +it almost clean off; succeeding which a stumpy kolquall caught me by the +shoulder, and another rip was the inevitable consequence. A few yards +farther on, a prickly aloetic plant disfigured by a wide tear the +other leg of my pyjamas, and almost immediately I tripped against a +convolvulus strong as ratline, and was made to measure my length on a +bed of thorns. It was on all fours, like a hound on a scent, that I was +compelled to travel; my solar topee getting the worse for wear every +minute; my skin getting more and more wounded; my clothes at each step +becoming more and more tattered. Besides these discomforts, there was +a pungent, acrid plant which, apart from its strong odorous emissions, +struck me smartly on the face, leaving a burning effect similar to +cayenne; and the atmosphere, pent in by the density of the jungle, was +hot and stifling, and the perspiration transuded through every pore, +making my flannel tatters feel as if I had been through a shower. When I +had finally regained the plain, and could breathe free, I mentally vowed +that the penetralia of an African jungle should not be visited by me +again, save under most urgent necessity. + +The second and third day passed without any news of Maganga. +Accordingly, Shaw and Bombay were sent to hurry him up by all means. +On the fourth morning Shaw and Bombay returned, followed by the +procrastinating Maganga and his laggard people. Questions only elicited +an excuse that his men had been too sick, and he had feared to tax their +strength before they were quite equal to stand the fatigue. Moreover he +suggested that as they would be compelled to stay one day more at the +camp, I might push on to Kingaru and camp there, until his arrival. +Acting upon which suggestion I broke camp and started for Kingaru, +distant five miles. + +On this march the land was more broken, and the caravan first +encountered jungle, which gave considerable trouble to our cart. +Pisolitic limestone cropped out in boulders and sheets, and we began +to imagine ourselves approaching healthy highlands, and as if to give +confirmation to the thought, to the north and north-west loomed the +purple cones of Udoe, and topmost of all Dilima Peak, about 1,500 feet +in height above the sea level. But soon after sinking into a bowl-like +valley, green with tall corn, the road slightly deviated from north-west +to west, the country still rolling before us in wavy undulations. + +In one of the depressions between these lengthy land-swells stood the +village of Kingaru, with surroundings significant in their aspect +of ague and fever. Perhaps the clouds surcharged with rain, and the +overhanging ridges and their dense forests dulled by the gloom, made the +place more than usually disagreeable, but my first impressions of the +sodden hollow, pent in by those dull woods, with the deep gully close by +containing pools of stagnant water, were by no means agreeable. + +Before we could arrange our camp and set the tents up, down poured the +furious harbinger of the Masika season in torrents sufficient to damp +the ardor and newborn love for East Africa I had lately manifested. +However, despite rain, we worked on until our camp was finished and the +property was safely stored from weather and thieves, and we could regard +with resignation the raindrops beating the soil into mud of a very +tenacious kind, and forming lakelets and rivers of our camp-ground. + +Towards night, the scene having reached its acme of unpleasantness, the +rain ceased, and the natives poured into camp from the villages in the +woods with their vendibles. Foremost among these, as if in duty bound, +came the village sultan--lord, chief, or head--bearing three measures +of matama and half a measure of rice, of which he begged, with paternal +smiles, my acceptance. But under his smiling mask, bleared eyes, and +wrinkled front was visible the soul of trickery, which was of the +cunningest kind. Responding under the same mask adopted by this knavish +elder, I said, "The chief of Kingaru has called me a rich sultan. If I +am a rich sultan why comes not the chief with a rich present to me, that +he might get a rich return?" Said he, with another leer of his wrinkled +visage, "Kingaru is poor, there is no matama in the village." To which +I replied that since there was no matama in the village I would pay him +half a shukka, or a yard of cloth, which would be exactly equivalent to +his present; that if he preferred to call his small basketful a present, +I should be content to call my yard of cloth a present. With which logic +he was fain to be satisfied. + +April 1st.--To-day the Expedition suffered a loss in the death of the +grey Arab horse presented by Seyd Burghash, Sultan of Zanzibar. The +night previous I had noticed that the horse was suffering. Bearing in +mind what has been so frequently asserted, namely, that no horses could +live in the interior of Africa because of the tsetse, I had him opened, +and the stomach, which I believed to be diseased, examined. Besides much +undigested matama and grass there were found twenty-five short, thick, +white worms, sticking like leeches into the coating of the stomach, +while the intestines were almost alive with the numbers of long white +worms. I was satisfied that neither man nor beast could long exist with +such a mass of corrupting life within him. + +In order that the dead carcase might not taint the valley, I had it +buried deep in the ground, about a score of yards from the encampment. +From such a slight cause ensued a tremendous uproar from Kingaru--chief +of the village--who, with his brother-chiefs of neighbouring villages, +numbering in the aggregate two dozen wattled huts, had taken counsel +upon the best means of mulcting the Musungu of a full doti or two of +Merikani, and finally had arrived at the conviction that the act of +burying a dead horse in their soil without "By your leave, sir," was +a grievous and fineable fault. Affecting great indignation at the +unpardonable omission, he, Kingaru, concluded to send to the Musungu +four of his young men to say to him that "since you have buried your +horse in my ground, it is well; let him remain there; but you must pay +me two doti of Merikani." For reply the messengers were told to say to +the chief that I would prefer talking the matter over with himself face +to face, if he would condescend to visit me in my tent once again. As +the village was but a stone's throw from our encampment, before many +minutes had elapsed the wrinkled elder made his appearance at the door +of my tent with about half the village behind him. + +The following dialogue which took place will serve to illustrate the +tempers of the people with whom I was about to have a year's trading +intercourse: + +White Man.--"Are you the great chief of Kingaru?" + +Kingaru.--"Huh-uh. Yes." + +W. M.--"The great, great chief?" + +Kingaru.--"Huh-uh. Yes." + +W. M.--"How many soldiers have you?" + +Kingaru.--" Why?" + +W. M.--"How many fighting men have you?" + +Kingaru.--"None." + +W. M.--"Oh! I thought you might have a thousand men with you, by your +going to fine a strong white man, who has plenty of guns and soldiers, +two doti for burying a dead horse." + +Kingaru (rather perplexed).--"No; I have no soldiers. I have only a few +young men." + +W. M.--"Why do you come and make trouble, then?" + +Kingaru.--"It was not I; it was my brothers who said to me, 'Come here, +come here, Kingaru, see what the white man has done! Has he not taken +possession of your soil, in that he has put his horse into your ground +without your permission? Come, go to him and see by what right.' +Therefore have I come to ask you, who gave you permission to use my soil +for a burying-ground?" + +W. M. "I want no man's permission to do what is right. My horse died; +had I left him to fester and stink in your valley, sickness would visit +your village, your water would become unwholesome, and caravans would +not stop here for trade; for they would say, 'This is an unlucky spot, +let us go away.' But enough said: I understand you to say that you do +not want him buried in your ground; the error I have fallen into is +easily put right. This minute my soldiers shall dig him out again, and +cover up the soil as it was before; and the horse shall be left where he +died." (Then shouting to Bombay.) "Ho! Bombay, take soldiers with jembes +to dig my horse out of the ground, drag him to where he died, and make +everything ready for a march to-morrow morning." + +Kingaru, his voice considerably higher, and his head moving to and fro +with emotion, cries out, "Akuna, akuna, bana!"--"No, no, master! Let not +the white man get angry. The horse is dead, and now lies buried; let him +remain so, since he is already there, and let us be friends again." + +The Sheikh of Kingaru being thus brought to his senses, we bid each +other the friendly "Kwaheri," and I was left alone to ruminate over my +loss. Barely half an hour had elapsed, it was 9 P.M., the camp was in +a semi-doze, when I heard deep groans issuing from one of the animals. +Upon inquiry as to what animal was suffering, I was surprised to hear +that it was my bay horse. With a bull's-eye lantern, I visited him, and +perceived that the pain was located in the stomach, but whether it was +from some poisonous plant he had eaten while out grazing, or from some +equine disease, I did not know. He discharged copious quantities of +loose matter, but there was nothing peculiar in its colour. The pain was +evidently very great, for his struggles were very violent. I was up all +night, hoping that it was but a temporary effect of some strange and +noxious plant; but at 6 o'clock the next morning, after a short period +of great agony, he also died; exactly fifteen hours after his companion. +When the stomach was opened, it was found that death was caused by the +internal rupture of a large cancer, which had affected the larger half +of the coating of his stomach, and had extended an inch or two up the +larynx. The contents of the stomach and intestines were deluged with the +yellow viscous efflux from the cancer. + +I was thus deprived of both my horses, and that within the short space +of fifteen hours. With my limited knowledge of veterinary science, +however, strengthened by the actual and positive proofs obtained by the +dissection of the two stomachs, I can scarcely state that horses can +live to reach Unyanyembe, or that they can travel with ease through this +part of East Africa. But should I have occasion at some future day, +I should not hesitate to take four horses with me, though I should +certainly endeavour to ascertain previous to purchase whether they, were +perfectly sound and healthy, and to those travellers who cherish a good +horse I would say, "Try one," and be not discouraged by my unfortunate +experiences. + +The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of April passed, and nothing had we heard or +seen of the ever-lagging fourth caravan. In the meanwhile the list of +casualties was being augmented. Besides the loss of this precious time, +through the perverseness of the chief of the other caravan, and the +loss of my two horses, a pagazi carrying boat-fixtures improved the +opportunity, and deserted. Selim was struck down with a severe attack +of ague and fever, and was soon after followed by the cook, then by the +assistant cook and tailor, Abdul Kader. Finally, before the third day +was over, Bombay had rheumatism, Uledi (Grant's old valet) had a swollen +throat, Zaidi had the flux, Kingaru had the mukunguru; Khamisi, a +pagazi, suffered from a weakness of the loins; Farjalla had a bilious +fever; and before night closed Makoviga was very ill. Out of a force of +twenty-five men one had deserted, and ten were on the sick list, and the +presentiment that the ill-looking neighbourhood of Kingaru would prove +calamitous to me was verified. + +On the 4th April Maganga and his people appeared, after being heralded +by musketry-shots and horn-blowing, the usual signs of an approaching +caravan in this land. His sick men were considerably improved, but they +required one more day of rest at Kingaru. In the afternoon he came to +lay siege to my generosity, by giving details of Soor Hadji Palloo's +heartless cheats upon him; but I informed him, that since I had left +Bagamoyo, I could no longer be generous; we were now in a land where +cloth was at a high premium; that I had no more cloth than I should need +to furnish food for myself and men; that he and his caravan had cost me +more money and trouble than any three caravans I had, as indeed was the +case. With this counter-statement he was obliged to be content. But I +again solved his pecuniary doubts by promising that, if he hurried his +caravan on to Unyanyembe, he should have no cause of complaint. + +The 5th of April saw the fourth caravan vanish for once in our front, +with a fair promise that, however fast we should follow, we should not +see them the hither side of Sinbamwenni. + +The following morning, in order to rouse my people from the sickened +torpitude they had lapsed into, I beat an exhilarating alarum on a +tin pan with an iron ladle, intimating that a sofari was about to be +undertaken. This had a very good effect, judging from the extraordinary +alacrity with which it was responded to. Before the sun rose we started. +The Kingaru villagers were out with the velocity of hawks for any rags +or refuse left behind us. + +The long march to Imbiki, fifteen miles, proved that our protracted stay +at Kingaru had completely demoralized my soldiers and pagazis. Only +a few of them had strength enough to reach Imbiki before night. The +others, attending the laden donkeys, put in an appearance next morning, +in a lamentable state of mind and body. Khamisi--the pagazi with the +weak loins--had deserted, taking with him two goats, the property tent, +and the whole of Uledi's personal wealth, consisting of his visiting +dish-dasheh--a long shirt of the Arabic pattern, 10 lbs. of beads, and +a few fine cloths, which Uledi, in a generous fit, had intrusted to +him, while he carried the pagazi's load, 70 lbs. of Bubu beads. This +defalcation was not to be overlooked, nor should Khamisi be permitted to +return without an effort to apprehend him. Accordingly Uledi and Ferajji +were despatched in pursuit while we rested at Imbiki, in order to give +the dilapidated soldiers and animals time to recruit. + +On the 8th we continued our journey, and arrived at Msuwa. This march +will be remembered by our caravan as the most fatiguing of all, though +the distance was but ten miles. It was one continuous jungle, except +three interjacent glades of narrow limits, which gave us three breathing +pauses in the dire task of jungle travelling. The odour emitted from +its fell plants was so rank, so pungently acrid, and the miasma from its +decayed vegetation so dense, that I expected every moment to see myself +and men drop down in paroxysms of acute fever. Happily this evil was +not added to that of loading and unloading the frequently falling packs. +Seven soldiers to attend seventeen laden donkeys were entirely too small +a number while passing through a jungle; for while the path is but a +foot wide, with a wall of thorny plants and creepers bristling on each +side, and projecting branches darting across it, with knots of spikey +twigs stiff as spike-nails, ready to catch and hold anything above four +feet in height, it is but reasonable to suppose that donkeys standing +four feet high, with loads measuring across from bale to bale four feet, +would come to grief. This grief was of frequent recurrence here, causing +us to pause every few minutes for re-arrangements. So often had this +task to be performed, that the men got perfectly discouraged, and had to +bespoken to sharply before they set to work. By the time I reached Msuwa +there was nobody with me and the ten donkeys I drove but Mabruk the +Little, who, though generally stolid, stood to his work like a man. +Bombay and Uledi were far behind, with the most jaded donkeys. Shaw +was in charge of the cart, and his experiences were most bitter, as he +informed me he had expended a whole vocabulary of stormy abuse known +to sailors, and a new one which he had invented ex tempore. He did not +arrive until two o'clock next morning, and was completely worn out. + +Another halt was fixed at Msuwa, that we and our animals might +recuperate. The chief of the village, a white man in everything but +colour, sent me and mine the fattest broad-tailed sheep of his +flock, with five measures of matama grain. The mutton was excellent, +unapproachable. For his timely and needful present I gave him two doti, +and amused him with an exhibition of the wonderful mechanism of the +Winchester rifle, and my breechloading revolvers. + +He and his people were intelligent enough to comprehend the utility of +these weapons at an emergency, and illustrated in expressive pantomime +the powers they possessed against numbers of people armed only with +spears and bows, by extending their arms with an imaginary gun and +describing a clear circle. "Verily," said they, "the Wasungu are far +wiser than the Washensi. What heads they have! What wonderful things +they make! Look at their tents, their guns, their time-pieces, their +clothes, and that little rolling thing (the cart) which carries more +than five men,---que!" + +On the 10th, recovered from the excessive strain of the last march, the +caravan marched out of Msuwa, accompanied by the hospitable villagers +as far as their stake defence, receiving their unanimous "Kwaheris." +Outside the village the march promised to be less arduous than between +Imbiki and Msuwa. After crossing a beautiful little plain intersected +by a dry gully or mtoni, the route led by a few cultivated fields, where +the tillers greeted us with one grand unwinking stare, as if fascinated. + +Soon after we met one of those sights common in part of the world, to +wit a chain slave-gang, bound east. The slaves did not appear to be +in any way down-hearted on the contrary, they seemed imbued with the +philosophic jollity of the jolly servant of Martin Chuzzlewit. Were it +not for their chains, it would have been difficult to discover master +from slave; the physiognomic traits were alike--the mild benignity with +which we were regarded was equally visible on all faces. The chains were +ponderous--they might have held elephants captive; but as the slaves +carried nothing but themselves, their weight could not have been +insupportable. + +The jungle was scant on this march, and though in some places the packs +met with accidents, they were not such as seriously to retard progress. +By 10 A.M. we were in camp in the midst of an imposing view of green +sward and forest domed by a cloudless sky. We had again pitched our camp +in the wilderness, and, as is the custom of caravans, fired two shots to +warn any Washensi having grain to sell, that we were willing to trade. + +Our next halting-place was Kisemo, distant but eleven miles from Msuwa, +a village situated in a populous district, having in its vicinity no +less than five other villages, each fortified by stakes and thorny +abattis, with as much fierce independence as if their petty lords were +so many Percys and Douglasses. Each topped a ridge, or a low hummock, +with an assumption of defiance of the cock-on-its-own-dunghill type. +Between these humble eminences and low ridges of land wind narrow vales +which are favored with the cultivation of matama and Indian corn. Behind +the village flows the Ungerengeri River, an impetuous stream during the +Masika season, capable of overflowing its steep banks, but in the dry +season it subsides into its proper status, which is that of a small +stream of very clear sweet water. Its course from Kisemo is south-west, +then easterly; it is the main feeder of the Kingani River. + +The belles of Kisemo are noted for their vanity in brass wire, which is +wound in spiral rings round their wrists and ankles, and the varieties +of style which their hispid heads exhibit; while their poor lords, +obliged to be contented with dingy torn clouts and split ears, show what +wide sway Asmodeus holds over this terrestrial sphere--for it must have +been an unhappy time when the hard-besieged husbands finally gave +way before their spouses. Besides these brassy ornaments on their +extremities, and the various hair-dressing styles, the women of Kisemo +frequently wear lengthy necklaces, which run in rivers of colours down +their bodies. + +A more comical picture is seldom presented than that of one of these +highly-dressed females engaged in the homely and necessary task of +grinding corn for herself and family. The grinding apparatus consists +of two portions: one, a thick pole of hard wood about six feet long, +answering for a pestle; the other, a capacious wooden mortar, three feet +in height. + +While engaged in setting his tent, Shaw was obliged to move a small flat +stone, to drive a peg into the ground. The village chief, who saw him do +it, rushed up in a breathless fashion, and replaced the stone instantly, +then stood on it in an impressive manner, indicative of the great +importance attached to that stone and location. Bombay, seeing Shaw +standing in silent wonder at the act, volunteered to ask the chief what +was the matter. The Sheikh solemnly answered, with a finger pointing +downward, "Uganga!" Whereupon I implored him to let me see what was +under the stone. With a graciousness quite affecting he complied. My +curiosity was gratified with the sight of a small whittled stick, which +pinned fast to the ground an insect, the cause of a miscarriage to a +young female of the village. + +During the afternoon, Uledi and Ferajji, who had been despatched after +the truant Khamisi, returned with him and all the missing articles. +Khamisi, soon after leaving the road and plunging into the jungle, +where he was mentally triumphing in his booty, was met by some of the +plundering Washensi, who are always on the qui vive for stragglers, and +unceremoniously taken to their village in the woods, and bound to a tree +preparatory, to being killed. Khamisi said that he asked them why they +tied him up, to which they answered, that they were about to kill him, +because he was a Mgwana, whom they were accustomed to kill as soon as +they were caught. But Uledi and Ferajji shortly after coming upon the +scene, both well armed, put an end to the debates upon Khamisi's fate, +by claiming him as an absconding pagazi from the Musungu's camp, as well +as all the articles he possessed at the time of capture. The robbers did +not dispute the claim for the pagazi, goats, tent, or any other +valuable found with him, but intimated that they deserved a reward for +apprehending him. The demand being considered just, a reward to the +extent of two doti and a fundo, or ten necklaces of beads, was given. + +Khamisi, for his desertion and attempted robbery, could not be pardoned +without first suffering punishment. He had asked at Bagamoyo, before +enlisting in my service, an advance of $5 in money, and had received it, +and a load of Bubu beads, no heavier than a pagazis load, had been given +him to carry; he had, therefore, no excuse for desertion. Lest I should +overstep prudence, however, in punishing him, I convened a court of +eight pagazis and four soldiers to sit in judgment, and asked them +to give me their decision as to what should be done. Their unanimous +verdict was that he was guilty of a crime almost unknown among the +Wanyamwezi pagazis, and as it was likely to give bad repute to the +Wanyamwezi carriers, they therefore sentenced him to be flogged with the +"Great Master's" donkey whip, which was accordingly carried out, to poor +Khamisi's crying sorrow. + +On the 12th the caravan reached Mussoudi, on the Ungerengeri river. +Happily for our patient donkeys this march was free from all the +annoying troubles of the jungle. Happily for ourselves also, for we had +no more the care of the packs and the anxiety about arriving at camp +before night. The packs once put firmly on the backs of our good +donkeys, they marched into camp--the road being excellent--without a +single displacement or cause for one impatient word, soon after leaving +Kisemo. A beautiful prospect, glorious in its wild nature, fragrant with +its numerous flowers and variety of sweetly-smelling shrubs, among which +I recognised the wild sage, the indigo plant, &c., terminated only +at the foot of Kira Peak and sister cones, which mark the boundaries +between Udoe and Ukami, yet distant twenty miles. Those distant +mountains formed a not unfit background to this magnificent picture +of open plain, forest patches, and sloping lawns--there was enough of +picturesqueness and sublimity in the blue mountains to render it one +complete whole. Suppose a Byron saw some of these scenes, he would be +inclined to poetize in this manner: + +Morn dawns, and with it stern Udoe's hills, Dark Urrugum's rocks, and +Kira's peak, Robed half in mist, bedewed with various rills, Arrayed in +many a dun and purple streak. + +When drawing near the valley of Ungerengeri, granite knobs and +protuberances of dazzling quartz showed their heads above the reddish +soil. Descending the ridge where these rocks were prominent, we found +ourselves in the sable loam deposit of the Ungerengeri, and in the midst +of teeming fields of sugar-cane and matama, Indian corn, muhogo, +and gardens of curry, egg, and cucumber plants. On the banks of the +Ungerengeri flourished the banana, and overtopping it by seventy feet +and more, shot up the stately mparamusi, the rival in beauty of the +Persian chenar and Abyssinian plane. Its trunk is straight and comely +enough for the mainmast of a first, class frigate, while its expanding +crown of leafage is distinguished from all others by its density and +vivid greenness. There were a score of varieties of the larger kind of +trees, whose far-extending branches embraced across the narrow but swift +river. The depressions of the valley and the immediate neighbourhood of +the river were choked with young forests of tiger-grass and stiff reeds. + +Mussoudi is situated on a higher elevation than the average level of the +village, and consequently looks down upon its neighbours, which number a +hundred and more. It is the western extremity of Ukwere. On the western +bank of the Ungerengeri the territory of the Wakami commences. We had to +halt one day at Mussoudi because the poverty of the people prevented us +from procuring the needful amount of grain. The cause of this scantiness +in such a fertile and populous valley was, that the numerous caravans +which had preceded us had drawn heavily for their stores for the +upmarches. + +On the 14th we crossed the Ungerengeri, which here flows southerly to +the southern extremity of the valley, where it bends easterly as far as +Kisemo. After crossing the river here, fordable at all times and only +twenty yards in breadth, we had another mile of the valley with its +excessively moist soil and rank growth of grass. It then ascended into +a higher elevation, and led through a forest of mparamusi, tamarind, +tamarisk, acacia, and the blooming mimosa. This ascent was continued for +two hours, when we stood upon the spine of the largest ridge, where we +could obtain free views of the wooded plain below and the distant ridges +of Kisemo, which we had but lately left. A descent of a few hundred feet +terminated in a deep but dry mtoni with a sandy bed, on the other side +of which we had to regain the elevation we had lost, and a similar +country opened into view until we found a newly-made boma with +well-built huts of grass rear a pool of water, which we at once occupied +as a halting-place for the night. The cart gave us considerable trouble; +not even our strongest donkey, though it carried with ease on its back +196 lbs., could draw the cart with a load of only 225 lbs. weight. + +Early on the morning of the 15th we broke camp and started for Mikeseh. +By 8.30 A.M. we were ascending the southern face of the Kira Peak. When +we had gained the height of two hundred feet above the level of the +surrounding country, we were gratified with a magnificent view of a land +whose soil knows no Sabbath. + +After travelling the spine of a ridge abutting against the southern +slope of Kira we again descended into the little valley of Kiwrima, +the first settlement we meet in Udoe, where there is always an abundant +supply of water. Two miles west of Kiwrima is Mikiseh. + +On the 16th we reached Ulagalla after a few hours' march. Ulagalla is +the name of a district, or a portion of a district, lying between the +mountains of Uruguru, which bound it southerly, and the mountains of +Udoe, lying northerly and parallel with them, and but ten miles apart. +The principal part of the basin thus formed is called Ulagalla. + +Muhalleh is the next settlement, and here we found ourselves in +the territory of the Waseguhha. On this march we were hemmed in by +mountains--on our left by those of Uruguru, on our right by those of +Udoe and Useguhha--a most agreeable and welcome change to us after +the long miles of monotonous level we had hitherto seen. When tired of +looking into the depths of the forest that still ran on either side +of the road, we had but to look up to the mountain's base, to note its +strange trees, its plants and vari-coloured flowers, we had but to raise +our heads to vary this pleasant occupation by observing the lengthy and +sinuous spine of the mountains, and mentally report upon their outline, +their spurs, their projections and ravines, their bulging rocks and deep +clefts, and, above all, the dark green woods clothing them from summit +to base. And when our attention was not required for the mundane task +of regarding the donkeys' packs, or the pace of the cautious-stepping +pagazis, it was gratifying to watch the vapours play about the mountain +summits--to see them fold into fleecy crowns and fantastic clusters, +dissolve, gather together into a pall that threatened rain, and sail +away again before the brightening sun. + +At Muhalleh was the fourth caravan under Maganga with three more sick +men, who turned with eager eyes to myself, "the dispenser of medicine," +as I approached. Salvos of small arms greeted me, and a present of rice +and ears of Indian corn for roasting were awaiting my acceptance; but, +as I told Maganga, I would have preferred to hear that his party were +eight or ten marches ahead. At this camp, also, we met Salim bin Rashid, +bound eastward, with a huge caravan carrying three hundred ivory tusks. +This good Arab, besides welcoming the new comer with a present of rice, +gave me news of Livingstone. He had met the old traveller at Ujiji, had +lived in the next but to him for two weeks, described him as looking +old, with long grey moustaches and beard, just recovered from severe +illness, looking very wan; when fully recovered Livingstone intended to +visit a country called Manyema by way of Marungu. + +The valley of the Ungerengeri with Muhalleh exhibits wonderful +fertility. Its crops of matama were of the tallest, and its Indian +corn would rival the best crops ever seen in the Arkansas bottoms. The +numerous mountain-fed streams rendered the great depth of loam very +sloppy, in consequence of which several accidents occurred before we +reached the camp, such as wetting cloth, mildewing tea, watering sugar, +and rusting tools; but prompt attention to these necessary things saved +us from considerable loss. + +There was a slight difference noticed in the demeanour and bearing of +the Waseguhha compared with the Wadoe, Wakami, and Wakwere heretofore +seen. There was none of that civility we had been until now pleased to +note: their express desire to barter was accompanied with insolent +hints that we ought to take their produce at their own prices. If +we remonstrated they became angry; retorting fiercely, impatient of +opposition, they flew into a passion, and were glib in threats. This +strange conduct, so opposite to that of the calm and gentle Wakwere, +may be excellently illustrated by comparing the manner of the hot-headed +Greek with that of the cool and collected German. Necessity compelled us +to purchase eatables of them, and, to the credit of the country and its +productions, be it said, their honey had the peculiar flavour of that of +famed Hymettus. + +Following the latitudinal valley of the Ungerengeri, within two hours on +the following morning we passed close under the wall of the capital of +Useguhha--Simbamwenni. The first view of the walled town at the +western foot of the Uruguru mountains, with its fine valley abundantly +beautiful, watered by two rivers, and several pellucid streams of water +distilled by the dew and cloud-enriched heights around, was one that +we did not anticipate to meet in Eastern Africa. In Mazanderan, Persia, +such a scene would have answered our expectations, but here it was +totally unexpected. The town may contain a population of 3,000, having +about 1,000 houses; being so densely crowded, perhaps 5,000 would more +closely approximate. The houses in the town are eminently African, but +of the best type of construction. The fortifications are on an Arabic +Persic model--combining Arab neatness with Persian plan. Through a ride +of 950 miles in Persia I never met a town outside of the great cities +better fortified than Simbamwenni. In Persia the fortifications were +of mud, even those of Kasvin, Teheran, Ispahan, and Shiraz; those +of Simbamwenni are of stone, pierced with two rows of loopholes for +musketry. The area of the town is about half a square mile, its plan +being quadrangular. Well-built towers of stone guard each corner; four +gates, one facing each cardinal point, and set half way between the +several towers, permit ingress and egress for its inhabitants. The gates +are closed with solid square doors made of African teak, and carved +with the infinitesimally fine and complicated devices of the Arabs, from +which I suspect that the doors were made either at Zanzibar or on the +coast, and conveyed to Simbamwenni plank by plank; yet as there is much +communication between Bagamoyo and Simbamwenni, it is just possible that +native artisans are the authors of this ornate workmanship, as several +doors chiselled and carved in the same manner, though not quite so +elaborately, were visible in the largest houses. The palace of the +Sultan is after the style of those on the coast, with long sloping roof, +wide eaves, and veranda in front. + +The Sultana is the eldest daughter of the famous Kisabengo, a name +infamous throughout the neighbouring countries of Udoe, Ukami, Ukwere, +Kingaru, Ukwenni, and Kiranga-Wanna, for his kidnapping propensities. +Kisabengo was another Theodore on a small scale. Sprung from humble +ancestry, he acquired distinction for his personal strength, his powers +of harangue, and his amusing and versatile address, by which he gained +great ascendency over fugitive slaves, and was chosen a leader among +them. Fleeing from justice, which awaited him at the hands of the +Zanzibar Sultan, he arrived in Ukami, which extended at that time from +Ukwere to Usagara, and here he commenced a career of conquest, the +result of which was the cession by the Wakami of an immense tract of +fertile country, in the valley of the Ungerengeri. On its most desirable +site, with the river flowing close under the walls, he built his +capital, and called it Simbamwenni, which means "The Lion," or the +strongest, City. In old age the successful robber and kidnapper +changed his name of Kisabengo, which had gained such a notoriety, to +Simbamwenni, after his town; and when dying, after desiring that his +eldest daughter should succeed him, he bestowed the name of the town +upon her also, which name of Simbamwenni the Sultana now retains and is +known by. + +While crossing a rapid stream, which, as I said before flowed close +to the walls, the inhabitants of Simbamwenni had a fine chance of +gratifying their curiosity of seeing the "Great Musungu," whose several +caravans had preceded him, and who unpardonably, because unlicensed, had +spread a report of his great wealth and power. I was thus the object of +a universal stare. At one time on the banks there were considerably over +a thousand natives going through the several tenses and moods of the +verb "to stare," or exhibiting every phase of the substantive, viz.--the +stare peremptory, insolent, sly, cunning, modest, and casual. The +warriors of the Sultana, holding in one hand the spear, the bow, and +sheaf or musket, embraced with the other their respective friends, like +so many models of Nisus and Euryalus, Theseus and Pirithous, Damon and +Pythias, or Achilles and Patroclus, to whom they confidentially related +their divers opinions upon my dress and colour. The words "Musungu kuba" +had as much charm for these people as the music of the Pied Piper had +for the rats of Hamelin, since they served to draw from within the walls +across their stream so large a portion of the population; and when I +continued the journey to the Ungerengeri, distant four miles, I feared +that the Hamelin catastrophe might have to be repeated before I could +rid myself of them. But fortunately for my peace of mind, they finally +proved vincible under the hot sun, and the distance we had to go to +camp. + +As we were obliged to overhaul the luggage, and repair saddles, as well +as to doctor a few of the animals, whose backs had by this time become +very sore, I determined to halt here two days. Provisions were very +plentiful also at Simbamwenni, though comparatively dear. + +On the second day I was, for the first time, made aware that my +acclimatization in the ague-breeding swamps of Arkansas was powerless +against the mukunguru of East Africa. The premonitory symptoms of the +African type were felt in my system at 10 A.M. First, general lassitude +prevailed, with a disposition to drowsiness; secondly, came the spinal +ache which, commencing from the loins, ascended the vertebrae, and +extended around the ribs, until it reached the shoulders, where it +settled into a weary pain; thirdly came a chilliness over the whole +body, which was quickly followed by a heavy head, swimming eyes, and +throbbing temples, with vague vision, which distorted and transformed +all objects of sight. This lasted until 10 P.M., and the mukunguru left +me, much prostrated in strength. + +The remedy, applied for three mornings in succession after the attack, +was such as my experience in Arkansas had taught me was the most +powerful corrective, viz., a quantum of fifteen grains of quinine, +taken in three doses of five grains each, every other hour from dawn to +meridian--the first dose to be taken immediately after the first effect +of the purging medicine taken at bedtime the night previous. I may add +that this treatment was perfectly successful in my case, and in all +others which occurred in my camp. After the mukunguru had declared +itself, there was no fear, with such a treatment of it, of a second +attack, until at least some days afterwards. + +On the third day the camp was visited by the ambassadors of Her Highness +the Sultana of Simbamwenni, who came as her representatives to receive +the tribute which she regards herself as powerful enough to enforce. But +they, as well as Madame Simbamwenni, were informed, that as we knew it +was their custom to charge owners of caravans but one tribute, and as +they remembered the Musungu (Farquhar) had paid already, it was not fair +that I should have to pay again. The ambassadors replied with a "Ngema" +(very well), and promised to carry my answer back to their mistress. +Though it was by no means "very well" in fact, as it will be seen in +a subsequent chapter how the female Simbamwenni took advantage of an +adverse fortune which befell me to pay herself. With this I close the +chapter of incidents experienced during our transit across the maritime +region. + + + +CHAPTER VI. -- TO UGOGO. + + A valley of despond, and hot-bed of malaria.--Myriads of + vermin.--The Makata swamp.--A sorrowful experience catching + a deserter.--A far-embracing prospect.--Illness of William + Farquhar.-Lake Ugombo.--A land of promise.--The great + Kisesa.--The plague of earwigs. + + +The distance from Bagamoyo to Simbamwenni we found to be 119 miles, +and was accomplished in fourteen marches. But these marches, owing to +difficulties arising from the Masika season, and more especially to the +lagging of the fourth caravan under Maganga, extended to twenty-nine +days, thus rendering our progress very slow indeed--but a little more +than four miles a-day. I infer, from what I have seen of the travelling, +that had I not been encumbered by the sick Wanyamwezi porters, I could +have accomplished the distance in sixteen days. For it was not the +donkeys that proved recreant to my confidence; they, poor animals, +carrying a weight of 150 lbs. each, arrived at Simbamwenni in first-rate +order; but it was Maganga, composed of greed and laziness, and his +weakly-bodied tribe, who were ever falling sick. In dry weather the +number of marches might have been much reduced. Of the half-dozen +of Arabs or so who preceded this Expedition along this route, two +accomplished the entire distance in eight days. From the brief +descriptions given of the country, as it day by day expanded to our +view, enough may be gleaned to give readers a fair idea of it. The +elevation of Simbamwenni cannot be much over 1,000 feet above the level, +the rise of the land having been gradual. It being the rainy season, +about which so many ominous statements were doled out to us by those +ignorant of the character of the country, we naturally saw it under its +worst aspect; but, even in this adverse phase of it, with all its depth +of black mud, its excessive dew, its dripping and chill grass, its +density of rank jungle, and its fevers, I look back upon the scene with +pleasure, for the wealth and prosperity it promises to some civilized +nation, which in some future time will come and take possession of it. A +railroad from Bagamoyo to Simbamwenni might be constructed with as +much ease and rapidity as, and at far less cost than the Union Pacific +Railway, whose rapid strides day by day towards completion the world +heard of and admired. A residence in this part of Africa, after a +thorough system of drainage had been carried out, would not be attended +with more discomfort than generally follows upon the occupation of new +land. The temperature at this season during the day never exceeded 85 +degrees Fahrenheit. The nights were pleasant--too cold without a pair +of blankets for covering; and, as far as Simbamwenni, they were without +that pest which is so dreadful on the Nebraska and Kansas prairies, +the mosquito. The only annoyances I know of that would tell hard on the +settler is the determined ferocity of the mabungu, or horse-fly; the +chufwa, &c., already described, which, until the dense forests and +jungles were cleared, would be certain to render the keeping of domestic +cattle unremunerative. + +Contrary to expectation the Expedition was not able to start at the end +of two days; the third and the fourth days were passed miserably enough +in the desponding valley of Ungerengeri. This river, small as it is in +the dry seasons, becomes of considerable volume and power during the +Masika, as we experienced to our sorrow. It serves as a drain to a score +of peaks and two long ranges of mountains; winding along their base, it +is the recipient of the cascades seen flashing during the few intervals +of sunlight, of all the nullahs and ravines which render the lengthy +frontage of the mountain slopes so rugged and irregular, until it glides +into the valley of Simbamwenni a formidable body of water, opposing a +serious obstacle to caravans without means to build bridges; added to +which was an incessant downfall of rain--such a rain as shuts people +in-doors and renders them miserable and unamiable--a real London +rain--an eternal drizzle accompanied with mist and fog. When the sun +shone it appeared but a pale image of itself, and old pagazis, wise in +their traditions as old whaling captains, shook their heads ominously at +the dull spectre, and declared it was doubtful if the rain would cease +for three weeks yet. + +The site of the caravan camp on the hither side of the Ungerengeri was a +hot-bed of malaria, unpleasant to witness--an abomination to memory. +The filth of generations of pagazis had gathered innumerable hosts +of creeping things. Armies of black, white, and red ants infest the +stricken soil; centipedes, like worms, of every hue, clamber over shrubs +and plants; hanging to the undergrowth are the honey-combed nests +of yellow-headed wasps with stings as harmful as scorpions; enormous +beetles, as large as full-grown mice, roll dunghills over the ground; of +all sorts, shapes, sizes, and hues are the myriad-fold vermin with which +the ground teems; in short, the richest entomological collection could +not vie in variety and numbers with the species which the four walls of +my tent enclosed from morning until night. + +On the fifth morning, or the 23rd April, the rain gave us a few hours' +respite, during which we managed to wade through the Stygian quagmire +reeking with noisomeness to the inundated river-bank. The soldiers +commenced at 5 A.M. to convey the baggage across from bank to bank over +a bridge which was the most rustic of the rustic kind. Only an ignorant +African would have been satisfied with its small utility as a means to +cross a deep and rapid body of water. Even for light-footed Wanyamwezi +pagazis it was anything but comfortable to traverse. Only a professional +tight-rope performer could have carried a load across with ease. To +travel over an African bridge requires, first, a long leap from land to +the limb of a tree (which may or may not be covered by water), followed +by a long jump ashore. With 70 lbs. weight on his back, the carrier +finds it difficult enough. Sometimes he is assisted by ropes +extemporized from the long convolvuli which hang from almost every tree, +but not always, these being deemed superfluities by the Washensi. + +Fortunately the baggage was transferred without a single accident, and +though the torrent was strong, the donkeys were dragged through the +flood by vigorous efforts and much objurgation without a casualty. +This performance of crossing the Ungerengeri occupied fully five hours, +though energy, abuse, and fury enough were expended for an army. + +Reloading and wringing our clothes dry, we set out from the horrible +neighbourhood of the river, with its reek and filth, in a northerly +direction, following a road which led up to easy and level ground. Two +obtruding hills were thus avoided on our left, and after passing them we +had shut out the view of the hateful valley. + +I always found myself more comfortable and lighthearted while travelling +than when chafing and fretting in camp at delays which no effort could +avoid, and consequently I fear that some things, while on a march, may +be tinted somewhat stronger than their appearance or merit may properly +warrant. But I thought that the view opening before us was much more +agreeable than the valley of Simbamwenni with all its indescribable +fertility. It was a series of glades opening one after another between +forest clumps of young trees, hemmed in distantly by isolated peaks +and scattered mountains. Now and again, as we crested low eminences +we caught sight of the blue Usagara mountains, bounding the horizon +westerly and northerly, and looked down upon a vast expanse of plain +which lay between. + +At the foot of the lengthy slope, well-watered by bubbling springs and +mountain rills, we found a comfortable khambi with well-made huts, which +the natives call Simbo. It lies just two hours or five miles north-west +of the Ungerengeri crossing. The ground is rocky, composed principally +of quartzose detritus swept down by the constant streams. In the +neighbourhood of these grow bamboo, the thickest of which was about two +and a half inches in diameter; the "myombo," a very shapely tree, with +a clean trunk like an ash, the "imbite," with large, fleshy leaves like +the "mtamba," sycamore, plum-tree, the "ugaza," ortamarisk, and the +"mgungu," a tree containing several wide branches with small leaves +clustered together in a clump, and the silk-cotton tree. + +Though there are no villages or settlements in view of Simbo Khambi, +there are several clustered within the mountain folds, inhabited by +Waseguhha somewhat prone to dishonest acts and murder. + +The long broad plain visible from the eminences crossed between the +Ungerengeri and Simbo was now before us, and became known to sorrowful +memory subsequently, as the Makata Valley. The initial march was from +Simbo, its terminus at Rehenneko, at the base of the Usagara mountains, +six marches distant. The valley commences with broad undulations, +covered with young forests of bamboo, which grow thickly along the +streams, the dwarf fan-palm, the stately Palmyra, and the mgungu. These +undulations soon become broken by gullies containing water, nourishing +dense crops of cane reeds and broad-bladed grass, and, emerging from +this district, wide savannah covered with tall grass open into view, +with an isolated tree here and there agreeably breaking the monotony of +the scene. The Makata is a wilderness containing but one village of the +Waseguhha throughout its broad expanse. Venison, consequently, abounds +within the forest clumps, and the kudu, hartebeest, antelope, and zebra +may be seen at early dawn emerging into the open savannahs to feed. At +night, the cyn-hyaena prowls about with its hideous clamour seeking for +sleeping prey, man or beast. + +The slushy mire of the savannahs rendered marching a work of great +difficulty; its tenacious hold of the feet told terribly on men +and animals. A ten-mile march required ten hours, we were therefore +compelled to camp in the middle of this wilderness, and construct a new +khambi, a measure which was afterwards adopted by half a dozen caravans. + +The cart did not arrive until nearly midnight, and with it, besides +three or four broken-down pagazis, came Bombay with the dolorous tale, +that having put his load--consisting of the property tent, one large +American axe, his two uniform coats, his shirts, beads and cloth, +powder, pistol, and hatchet--on the ground, to go and assist the cart +out of a quagmire, he had returned to the place where he had left it +and could not find it, that he believed that some thieving Washensi, who +always lurk in the rear of caravans to pick up stragglers, had decamped +with it. Which dismal tale told me at black midnight was not received +at all graciously, but rather with most wrathful words, all of which +the penitent captain received as his proper due. Working myself into a +fury, I enumerated his sins to him; he had lost a goat at Muhalleh, he +had permitted Khamisi to desert with valuable property at Imbiki; he had +frequently shown culpable negligence in not looking after the donkeys, +permitting them to be tied up at night without seeing that they had +water, and in the mornings, when about to march, he preferred to sleep +until 7 o'clock, rather than wake up early and saddle the donkeys, that +we might start at 6 o'clock; he had shown of late great love for the +fire, cowering like a bloodless man before it, torpid and apathetic; he +had now lost the property-tent in the middle of the Masika season, by +which carelessness the cloth bales would rot and become valueless; he +had lost the axe which I should want at Ujiji to construct my boat; and +finally, he had lost a pistol and hatchet, and a flaskful of the best +powder. Considering all these things, how utterly incompetent he was +to be captain, I would degrade him from his office and appoint Mabruki +Burton instead. Uledi, also, following the example of Bombay, instead of +being second captain, should give no orders to any soldiers in future, +but should himself obey those given by Mabruki--the said Mabruki being +worth a dozen Bombays, and two dozen Uledis; and so he was dismissed +with orders to return at daylight to find the tent, axe, pistol, powder, +and hatchet. + +The next morning the caravan, thoroughly fatigued with the last day's +exertions, was obliged to halt. Bombay was despatched after the +lost goods; Kingaru, Mabruki the Great, and Mabruki the Little were +despatched to bring back three doti-worth of grain, on which we were to +subsist in the wilderness. + +Three days passed away and we were still at camp, awaiting, with what +patience we possessed, the return of the soldiers. In the meantime +provisions ran very low, no game could be procured, the birds were so +wild. Two days shooting procured but two potfuls of birds, consisting +of grouse, quail, and pigeons. Bombay returned unsuccessfully from his +search after the missing property, and suffered deep disgrace. + +On the fourth day I despatched Shaw with two more soldiers, to see what +had become of Kingaru and the two Mabrukis. Towards night he returned +completely prostrated, with a violent attack of the mukunguru, or ague; +but bringing the missing soldiers, who were thus left to report for +themselves. + +With most thankful hearts did we quit our camp, where so much anxiety +of mind and fretfulness had been suffered, not heeding a furious rain, +which, after drenching us all night, might have somewhat damped our +ardor for the march under other circumstances. The road for the first +mile led over reddish ground, and was drained by gentle slopes falling +east and west; but, leaving the cover of the friendly woods, on whose +eastern margin we had been delayed so long, we emerged into one of the +savannahs, whose soil during the rain is as soft as slush and tenacious +as thick mortar, where we were all threatened with the fate of the +famous Arkansas traveller, who had sunk so low in one of the many +quagmires in Arkansas county, that nothing but his tall "stove-pipe" hat +was left visible. + +Shaw was sick, and the whole duty of driving the foundering caravan +devolved upon myself. The Wanyamwezi donkeys stuck in the mire as if +they were rooted to it. As fast as one was flogged from his stubborn +position, prone to the depths fell another, giving me a Sisyphean +labour, which was maddening trader pelting rain, assisted by such men +as Bombay and Uledi, who could not for a whole skin's sake stomach the +storm and mire. Two hours of such a task enabled me to drag my caravan +over a savannah one mile and a half broad; and barely had I finished +congratulating myself over my success before I was halted by a deep +ditch, which, filled with rain-water from the inundated savannahs, had +become a considerable stream, breast-deep, flowing swiftly into the +Makata. Donkeys had to be unloaded, led through a torrent, and loaded +again on the other bank--an operation which consumed a full hour. + +Presently, after straggling through a wood clump, barring our progress +was another stream, swollen into a river. The bridge being swept away, +we were obliged to swim and float our baggage over, which delayed us +two hours more. Leaving this second river-bank, we splashed, waded, +occasionally half-swimming, and reeled through mire, water-dripping +grass and matama stalks, along the left bank of the Makata proper, until +farther progress was effectually prevented for that day by a deep bend +of the river, which we should be obliged to cross the next day. + +Though but six miles were traversed during that miserable day, the march +occupied ten hours. + +Half dead with fatigue, I yet could feel thankful that it was not +accompanied by fever, which it seemed a miracle to avoid; for if ever a +district was cursed with the ague, the Makata wilderness ranks foremost +of those afflicted. Surely the sight of the dripping woods enveloped +in opaque mist, of the inundated country with lengthy swathes of +tiger-grass laid low by the turbid flood, of mounds of decaying trees +and canes, of the swollen river and the weeping sky, was enough to +engender the mukunguru! The well-used khambi, and the heaps of filth +surrounding it, were enough to create a cholera! + +The Makata, a river whose breadth during the dry season is but forty +feet, in the Masika season assumes the breadth, depth, and force of an +important river. Should it happen to be an unusually rainy season, it +inundates the great plain which stretches on either side, and converts +it into a great lake. It is the main feeder of the Wami river, which +empties into the sea between the ports of Saadani and Whinde. About ten +miles north-east of the Makata crossing, the Great Makata, the Little +Makata, a nameless creek, and the Rudewa river unite; and the river thus +formed becomes known as the Wami. Throughout Usagara the Wami is known +as the Mukondokwa. Three of these streams take their rise from the +crescent-like Usagara range, which bounds the Makata plain south and +south-westerly; while the Rudewa rises in the northern horn of the same +range. + +So swift was the flow of the Makata, and so much did its unsteady +bridge, half buried in the water, imperil the safety of the property, +that its transfer from bank to bank occupied fully five hours. No sooner +had we landed every article on the other side, undamaged by the water, +than the rain poured down in torrents that drenched them all, as if they +had been dragged through the river. To proceed through the swamp which +an hour's rain had formed was utterly out of the question. We were +accordingly compelled to camp in a place where every hour furnished its +quota of annoyance. One of the Wangwana soldiers engaged at Bagamoyo, +named Kingaru, improved an opportunity to desert with another Mgwana's +kit. My two detectives, Uledi (Grant's valet), and Sarmean, were +immediately despatched in pursuit, both being armed with American +breech-loaders. They went about their task with an adroitness and +celerity which augured well for their success. In an hour they returned +with the runaway, having found him hidden in the house of a Mseguhha +chief called Kigondo, who lived about a mile from the eastern bank of +the river, and who had accompanied Uledi and Sarmean to receive his +reward, and render an account of the incident. + +Kigondo said, when he had been seated, "I saw this man carrying a +bundle, and running hard, by which I knew that he was deserting you. We +(my wife and 1) were sitting in our little watch-hut, watching our corn; +and, as the road runs close by, this man was obliged to come close to +us. We called to him when he was near, saying, 'Master, where are you +going so fast? Are you deserting the Musungu, for we know you belong to +him, since you bought from us yesterday two doti worth of meat?' 'Yes,' +said he, 'I am running away; I want to get to Simbamwenni. If you will +take me there, I will give you a doti.' We said to him then, 'Come into +our house, and we will talk it over quietly. When he was in our house +in an inner room, we locked him up, and went out again to the watch; but +leaving word with the women to look out for him. We knew that, if you +wanted him, you would send askari (soldiers) after him. We had but +lit our pipes when we saw two men armed with short guns, and having no +loads, coming along the road, looking now and then on the ground, as +if they were looking at footmarks. We knew them to be the men we were +expecting; so we hailed them, and said, 'Masters, what are ye looking +for?' \ They said, 'We are looking for a man who has deserted our +master. Here are his footsteps. If you have been long in your hut you +must have seen him, Can you tell us where he is?' We said, 'yes; he is +in our house. If you will come with us, we will give him up to you; but +your master must give us something for catching him.'" + +As Kigondo had promised to deliver Kingaru up, there remained nothing +further to do for Uledi and Sarmean but to take charge of their +prisoner, and bring him and his captors to my camp on the western bank +of the Makata. Kingaru received two dozen lashes, and was chained; his +captor a doti, besides five khete of red coral beads for his wife. + +That down-pour of rain which visited us the day we crossed the Makata +proved the last of the Masika season. As the first rainfall which we had +experienced occurred on the 23rd March, and the last on the 30th April, +its duration was thirty-nine days. The seers of Bagamoyo had delivered +their vaticinations concerning this same Masika with solemnity. "For +forty days," said they, "rain would fall incessantly;" whereas we had +but experienced eighteen days' rain. Nevertheless, we were glad that it +was over, for we were tired of stopping day after day to dry the bales +and grease the tools and ironware, and of seeing all things of cloth and +leather rot visibly before our eyes. + +The 1st of May found us struggling through the mire and water of the +Makata with a caravan bodily sick, from the exertion and fatigue of +crossing so many rivers and wading through marshes. Shaw was still +suffering from his first mukunguru; Zaidi, a soldier, was critically +ill with the small-pox; the kichuma-chuma, "little irons," had hold +of Bombay across the chest, rendering him the most useless of the +unserviceables; Mabruk Saleem, a youth of lusty frame, following the +example of Bombay, laid himself down on the marshy ground, professing +his total inability to breast the Makata swamp; Abdul Kader, the Hindi +tailor and adventurer--the weakliest of mortal bodies--was ever ailing +for lack of "force," as he expressed it in French, i.e. "strength," ever +indisposed to work, shiftless, mock-sick, but ever hungry. "Oh! God," +was the cry of my tired soul, "were all the men of my Expedition like +this man I should be compelled to return." Solomon was wise perhaps +from inspiration, perhaps from observation; I was becoming wise by +experience, and I was compelled to observe that when mud and wet sapped +the physical energy of the lazily-inclined, a dog-whip became their +backs, restoring them to a sound--some-times to an extravagant activity. + +For thirty miles from our camp was the Makata plain an extensive swamp. +The water was on an average one foot in depth; in some places we plunged +into holes three, four, and even five feet deep. Plash, splash, plash, +splash, were the only sounds we heard from the commencement of the march +until we found the bomas occupying the only dry spots along the line of +march. This kind of work continued for two days, until we came in sight +of the Rudewa river, another powerful stream with banks brimful of +rushing rain-water. Crossing a branch of the Rudewa, and emerging from +the dank reedy grass crowding the western bank, the view consisted of +an immense sheet of water topped by clumps of grass tufts and foliage of +thinly scattered trees, bounded ten or twelve miles off by the eastern +front of the Usagara mountain range. The acme of discomfort and vexation +was realized on the five-mile march from the Rudewa branch. As myself +and the Wangwana appeared with the loaded donkeys, the pagazis were +observed huddled on a mound. When asked if the mound was the camp, they +replied "No." "Why, then, do you stop here?"--"Ugh! water plenty!!" One +drew a line across his loins to indicate the depth of water before us, +another drew a line across his chest, another across his throat another +held his hand over his head, by which he meant that we should have to +swim. Swim five miles through a reedy marsh! It was impossible; it was +also impossible that such varied accounts could all be correct. Without +hesitation, therefore, I ordered the Wangwana to proceed with the +animals. After three hours of splashing through four feet of water we +reached dry land, and had traversed the swamp of Makata. But not without +the swamp with its horrors having left a durable impression upon our +minds; no one was disposed to forget its fatigues, nor the nausea of +travel which it almost engendered. Subsequently, we had to remember its +passage still more vividly, and to regret that we had undertaken the +journey during the Masika season, when the animals died from this date +by twos and threes, almost every day, until but five sickly worn-out +beasts remained; when the Wangwana, soldiers, and pagazis sickened of +diseases innumerable; when I myself was finally compelled to lie a-bed +with an attack of acute dysentery which brought me to the verge of the +grave. I suffered more, perhaps, than I might have done had I taken the +proper medicine, but my over-confidence in that compound, called "Collis +Brown's Chlorodyne," delayed the cure which ultimately resulted from a +judicious use of Dover's powder. In no one single case of diarrhoea +or acute dysentery had this "Chlorodyne," about which so much has been +said, and written, any effect of lessening the attack whatever, though +I used three bottles. To the dysentery contracted during, the transit of +the Makata swamp, only two fell victims, and those were a pagazi and my +poor little dog "Omar," my companion from India. + +The only tree of any prominence in the Makata valley was the Palmyra +palm (Borassus flabelliformis), and this grew in some places in numbers +sufficient to be called a grove; the fruit was not ripe while we passed, +otherwise we might have enjoyed it as a novelty. The other vegetation +consisted of the several species of thorn bush, and the graceful +parachute-topped and ever-green mimosa. + +The 4th of May we were ascending a gentle slope towards the important +village of Rehenneko, the first village near to which we encamped in +Usagara. It lay at the foot of the mountain, and its plenitude and +mountain air promised us comfort and health. It was a square, compact +village, surrounded by a thick wall of mud, enclosing cone-topped huts, +roofed with bamboo and holcus-stalks; and contained a population of +about a thousand souls. It has several wealthy and populous neighbours, +whose inhabitants are independent enough in their manner, but not +unpleasantly so. The streams are of the purest water, fresh, and +pellucid as crystal, bubbling over round pebbles and clean gravel, with +a music delightful to hear to the traveller in search of such a sweetly +potable element. + +The bamboo grows to serviceable size in the neighbourhood of Rehenneko, +strong enough for tent and banghy poles; and in numbers sufficient to +supply an army. The mountain slopes are densely wooded with trees that +might supply very good timber for building purposes. + +We rested four days at this pleasant spot, to recruit ourselves, and to +allow the sick and feeble time to recover a little before testing their +ability in the ascent of the Usagara mountains. + +The 8th of May saw us with our terribly jaded men and animals winding up +the steep slopes of the first line of hills; gaining the summit of which +we obtained a view remarkably grand, which exhibited as in a master +picture the broad valley of the Makata, with its swift streams like so +many cords of silver, as the sunshine played on the unshadowed reaches +of water, with its thousands of graceful palms adding not a little to +the charm of the scene, with the great wall of the Uruguru and +Uswapanga mountains dimly blue, but sublime in their loftiness and +immensity--forming a fit background to such an extensive, far-embracing +prospect. + +Turning our faces west, we found ourselves in a mountain world, fold +rising above fold, peak behind peak, cone jostling cone; away to the +north, to the west, to the south, the mountain tops rolled like so many +vitrified waves; not one adust or arid spot was visible in all this +scene. The diorama had no sudden changes or striking contrasts, for a +universal forest of green trees clothed every peak, cone, and summit. + +To the men this first day's march through the mountain region of Usagara +was an agreeable interlude after the successive journey over the flats +and heavy undulations of the maritime region, but to the loaded and +enfeebled animals it was most trying. We were minus two by the time +we had arrived at our camp, but seven miles from Rehenneko, our first +instalment of the debt we owed to Makata. Water, sweet and clear, was +abundant in the deep hollows of the mountains, flowing sometimes over +beds of solid granite, sometimes over a rich red sandstone, whose +soft substance was soon penetrated by the aqueous element, and whose +particles were swept away constantly to enrich the valley below; and in +other ravines it dashed, and roared, miniature thunder, as it leaped +over granite boulders and quartz rock. + +The 9th of May, after another such an up-and-down course, ascending +hills and descending into the twilight depths of deepening valleys, we +came suddenly upon the Mukondokwa, and its narrow pent-up valley crowded +with rank reedy grass, cane, and thorny bushes; and rugged tamarisk +which grappled for existence with monster convolvuli, winding their +coils around their trunks with such tenacity and strength that the +tamarisk seemed grown but for their support. + +The valley was barely a quarter of a mile broad in some places--at +others it widened to about a mile. The hills on either side shot up into +precipitous slopes, clothed with mimosa, acacia, and tamarisk, +enclosing a river and valley whose curves and folds were as various as a +serpent's. + +Shortly after debouching into the Mukondokwa valley, we struck the +road traversed by Captains Buxton and Speke in 1857, between Mbumi and +Kadetamare (the latter place should be called Misonghi, Kadetamare +being but the name of a chief). After following the left bank of +the Mukondokwa, during which our route diverged to every point from +south-east to west, north and northeast, for about an hour, we came to +the ford. Beyond the ford, a short half-hour's march, we came to Kiora. + +At this filthy village of Kiora, which was well-grounded with goat-dung, +and peopled with a wonderful number of children for a hamlet that did +not number twenty families, with a hot sun pouring on the limited open +space, with a fury that exceeded 128 degrees Fahrenheit; which swarmed +with flies and insects of known and unknown species; I found, as I had +been previously informed, the third caravan, which had started out of +Bagamoyo so well fitted and supplied. The leader, who was no other +than the white man Farquhar, was sick-a-bed with swollen legs (Bright's +disease), unable to move. + +As he heard my voice, Farquhar staggered out of his tent, so changed +from my spruce mate who started from Bagamoyo, that I hardly knew him at +first. His legs were ponderous, elephantine, since his leg-illness was +of elephantiasis, or dropsy. His face was of a deathly pallor, for he +had not been out of his tent for two weeks. + +A breezy hill, overlooking the village of Kiora, was chosen by me for +my camping-ground, and as soon as the tents were pitched, the animals +attended to, and a boma made of thorn bushes, Farquhar was carried up +by four men into my tent. Upon being questioned as to the cause of his +illness, he said he did not know what had caused it. He had no pain, he +thought, anywhere. I asked, "Do you not sometimes feel pain on the right +side?"--"Yes, I think I do; but I don't know."--"Nor over the left +nipple sometimes--a quick throbbing, with a shortness of +breath?"--"Yes, I think I have. I know I breathe quick sometimes." He +said his only trouble was in the legs, which were swollen to an immense +size. Though he had a sound appetite, he yet felt weak in the legs. + +From the scant information of the disease and its peculiarities, as +given by Farquhar himself, I could only make out, by studying a little +medical book I had with me, that "a swelling of the legs, and sometimes +of the body, might result from either heart, liver, or kidney disease." +But I did not know to what to ascribe the disease, unless it was to +elephantiasis--a disease most common in Zanzibar; nor did I know how +to treat it in a man who, could not tell me whether he felt pain in his +head or in his back, in his feet or in his chest. + +It was therefore fortunate for me that I overtook him at Kiora; though +he was about to prove a sore incumbrance to me, for he was not able to +walk, and the donkey-carriage, after the rough experience of the Makata +valley, was failing. I could not possibly leave him at Kiora, death +would soon overtake him there; but how long I could convey a man in +such a state, through a country devoid of carriage, was a question to be +resolved by circumstances. + +On the 11th of May, the third and fifth caravans, now united, followed +up the right bank of the Mukondokwa, through fields of holcus, the great +Mukondokwa ranges rising in higher altitude as we proceeded west, and +enfolding us in the narrow river valley round about. We left Muniyi +Usagara on our right, and soon after found hill-spurs athwart our road, +which we were obliged to ascend and descend. + +A march of eight miles from the ford of Misonghi brought us to another +ford of the Mukondokwa, where we bid a long adieu to Burton's road, +which led up to the Goma pass and up the steep slopes of Rubeho. Our +road left the right bank and followed the left over a country quite +the reverse of the Mukondokwa Valley, enclosed between mountain ranges. +Fertile soils and spontaneous vegetation, reeking with miasma and +overpowering from their odour, we had exchanged for a drouthy wilderness +of aloetic and cactaceous plants, where the kolquall and several thorn +bushes grew paramount. + +Instead of the tree-clad heights, slopes and valleys, instead of +cultivated fields, we saw now the confines of uninhabited wilderness. +The hill-tops were bared of their bosky crowns, and revealed their rocky +natures bleached white by rain and sun. Nguru Peak, the loftiest of the +Usagara cones, stood right shoulderwards of us as we ascended the long +slope of dun-grey soil which rose beyond the brown Mukondokwa on the +left. + +At the distance of two miles from the last ford, we found a neat khambi, +situated close to the river, where it first broke into a furious rapid. + +The next morning the caravan was preparing for the march, when I was +informed that the "Bana Mdogo"--little master--Shaw, had not yet arrived +with the cart, and the men in charge of it. Late the previous night I +had despatched one donkey for Shaw, who had said he was too ill to walk, +and another for the load that was on the cart; and had retired satisfied +that they would soon arrive. My conclusion, when I learned in the +morning that the people had not yet come in, was that Shaw was not aware +that for five days we should have to march through a wilderness totally +uninhabited. I therefore despatched Chowpereh, a Mgwana soldier, with +the following note to him:--"You will, upon receipt of this order pitch +the cart into the nearest ravine, gully, or river, as well as all the +extra pack saddles; and come at once, for God's sake, for we must not +starve here!" + +One, two, three, and four hours were passed by me in the utmost +impatience, waiting, but in vain, for Shaw. Having a long march before +us, I could wait no longer, but went to meet his party myself. About a +quarter of mile from the ford I met the van of the laggards--stout +burly Chowpereh--and, O cartmakers, listen! he carried the cart on his +head--wheels, shafts, body, axle, and all complete; he having found that +carrying it was much easier than drawing it. The sight was such a damper +to my regard for it as an experiment, that the cart was wheeled into the +depths of the tall reeds, and there left. The central figure was Shaw +himself, riding at a gait which seemed to leave it doubtful on my mind +whether he or his animal felt most sleepy. Upon expostulating with him +for keeping the caravan so long waiting when there was a march on hand, +in a most peculiar voice--which he always assumed when disposed to be +ugly-tempered--he said he had done the best he could; but as I had +seen the solemn pace at which he rode, I felt dubious about his best +endeavours; and of course there was a little scene, but the young +European mtongi of an East African expedition must needs sup with the +fellows he has chosen. + +We arrived at Madete at 4 P.M., minus two donkeys, which had stretched +their weary limbs in death. We had crossed the Mukondokwa about 3 P.M., +and after taking its bearings and course, I made sure that its rise took +place near a group of mountains about forty miles north by west of Nguru +Peak. Our road led W.N.W., and at this place finally diverged from the +river. + +On the 14th, after a march of seven miles over hills whose sandstone +and granite formation cropped visibly here and there above the surface, +whose stony and dry aspect seemed reflected in every bush and plant, and +having gained an altitude of about eight hundred feet above the flow +of the Mukondokwa, we sighted the Lake of Ugombo--a grey sheet of water +lying directly at the foot of the hill, from whose summit we gazed at +the scene. The view was neither beautiful nor pretty, but what I should +call refreshing; it afforded a pleasant relief to the eyes fatigued +from dwelling on the bleak country around. Besides, the immediate +neighbourhood of the lake was too tame to call forth any enthusiasm; +there were no grandly swelling mountains, no smiling landscapes--nothing +but a dun-brown peak, about one thousand feet high above the surface of +the lake at its western extremity, from which the lake derived its name, +Ugombo; nothing but a low dun-brown irregular range, running parallel +with its northern shore at the distance of a mile; nothing but a low +plain stretching from its western shore far away towards the Mpwapwa +Mountains and Marenga Mkali, then apparent to us from our coign of +vantage, from which extensive scene of dun-brownness we were glad to +rest our eyes on the quiet grey water beneath. + +Descending from the summit of the range, which bounded the lake east for +about four hundred feet, we travelled along the northern shore. The time +occupied in the journey from the eastern to the western extremity was +exactly one hour and thirty minutes. + +As this side represents its greatest length I conclude that the lake is +three miles long by two miles greatest breadth. The immediate shores of +the lake on all sides, for at least fifty feet from the water's edge, +is one impassable morass nourishing rank reeds and rushes, where the +hippopotamus' ponderous form has crushed into watery trails the soft +composition of the morass as he passes from the lake on his nocturnal +excursions; the lesser animals; such as the "mbogo" (buffalo), the +"punda-terra" (zebra); the "twiga" (giraffe), the boar, the kudu, the +hyrax or coney and the antelope; come here also to quench their thirst +by night. The surface of the lake swarms with an astonishing variety of +water-fowl; such as black swan, duck, ibis sacra cranes, pelicans; and +soaring above on the look-out for their prey are fish-eagles and +hawks, while the neighbourhood is resonant with the loud chirps of the +guinea-fowls calling for their young, with the harsh cry of the toucan, +the cooing of the pigeon, and the "to-whit, to-whoo" of the owl. From +the long grass in its vicinity also issue the grating and loud cry of +the florican, woodcock, and grouse. + +Being obliged to halt here two days, owing to the desertion of the Hindi +cooper Jako with one of my best carbines, I improved the opportunity +of exploring the northern and southern shores of the lake. At the rocky +foot of a low, humpy hill on the northern side, about fifteen feet +above the present surface of the water I detected in most distinct and +definite lines the agency of waves. From its base could be traced clear +to the edge of the dank morass tiny lines of comminuted shell as plainly +marked as the small particles which lie in rows on a beech after a +receding tide. There is no doubt that the wave-marks on the sandstone +might have been traced much higher by one skilled in geology; it was +only its elementary character that was visible to me. Nor do I entertain +the least doubt, after a two days' exploration of the neighbourhood, +especially of the low plain at the western end, that this Lake of Ugombo +is but the tail of what was once a large body of water equal in extent +to the Tanganika; and, after ascending half way up Ugombo Peak, this +opinion was confirmed when I saw the long-depressed line of plain at +its base stretching towards the Mpwapwa Mountains thirty miles off, and +thence round to Marenga Mkali, and covering all that extensive surface +of forty miles in breadth, and an unknown length. A depth of twelve feet +more, I thought, as I gazed upon it, would give the lake a length +of thirty miles, and a breadth of ten. A depth of thirty feet would +increase its length over a hundred miles, and give it a breadth of +fifty, for such was the level nature of the plain that stretched west +of Ugombo, and north of Marenga Mkali. Besides the water of the lake +partook slightly of the bitter nature of the Matamombo creek, distant +fifteen miles, and in a still lesser degree of that of Marenga Mkali, +forty miles off. + +Towards the end of the first day of our halt the Hindi cooper Jako +arrived in camp, alleging as an excuse, that feeling fatigued he had +fallen asleep in some bushes a few feet from the roadside. Having been +the cause of our detention in the hungry wilderness of Ugombo, I was +not in a frame of mind to forgive him; so, to prevent any future truant +tricks on his part, I was under the necessity of including him with the +chained gangs of runaways. + +Two more of our donkeys died, and to prevent any of the valuable +baggage being left behind, I was obliged to send Farquhar off on my own +riding-ass to the village of Mpwapwa, thirty miles off, under charge of +Mabruki Burton. + +To save the Expedition from ruin, I was reluctantly compelled to come to +the conclusion that it were better for me, for him, and concerned, that +he be left with some kind chief of a village, with a six months' +supply of cloth and beads, until he got well, than that he make his own +recovery impossible. + +The 16th of May saw us journeying over the plain which lies between +Ugombo and Mpwapwa, skirting close, at intervals, a low range of +trap-rock, out of which had become displaced by some violent agency +several immense boulders. On its slopes grew the kolquall to a size +which I had not seen in Abyssinia. In the plain grew baobab, and immense +tamarind, and a variety of thorn. + +Within five hours from Ugombo the mountain range deflected towards the +north-east, while we continued on a north-westerly course, heading for +the lofty mountain-line of the Mpwapwa. To our left towered to the blue +clouds the gigantic Rubeho. The adoption of this new road to Unyanyembe +by which we were travelling was now explained--we were enabled to +avoid the passes and stiff steeps of Rubeho, and had nothing worse to +encounter than a broad smooth plain, which sloped gently to Ugogo. + +After a march of fifteen miles we camped at a dry mtoni, called +Matamombo, celebrated for its pools of bitter water of the colour +of ochre. Monkeys and rhinoceroses, besides kudus, steinboks, and +antelopes, were numerous in the vicinity. At this camp my little dog +"Omar" died of inflammation of the bowels, almost on the threshold of +the country--Ugogo--where his faithful watchfulness would have been +invaluable to me. + +The next day's march was also fifteen miles in length, through one +interminable jungle of thorn-bushes. Within two miles of the camp, the +road led up a small river bed, broad as an avenue, clear to the khambi +of Mpwapwa; which was situated close to a number of streams of the +purest water. + +The following morning found us much fatigued after the long marches +from Ugombo, and generally disposed to take advantage of the precious +luxuries Mpwapwa offered to caravans fresh from the fly-plagued lands +of the Waseguhha and Wadoe. Sheikh Thani--clever but innocently-speaking +old Arab--was encamped under the grateful umbrage of a huge Mtamba +sycamore, and had been regaling himself with fresh milk, luscious +mutton, and rich bullock humps, ever since his arrival here, two days +before; and, as he informed me, it did not suit his views to quit such +a happy abundance so soon for the saline nitrous water of Marenga Mkali, +with its several terekezas, and manifold disagreeables. "No!" said he to +me, emphatically, "better stop here two or three days, give your tired +animals some rest; collect all the pagazis you can, fill your inside +with fresh milk, sweet potatoes, beef, mutton, ghee, honey, beans, +matama, maweri, and nuts;--then, Inshallah! we shall go together through +Ugogo without stopping anywhere." As the advice tallied accurately with +my own desired and keen appetite for the good things he named, he had +not long to wait for my assent to his counsel. "Ugogo," continued he, +"is rich with milk and honey--rich in flour, beans and almost every +eatable thing; and, Inshallah! before another week is gone we shall be +in Ugogo!" + +I had heard from passing caravans so many extremely favourable reports +respecting Ugogo and its productions that it appeared to me a very Land +of Promise, and I was most anxious to refresh my jaded stomach with some +of the precious esculents raised in Ugogo; but when I heard that Mpwapwa +also furnished some of those delicate eatables, and good things, most of +the morning hours were spent in inducing the slow-witted people to part +with them; and when, finally, eggs, milk, honey, mutton, ghee, ground +matama and beans had been collected in sufficient quantities to produce +a respectable meal, my keenest attention and best culinary talents were +occupied for a couple of hours in converting this crude supply into +a breakfast which could be accepted by and befit a stomach at once +fastidious and famished, such as mine was. The subsequent healthy +digestion of it proved my endeavours to have been eminently successful. +At the termination of this eventful day, the following remark was jotted +down in my diary: "Thank God! After fifty-seven days of living +upon matama porridge and tough goat, I have enjoyed with unctuous +satisfaction a real breakfast and dinner." + +It was in one of the many small villages which are situated upon the +slopes of the Mpwapwa that a refuge and a home for Farquhar was found +until he should be enabled by restored health to start to join us at +Unyanyembe. + +Food was plentiful and of sufficient variety to suit the most +fastidious--cheap also, much cheaper than we had experienced for many +a day. Leucole, the chief of the village, with whom arrangements for +Farquhar's protection and comfort were made, was a little old man of +mild eye and very pleasing face, and on being informed that it was +intended to leave the Musungu entirely under his charge, suggested that +some man should be left to wait on him, and interpret his wishes to his +people. + +As Jako was the only one who could speak English, except Bombay and +Selim, Jako was appointed, and the chief Leucole was satisfied. Six +months' provisions of white beads, Merikani and Kaniki cloth, together +with two doti of handsome cloth to serve as a present to Leucole after +his recovery, were taken to Farquhar by Bombay, together with a Starr's +carbine, 300 rounds of cartridge, a set of cooking pots, and 3 lbs. of +tea. + +Abdullah bin Nasib, who was found encamped here with five hundred +pagazis, and a train of Arab and Wasawahili satellites, who revolved +around his importance, treated me in somewhat the same manner that Hamed +bin Sulayman treated Speke at Kasenge. Followed by his satellites, he +came (a tall nervous-looking man, of fifty or thereabouts) to see me in +my camp, and asked me if I wished to purchase donkeys. As all my animals +were either sick or moribund, I replied very readily in the affirmative, +upon which he graciously said he would sell me as many as I wanted, and +for payment I could give him a draft on Zanzibar. I thought him a very +considerate and kind person, fully justifying the encomiums lavished +on him in Burton's 'Lake Regions of Central Africa,' and accordingly I +treated him with the consideration due to so great and good a man. The +morrow came, and with it went Abdullah bin Nasib, or "Kisesa," as he is +called by the Wanyamwezi, with all his pagazis, his train of followers, +and each and every one of his donkeys, towards Bagamoyo, without so much +as giving a "Kwaheri," or good-bye. + +At this place there are generally to be found from ten to thirty pagazis +awaiting up-caravans. I was fortunate enough to secure twelve good +people, who, upon my arrival at Unyanyembe, without an exception, +voluntarily engaged themselves as carriers to Ujiji. With the formidable +marches of Marenga Mkali in front, I felt thankful for this happy +windfall, which resolved the difficulties I had been anticipating; for +I had but ten donkeys left, and four of these were so enfeebled that +they were worthless as baggage animals. + +Mpwapwa--so called by the Arabs, who have managed to corrupt almost +every native word--is called "Mbambwa" by the Wasagara. It is a mountain +range rising over 6,000 feet above the sea, bounding on the north the +extensive plain which commences at Ugombo lake, and on the east that +part of the plain which is called Marenga Mkali, which stretches away +beyond the borders of Uhumba. Opposite Mpwapwa, at the distance of +thirty miles or so, rises the Anak peak of Rubeho, with several other +ambitious and tall brethren cresting long lines of rectilinear scarps, +which ascend from the plain of Ugombo and Marenga Mkali as regularly as +if they had been chiselled out by the hands of generations of masons and +stonecutters. + +Upon looking at Mpwapwa's greenly-tinted slopes, dark with many +a densely-foliaged tree; its many rills flowing sweet and clear, +nourishing besides thick patches of gum and thorn bush, giant sycamore +and parachute-topped mimosa, and permitting my imagination to picture +sweet views behind the tall cones above, I was tempted to brave the +fatigue of an ascent to the summit. Nor was my love for the picturesque +disappointed. One sweep of the eyes embraced hundreds of square miles +of plain and mountain, from Ugombo Peak away to distant Ugogo, and +from Rubeho and Ugogo to the dim and purple pasture lands of the wild, +untamable Wahumba. The plain of Ugombo and its neighbour of Marenga +Mkali, apparently level as a sea, was dotted here and there with +"hillocks dropt in Nature's careless haste," which appeared like islands +amid the dun and green expanse. Where the jungle was dense the colour +was green, alternating with dark brown; where the plain appeared denuded +of bush and brake it had a whity-brown appearance, on which the passing +clouds now and again cast their deep shadows. Altogether this side +of the picture was not inviting; it exhibited too plainly the true +wilderness in its sternest aspect; but perhaps the knowledge that in the +bosom of the vast plain before me there was not one drop of water but +was bitter as nitre, and undrinkable as urine, prejudiced me against +it, The hunter might consider it a paradise, for in its depths were +all kinds of game to attract his keenest instincts; but to the mere +traveller it had a stern outlook. Nearer, however, to the base of the +Mpwapwa the aspect of the plain altered. At first the jungle thinned, +openings in the wood appeared, then wide and naked clearings, then +extensive fields of the hardy holcus, Indian corn, and maweri or bajri, +with here and there a square tembe or village. Still nearer ran thin +lines of fresh young grass, great trees surrounded a patch of alluvial +meadow. A broad river-bed, containing several rivulets of water, ran +through the thirsty fields, conveying the vivifying element which in +this part of Usagara was so scarce and precious. Down to the river-bed +sloped the Mpwapwa, roughened in some places by great boulders of +basalt, or by rock masses, which had parted from a precipitous scarp, +where clung the kolquall with a sure hold, drawing nourishment where +every other green thing failed; clad in others by the hardy mimosa, +which rose like a sloping bank of green verdure almost to the summit. +And, happy sight to me so long a stranger to it, there were hundreds of +cattle grazing, imparting a pleasing animation to the solitude of the +deep folds of the mountain range. + +But the fairest view was obtained by looking northward towards the dense +group of mountains which buttressed the front range, facing towards +Rubeho. It was the home of the winds, which starting here and sweeping +down the precipitous slopes and solitary peaks on the western side, +and gathering strength as they rushed through the prairie-like Marenga +Mkali, howled through Ugogo and Unyamwezi with the force of a storm, +It was also the home of the dews, where sprang the clear springs which +cheered by their music the bosky dells below, and enriched the populous +district of Mpwapwa. One felt better, stronger, on this breezy height, +drinking in the pure air and feasting the eyes on such a varied +landscape as it presented, on spreading plateaus green as lawns, on +smooth rounded tops, on mountain vales containing recesses which +might charm a hermit's soul, on deep and awful ravines where reigned +a twilight gloom, on fractured and riven precipices, on huge +fantastically-worn boulders which overtopped them, on picturesque tracts +which embraced all that was wild, and all that was poetical in Nature. + +Mpwapwa, though the traveller from the coast will feel grateful for the +milk it furnished after being so long deprived of it, will be kept in +mind as a most remarkable place for earwigs. In my tent they might +be counted by thousands; in my slung cot they were by hundreds; on my +clothes they were by fifties; on my neck and head they were by scores. +The several plagues of locusts, fleas, and lice sink into utter +insignificance compared with this fearful one of earwigs. It is true +they did not bite, and they did not irritate the cuticle, but what their +presence and numbers suggested was something so horrible that it drove +one nearly insane to think of it. Who will come to East Africa without +reading the experiences of Burton and Speke? Who is he that having read +them will not remember with horror the dreadful account given by Speke +of his encounters with these pests? My intense nervous watchfulness +alone, I believe, saved me from a like calamity. + +Second to the earwigs in importance and in numbers were the white +ants, whose powers of destructiveness were simply awful. Mats, cloth, +portmanteaus, clothes, in short, every article I possessed, seemed on +the verge of destruction, and, as I witnessed their voracity, I felt +anxious lest my tent should be devoured while I slept. This was the +first khambi since leaving the coast where their presence became a +matter of anxiety; at all other camping places hitherto the red and +black ants had usurped our attention, but at Mpwapwa the red species +were not seen, while the black were also very scarce. + +After a three days' halt at Mpwapwa I decided of a march to Marenga +Mkali, which should be uninterrupted until we reached Mvumi in Ugogo, +where I should be inducted into the art of paying tribute to the Wagogo +chiefs. The first march to Kisokweh was purposely made short, being +barely four miles, in order to enable Sheikh Thani, Sheikh Hamed, and +five or six Wasawahili caravans to come up with me at Chunyo on the +confines of Marenga Mkali. + + + +CHAPTER VII. -- MARENGA MKALI, UGOGO, AND UYANZI, TO UNYANYEMBE. + + Mortality amongst the baggage animals.--The contumacious + Wagogo--Mobs of Maenads.--Tribute paying.--Necessity of + prudence.--Oration of the guide.--The genuine "Ugogians."-- + Vituperative power.--A surprised chief.--The famous + Mizanza.--Killing hyaenas.--The Greeks and Romans of + Africa.--A critical moment.--The "elephant's back."--The + wilderness of Ukimbu.--End of the first stage of the + search.--Arrival at Unyanyembe. + + +The 22nd of May saw Thani and Hamed's caravans united with my own at +Chunyo, three and a half hours' march from Mpwapwa. The road from the +latter place ran along the skirts of the Mpwapwa range; at three or four +places it crossed outlying spurs that stood isolated from the main body +of the range. The last of these hill spurs, joined by an elevated cross +ridge to the Mpwapwa, shelters the tembe of Chunyo, situated on the +western face, from the stormy gusts that come roaring down the steep +slopes. The water of Chunyo is eminently bad, in fact it is its +saline-nitrous nature which has given the name Marenga Mkali--bitter +water--to the wilderness which separates Usagara from Ugogo. Though +extremely offensive to the palate, Arabs and the natives drink it +without fear, and without any bad results; but they are careful to +withhold their baggage animals from the pits. Being ignorant of its +nature, and not exactly understanding what precise location was meant +by Marenga Mkali, I permitted the donkeys to be taken to water, as usual +after a march; and the consequence was calamitous in the extreme. What +the fearful swamp of Makata had spared, the waters of Marenga Mkali +destroyed. In less than five days after our departure from Chunyo or +Marenga Mali, five out of the nine donkeys left to me at the time--the +five healthiest animals--fell victims. + +We formed quite an imposing caravan as we emerged from inhospitable +Chunyo, in number amounting to about four hundred souls. We were strong +in guns, flags, horns, sounding drums and noise. To Sheikh Hamed, by +permission of Sheikh Thani, and myself was allotted the task of guiding +and leading this great caravan through dreaded Ugogo; which was a most +unhappy selection, as will be seen hereafter. + +Marenga Mali, over thirty miles across, was at last before us. This +distance had to be traversed within thirty-six hours, so that the +fatigue of the ordinary march would be more than doubled by this. +From Chunyo to Ugogo not one drop of water was to be found. As a +large caravan, say over two hundred souls, seldom travels over one and +three-quarter miles per hour, a march of thirty miles would require +seventeen hours of endurance without water and but little rest. East +Africa generally possessing unlimited quantities of water, caravans +have not been compelled for lack of the element to have recourse to +the mushok of India and the khirbeh of Egypt. Being able to cross the +waterless districts by a couple of long marches, they content themselves +for the time with a small gourdful, and with keeping their imaginations +dwelling upon the copious quantities they will drink upon arrival at the +watering-place. + +The march through this waterless district was most monotonous, and a +dangerous fever attacked me, which seemed to eat into my very vitals. +The wonders of Africa that bodied themselves forth in the shape of +flocks of zebras, giraffes, elands, or antelopes, galloping over the +jungleless plain, had no charm for me; nor could they serve to draw my +attention from the severe fit of sickness which possessed me. Towards +the end of the first march I was not able to sit upon the donkey's back; +nor would it do, when but a third of the way across the wilderness, to +halt until the next day; soldiers were therefore detailed to carry me in +a hammock, and, when the terekeza was performed in the afternoon, I lay +in a lethargic state, unconscious of all things. With the night passed +the fever, and, at 3 o'clock in the morning, when the march was resumed, +I was booted and spurred, and the recognized mtongi of my caravan once +more. At 8 A.M. we had performed the thirty-two miles. The wilderness +of Marenga Mkali had been passed and we had entered Ugogo, which was at +once a dreaded land to my caravan, and a Land of Promise to myself. + +The transition from the wilderness into this Promised Land was very +gradual and easy. Very slowly the jungle thinned, the cleared land was +a long time appearing, and when it had finally appeared, there were no +signs of cultivation until we could clearly make out the herbage and +vegetation on some hill slopes to our right running parallel with +our route, then we saw timber on the hills, and broad acreage under +cultivation--and, lo! as we ascended a wave of reddish earth covered +with tall weeds and cane, but a few feet from us, and directly across +our path, were the fields of matama and grain we had been looking for, +and Ugogo had been entered an hour before. + +The view was not such as I expected. I had imagined a plateau several +hundred feet higher than Marenga Mkali, and an expansive view which +should reveal Ugogo and its characteristics at once. But instead, while +travelling from the tall weeds which covered the clearing which had +preceded the cultivated parts, we had entered into the depths of the +taller matama stalks, and, excepting some distant hills near Mvumi, +where the Great Sultan lived--the first of the tribe to whom we should +pay tribute--the view was extremely limited. + +However, in the neighbourhood of the first village a glimpse at some +of the peculiar features of Ugogo was obtained, and there was a vast +plain--now flat, now heaving upwards, here level as a table, there +tilted up into rugged knolls bristling with scores of rough boulders of +immense size, which lay piled one above another as if the children of a +Titanic race had been playing at house-building. Indeed, these piles of +rounded, angular, and riven rock formed miniature hills of themselves; +and appeared as if each body had been ejected upwards by some violent +agency beneath. There was one of these in particular, near Mvumi, which +was so large, and being slightly obscured from view by the outspreading +branches of a gigantic baobab, bore such a strong resemblance to a +square tower of massive dimensions, that for a long time I cherished +the idea that I had discovered something most interesting which had +strangely escaped the notice of my predecessors in East Africa. A nearer +view dispelled the illusion, and proved it to be a huge cube of rock, +measuring about forty feet each way. The baobabs were also particularly +conspicuous on this scene, no other kind of tree being visible in the +cultivated parts. These had probably been left for two reasons: first, +want of proper axes for felling trees of such enormous growth; secondly, +because during a famine the fruit of the baobab furnishes a flour which, +in the absence of anything better, is said to be eatable and nourishing. + +The first words I heard in Ugogo were from a Wagogo elder, of sturdy +form, who in an indolent way tended the flocks, but showed a marked +interest in the stranger clad in white flannels, with a Hawkes' patent +cork solar topee on his head, a most unusual thing in Ugogo, who came +walking past him, and there were "Yambo, Musungu, Yambo, bana, bana," +delivered with a voice loud enough to make itself heard a full mile +away. No sooner had the greeting been delivered than the word "Musungu" +seemed to electrify his entire village; and the people of other +villages, situated at intervals near the road, noting the excitement +that reigned at the first, also participated in the general frenzy which +seemed suddenly to have possessed them. I consider my progress from +the first village to Mvumi to have been most triumphant; for I was +accompanied by a furious mob of men, women, and children, all almost as +naked as Mother Eve when the world first dawned upon her in the garden +of Eden, fighting, quarrelling, jostling, staggering against each other +for the best view of the white man, the like of whom was now seen for +the first time in this part of Ugogo. The cries of admiration, such as +"Hi-le!" which broke often and in confused uproar upon my ear, were not +gratefully accepted, inasmuch as I deemed many of them impertinent. A +respectful silence and more reserved behaviour would have won my +esteem; but, ye powers, who cause etiquette to be observed in Usungu,* +respectful silence, reserved behaviour, and esteem are terms unknown +in savage Ugogo. Hitherto I had compared myself to a merchant of Bagdad +travelling among the Kurds of Kurdistan, selling his wares of Damascus +silk, kefiyehs, &c.; but now I was compelled to lower my standard, and +thought myself not much better than a monkey in a zoological collection. +One of my soldiers requested them to lessen their vociferous noise; +but the evil-minded race ordered him to shut up, as a thing unworthy to +speak to the Wagogo! When I imploringly turned to the Arabs for counsel +in this strait, old Sheikh Thani, always worldly wise, said, "Heed them +not; they are dogs who bite besides barking." -------- * +White man's land. -------- + +At 9 A.M. we were in our boma, near Mvumi village; but here also crowds +of Wagogo came to catch a glimpse of the Musungu, whose presence was +soon made known throughout the district of Mvumi. But two hours later I +was oblivious of their endeavours to see me; for, despite repeated doses +of quinine, the mukunguru had sure hold of me. + +The next day was a march of eight miles, from East Mvumi to West Mvumi, +where lived the Sultan of the district. The quantity and variety +of provisions which arrived at our boma did not belie the reports +respecting the productions of Ugogo. Milk, sour and sweet, honey, beans, +matama, maweri, Indian corn, ghee, pea-nuts, and a species of bean-nut +very like a large pistachio or an almond, water-melons, pumpkins, +mush-melons, and cucumbers were brought, and readily exchanged for +Merikani, Kaniki, and for the white Merikani beads and Sami-Sami, or +Sam-Sam. The trade and barter which progressed in the camp from morning +till night reminded me of the customs existing among the Gallas and +Abyssinians. Eastward, caravans were obliged to despatch men with cloth, +to purchase from the villagers. This was unnecessary in Ugogo, where the +people voluntarily brought every vendible they possessed to the camp. +The smallest breadth of white or blue cloth became saleable and useful +in purchasing provisions--even a loin-cloth worn threadbare. + +The day after our march was a halt. We had fixed this day for bearing +the tribute to the Great Sultan of Mvumi. Prudent and cautious Sheikh +Thani early began this important duty, the omission of which would have +been a signal for war. Hamed and Thani sent two faithful slaves, well +up to the eccentricities of the Wagogo sultans--well spoken, having glib +tongues and the real instinct for trade as carried on amongst +Orientals. They bore six doti of cloths, viz., one doti of Dabwani +Ulyah contributed by myself, also one doti of Barsati from me, two doti +Merikani Satine from Sheikh Thani, and two doti of Kaniki from Sheikh +Hamed, as a first instalment of the tribute. The slaves were absent a +full hour, but having wasted their powers of pleading, in vain, they +returned with the demand for more, which Sheikh Thani communicated to me +in this wise: + +"Auf! this Sultan is a very bad man--a very bad man indeed; he says, the +Musungu is a great man, I call him a sultan; the Musungu is very rich, +for he has several caravans already gone past; the Musungu must pay +forty doti, and the Arabs must pay twelve doti each, for they have rich +caravans. It is of no use for you to tell me you are all one caravan, +otherwise why so many flags and tents? Go and bring me sixty doti, with +less I will not be satisfied." + +I suggested to Sheikh Thani, upon hearing this exorbitant demand, that +had I twenty Wasungu* armed with Winchester repeating rifles, the Sultan +might be obliged to pay tribute to me; but Thani prayed and begged me to +be cautious lest angry words might irritate the Sultan and cause him to +demand a double tribute, as he was quite capable of doing so; "and if +you preferred war," said he, "your pagazis would all desert, and leave +you and your cloth to the small mercy of the Wagogo." But I hastened to +allay his fears by telling Bombay, in his presence, that I had foreseen +such demands on the part of the Wagogo, and that having set aside one +hundred and twenty doti of honga cloths, I should not consider myself a +sufferer if the Sultan demanded and I paid forty cloths to him; that he +must therefore open the honga bale, and permit Sheikh Thani to extract +such cloths as the Sultan might like. + +Sheikh Thani, having put on the cap of consideration and joined heads +with Hamed and the faithful serviles, thought if I paid twelve doti, +out of which three should be of Ulyah+ quality, that the Sultan might +possibly condescend to accept our tribute; supposing he was persuaded +by the oratorical words of the "Faithfuls," that the Musungu had nothing +with him but the mashiwa (boat), which would be of no use to him, come +what might,--with which prudent suggestion the Musungu concurred, seeing +its wisdom. + + * White men. + + + Best, or superior. + +The slaves departed, bearing this time from our boma thirty doti, with +our best wishes for their success. In an hour they returned with empty +hands, but yet unsuccessful. The Sultan demanded six doti of Merikani, +and a fundo of bubu, from the Musungu; and from the Arabs and other +caravans, twelve doti more. For the third time the slaves departed for +the Sultan's tembe, carrying with them six doti Merikani and a fundo of +bubu from myself, and ten doti from the Arabs. Again they returned to +us with the Sultan's words, "That, as the doti of the Musungu were short +measure, and the cloths of the Arabs of miserable quality, the Musungu +must send three doti full measure, and the Arabs five doti of +Kaniki." My three doti were at once measured out with the longest +fore-arm--according to Kigogo measure--and sent off by Bombay; but the +Arabs, almost in despair, declared they would be ruined if they gave way +to such demands, and out of the five doti demanded sent only two, with a +pleading to the Sultan that he would consider what was paid as just and +fair Muhongo, and not ask any more. But the Sultan of Mvumi was by no +means disposed to consider any such proposition, but declared he must +have three doti, and these to be two of Ulyah cloth, and one Kitambi +Barsati, which, as he was determined to obtain, were sent to him heavy +with the deep maledictions of Sheikh Hamed and the despairing sighs of +sheikh Thani. + +Altogether the sultanship of a district in Ugogo must be very +remunerative, besides being a delightful sinecure, so long as the Sultan +has to deal with timid Arab merchants who fear to exhibit anything +approaching to independence and self-reliance, lest they might +be mulcted in cloth. In one day from one camp the sultan received +forty-seven doti, consisting of Merikani, Kaniki, Barsati, and Dabwani, +equal to $35.25, besides seven doti of superior cloths, consisting of +Rehani, Sohari, and Daobwani Ulyah, and one fundo of Bubu, equal to +$14.00, making a total of $49.25--a most handsome revenue for a Mgogo +chief. + +On the 27th May we gladly shook the dust of Mvumi from our feet, and +continued on our route--ever westward. Five of my donkeys had died the +night before, from the effects of the water of Marenga Mkali. Before +leaving the camp of Mvumi, I went to look at their carcases; but found +them to have been clean picked by the hyaenas, and the bones taken +possession of by an army of white-necked crows. + +As we passed the numerous villages, and perceived the entire face of +the land to be one vast field of grain, and counted the people halted +by scores on the roadside to feast their eyes with a greedy stare on the +Musungu, I no longer wondered at the extortionate demands of the Wagogo. +For it was manifest that they had but to stretch out their hands to +possess whatever the wealth of a caravan consisted of; and I began to +think better of the people who, knowing well their strength, did not +use it--of people who were intellectual enough to comprehend that their +interest lay in permitting the caravans to pass on without attempting +any outrage. + +Between Mvumi and the nest Sultan's district, that of Matamburu, I +counted no less than twenty-five villages, scattered over the clayey, +coloured plain. Despite the inhospitable nature of the plain, it was +better cultivated than any part of any other country we had seen since +leaving Bagamoyo. + +When we had at last arrived at our boma of Matamburu, the same groups of +curious people, the same eager looks, the same exclamations of surprise, +the same, peals of laughter, at something they deemed ludicrous in the +Musungu's dress or manner, awaited us, as at Mvumi. The Arabs being +"Wakonongo" travellers, whom they saw every day, enjoyed a complete +immunity from the vexations which we had to endure. + +The Sultan of Matamburu, a man of herculean form, and massive head well +set on shoulders that might vie with those of Milo, proved to be a very +reasonable person. Not quite so powerful as the Sultan of Mvumi, he yet +owned a fair share of Ugogo and about forty villages, and could, if he +chose, have oppressed the mercantile souls of my Arab companions, in +the same way as he of Mvumi. Four doti of cloth were taken to him as a +preliminary offering to his greatness, which he said he would accept, if +the Arabs and Musungu would send him four more. As his demands were +so reasonable, this little affair was soon terminated to everybody's +satisfaction; and soon after, the kirangozi of Sheikh Hamed sounded the +signal for the morrow's march. + +At the orders of the same Sheikh, the kirangozi stood up to speak before +the assembled caravans. "Words, words, from the Bana," he shouted. +"Give ear, kirangozis! Listen, children of Unyamwezi! The journey is for +to-morrow! The road is crooked and bad, bad! The jungle is there, and +many Wagogo lie hidden within it! Wagogo spear the pagazis, and cut +the throats of those who carry mutumba (bales) and ushanga (beads)! The +Wagogo have been to our camp, they have seen your bales; to-night +they seek the jungle: to-morrow watch well, O Wanyamwezi! Keep close +together, lag not behind! Kirangozis walk slow, that the weak, the +sick, and the young may keep up with the strong! Take two rests on the +journey! These are the words of the Bana (master). Do you hear +them, Wanyamwezi? (A loud shout in the affirmative from all.) Do you +understand them well? (another chorus); then Bas;" having said which, +the eloquent kirangozi retired into the dark night, and his straw hut. + +The march to Bihawana, our next camp, was rugged and long, through a +continuous jungle of gums and thorns, up steep hills and finally over a +fervid plain, while the sun waxed hotter and hotter as it drew near the +meridian, until it seemed to scorch all vitality from inanimate nature, +while the view was one white blaze, unbearable to the pained sight, +which sought relief from the glare in vain. Several sandy watercourses, +on which were impressed many a trail of elephants, were also passed on +this march. The slope of these stream-beds trended south-east and south. + +In the middle of this scorching plain stood the villages of Bihawana, +almost undistinguishable, from the extreme lowness of the huts, which +did not reach the height of the tall bleached grass which stood smoking +in the untempered heat. + +Our camp was in a large boma, about a quarter of a mile from the +Sultan's tembe. Soon after arriving at the camp, I was visited by three +Wagogo, who asked me if I had seen a Mgogo on the road with a woman +and child. I was about to answer, very innocently, "Yes," when +Mabruki--cautious and watchful always for the interests of the +master--requested me not to answer, as the Wagogo, as customary, would +charge me with having done away with them, and would require their price +from me. Indignant at the imposition they were about to practise upon +me, I was about to raise my whip to flog them out of the camp, when +again Mabruki, with a roaring voice, bade me beware, for every blow +would cost me three or four doti of cloth. As I did not care to gratify +my anger at such an expense, I was compelled to swallow my wrath, and +consequently the Wagogo escaped chastisement. + +We halted for one day at this place, which was a great relief to me, as +I was suffering severely from intermittent fever, which lasted in this +case two weeks, and entirely prevented my posting my diary in full, as +was my custom every evening after a march. + +The Sultan of Bihawana, though his subjects were evil-disposed, and +ready-handed at theft and murder, contented himself with three doti as +honga. From this chief I received news of my fourth caravan, which had +distinguished itself in a fight with some outlawed subjects of his; my +soldiers had killed two who had attempted, after waylaying a couple of +my pagazis, to carry away a bale of cloth and a bag of beads; coming +up in time, the soldiers decisively frustrated the attempt. The Sultan +thought that if all caravans were as well guarded as mine were, there +would be less depredations committed on them while on the road; with +which I heartily agreed. + +The next sultan's tembe through whose territory we marched, this being +on the 30th May, was at Kididimo, but four miles from Bihawna. The road +led through a flat elongated plain, lying between two lengthy hilly +ridges, thickly dotted with the giant forms of the baobab. Kididimo is +exceedingly bleak in aspect. Even the faces of the Wagogo seemed to have +contracted a bleak hue from the general bleakness around. The water of +the pits obtained in the neighbourhood had an execrable flavor, and two +donkeys sickened and died in less than an hour from its effects. +Man suffered nausea and a general irritability of the system, and +accordingly revenged himself by cursing the country and its imbecile +ruler most heartily. The climax came, however, when Bombay reported, +after an attempt to settle the Muhongo, that the chief's head had grown +big since he heard that the Musungu had come, and that its "bigness" +could not be reduced unless he could extract ten doti as tribute. Though +the demand was large, I was not in a humour--being feeble, and almost +nerveless, from repeated attacks of the Mukunguru--to dispute the sum: +consequently it was paid without many words. But the Arabs continued the +whole afternoon negotiating, and at the end had to pay eight doti each. + +Between Kididimo and Nyambwa, the district of the Sultan Pembera Pereh, +was a broad and lengthy forest and jungle inhabited by the elephant, +rhinoceros, zebra, deer, antelope, and giraffe. Starting at dawn of +the 31st; we entered the jungle, whose dark lines and bosky banks were +clearly visible from our bower at Kididimo; and, travelling for two +hours, halted for rest and breakfast, at pools of sweet water surrounded +by tracts of vivid green verdure, which were a great resort for the wild +animals of the jungle, whose tracks were numerous and recent. A narrow +nullah, shaded deeply with foliage, afforded excellent retreats from +the glaring sunshine. At meridian, our thirst quenched, our hunger +satisfied, our gourds refilled, we set out from the shade into the +heated blaze of hot noon. The path serpentined in and out of jungle, and +thin forest, into open tracts of grass bleached white as stubble, into +thickets of gums and thorns, which emitted an odour as rank as a stable; +through clumps of wide-spreading mimosa and colonies of baobab, through +a country teeming with noble game, which, though we saw them frequently, +were yet as safe from our rifles as if we had been on the Indian Ocean. +A terekeza, such as we were now making, admits of no delay. Water we +had left behind at noon: until noon of the next day not a drop was to be +obtained; and unless we marched fast and long on this day, raging +thirst would demoralize everybody. So for six long weary hours we toiled +bravely; and at sunset we camped, and still a march of two hours, to be +done before the sun was an hour high, intervened between us and our camp +at Nyambwa. That night the men bivouacked under the trees, surrounded by +many miles of dense forest, enjoying the cool night unprotected by hat +or tent, while I groaned and tossed throughout the night in a paroxysm +of fever. + +The morn came; and, while it was yet young, the long caravan, or string +of caravans, was under way. It was the same forest, admitting, on the +narrow line which we threaded, but one man at a time. Its view was as +limited. To our right and left the forest was dark and deep. Above was +a riband of glassy sky flecked by the floating nimbus. We heard nothing +save a few stray notes from a flying bird, or the din of the caravans as +the men sang, or hummed, or conversed, or shouted, as the thought struck +them that we were nearing water. One of my pagazis, wearied and sick, +fell, and never rose again. The last of the caravan passed him before he +died. + +At 7 A.M. we were encamped at Nyambwa, drinking the excellent water +found here with the avidity of thirsty camels. Extensive fields of grain +had heralded the neighbourhood of the villages, at the sight of which we +were conscious that the caravan was quickening its pace, as approaching +its halting-place. As the Wasungu drew within the populated area, crowds +of Wagogo used their utmost haste to see them before they passed by. +Young and old of both genders pressed about us in a multitude--a very +howling mob. This excessive demonstrativeness elicited from my sailor +overseer the characteristic remark, "Well, I declare, these must be +the genuine Ugogians, for they stare! stare--there is no end to their +staring. I'm almost tempted to slap 'em in the face!" In fact, the +conduct of the Wagogo of Nyambwa was an exaggeration of the general +conduct of Wagogo. Hitherto, those we had met had contented themselves +with staring and shouting; but these outstepped all bounds, and my +growing anger at their excessive insolence vented itself in gripping +the rowdiest of them by the neck, and before he could recover from his +astonishment administering a sound thrashing with my dog-whip, which he +little relished. This proceeding educed from the tribe of starers all +their native power of vituperation and abuse, in expressing which they +were peculiar. Approaching in manner to angry tom-cats, they jerked +their words with something of a splitting hiss and a half bark. The +ejaculation, as near as I can spell it phonetically, was "hahcht" +uttered in a shrill crescendo tone. They paced backwards and forwards, +asking themselves, "Are the Wagoga to be beaten like slaves by this +Musungu? A Mgogo is a Mgwana (a free man); he is not used to be +beaten,--hahcht." But whenever I made motion, flourishing my whip, +towards them, these mighty braggarts found it convenient to move to +respectable distances from the irritated Musungu. + +Perceiving that a little manliness and show of power was something which +the Wagogo long needed, and that in this instance it relieved me from +annoyance, I had recourse to my whip, whose long lash cracked like +a pistol shot, whenever they overstepped moderation. So long as they +continued to confine their obtrusiveness to staring, and communicating +to each other their opinions respecting my complexion, and dress, and +accoutrements, I philosophically resigned myself in silence for their +amusement; but when they pressed on me, barely allowing me to proceed, a +few vigorous and rapid slashes right and left with my serviceable thong, +soon cleared the track. + +Pembera Pereh is a queer old man, very small, and would be very +insignificant were he not the greatest sultan in Ugogo; and enjoying a +sort of dimediate power over many other tribes. Though such an +important chief, he is the meanest dressed of his subjects,--is always +filthy,--ever greasy--eternally foul about the mouth; but these are mere +eccentricities: as a wise judge, he is without parallel, always has a +dodge ever ready for the abstraction of cloth from the spiritless Arab +merchants, who trade with Unyanyembe every year; and disposes with ease +of a judicial case which would overtask ordinary men. + +Sheikh Hamed, who was elected guider of the united caravans now +travelling through Ugogo, was of such a fragile and small make, that he +might be taken for an imitation of his famous prototype "Dapper." Being +of such dimensions, what he lacked for weight and size he made up by +activity. No sooner had he arrived in camp than his trim dapper form +was seen frisking about from side to side of the great boma, fidgeting, +arranging, disturbing everything and everybody. He permitted no bales +or packs to be intermingled, or to come into too close proximity to his +own; he had a favourite mode of stacking his goods, which he would see +carried out; he had a special eye for the best place for his tent, and +no one else must trespass on that ground. One would imagine that walking +ten or fifteen miles a day, he would leave such trivialities to his +servants, but no, nothing could be right unless he had personally +superintended it; in which work he was tireless and knew no fatigue. + +Another not uncommon peculiarity pertained to Sheikh Hamed; as he was +not a rich man, he laboured hard to make the most of every shukka +and doti expended, and each fresh expenditure seemed to gnaw his very +vitals: he was ready to weep, as he himself expressed it, at the high +prices of Ugogo, and the extortionate demands of its sultans. For this +reason, being the leader of the caravans, so far as he was able we were +very sure not to be delayed in Ugogo, where food was so dear. + +The day we arrived at Nyambwa will be remembered by Hamed as long as he +lives, for the trouble and vexation which he suffered. His misfortunes +arose from the fact that, being too busily engaged in fidgeting about +the camp, he permitted his donkeys to stray into the matama fields of +Pembera Pereh, the Sultan. For hours he and his servants sought for the +stray donkeys, returning towards evening utterly unsuccessful, Hamed +bewailing, as only an Oriental can do, when hard fate visits him with +its inflictions, the loss of a hundred do dollars worth of Muscat +donkeys. Sheikh Thani, older, more experienced, and wiser, suggested +to him that he should notify the Sultan of his loss. Acting upon +the sagacious advice, Hamed sent an embassy of two slaves, and the +information they brought back was, that Pembera Pereh's servants had +found the two donkeys eating the unripened matama, and that unless +the Arab who owned them would pay nine doti of first-class cloths, he, +Pembera Pereh, would surely keep them to remunerate him for the matama +they had eaten. Hamed was in despair. Nine doti of first-class cloths, +worth $25 in Unyanyembe, for half a chukka's worth of grain, was, as +he thought, an absurd demand; but then if he did not pay it, what would +become of the hundred dollars' worth of donkeys? He proceeded to the +Sultan to show him the absurdity of the damage claim, and to endeavour +to make him accept one chukka, which would be more than double the worth +of what grain the donkeys had consumed. But the Sultan was sitting on +pombe; he was drunk, which I believe to be his normal state--too drunk +to attend to business, consequently his deputy, a renegade Mnyamwezi, +gave ear to the business. With most of the Wagogo chiefs lives a +Mnyamwezi, as their right-hand man, prime minister, counsellor, +executioner, ready man at all things save the general good; a sort of +harlequin Unyamwezi, who is such an intriguing, restless, unsatisfied +person, that as soon as one hears that this kind of man forms one of and +the chief of a Mgogo sultan's council, one feels very much tempted to +do damage to his person. Most of the extortions practised upon the Arabs +are suggested by these crafty renegades. Sheikh Hamed found that the +Mnyamwezi was far more obdurate than the Sultan--nothing under nine +doti first-class cloths would redeem the donkeys. The business that day +remained unsettled, and the night following was, as one may imagine, a +very sleepless one to Hamed. As it turned out, however, the loss of the +donkeys, the after heavy fine, and the sleepless night, proved to be +blessings in disguise; for, towards midnight, a robber Mgogo visited his +camp, and while attempting to steal a bale of cloth, was detected in +the act by the wide-awake and irritated Arab, and was made to vanish +instantly with a bullet whistling in close proximity to his ear. + +From each of the principals of the caravans, the Mnyamwezi had received +as tribute for his drunken master fifteen doti, and from the other +six caravans six doti each, altogether fifty-one doti, yet on the next +morning when we took the road he was not a whit disposed to deduct a +single cloth from the fine imposed on Hamed, and the unfortunate Sheikh +was therefore obliged to liquidate the claim, or leave his donkeys +behind. + +After travelling through the corn-fields of Pembera Pereh we emerged +upon a broad flat plain, as level as the still surface of a pond, whence +the salt of the Wagogo is obtained. From Kanyenyi on the southern +road, to beyond the confines of Uhumba and Ubanarama, this saline field +extends, containing many large ponds of salt bitter water whose low +banks are covered with an effervescence partaking of the nature of +nitrate. Subsequently, two days afterwards, having ascended the elevated +ridge which separates Ugogo from Uyanzi, I obtained a view of this +immense saline plain, embracing over a hundred square miles. I may +have been deceived, but I imagined I saw large expanses of greyish-blue +water, which causes me to believe that this salina is but a corner of +a great salt lake. The Wahumba, who are numerous, from Nyambwa to the +Uyanzi border, informed my soldiers that there was a "Maji Kuba" away to +the north. + +Mizanza, our next camp after Nyambwa, is situated in a grove of palms, +about thirteen miles from the latter place. Soon after arriving I had +to bury myself under blankets, plagued with the same intermittent fever +which first attacked me during the transit of Marenga Mkali. Feeling +certain that one day's halt, which would enable me to take regular doses +of the invaluable sulphate of quinine, would cure me, I requested Sheikh +Thani to tell Hamed to halt on the morrow, as I should be utterly unable +to continue thus long, under repeated attacks of a virulent disease +which was fast reducing me into a mere frame of skin and bone. Hamed, in +a hurry to arrive at Unyanyembe in order to dispose of his cloth before +other caravans appeared in the market, replied at first that he would +not, that he could not, stop for the Musungu. Upon Thani's reporting his +answer to me, I requested him to inform Hamed that, as the Musungu did +not wish to detain him, or any other caravan, it was his express wish +that Hamed would march and leave him, as he was quite strong enough in +guns to march through Ugogo alone. Whatever cause modified the Sheikh's +resolution and his anxiety to depart, Hamed's horn signal for the march +was not heard that night, and on the morrow he had not gone. + +Early in the morning I commenced on my quinine doses; at 6 A.M. I took +a second dose; before noon I had taken four more--altogether, fifty +measured grains-the effect of which was manifest in the copious +perspiration which drenched flannels, linen, and blankets. After noon I +arose, devoutly thankful that the disease which had clung to me for the +last fourteen days had at last succumbed to quinine. + +On this day the lofty tent, and the American flag which ever flew from +the centre pole, attracted the Sultan of Mizanza towards it, and was the +cause of a visit with which he honoured me. As he was notorious among +the Arabs for having assisted Manwa Sera in his war against Sheikh +Sny bin Amer, high eulogies upon whom have been written by Burton, and +subsequently by Speke, and as he was the second most powerful chief in +Ugogo, of course he was quite a curiosity to me. As the tent-door was +uplifted that he might enter, the ancient gentleman was so struck with +astonishment at the lofty apex, and internal arrangements, that the +greasy Barsati cloth which formed his sole and only protection against +the chills of night and the heat of noon, in a fit of abstraction was +permitted to fall down to his feet, exposing to the Musungu's unhallowed +gaze the sad and aged wreck of what must once have been a towering form. +His son, a youth of about fifteen, attentive to the infirmities of his +father, hastened with filial duty to remind him of his condition, upon +which, with an idiotic titter at the incident, he resumed his scanty +apparel and sat down to wonder and gibber out his admiration at the tent +and the strange things which formed the Musungu's personal baggage and +furniture. After gazing in stupid wonder at the table, on which was +placed some crockery and the few books I carried with me; at the slung +hammock, which he believed was suspended by some magical contrivance; +at the portmanteaus which contained my stock of clothes, he ejaculated, +"Hi-le! the Musungu is a great sultan, who has come from his country to +see Ugogo." He then noticed me, and was again wonder-struck at my pale +complexion and straight hair, and the question now propounded was, "How +on earth was I white when the sun had burned his people's skins into +blackness?" Whereupon he was shown my cork topee, which he tried on his +woolly head, much to his own and to our amusement. The guns were next +shown to him; the wonderful repeating rifle of the Winchester Company, +which was fired thirteen times in rapid succession to demonstrate +its remarkable murderous powers. If he was astonished before he was a +thousand times more so now, and expressed his belief that the Wagogo +could not stand before the Musungu in battle, for wherever a Mgogo was +seen such a gun would surely kill him. Then the other firearms were +brought forth, each with its peculiar mechanism explained, until, in, a +burst of enthusiasm at my riches and power, he said he would send me a +sheep or goat, and that he would be my brother. I thanked him for the +honour, and promised to accept whatever he was pleased to send me. At +the instigation of Sheikh Thani, who acted as interpreter, who said that +Wagogo chiefs must not depart with empty hands, I cut off a shukka +of Kaniki and presented it to him, which, after being examined and +measured, was refused upon the ground that, the Musungu being a great +sultan should not demean himself so much as to give him only a shukka. +This, after the twelve doti received as muhongo from the caravans, I +thought, was rather sore; but as he was about to present me with a sheep +or goat another shukka would not matter much. + +Shortly after he departed, and true to his promise, I received a large, +fine sheep, with a broad tail, heavy with fat; but with the words: "That +being now his brother, I must send him three doti of good cloth." As the +price of a sheep is but a doti and a half, I refused the sheep and the +fraternal honour, upon the ground that the gifts were all on one side; +and that, as I had paid muhongo, and given him a doti of Kaniki as a +present, I could not, afford to part with any more cloth without an +adequate return. + +During the afternoon one more of my donkeys died, and at night the +hyaenas came in great numbers to feast upon the carcase. Ulimengo, +the chasseur, and best shot of my Wangwana, stole out and succeeded in +shooting two, which turned out to be some of the largest of their kind.. +One of them measured six feet from the tip of the nose to the extremity +of the tail, and three feet around the girth. + +On the 4th. June we struck camp, and after travelling westward for about +three miles, passing several ponds of salt water, we headed north by +west, skirting the range of low hills which separates Ugogo from Uyanzi. + +After a three hours' march, we halted for a short time at Little +Mukondoku, to settle tribute with the brother of him who rules at +Mukondoku Proper. Three doti satisfied the Sultan, whose district +contains but two villages, mostly occupied by pastoral Wahumba and +renegade Wahehe. The Wahumba live in plastered (cow-dung) cone huts, +shaped like the tartar tents of Turkestan. + +The Wahumba, so far as I have seen them, are a fine and well-formed +race. The men are positively handsome, tall, with small heads, the +posterior parts of which project considerably. One will look in vain for +a thick lip or a flat nose amongst them; on the contrary, the mouth is +exceedingly well cut, delicately small; the nose is that of the Greeks, +and so universal was the peculiar feature, that I at once named them the +Greeks of Africa. Their lower limbs have not the heaviness of the +Wagogo and other tribes, but are long and shapely, clean as those of an +antelope. Their necks are long and slender, on which their small heads +are poised most gracefully. Athletes from their youth, shepherd bred, +and intermarrying among themselves, thus keeping the race pure, any +of them would form a fit subject for the sculptor who would wish to +immortalize in marble an Antinous, a Hylas, a Daphnis, or an Apollo. +The women are as beautiful as the men are handsome. They have clear ebon +skins, not coal-black, but of an inky hue. Their ornaments consist of +spiral rings of brass pendent from the ears, brass ring collars about +the necks, and a spiral cincture of brass wire about their loins for the +purpose of retaining their calf and goat skins, which are folded about +their bodies, and, depending from the shoulder, shade one half of the +bosom, and fall to the knees. + +The Wahehe may be styled the Romans of Africa. Resuming our march, after +a halt of an hour, in foul hours more we arrived at Mukondoku Proper. +This extremity of Ugogo is most populous, The villages which surround +the central tembe, where the Sultan Swaruru lives, amount to thirty-six. +The people who flocked from these to see the wonderful men whose faces +were white, who wore the most wonderful things on their persons, and +possessed the most wonderful weapons; guns which "bum-bummed" as fast as +you could count on your fingers, formed such a mob of howling savages, +that I for an instant thought there was something besides mere curiosity +which caused such commotion, and attracted such numbers to the roadside. +Halting, I asked what was the matter, and what they wanted, and why they +made such noise? One burly rascal, taking my words for a declaration of +hostilities, promptly drew his bow, but as prompt as he had fixed his +arrow my faithful Winchester with thirteen shots in the magazine was +ready and at the shoulder, and but waited to see the arrow fly to pour +the leaden messengers of death into the crowd. But the crowd vanished as +quickly as they had come, leaving the burly Thersites, and two or three +irresolute fellows of his tribe, standing within pistol range of my +levelled rifle. Such a sudden dispersion of the mob which, but a moment +before, was overwhelming in numbers, caused me to lower my rifle, and +to indulge in a hearty laugh at the disgraceful flight of the +men-destroyers. The Arabs, who were as much alarmed at their boisterous +obtrusiveness, now came up to patch a truce, in which they succeeded to +everybody's satisfaction. A few words of explanation, and the mob came +back in greater numbers than before; and the Thersites who had been the +cause of the momentary disturbance was obliged to retire abashed before +the pressure of public opinion. A chief now came up, whom I afterwards +learned was the second man to Swaruru, and lectured the people upon +their treatment of the "White Stranger." + +"Know ye not, Wagogo," shouted he, "that this Musungu is a sultan +(mtemi--a most high title). He has not come to Ugogo like the Wakonongo +(Arabs), to trade in ivory, but to see us, and give presents. Why do you +molest him and his people? Let them pass in peace. If you wish to see +him, draw near, but do not mock him. The first of you who creates a +disturbance, let him beware; our great mtemi shall know how you treat +his friends." This little bit of oratorical effort on the part of the +chief was translated to me there and then by the old Sheik Thani; which +having understood, I bade the Sheikh inform the chief that, after I had +rested, I should like him to visit me in my tent. + +Having arrived at the khambi, which always surrounds some great baobab +in Ugogo, at the distance of about half a mile from the tembe of the +Sultan, the Wagogo pressed in such great numbers to the camp that Sheikh +Thani resolved to make an effort to stop or mitigate the nuisance. +Dressing himself in his best clothes, he went to appeal to the Sultan +for protection against his people. The Sultan was very much inebriated, +and was pleased to say, "What is it you want, you thief? You have come +to steal my ivory or my cloth. Go away, thief!" But the sensible +chief, whose voice had just been heard reproaching the people for their +treatment of the Wasungu, beckoned to Thani to come out of the tembe, +and then proceeded with him towards the khambi. + +The camp was in a great uproar; the curious Wagogo monopolized almost +every foot of ground; there was no room to turn anywhere. The Wanyamwezi +were quarreling with the Wagogo, the Wasawahili servants were clamoring +loud that the Wagogo pressed down their tents, and that the property +of the masters was in danger; while I, busy on my diary within my tent, +cared not how great was the noise and confusion outside as long as it +confined itself to the Wagogo, Wanyamwezi, and Wangwana. + +The presence of the chief in the camp was followed by a deep silence +that I was prevailed upon to go outside to see what had caused it. The +chief's words were few, and to the point. He said, "To your tembes, +Wagogo--to your tembes! Why, do you come to trouble the Wakonongo: What +have you to do with them? To your tembes: go! Each Mgogo found in the +khambi without meal, without cattle to sell, shall pay to the mtemi +cloth or cows. Away with you!" Saying which, he snatched up a stick and +drove the hundreds out of the khambi, who were as obedient to him as so +many children. During the two days we halted at Mukondoku we saw no more +of the mob, and there was peace. + +The muhongo of the Sultan Swaruru was settled with few words. The chief +who acted for the Sultan as his prime minister having been "made glad" +with a doti of Rehani Ulyah from me, accepted the usual tribute of six +doti, only one of which was of first-class cloth. + +There remained but one more sultan to whom muhongo must be paid after +Mukondoku, and this was the Sultan of Kiwyeh, whose reputation was so +bad that owners of property who had control over their pagazis seldom +passed by Kiwyeh, preferring the hardships of long marches through +the wilderness to the rudeness and exorbitant demands of the chief of +Kiwyeh. But the pagazis, on whom no burden or responsibility fell save +that of carrying their loads, who could use their legs and show clean +heels in the case of a hostile outbreak, preferred the march to Kiwyeh +to enduring thirst and the fatigue of a terekeza. Often the preference +of the pagazis won the day, when their employers were timid, irresolute +men, like Sheikh Hamed. + +The 7th of June was the day fixed for our departure from Mukondoku, so +the day before, the Arabs came to my tent to counsel with me as to +the route we should adopt. On calling together the kirangozis of the +respective caravans and veteran Wanyamwezi pagazis, we learned there +were three roads leading from Mukondoku to Uyanzi. The first was the +southern road, and the one generally adopted, for the reasons already +stated, and led by Kiwyeh. To this Hamed raised objections. "The Sultan +was bad," he said; "he sometimes charged a caravan twenty doti; our +caravan would have to pay about sixty doti. The Kiwyeh road would not do +at all. Besides," he added, "we have to make a terekeza to reach Kiwyeh, +and then we will not reach it before the day after to-morrow." The +second was the central road. We should arrive at Munieka on the morrow; +the day after would be a terekeza from Mabunguru Nullah to a camp near +Unyambogi; two hours the next day would bring us to Kiti, where there +was plenty of water and food. As neither of the kirangozis or Arabs +knew this road, and its description came from one of my ancient pagazis, +Hamed said he did not like to trust the guidance of such a large caravan +in the hands of an old Mnyamwezi, and would therefore prefer to hear +about the third road, before rendering his decision. The third road was +the northern. It led past numerous villages of the Wagogo for the first +two hours; then we should strike a jungle; and a three hours' march +would then bring us to Simbo, where there was water, but no village. +Starting early next morning, we would travel six hours when we would +arrive at a pool of water. Here taking a short rest, an afternoon march +of five hours would bring us within three hours of another village. As +this last road was known to many, Hamed said, "Sheikh Thani, tell the +Sahib that I think this is the best road." Sheikh Thani was told, after +he had informed me that, as I had marched with them through Ugogo, if +they decided upon going by Simbo, my caravan would follow. + +Immediately after the discussion among the principals respecting the +merits of the several routes, arose a discussion among the pagazis which +resulted in an obstinate clamor against the Simbo road, for its long +terekeza and scant prospects of water, the dislike to the Simbo road +communicated itself to all the caravans, and soon it was magnified by +reports of a wilderness reaching from Simbo to Kusuri, where there was +neither food nor water to be obtained. Hamed's pagazis, and those of +the Arab servants, rose in a body and declared they could not go on that +march, and if Hamed insisted upon adopting it they would put their packs +down and leave him to carry them himself. + +Hamed Kimiani, as he was styled by the Arabs, rushed up to Sheikh Thani, +and declared that he must take the Kiwyeh road, otherwise his pagazis +would all desert. Thani replied that all the roads were the same to him, +that wherever Hamed chose to go, he would follow. They then came to my +tent, and informed me of the determination at which the Wanyamwezi had +arrived. Calling my veteran Mnyamwezi, who had given me the favourable +report once more to my tent, I bade him give a correct account of the +Kiti road. It was so favourable that my reply to Hamed was, that I +was the master of my caravan, that it was to go wherever I told the +kirangozi, not where the pagazis chose; that when I told them to halt +they must halt, and when I commanded a march, a march should be made; +and that as I fed them well and did not overwork them, I should like to +see the pagazi or soldier that disobeyed me. "You made up your mind just +now that you would take the Simbo road, and we were agreed upon it, now +your pagazis say they will take, the Kiwyeh road, or desert. Go on the +Kiwyeh road and pay twenty doti muhongo. I and my caravan to-morrow +morning will take the Kiti road, and when you find me in Unyanyembe one +day ahead of you, you will be sorry you did not take the same road." + +This resolution of mine had the effect of again changing the current of +Hamed's thoughts, for he instantly said, "That is the best road after +all, and as the Sahib is determined to go on it, and we have all +travelled together through the bad land of the Wagogo, Inshallah! let us +all go the same way," and Thani=-good old man--not objecting, and Hamed +having decided, they both joyfully went out of the tent to communicate +the news. + +On the 7th the caravans--apparently unanimous that the Kiti road was to +be taken--were led as usual by Hamed's kirangozi. We had barely gone a +mile before I perceived that we had left the Simbo road, had taken the +direction of Kiti, and, by a cunning detour, were now fast approaching +the defile of the mountain ridge before us, which admitted access to the +higher plateau of Kiwyeh. Instantly halting my caravan, I summoned the +veteran who had travelled by Kiti, and asked him whether we were not +going towards Kiwyeh. He replied that we were. Calling my pagazis +together, I bade Bombay tell them that the Musuugu never changed his +mind; that as I had said my caravan should march by Kiti; to Kiti it +must go whether the Arabs followed or not. I then ordered the veteran +to take up his load and show the kirangozi the proper road to Kiti. +The Wanyamwezi pagazis put down their bales, and then there was every +indication of a mutiny. The Wangwana soldiers were next ordered to load +their guns and to flank the caravan, and shoot the first pagazis +who made an attempt to run away. Dismounting, I seized my whip, and, +advancing towards the first pagazi who had put down his load, I motioned +to him to take up his load and march. It was unnecessary to proceed +further; without an exception, all marched away obediently after the +kirangozi. I was about bidding farewell to Thani, and Hamed, when Thani +said, "Stop a bit, Sahib; I have had enough of this child's play; I come +with you," and his caravan was turned after mine. Hamed's caravan was by +this time close to the defile, and he himself was a full mile behind +it, weeping like a child at what he was pleased to call our desertion of +him. Pitying his strait--for he was almost beside himself as thoughts +of Kiwyeh's sultan, his extortion and rudeness, swept across his mind--I +advised him to run after his caravan, and tell it, as all the rest had +taken the other road, to think of the Sultan of Kiwyeh. Before reaching +the Kiti defile I was aware that Hamed's caravan was following us. + +The ascent of the ridge was rugged and steep, thorns of the prickliest +nature punished us severely, the _acacia horrida_ was here more horrid +than usual, the gums stretched out their branches, and entangled the +loads, the mimosa with its umbrella-like top served to shade us from the +sun, but impeded a rapid advance. Steep outcrops of syenite and granite, +worn smooth by many feet, had to be climbed over, rugged terraces of +earth and rock had to be ascended, and distant shots resounding through +the forest added to the alarm and general discontent, and had I not +been immediately behind my caravan, watchful of every manoeuvre, my +Wanyamwezi had deserted to a man. Though the height we ascended was +barely 800 feet above the salina we had just left, the ascent occupied +two hours. + +Having surmounted the plateau and the worst difficulties, we had a fair +road comparatively, which ran through jungle, forest, and small open +tracts, which in three hours more brought us to Munieka, a small +village, surrounded by a clearing richly cultivated by a colony of +subjects of Swaruru of Mukondoku. + +By the time we had arrived at camp everybody had recovered his good +humour and content except Hamed. Thani's men happened to set his tent +too close to Hamed's tree, around which his bales were stacked. Whether +the little Sheikh imagined honest old Thani capable of stealing one is +not known, but it is certain that he stormed and raved about the near +neighbourhood of his best friend's tent, until Thani ordered its removal +a hundred yards off. This proceeding even, it seems, did not satisfy +Hamed, for it was quite midnight--as Thani said--when Hamed came, and +kissing his hands and feet, on his knees implored forgiveness, which of +course Thani, being the soul of good-nature, and as large-hearted as any +man, willingly gave. Hamed was not satisfied, however, until, with the +aid of his slaves, he had transported his friend's tent to where it had +at first been pitched. + +The water at Munieka was obtained from a deep depression in a hump of +syenite, and was as clear as crystal, and' cold as ice-water--a luxury +we had not experienced since leaving Simbamwenni. + +We were now on the borders of Uyanzi, or, as it is better known, +"Magunda Mkali "--the Hot-ground, or Hot-field. We had passed the +village populated by Wagogo, and were about to shake the dust of Ugogo +from our feet. We had entered Ugogo full of hopes, believing it a +most pleasant land--a land flowing with milk and honey. We had been +grievously disappointed; it proved to be a land of gall and bitterness, +full of trouble and vexation of spirit, where danger was imminent at +every step--where we were exposed to the caprice of inebriated sultans. +Is it a wonder, then, that all felt happy at such a moment? With the +prospect before us of what was believed by many to be a real wilderness, +our ardor was not abated, but was rather strengthened. The wilderness in +Africa proves to be, in many instances, more friendly than the populated +country. The kirangozi blew his kudu horn much more merrily on this +morning than he was accustomed to do while in Ugogo. We were about to +enter Magunda Mkali. At 9 A.M., three hours after leaving Munieka, and +two hours since we had left the extreme limits of Ugogo, we were halted +at Mabunguru Nullah. The Nullah runs southwesterly after leaving its +source in the chain of hills dividing Ugogo from Magunda Mkali. During +the rainy season it must be nearly impassable, owing to the excessive +slope of its bed. Traces of the force of the torrent are seen in the +syenite and basalt boulders which encumber the course. Their rugged +angles are worn smooth, and deep basins are excavated where the bed is +of the rock, which in the dry season serve as reservoirs. Though the +water contained in them has a slimy and greenish appearance, and is well +populated with frogs, it is by no means unpalatable. + +At noon we resumed our march, the Wanyamwezi cheering, shouting, and +singing, the Wangwana soldiers, servants, and pagazis vieing with them +in volume of voice and noise-making the dim forest through which we were +now passing resonant with their voices. + +The scenery was much more picturesque than any we had yet seen since +leaving Bagamoyo. The ground rose into grander waves--hills cropped out +here and there--great castles of syenite appeared, giving a strange and +weird appearance to the forest. From a distance it would almost seem as +if we were approaching a bit of England as it must have appeared during +feudalism; the rocks assumed such strange fantastic shapes. Now they +were round boulders raised one above another, apparently susceptible to +every breath of wind; anon, they towered like blunt-pointed obelisks, +taller than the tallest trees; again they assumed the shape of mighty +waves, vitrified; here, they were a small heap of fractured and riven +rock; there, they rose to the grandeur of hills. + +By 5 P.M. we had travelled twenty miles, and the signal was sounded for +a halt. At 1 A.M., the moon being up, Hamed's horn and voice were heard +throughout the silent camp awaking his pagazis for the march. Evidently +Sheikh Hamed was gone stark mad, otherwise why should he be so frantic +for the march at such an early hour? The dew was falling heavily, +and chilled one like frost; and an ominous murmur of deep discontent +responded to the early call on all sides. Presuming, however, that he +had obtained better information than we had, Sheikh Thani and I resolved +to be governed as the events proved him to be right or wrong. + +As all were discontented, this night, march was performed in deep +silence. The thermometer was at 53 deg., we being about 4,500 feet above the +level of the sea. The pagazis, almost naked, walked quickly in order +to keep warm, and by so doing many a sore foot was made by stumbling +against obtrusive roots and rocks, and treading on thorns. At 3 A.M. we +arrived at the village of Unyambogi, where we threw ourselves down to +rest and sleep until dawn should reveal what else was in store for the +hard-dealt-with caravans. + +It was broad daylight when I awoke; the sun was flaring his hot beams in +my face. Sheikh Thani came soon after to inform me that Hamed had gone +to Kiti two hours since; but he, when asked to accompany him, positively +refused, exclaiming against it as folly, and utterly unnecessary. When +my advice was asked by Thani, I voted the whole thing as sheer nonsense; +and, in turn, asked him what a terekeza was for? Was it not an afternoon +march to enable caravans to reach water and food? Thani replied than it +was. I then asked him if there was no water or food to be obtained in +Unyambogi. Thani replied that he had not taken pains to inquire, but +was told by the villagers that there was an abundance of matamia, hindi, +maweri, sheep; goats, and chickens in their village at cheap prices, +such as were not known in Ugogo. + +"Well, then," said I, "if Hamed wants to be a fool, and kill his +pagazis, why should we? I have as much cause for haste as Sheikh Hamed; +but Unyanyembe is far yet, and I am not going to endanger my property by +playing the madman." + +As Thani had reported, we found an abundance of provisions at the +village, and good sweet water from some pits close by. A sheep cost one +chukka; six chickens were also purchased at that price; six measures of +matama, maweri, or hindi, were procurable for the same sum; in short, we +were coming, at last, into the land of plenty. + +On the 10th June we arrived at Kiti after a journey of four hours and a +half, where we found the irrepressible Hamed halted in sore trouble. +He who would be a Caesar, proved to be an irresolute Antony. He had +to sorrow over the death of a favourite slave girl, the loss of five +dish-dashes (Arab shirts), silvered-sleeve and gold-embroidered jackets, +with which he had thought to enter Unyanyembe in state, as became a +merchant of his standing, which had disappeared with three absconding +servants, besides copper trays, rice, and pilau dishes, and two bales of +cloth with runaway Wangwana pagazis. Selim, my Arab servant, asked him, +"What are you doing here, Sheikh Hamed? I thought you were well on the +road to Unyanyembe." Said he, "Could I leave Thani, my friend, behind?" + +Kiti abounded in cattle and grain, and we were able to obtain food at +easy rates. The Wakimbu, emigrants from Ukimbu, near Urori, are a quiet +race, preferring the peaceful arts of agriculture to war; of tending +their flocks to conquest. At the least rumor of war they remove their +property and family, and emigrate to the distant wilderness, where they +begin to clear the land, and to hunt the elephant for his ivory. Yet we +found them to be a fine race, and well armed, and seemingly capable, +by their numbers and arms, to compete with any tribe. But here, as +elsewhere, disunion makes them weak. They are mere small colonies, each +colony ruled by its own chief; whereas, were they united, they might +make a very respectable front before an enemy. + +Our next destination was Msalalo, distant fifteen miles from Kiti. +Hamed, after vainly searching for his runaways and the valuable property +he had lost, followed us, and tried once more, when he saw us encamped +at Msalalo, to pass us; but his pagazis failed him, the march having +been so long. + +Welled Ngaraiso was reached on the 15th, after a three and a half hours' +march. It is a flourishing little place, where provisions were almost +twice as cheap as they were at Unyambogi. Two hours' march south is +Jiweh la Mkoa, on the old road, towards which the road which we have +been travelling since leaving Bagamoyo was now rapidly leading. + +Unyanyembe being near, the pagazis and soldiers having behaved +excellently during the lengthy marches we had lately made, I purchased +a bullock for three doti, and had it slaughtered for their special +benefit. I also gave each a khete of red beads to indulge his appetite +for whatever little luxury the country afforded. Milk and honey were +plentiful, and three frasilah of sweet potatoes were bought for a +shukka, equal to about 40 cents of our money. + +The 13th June brought us to the last village of Magunda Mkali, in the +district of Jiweh la Singa, after a short march of eight miles and +three-quarters. Kusuri--so called by the Arabs--is called Konsuli by the +Wakimbu who inhabit it. This is, however, but one instance out of many +where the Arabs have misnamed or corrupted the native names of villages +and districts. + +Between Ngaraiso and Kusuri we passed the village of Kirurumo, now a +thriving place, with many a thriving village near it. As we passed it, +the people came out to greet the Musungu, whose advent had been so long +heralded by his loud-mouthed caravans, and whose soldiers had helped +them win the day in a battle against their fractious brothers of Jiweh +la Mkoa. + +A little further on we came across a large khambi, occupied by Sultan +bin Mohammed, an Omani Arab of high descent, who, as soon as he was +notified of my approach, came out to welcome me, and invite me to his +khambi. As his harem lodged in his tent, of course I was not invited +thither; but a carpet outside was ready for his visitor. After the usual +questions had been asked about my health, the news of the road, the +latest from Zanzibar and Oman, he asked me if I had much cloth with +me. This was a question often asked by owners of down caravans, and +the reason of it is that the Arabs, in their anxiety to make as much +as possible of their cloth at the ivory ports on the Tanganika and +elsewhere, are liable to forget that they should retain a portion for +the down marches. As, indeed, I had but a bale left of the quantity of +cloth retained for provisioning my party on the road, when outfitting my +caravans on the coast, I could unblushingly reply in the negative. + +I halted a day at Kusuri to give my caravan a rest, after its long +series of marches, before venturing on the two days' march through the +uninhabited wilderness that separates the district of Jiweh la Singa +Uyanzi from the district of Tura in Unyanyembe. Hamed preceded, +promising to give Sayd bin Salim notice of my coming, and to request him +to provide a tembe for me. + +On the 15th, having ascertained that Sheikh Thani would be detained +several days at Kusuri, owing to the excessive number of his people who +were laid up with that dreadful plague of East Africa, the small-pox, I +bade him farewell, and my caravan struck out of Kusuri once more for the +wilderness and the jungle. A little before noon we halted at the Khambi +of Mgongo Tembo, or the Elephant's Back--so called from a wave of rock +whose back, stained into dark brownness by atmospheric influences, is +supposed by the natives to resemble the blue-brown back of this monster +of the forest. My caravan had quite an argument with me here, as to +whether we should make the terekeza on this day or on the next. The +majority was of the opinion that the next day would be the best for +a terekeza; but I, being the "bana," consulting my own interests, +insisted, not without a flourish or two of my whip, that the terekeza +should be made on this day. + +Mgongo Tembo, when Burton and Speke passed by, was a promising +settlement, cultivating many a fair acre of ground. But two years ago +war broke out, for some bold act of its people upon caravans, and the +Arabs came from Unyanyembe with their Wangwana servants, attacked them, +burnt the villages, and laid waste the work of years. Since that time +Mgongo Tembo has been but blackened wrecks of houses, and the fields a +sprouting jungle. + +A cluster of date palm-trees, overtopping a dense grove close to the +mtoni of Mgongo Tembo, revived my recollections of Egypt. The banks of +the stream, with their verdant foliage, presented a strange contrast to +the brown and dry appearance of the jungle which lay on either side. + +At 1 P.M. we resumed our loads and walking staffs, and in a short time +were en route for the Ngwhalah Mtoni, distant eight and three-quarter +miles from the khambi. The sun was hot; like a globe of living, seething +flame, it flared its heat full on our heads; then as it descended +towards the west, scorched the air before it was inhaled by the lungs +which craved it. Gourds of water were emptied speedily to quench the +fierce heat that burned the throat and lungs. One pagazi, stricken +heavily with the small-pox, succumbed, and threw himself down on the +roadside to die. We never saw him afterwards, for the progress of a +caravan on a terekeza, is something like that of a ship in a hurricane. +The caravan must proceed--woe befall him who lags behind, for hunger and +thirst will overtake him--so must a ship drive before the fierce gale to +escape foundering--woe befall him who falls overboard! + +An abundance of water, good, sweet, and cool, was found in the bed of +the mtoni in deep stony reservoirs. Here also the traces of furious +torrents were clearly visible as at Mabunguru. + +The Nghwhalah commences in Ubanarama to the north--a country famous for +its fine breed of donkeys--and after running south, south-south-west, +crosses the Unyanyembe road, from which point it has more of a westerly +turn. + +On the 16th we arrived at Madedita, so called from a village which +was, but is now no more. Madedita is twelve and a half miles from the +Nghwhalah Mtoni. A pool of good water a few hundred yards from the +roadside is the only supply caravans can obtain, nearer than Tura in +Unyamwezi. The tsetse or chufwa-fly, as called by the Wasawahili, stung +us dreadfully, which is a sign that large game visit the pool sometimes, +but must not be mistaken for an indication that there is any in the +immediate neighbourhood of the water. A single pool so often frequented +by passing caravans, which must of necessity halt here, could not be +often visited by the animals of the forest, who are shy in this part of +Africa of the haunts of man. + +At dawn the neat day we were on the road striding at a quicker pace +than on most days, since we were about to quit Magunda Mali for the more +populated and better land of Unyamwezi. The forest held its own for +a wearisomely long time, but at the end of two hours it thinned, then +dwarfed into low jungle, and finally vanished altogether, and we +had arrived on the soil of Unyamwezi, with a broad plain, swelling, +subsiding, and receding in lengthy and grand undulations in our front +to one indefinite horizontal line which purpled in the far distance. The +view consisted of fields of grain ripening, which followed the contour +of the plain, and which rustled merrily before the morning breeze that +came laden with the chills of Usagara. + +At 8 A.M. we had arrived at the frontier village of Unyamwezi, Eastern +Tura, which we invaded without any regard to the disposition of the few +inhabitants who lived there. Here we found Nondo, a runaway of Speke's, +one of those who had sided with Baraka against Bombay, who, desiring to +engage himself with me, was engaging enough to furnish honey and sherbet +to his former companions, and lastly to the pagazis. It was only a +short breathing pause we made here, having another hour's march to reach +Central Tura. + +The road from Eastern Tura led through vast fields of millet, Indian +corn, holcus sorghum, maweri, or panicum, or bajri, as called by +the Arabs; gardens of sweet potatoes, large tracts of cucumbers, +water-melons, mush-melons, and pea-nuts which grew in the deep furrows +between the ridges of the holcus. + +Some broad-leafed plantain plants were also seen in the neighbourhood of +the villages, which as we advanced became very numerous. The villages of +the Wakimbu are like those of the Wagogo, square, flat-roofed, enclosing +an open area, which is sometimes divided into three or four parts by +fences or matama stalks. + +At central Tura, where we encamped, we had evidence enough of the +rascality of the Wakimbu of Tura. Hamed, who, despite his efforts to +reach Unyanyembe in time to sell his cloths before other Arabs came with +cloth supplies, was unable to compel his pagazis to the double march +every day, was also encamped at Central Tura, together with the Arab +servants who preferred Hamed's imbecile haste to Thani's cautious +advance. Our first night in Unyamwezi was very exciting indeed. The +Musungu's camp was visited by two crawling thieves, but they were soon +made aware by the portentous click of a trigger that the white man's +camp was well guarded. + +Hamed's camp was next visited; but here also the restlessness of +the owner frustrated their attempts, for he was pacing backwards and +forwards through his camp, with a loaded gun in his hand; and the +thieves were obliged to relinquish the chance of stealing any of his +bales. From Hamed's they proceeded to Hassan's camp (one of the Arab +servants), where they were successful enough to reach and lay hold of a +couple of bales; but, unfortunately, they made a noise, which awoke the +vigilant and quick-eared slave, who snatched his loaded musket, and in a +moment had shot one of them through the heart. Such were our experiences +of the Wakimbu of Tura. + +On the 18th the three caravans, Hamed's, Hassan's, and my own, left Tura +by a road which zig-zagged towards all points through the tall matama +fields. In an hour's time we had passed Tura Perro, or Western Tura, and +had entered the forest again, whence the Wakimbu of Tura obtain their +honey, and where they excavate deep traps for the elephants with which +the forest is said to abound. An hour's march from Western Tura brought +us to a ziwa, or pond. There were two, situated in the midst of a small +open mbuga, or plain, which, even at this late season, was yet soft +from the water which overflows it during the rainy season. After resting +three hours, we started on the terekeza, or afternoon march. + +It was one and the same forest that we had entered soon after leaving +Western Tura, that we travelled through until we reached the Kwala +Mtoni, or, as Burton has misnamed it on his map, "Kwale." The water of +this mtoni is contained in large ponds, or deep depressions in the wide +and crooked gully of Kwala. In these ponds a species of mud-fish, was +found, off one of which I made a meal, by no means to be despised by one +who had not tasted fish since leaving Bagamoyo. Probably, if I had my +choice, being, when occasion demands it, rather fastidious in my tastes, +I would not select the mud-fish. + +From Tura to the Kwala Mtoni is seventeen and a half miles, a distance +which, however easy it may be traversed once a fortnight, assumes a +prodigious length when one has to travel it almost every other day, +at least, so my pagazis, soldiers, and followers found it, and their +murmurs were very loud when I ordered the signal to be sounded on the +march. Abdul Kader, the tailor who had attached himself to me, as a +man ready-handed at all things, from mending a pair of pants, making +a delicate entremets, or shooting an elephant, but whom the interior +proved to be the weakliest of the weakly, unfit for anything except +eating and drinking---almost succumbed on this march. + +Long ago the little stock of goods which Abdul had brought from Zanzibar +folded in a pocket-handkerchief, and with which he was about to buy +ivory and slaves, and make his fortune in the famed land of Unyamwezi, +had disappeared with the great eminent hopes he had built on them, like +those of Alnaschar the unfortunate owner of crockery in the Arabian +tale. He came to me as we prepared for the march, with a most dolorous +tale about his approaching death, which he felt in his bones, and +weary back: his legs would barely hold him up; in short, he had utterly +collapsed--would I take mercy on him, and let him depart? The cause of +this extraordinary request, so unlike the spirit with which he had left +Zanzibar, eager to possess the ivory and slaves of Unyamwezi, was that +on the last long march, two of my donkeys being dead, I had ordered that +the two saddles which they had carried should be Abdul Kader's load +to Unyanyembe. The weight of the saddles was 16 lbs., as the spring +balance-scale indicated, yet Abdul Kader became weary of life, as, +he counted the long marches that intervened between the mtoni and +Unyanyembe. On the ground he fell prone, to kiss my feet, begging me in +the name of God to permit him to depart. + +As I had had some experience of Hindoos, Malabarese, and coolies +in Abyssinia, I knew exactly how to deal with a case like this. +Unhesitatingly I granted the request as soon as asked, for as much +tired as Abdul Kader said he was of life, I was with Abdul Kader's +worthlessness. But the Hindi did not want to be left in the jungle, he +said, but, after arriving in Unyanyembe. "Oh," said I, "then you must +reach Unyanyembe first; in the meanwhile you will carry those saddles +there for the food which you must eat." + +As the march to Rubuga was eighteen and three-quarter miles, the pagazis +walked fast and long without resting. + +Rubuga, in the days of Burton, according to his book, was a prosperous +district. Even when we passed, the evidences of wealth and prosperity +which it possessed formerly, were plain enough in the wide extent of its +grain fields, which stretched to the right and left of the Unyanyembe +road for many a mile. But they were only evidences of what once were +numerous villages, a well-cultivated and populous district, rich in +herds of cattle and stores of grain. All the villages are burnt down, +the people have been driven north three or four days from Rubuga, the +cattle were taken by force, the grain fields were left standing, to be +overgrown with jungle and rank weeds. We passed village after village +that had been burnt, and were mere blackened heaps of charred timber and +smoked clay; field after field of grain ripe years ago was yet standing +in the midst of a crop of gums and thorns, mimosa and kolquall. + +We arrived at the village, occupied by about sixty Wangwana, who have +settled here to make a living by buying and selling ivory. Food is +provided for them in the deserted fields of the people of Rubuga. We +were very tired and heated from the long march, but the pagazis had all +arrived by 3 p.m. + +At the Wangwana village we met Amer bin Sultan, the very type of an +old Arab sheikh, such as we read of in books, with a snowy beard, and +a clean reverend face, who was returning to Zanzibar after a ten years' +residence in Unyanyembe. He presented me with a goat; and a goatskin +full of rice; a most acceptable gift in a place where a goat costs five +cloths. + +After a day's halt at Rubuga, during which I despatched soldiers +to notify Sheikh Sayd bin Salim and Sheikh bin Nasib, the two chief +dignitaries of Unyanyembe, of my coming, on the 21st of June we resumed +the march for Kigwa, distant five hours. The road ran through another +forest similar to that which separated Tura from Rubuga, the country +rapidly sloping as we proceeded westward. Kigwa we found to have been +visited by the same vengeance which rendered Rubuga such a waste. + +The next day, after a three and a half hours' rapid march, we crossed +the mtoni--which was no mtoni--separating Kigwa from Unyanyembe +district, and after a short halt to quench our thirst, in three and a +half hours more arrived at Shiza. It was a most delightful march, though +a long one, for its picturesqueness of scenery which every few minutes +was revealed, and the proofs we everywhere saw of the peaceable and +industrious disposition of the people. A short half hour from Shiza we +beheld the undulating plain wherein the Arabs have chosen to situate the +central depot which commands such wide and extensive field of trade. The +lowing of cattle and the bleating of the goats and sheep were everywhere +heard, giving the country a happy, pastoral aspect. + +The Sultan of Shiza desired me to celebrate my arrival in Unyanyembe, +with a five-gallon jar of pombe, which he brought for that purpose. + +As the pombe was but stale ale in taste, and milk and water in colour, +after drinking a small glassful I passed it to the delighted soldiers +and pagazis. At my request the Sultan brought a fine fat bullock, for +which he accepted four and a half doti of Merikani. The bullock was +immediately slaughtered and served out to the caravan as a farewell +feast. + +No one slept much that night, and long before the dawn the fires were +lit, and great steaks were broiling, that their stomachs might rejoice +before parting with the Musungu, whose bounty they had so often tasted. +Six rounds of powder were served to each soldier and pagazi who owned +a gun, to fire away when we should be near the Arab houses. The meanest +pagazi had his best cloth about his loins, and some were exceedingly +brave in gorgeous Ulyah "Coombeesa Poonga" and crimson "Jawah," the +glossy "Rehani," and the neat "Dabwani." The soldiers were mustered in +new tarbooshes, and the long white shirts of the Mrima and the Island. +For this was the great and happy day which had been on our tongues ever +since quitting the coast, for which we had made those noted marches +latterly--one hundred and seventy-eight and a half miles in sixteen +days, including pauses--something over eleven miles a day. + +The signal sounded and the caravan was joyfully off with banners flying, +and trumpets and horns blaring. A short two and a half hours' march +brought us within sight of Kwikuru, which is about two miles south of +Tabora, the main Arab town; on the outside of which we saw a long line +of men in clean shirts, whereat we opened our charged batteries, and +fired a volley of small arms such as Kwikuru seldom heard before. The +pagazis closed up and adopted the swagger of veterans: the soldiers +blazed away uninterruptedly, while I, seeing that the Arabs were +advancing towards me, left the ranks, and held out my hand, which was +immediately grasped by Sheikh Sayd bin Salim, and then by about two +dozen people, and thus our entree into Unyanyembe was effected. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. -- MY LIFE AND TROUBLES DURING MY RESIDENCE IN UNYAS +NYEMBE. I BECOME ENGAGED IN A WAR. + + +I received a noiseless ovation as I walked side by side with the +governor, Sayd bin Salim, towards his tembe in Kwikuru, or the capital. +The Wanyamwezi pagazis were out by hundreds, the warriors of Mkasiwa, +the sultan, hovered around their chief, the children were seen between +the legs of their parents, even infants, a few months old, slung over +their mothers' backs, all paid the tribute due to my colour, with one +grand concentrated stare. The only persons who talked with me were the +Arabs, and aged Mkasiwa, ruler of Unyanyembe. + +Sayd bin Salim's house was at the north-western corner of the inclosure, +a stockaded boma of Kwikuru. We had tea made in a silver tea-pot, and a +bountiful supply of "dampers" were smoking under a silver cover; and +to this repast I was invited. When a man has walked eight miles or so +without any breakfast, and a hot tropical sun has been shining on him +for three or four hours, he is apt to do justice to a meal, especially +if his appetite is healthy. I think I astonished the governor by the +dexterous way in which I managed to consume eleven cups of his aromatic +concoction of an Assam herb, and the easy effortless style with which +I demolished his high tower of "slap jacks," that but a minute or so +smoked hotly under their silver cover. + +For the meal, I thanked the Sheikh, as only an earnest and sincerely +hungry man, now satisfied, could thank him. Even if I had not spoken, my +gratified looks had well informed him, under what obligations I had been +laid to him. + +Out came my pipe and tobacco-pouch. + +"My friendly Sheikh, wilt thou smoke?" + +"No, thanks! Arabs never smoke." + +"Oh, if you don't, perhaps you would not object to me smoking, in order +to assist digestion?" + +"Ngema--good--go on, master." + +Then began the questions, the gossipy, curious, serious, light +questions: + +"How came the master? + +"By the Mpwapwa road." + +"It is good. Was the Makata bad?" + +"Very bad." + +"What news from Zanzibar?" + +"Good; Syed Toorkee has possession of Muscat, and Azim bin Ghis was +slain in the streets." + +"Is this true, Wallahi?" (by God.) + +"It is true." + +"Heh-heh-h! This is news!"--stroking his beard. + +"Have you heard, master, of Suleiman bin Ali?" + +"Yes, the Bombay governor sent him to Zanzibar, in a man-of-war, and +Suleiman bin Ali now lies in the gurayza (fort)." + +"Heh, that is very good." + +"Did you have to pay much tribute to the Wagogo?" + +"Eight times; Hamed Kimiani wished me to go by Kiwyeh, but I declined, +and struck through the forest to Munieka. Hamed and Thani thought it +better to follow me, than brave Kiwyeh by themselves." + +"Where is that Hajji Abdullah (Captain Burton) that came here, and +Spiki?" (Speke.) + +"Hajji Abdullah! What Hajji Abdullah? Ah! Sheikh Burton we call him. Oh, +he is a great man now; a balyuz (a consul) at El Scham" (Damascus.) + +"Heh-heh; balyuz! Heh, at El Scham! Is not that near Betlem el Kuds?" +(Jerusalem.) + +"Yes, about four days. Spiki is dead. He shot himself by accident." + +"Ah, ah, Wallah (by God), but this is bad news. Spiki dead? Mash-Allah! +Ough, he was a good man--a good man! Dead!" + +"But where is this Kazeh, Sheikh Sayd?" + +"Kazeh? Kazeh? I never heard the name before." + +"But you were with Burton, and Speke, at Kazeh; you lived there several +months, when you were all stopping in Unyanyembe; it must be close here; +somewhere. Where did Hajji Abdullah and Spiki live when they were in +Unyanyembe? Was it not in Musa Mzuri's house?" + +"That was in Tabora." + +"Well, then, where is Kazeh? I have never seen the man yet who could +tell me where that place is, and yet the three white men have that word +down, as the name of the place they lived at when you were with them. +You must know where it is." + +"Wallahi, bana, I never heard the name; but stop, Kazeh, in Kinyamwezi, +means 'kingdom.' Perhaps they gave that name to the place they stopped +at. But then, I used to call the first house Sny bin Amer's house, and +Speke lived at Musa Mzuri's house, but both houses, as well as all the +rest, are in Tabora." + +"Thank you, sheikh. I should like to go and look after my people; they +must all be wanting food." + +"I shall go with you to show you your house. The tembe is in Kwihara, +only an hour's walk from Tabora." + +On leaving Kwikuru we crossed a low ridge, and soon saw Kwihara +lying between two low ranges of hills, the northernmost of which was +terminated westward by the round fortress-like hill of Zimbili. There +was a cold glare of intense sunshine over the valley, probably the +effect of an universal bleakness or an autumnal ripeness of the grass, +unrelieved by any depth of colour to vary the universal sameness. The +hills were bleached, or seemed to be, under that dazzling sunshine, +and clearest atmosphere. The corn had long been cut, and there lay the +stubble, and fields,--a browny-white expanse; the houses were of mud, +and their fiat roofs were of mud, and the mud was of a browny-whiteness; +the huts were thatched, and the stockades around them of barked timber, +and these were of a browny whiteness. The cold, fierce, sickly wind from +the mountains of Usagara sent a deadly chill to our very marrows, yet +the intense sunshiny glare never changed, a black cow or two, or a tall +tree here and there, caught the eye for a moment, but they never made +one forget that the first impression of Kwihara was as of a picture +without colour, or of food without taste; and if one looked up, there +was a sky of a pale blue, spotless, and of an awful serenity. + +As I approached the tembe of Sayd bin Salim, Sheikh bin Nasib and other +great Arabs joined us. Before the great door of the tembe the men had +stacked the bales, and piled the boxes, and were using their tongues +at a furious rate, relating to the chiefs and soldiers of the first, +second, and fourth caravans the many events which had befallen them, and +which seemed to them the only things worth relating. Outside of their +own limited circles they evidently cared for nothing. Then the several +chiefs of the other caravans had in turn to relate their experiences +of the road; and the noise of tongues was loud and furious. But as we +approached, all this loud-sounding gabble ceased, and my caravan chiefs +and guides rushed to me to hail me as "master," and to salute me as +their friend. One fellow, faithful Baruti, threw himself at my feet, the +others fired their guns and acted like madmen suddenly become frenzied, +and a general cry of "welcome" was heard on all sides. + +"Walk in, master, this is your house, now; here are your men's quarters; +here you will receive the great Arabs, here is the cook-house; here is +the store-house; here is the prison for the refractory; here are +your white man's apartments; and these are your own: see, here is the +bedroom, here is the gun-room, bath-room, &c.;" so Sheikh Sayd talked, +as he showed me the several places. + +On my honour, it was a most comfortable place, this, in Central Africa. +One could almost wax poetic, but we will keep such ambitious ideas for +a future day. Just now, however, we must have the goods stored, and the +little army of carriers paid off and disbanded. + +Bombay was ordered to unlock the strong store-room, to pile the bales +in regular tiers, the beads in rows one above another, and the wire in +a separate place. The boats, canvas, &c., were to be placed high above +reach of white ants, and the boxes of ammunition and powder kegs were to +be stored in the gun-room, out of reach of danger. Then a bale of cloth +was opened, and each carrier was rewarded according to his merits, that +each of them might proceed home to his friends and neighbours, and tell +them how much better the white man behaved than the Arabs. + +The reports of the leaders of the first, second, and fourth caravans +were then received, their separate stores inspected, and the details and +events of their marches heard. The first caravan had been engaged in +a war at Kirurumo, and had come out of the fight successful, and had +reached Unyanyembe without loss of anything. The second had shot a thief +in the forest between Pembera Pereh and Kididimo; the fourth had lost a +bale in the jungle of Marenga Mkali, and the porter who carried it had +received a "very sore head" from a knob stick wielded by one of the +thieves, who prowl about the jungle near the frontier of Ugogo. I was +delighted to find that their misfortunes were no more, and each leader +was then and there rewarded with one handsome cloth, and five doti of +Merikani. + +Just as I began to feel hungry again, came several slaves in succession, +bearing trays full of good things from the Arabs; first an enormous dish +of rice, with a bowlful of curried chicken, another with a dozen huge +wheaten cakes, another with a plateful of smoking hot crullers, another +with papaws, another with pomegranates and lemons; after these came +men driving five fat hump backed oxen, eight sheep, and ten goats, and +another man with a dozen chickens, and a dozen fresh eggs. This was +real, practical, noble courtesy, munificent hospitality, which quite +took my gratitude by storm. + +My people, now reduced to twenty-five, were as delighted at the prodigal +plenitude visible on my tables and in my yard, as I was myself. And as I +saw their eyes light up at the unctuous anticipations presented to them +by their riotous fancies, I ordered a bullock to be slaughtered and +distributed. + +The second day of the arrival of the Expedition in the country which I +now looked upon as classic ground, since Capts. Burton, Speke, and Grant +years ago had visited it, and described it, came the Arab magnates from +Tabora to congratulate me. + +Tabora* is the principal Arab settlement in Central Africa. It contains +over a thousand huts and tembes, and one may safely estimate the +population, Arabs, Wangwana, and natives, at five thousand people. +Between Tabora and the next settlement, Kwihara, rise two rugged hill +ridges, separated from each other by a low saddle, over the top of which +Tabora is always visible from Kwihara. ________________ * There is no +such recognised place as Kazeh. ________________ + +They were a fine, handsome body of men, these Arabs. They mostly hailed +from Oman: others were Wasawahili; and each of my visitors had quite a +retinue with him. At Tabora they live quite luxuriously. The plain on +which the settlement is situated is exceedingly fertile, though naked of +trees; the rich pasturage it furnishes permits them to keep large herds +of cattle and goats, from which they have an ample supply of milk, +cream, butter, and ghee. Rice is grown everywhere; sweet potatoes, +yams, muhogo, holcus sorghum, maize, or Indian corn, sesame, millet, +field-peas, or vetches, called choroko, are cheap, and always +procurable. Around their tembes the Arabs cultivate a little wheat for +their own purposes, and have planted orange, lemon, papaw, and mangoes, +which thrive here fairly well. Onions and garlic, chilies, cucumbers, +tomatoes, and brinjalls, may be procured by the white visitor from the +more important Arabs, who are undoubted epicureans in their way. Their +slaves convey to them from the coast, once a year at least, their stores +of tea, coffee sugar, spices, jellies, curries, wine, brandy, biscuits, +sardines, salmon, and such fine cloths and articles as they require for +their own personal use. Almost every Arab of any eminence is able to +show a wealth of Persian carpets, and most luxurious bedding, complete +tea and coffee-services, and magnificently carved dishes of tinned +copper and brass lavers. Several of them sport gold watches and +chains, mostly all a watch and chain of some kind. And, as in Persia, +Afghanistan, and Turkey, the harems form an essential feature of every +Arab's household; the sensualism of the Mohammedans is as prominent here +as in the Orient. + +The Arabs who now stood before the front door of my tembe were the +donors of the good things received the day before. As in duty bound, of +course, I greeted Sheikh Sayd first, then Sheikh bin Nasib, his Highness +of Zanzibar's consul at Karagwa, then I greeted the noblest Trojan +amongst the Arab population, noblest in bearing, noblest in courage and +manly worth--Sheikh Khamis bin Abdullah; then young Amram bin Mussoud, +who is now making war on the king of Urori and his fractious people; +then handsome, courageous Soud, the son of Sayd bin Majid; then +dandified Thani bin Abdullah; then Mussoud bin Abdullah and his cousin +Abdullah bin Mussoud, who own the houses where formerly lived Burton +and Speke; then old Suliman Dowa, Sayd bin Sayf, and the old Hetman of +Tabora--Sheikh Sultan bin Ali. + +As the visit of these magnates, under whose loving protection white +travellers must needs submit themselves, was only a formal one, such as +Arab etiquette, ever of the stateliest and truest, impelled them to, it +is unnecessary to relate the discourse on my health, and their wealth, +my thanks, and their professions of loyalty, and attachment to me. After +having expended our mutual stock of congratulations and nonsense, they +departed, having stated their wish that I should visit them at Tabora +and partake of a feast which they were about to prepare for me. + +Three days afterwards I sallied out of my tembe, escorted by eighteen +bravely dressed men of my escort, to pay Tabora a visit. On surmounting +the saddle over which the road from the valley of Kwihara leads to +Tabora, the plain on which the Arab settlement is situated lay before +us, one expanse of dun pasture land, stretching from the base of the +hill on our left as far as the banks of the northern Gombe, which a few +miles beyond Tabora heave into purple-coloured hills and blue cones. + +Within three-quarters of an hour we were seated on the mud veranda of +the tembe of Sultan bin Ali, who, because of his age, his wealth, and +position--being a colonel in Seyd Burghash's unlovely army--is looked +upon by his countrymen, high and low, as referee and counsellor. His +boma or enclosure contains quite a village of hive-shaped huts and +square tembes. From here, after being presented with a cup of Mocha +coffee, and some sherbet, we directed our steps towards Khamis bin +Abdullah's house, who had, in anticipation of my coming, prepared a +feast to which he had invited his friends and neighbours. The group of +stately Arabs in their long white dresses, and jaunty caps, also of a +snowy white, who stood ready to welcome me to Tabora, produced quite +an effect on my mind. I was in time for a council of war they were +holding--and I was requested to attend. + +Khamis bin Abdullah, a bold and brave man, ever ready to stand up +for the privileges of the Arabs, and their rights to pass through any +countries for legitimate trade, is the man who, in Speke's 'Journal +of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile,' is reported to have shot +Maula, an old chief who sided with Manwa Sera during the wars of 1860; +and who subsequently, after chasing his relentless enemy for five years +through Ugogo and Unyamwezi as far as Ukonongo, had the satisfaction of +beheading him, was now urging the Arabs to assert their rights against a +chief called Mirambo of Uyoweh, in a crisis which was advancing. + +This Mirambo of Uyoweh, it seems, had for the last few years been in +a state of chronic discontent with the policies of the neighbouring +chiefs. Formerly a pagazi for an Arab, he had now assumed regal power, +with the usual knack of unconscionable rascals who care not by what +means they step into power. When the chief of Uyoweh died, Mirambo, +who was head of a gang of robbers infesting the forests of Wilyankuru, +suddenly entered Uyoweh, and constituted himself lord paramount by +force. Some feats of enterprise, which he performed to the enrichment +of all those who recognised his authority, established him firmly in +his position. This was but a beginning; he carried war through Ugara to +Ukonongo, through Usagozi to the borders of Uvinza, and after destroying +the populations over three degrees of latitude, he conceived a grievance +against Mkasiwa, and against the Arabs, because they would not sustain +him in his ambitious projects against their ally and friend, with whom +they were living in peace. + +The first outrage which this audacious man committed against the Arabs +was the halting of an Ujiji-bound caravan, and the demand for five kegs +of gunpowder, five guns, and five bales of cloth. This extraordinary +demand, after expending more than a day in fierce controversy, was +paid; but the Arabs, if they were surprised at the exorbitant black-mail +demanded of them, were more than ever surprised when they were told to +return the way they came; and that no Arab caravan should pass through +his country to Ujiji except over his dead body. + +On the return of the unfortunate Arabs to Unyanyembe, they reported the +facts to Sheikh Sayd bin Salim, the governor of the Arab colony. This +old man, being averse to war, of course tried every means to induce +Mirambo as of old to be satisfied with presents; but Mirambo this time +was obdurate, and sternly determined on war unless the Arabs aided him +in the warfare he was about to wage against old Mkasiwa, sultan of the +Wanyamwezi of Unyanyembe. + +"This is the status of affairs," said Khamis bin Abdullah. "Mirambo +says that for years he has been engaged in war against the neighbouring +Washensi and has come out of it victorious; he says this is a great year +with him; that he is going to fight the Arabs, and the Wanyamwezi of +Unyanyembe, and that he shall not stop until every Arab is driven from +Unyanyembe, and he rules over this country in place of Mkasiwa. Children +of Oman, shall it be so? Speak, Salim, son of Sayf, shall we go to meet +this Mshensi (pagan) or shall we return to our island?" + +A murmur of approbation followed the speech of Khamis bin Abdullah, the +majority of those present being young men eager to punish the audacious +Mirambo. Salim, the son of Sayf, an old patriarch, slow of speech, tried +to appease the passions of the young men, scions of the aristocracy of +Muscat and Muttrah, and Bedaweens of the Desert, but Khamis's bold words +had made too deep an impression on their minds. + +Soud, the handsome Arab whom I have noticed already as the son of Sayd +the son of Majid, spoke: "My father used to tell me that he remembered +the days when the Arabs could go through the country from Bagamoyo to +Ujiji, and from Kilwa to Lunda, and from Usenga to Uganda armed with +canes. Those days are gone by. We have stood the insolence of the Wagogo +long enough. Swaruru of Usui just takes from us whatever he wants; and +now, here is Mirambo, who says, after taking more than five bales of +cloth as tribute from one man, that no Arab caravan shall go to Ujiji, +but over his body. Are we prepared to give up the ivory of Ujiji, of +Urundi, of Karagwah, of Uganda, because of this one man? I say war--war +until we have got his beard under our feet--war until the whole of +Uyoweh and Wilyankuru is destroyed--war until we can again travel +through any part of the country with only our walking canes in our +hands!" + +The universal assent that followed Send's speech proved beyond a doubt +that we were about to have a war. I thought of Livingstone. What if he +were marching to Unyanyembe directly into the war country? + +Having found from the Arabs that they intended to finish the war +quickly--at most within fifteen days, as Uyoweh was only four marches +distant--I volunteered to accompany them, take my loaded caravan with me +as far as Mfuto, and there leave it in charge of a few guards, and with +the rest march on with the Arab army. And my hope was, that it might +be possible, after the defeat of Mirambo, and his forest banditti--the +Ruga-Ruga--to take my Expedition direct to Ujiji by the road now closed. +The Arabs were sanguine of victory, and I partook of their enthusiasm. + +The council of war broke up. A great dishful of rice and curry, in +which almonds, citron, raisins, and currants were plentifully mixed, was +brought in, and it was wonderful how soon we forgot our warlike fervor +after our attention had been drawn to this royal dish. I, of course, +not being a Mohammedan, had a dish of my own, of a similar composition, +strengthened by platters containing roast chicken, and kabobs, crullers, +cakes, sweetbread, fruit, glasses of sherbet and lemonade, dishes +of gum-drops and Muscat sweetmeats, dry raisins, prunes, and nuts. +Certainly Khamis bin Abdullah proved to me that if he had a warlike soul +in him, he could also attend to the cultivated tastes acquired under the +shade of the mangoes on his father's estates in Zanzibar--the island. + +After gorging ourselves on these uncommon dainties some of the chief +Arabs escorted me to other tembes of Tabora. When we went to visit +Mussoud bin Abdullah, he showed me the very ground where Burton and +Speke's house stood--now pulled down and replaced by his office--Sny +bin Amer's house was also torn down, and the fashionable tembe of +Unyanyembe, now in vogue, built over it,--finely-carved rafters--huge +carved doors, brass knockers, and lofty airy rooms--a house built for +defence and comfort. + +The finest house in Unyanyembe belongs to Amram bin Mussoud, who paid +sixty frasilah of ivory--over $3,000--for it. Very fair houses can be +purchased for from twenty to thirty frasilah of ivory. Amram's house is +called the "Two Seas"--"Baherein." It is one hundred feet in length, and +twenty feet high, with walls four feet thick, neatly plastered over with +mud mortar. The great door is a marvel of carving-work for Unyanyembe +artisans. Each rafter within is also carved with fine designs. Before +the front of the house is a young plantation of pomegranate trees, which +flourish here as if they were indigenous to the soil. A shadoof, such as +may be seen on the Nile, serves to draw water to irrigate the gardens. + +Towards evening we walked back to our own finely situated tembe in +Kwihara, well satisfied with what we had seen at Tabora. My men drove a +couple of oxen, and carried three sacks of native rice--a most superior +kind--the day's presents of hospitality from Khamis bin Abdullah. + +In Unyanyembe I found the Livingstone caravan, which started off in a +fright from Bagamoyo upon the rumour that the English Consul was coming. +As all the caravans were now halted at Unyanyembe because of the now +approaching war, I suggested to Sayd bin Salim, that it were better that +the men of the Livingstone caravan should live with mine in my tembe, +that I might watch over the white man's goods. Sayd bin Salim agreed +with me, and the men and goods were at once brought to my tembe. + +One day Asmani, who was now chief of Livingstone's caravan, the other +having died of small-pox, two or three days before, brought out a tent +to the veranda where, I was sitting writing, and shewed me a packet of +letters, which to my surprise was marked: + +"To Dr. Livingstone, + +"Ujiji, + +"November 1st, 1870. + +"Registered letters." + +From November 1st, 1870, to February 10, 1871, just one hundred days, +at Bagamoyo! A miserable small caravan of thirty-three men halting one +hundred days at Bagamoyo, only twenty-five miles by water from Zanzibar! +Poor Livingstone! Who knows but he maybe suffering for want of these +very supplies that were detained so long near the sea. The caravan +arrived in Unyanyembe some time about the middle of May. About the +latter part of May the first disturbances took place. Had this caravan +arrived here in the middle of March, or even the middle of April, they +might have travelled on to Ujiji without trouble. + +On the 7th of July, about 2 P.M., I was sitting on the burzani as usual; +I felt listless and languid, and a drowsiness came over me; I did not +fall asleep, but the power of my limbs seemed to fail me. Yet the brain +was busy; all my life seemed passing in review before me; when these +retrospective scenes became serious, I looked serious; when they were +sorrowful, I wept hysterically; when they were joyous, I laughed loudly. +Reminiscences of yet a young life's battles and hard struggles came +surging into the mind in quick succession: events of boyhood, of youth, +and manhood; perils, travels, scenes, joys, and sorrows; loves and +hates; friendships and indifferences. My mind followed the various and +rapid transition of my life's passages; it drew the lengthy, erratic, +sinuous lines of travel my footsteps had passed over. If I had drawn +them on the sandy floor, what enigmatical problems they had been to +those around me, and what plain, readable, intelligent histories they +had been to me! + +The loveliest feature of all to me was the form of a noble, and +true man, who called me son. Of my life in the great pine forests of +Arkansas, and in Missouri, I retained the most vivid impressions. The +dreaming days I passed under the sighing pines on the Ouachita's shores; +the new clearing, the block-house, our faithful black servant, the +forest deer, and the exuberant life I led, were all well remembered. And +I remembered how one day, after we had come to live near the Mississipi, +I floated down, down, hundreds of miles, with a wild fraternity of +knurly giants, the boatmen of the Mississipi, and how a dear old man +welcomed me back, as if from the grave. I remembered also my travels on +foot through sunny Spain, and France, with numberless adventures in Asia +Minor, among Kurdish nomads. I remembered the battle-fields of America +and the stormy scenes of rampant war. I remembered gold mines, and broad +prairies, Indian councils, and much experience in the new western +lands. I remembered the shock it gave me to hear after my return from a +barbarous country of the calamity that had overtaken the fond man whom +I called father, and the hot fitful life that followed it. Stop! +************ + +Dear me; is it the 21st of July? Yes, Shaw informed me that it was the +21st of July after I recovered from my terrible attack of fever; the +true date was the 14th of July, but I was not aware that I had jumped a +week, until I met Dr. Livingstone. We two together examined the Nautical +Almanack, which I brought with me. We found that the Doctor was three +weeks out of his reckoning, and to my great surprise I was also one week +out, or one week ahead of the actual date. The mistake was made by +my being informed that I had been two weeks sick, and as the day I +recovered my senses was Friday, and Shaw and the people were morally +sure that I was in bed two weeks, I dated it on my Diary the 21st of +July. However, on the tenth day after the first of my illness, I was in +excellent trim again, only, however, to see and attend to Shaw, who was +in turn taken sick. By the 22nd July Shaw was recovered, then Selim was +prostrated, and groaned in his delirium for four days, but by the 28th +we were all recovered, and were beginning to brighten up at the prospect +of a diversion in the shape of a march upon Mirambo's stronghold. + +The morning of the 29th I had fifty men loaded with bales, beads, and +wire, for Ujiji. When they were mustered for the march outside the +tembe, the only man absent was Bombay. While men were sent to search +for him, others departed to get one more look, and one more embrace with +their black Delilahs. Bombay was found some time about 2 P.M., his +face faithfully depicting the contending passions under which he was +labouring--sorrow at parting from the fleshpots of Unyanyembe--regret at +parting from his Dulcinea of Tabora--to be, bereft of all enjoyment now, +nothing but marches--hard, long marches--to go to the war--to be killed, +perhaps, Oh! Inspired by such feelings, no wonder Bombay was inclined to +be pugnacious when I ordered him to his place, and I was in a shocking +bad temper for having been kept waiting from 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. for him. +There was simply a word and a savage look, and my cane was flying around +Bombay's shoulders, as if he were to be annihilated. I fancy that the +eager fury of my onslaught broke his stubbornness more than anything +else; for before I had struck him a dozen times he was crying for +"pardon." At that word I ceased belaboring him, for this was the first +time he had ever uttered that word. Bombay was conquered at last. + +"March!" and the guide led off, followed in solemn order by forty-nine +of his fellows, every man carrying a heavy load of African moneys, +besides his gun, hatchet, and stock of ammunition, and his ugali-pot. We +presented quite an imposing sight while thus marching on in silence +and order, with our flags flying, and the red blanket robes of the men +streaming behind them as the furious north-easter blew right on our +flank. + +The men seemed to feel they were worth seeing, for I noticed that +several assumed a more martial tread as they felt their royal Joho cloth +tugging at their necks, as it was swept streaming behind by the wind. +Maganga, a tall Mnyamwezi, stalked along like a very Goliah about to +give battle alone, to Mirambo and his thousand warriors. Frisky Khamisi +paced on under his load, imitating a lion and there was the rude +jester--the incorrigible Ulimengo--with a stealthy pace like a cat. But +their silence could not last long. Their vanity was so much gratified, +the red cloaks danced so incessantly before their eyes, that it would +have been a wonder if they could have maintained such serious gravity or +discontent one half hour longer. + +Ulimengo was the first who broke it. He had constituted himself the +kirangozi or guide, and was the standard-bearer, bearing the American +flag, which the men thought would certainly strike terror into the +hearts of the enemy. Growing confident first, then valorous, then +exultant, he suddenly faced the army he was leading, and shouted + + "Hoy! Hoy! +Chorus.--Hoy! Hoy! + + Hoy! Hoy! +Chorus.--Hoy! Hoy! + + Hoy! Hoy! +Chorus.--Hoy! Hoy! + + Where are ye going? +Chorus.--Going to war. + + Against whom? +Chorus.--Against Mirambo. + + Who is your master? +Chorus.--The White Man. + + Ough! Ough! +Chorus.--Ough! Ough! + + Hyah! Hyah! +Chorus.--Hyah. Hyah!" + +This was the ridiculous song they kept up all day without intermission. + +We camped the first day at Bomboma's village, situated a mile to the +south-west of the natural hill fortress of Zimbili. Bombay was quite +recovered from his thrashing, and had banished the sullen thoughts that +had aroused my ire, and the men having behaved themselves so well, a +five-gallon pot of pombe was brought to further nourish the valour, +which they one and all thought they possessed. + +The second day we arrived at Masangi. I was visited soon afterwards by +Soud, the son of Sayd bin Majid, who told me the Arabs were waiting for +me; that they would not march from Mfuto until I had arrived. + +Eastern Mfuto, after a six hours' march, was reached on the third day +from Unyanyembe. Shaw gave in, laid down in the road, and declared he +was dying. This news was brought to me about 4 P.M. by one of the last +stragglers. I was bound to despatch men to carry him to me, into my +camp, though every man was well tired after the long march. A reward +stimulated half-a-dozen to venture into the forest just at dusk to find +Shaw, who was supposed to be at least three hours away from camp. + +About two o'clock in the morning my men returned, having carried Shaw on +their backs the entire distance. I was roused up, and had him conveyed +to my tent. I examined him, and I assured myself he was not suffering +from fever of any kind; and in reply to my inquiries as to how he +felt, he said he could neither walk nor ride, that he felt such extreme +weakness and lassitude that he was incapable of moving further. After +administering a glass of port wine to him in a bowlful of sago gruel, we +both fell asleep. + +We arrived early the following morning at Mfuto, the rendezvous of the +Arab army. A halt was ordered the next day, in order to make ourselves +strong by eating the beeves, which we freely slaughtered. + +The personnel of our army was as follows: + +Sheikh Sayd bin Salim...... 25 half caste + + " Khamis bin Abdullah.... 250 slaves + + " Thani bin Abdullah.... 80 " + + " Mussoud bin Abdullah.... 75 " + + " Abdullah bin Mussoud.... 80 " + + " Ali bin Sayd bin Nasib... 250 " + + " Nasir bin Mussoud..... 50 " + + " Hamed Kimiami...... 70 " + + " Hamdam........ 30 " + + + " Sayd bin Habib...... 50 " + + " Salim bin Sayf..... 100 " + + " Sunguru........ 25 " + + " Sarboko........ 25 " + + " Soud bin Sayd bin Majid... 50 " + + " Mohammed bin Mussoud.... 30 " + + " Sayd bin Hamed...... 90 " + + " The 'Herald' Expedition... 50 soldiers + + " Mkasiwa's Wanyamwezi... 800 " + + " Half-castes and Wangwana.. 125 " + + " Independent chiefs and their + followers....... 300 " + +These made a total of 2,255, according to numbers given me by Thani bin +Abdullah, and corroborated by a Baluch in the pay of Sheikh bin Nasib. +Of these men 1,500 were armed with guns--flint-lock muskets, German +and French double-barrels, some English Enfields, and American +Springfields--besides these muskets, they were mostly armed with spears +and long knives for the purpose of decapitating, and inflicting vengeful +gashes in the dead bodies. Powder and ball were plentiful: some men were +served a hundred rounds each, my people received each man sixty rounds. + +As we filed out of the stronghold of Mfuto, with waving banners denoting +the various commanders, with booming horns, and the roar of fifty bass +drums, called gomas--with blessings showered on us by the mollahs, +and happiest predications from the soothsayers, astrologers, and the +diviners of the Koran--who could have foretold that this grand force, +before a week passed over its head, would be hurrying into that same +stronghold of Mfuto, with each man's heart in his mouth from fear? + +The date of our leaving Mfuto for battle with Mirambo was the 3rd of +August. All my goods were stored in Mfuto, ready for the march to Ujiji, +should we be victorious over the African chief, but at least for safety, +whatever befel us. + +Long before we reached Umanda, I was in my hammock in the paroxysms of +a fierce attack of intermittent fever, which did not leave me until late +that night. + +At Umanda, six hours from Mfuto, our warriors bedaubed themselves with +the medicine which the wise men had manufactured for them--a compound +of matama flour mixed with the juices of a herb whose virtues were only +known to the Waganga of the Wanyamwezi. + +At 6 A.M. on the 4th of August we were once more prepared for the road, +but before we were marched out of the village, the "manneno," or speech, +was delivered by the orator of the Wanyamwezi: + +"Words! words! words! Listen, sons of Mkasiwa, children of Unyamwezi! +the journey is before you, the thieves of the forest are waiting; yes, +they are thieves, they cut up your caravans, they steal your ivory, they +murder your women. Behold, the Arabs are with you, El Wali of the Arab +sultan, and the white man are with you. Go, the son of Mkasiwa is with +you; fight; kill, take slaves, take cloth, take cattle, kill, eat, and +fill yourselves! Go!" + +A loud, wild shout followed this bold harangue, the gates of the +village were thrown open, and blue, red, and white-robed soldiers were +bounding upward like so many gymnasts; firing their guns incessantly, in +order to encourage themselves with noise, or to strike terror into the +hearts of those who awaited us within the strong enclosure of Zimbizo, +Sultan Kolongo's place. + +As Zimbizo was distant only five hours from Umanda, at 11 A.M. we came +in view of it. We halted on the verge of the cultivated area around it +and its neighbours within the shadow of the forest. Strict orders had +been given by the several chiefs to their respective commands not to +fire, until they were within shooting distance of the boma. + +Khamis bin Abdullah crept through the forest to the west of the village. +The Wanyamwezi took their position before the main gateway, aided by the +forces of Soud the son of Sayd on the right, and the son of Habib on +the left, Abdullah, Mussoud, myself, and others made ready to attack +the eastern gates, which arrangement effectually shut them in, with the +exception of the northern side. + +Suddenly, a volley opened on us as we emerged from the forest along the +Unyanyembe road, in the direction they had been anticipating the sight +of an enemy, and immediately the attacking forces began their firing in +most splendid style. There were some ludicrous scenes of men pretending +to fire, then jumping off to one side, then forward, then backward, +with the agility of hopping frogs, but the battle was none the less in +earnest. The breech-loaders of my men swallowed my metallic cartridges +much faster than I liked to see; but happily there was a lull in the +firing, and we were rushing into the village from the west, the south, +the north, through the gates and over the tall palings that surrounded +the village, like so many Merry Andrews; and the poor villagers were +flying from the enclosure towards the mountains, through the northern +gate, pursued by the fleetest runners of our force, and pelted in the +back by bullets from breech-loaders and shot-guns. + +The village was strongly defended, and not more than twenty dead +bodies were found in it, the strong thick wooden paling having afforded +excellent protection against our bullets. + +From Zimbizo, after having left a sufficient force within, we sallied +out, and in an hour had cleared the neighbourhood of the enemy, having +captured two other villages, which we committed to the flames, after +gutting them of all valuables. A few tusks of ivory, and about fifty +slaves, besides an abundance of grain, composed the "loot," which fell +to the lot of the Arabs. + +On the 5th, a detachment of Arabs and slaves, seven hundred strong, +scoured the surrounding country, and carried fire and devastation up to +the boma of Wilyankuru. + +On the 6th, Soud bin Sayd and about twenty other young Arabs led a force +of five hundred men against Wilyankuru itself, where it was supposed +Mirambo was living. Another party went out towards the low wooded hills, +a short distance north of Zimbizo, near which place they surprised a +youthful forest thief asleep, whose head they stretched backwards, and +cut it off as though he were a goat or a sheep. Another party sallied +out southward, and defeated a party of Mirambo's "bush-whackers," news +of which came to our ears at noon. + +In the morning I had gone to Sayd bin Salim's tembe, to represent to him +how necessary it was to burn the long grass in the forest of Zimbizo, +lest it might hide any of the enemy; but soon afterwards I had been +struck down with another attack of intermittent fever, and was obliged +to turn in and cover myself with blankets to produce perspiration; but +not, however, till I had ordered Shaw and Bombay not to permit any of my +men to leave the camp. But I was told soon afterwards by Selim that more +than one half had gone to the attack on Wilyankuru with Soud bin Sayd. + +About 6 P.M. the entire camp of Zimbizo was electrified with the news +that all the Arabs who had accompanied Soud bin Sayd had been killed; +and that more than one-half of his party had been slain. Some of my own +men returned, and from them I learned that Uledi, Grant's former valet, +Mabruki Khatalabu (Killer of his father), Mabruki (the Little), Baruti +of Useguhha, and Ferahan had been killed. I learned also that they had +succeeded in capturing Wilyankuru in a very short time, that Mirambo +and his son were there, that as they succeeded in effecting an entrance, +Mirambo had collected his men, and after leaving the village, had formed +an ambush in the grass, on each side of the road, between Wilyankuru and +Zimbizo, and that as the attacking party were returning home laden with +over a hundred tusks of ivory, and sixty bales of cloth, and two or +three hundred slaves, Mirambo's men suddenly rose up on each side of +them, and stabbed them with their spears. The brave Soud had fired his +double-barrelled gun and shot two men, and was in the act of loading +again when a spear was launched, which penetrated through and through +him: all the other Arabs shared the same fate. This sudden attack from +an enemy they believed to be conquered so demoralized the party that, +dropping their spoil, each man took to his heels, and after making +a wide detour through the woods, returned to Zimbizo to repeat the +dolorous tale. + +The effect of this defeat is indescribable. It was impossible to sleep, +from the shrieks of the women whose husbands had fallen. All night they +howled their lamentations, and sometimes might be heard the groans of +the wounded who had contrived to crawl through the grass unperceived by +the enemy. Fugitives were continually coming in throughout the night, +but none of my men who were reported to be dead, were ever heard of +again. + +The 7th was a day of distrust, sorrow, and retreat; the Arabs accused +one another for urging war without expending all peaceful means first. +There were stormy councils of war held, wherein were some who proposed +to return at once to Unyanyembe, and keep within their own houses; and +Khamis bin Abdullah raved, like an insulted monarch, against the abject +cowardice of his compatriots. These stormy meetings and propositions +to retreat were soon known throughout the camp, and assisted more than +anything else to demoralize completely the combined forces of Wanyamwezi +and slaves. I sent Bombay to Sayd bin Salim to advise him not to think +of retreat, as it would only be inviting Mirambo to carry the war to +Unyanyembe. + +After, despatching Bombay with this message, I fell asleep, but about +1.30 P.M. I was awakened by Selim saying, "Master, get up, they are all +running away, and Khamis bin Abdullah is himself going." + +With the aid of Selim I dressed myself, and staggered towards the door. +My first view was of Thani bin Abdullah being dragged away, who, when he +caught sight of me, shouted out "Bana--quick--Mirambo is coming." He +was then turning to run, and putting on his jacket, with his eyes almost +starting out of their sockets with terror. Khamis bin Abdullah was also +about departing, he being the last Arab to leave. Two of my men were +following him; these Selim was ordered to force back with a revolver. +Shaw was saddling his donkey with my own saddle, preparatory to giving +me the slip, and leaving me in the lurch to the tender mercies of +Mirambo. There were only Bombay, Mabruki Speke, Chanda who was coolly +eating his dinner, Mabruk Unyauyembe, Mtamani, Juma, and Sarmean---only +seven out of fifty. All the others had deserted, and were by this time +far away, except Uledi (Manwa Sera) and Zaidi, whom Selim brought back +at the point of a loaded revolver. Selim was then told to saddle my +donkey, and Bombay to assist Shaw to saddle his own. In a few moments we +were on the road, the men ever looking back for the coming enemy; they +belabored the donkeys to some purpose, for they went at a hard trot, +which caused me intense pain. I would gladly have lain down to die, but +life was sweet, and I had not yet given up all hope of being able to +preserve it to the full and final accomplishment of my mission. My mind +was actively at work planning and contriving during the long lonely +hours of night, which we employed to reach Mfuto, whither I found the +Arabs had retreated. In the night Shaw tumbled off his donkey, and would +not rise, though implored to do so. As I did not despair myself, so I +did not intend that Shaw should despair. He was lifted on his animal, +and a man was placed on each side of him to assist him; thus we rode +through the darkness. At midnight we reached Mfuto safely, and were at +once admitted into the village, from which we had issued so valiantly, +but to which we were now returned so ignominiously. + +I found all my men had arrived here before dark. Ulimengo, the bold +guide who had exulted in his weapons and in our numbers, and was so +sanguine of victory, had performed the eleven hours' march in six hours; +sturdy Chowpereh, whom I regarded as the faithfullest of my people, had +arrived only half an hour later than Ulimengo; and frisky Khamisi, the +dandy--the orator--the rampant demagogue--yes--he had come third; and +Speke's "Faithfuls" had proved as cowardly as any poor "nigger" of them +all. Only Selim was faithful. + +I asked Selim, "Why did you not also run away, and leave your master to +die?" + +"Oh, sir," said the Arab boy, naively, "I was afraid you would whip me." + + + +CHAPTER IX. -- MY LIFE AND TROUBLES IN UNYANYEMBE-(continued). + + +It never occurred to the Arab magnates that I had cause of complaint +against them, or that I had a right to feel aggrieved at their conduct, +for the base desertion of an ally, who had, as a duty to friendship, +taken up arms for their sake. Their "salaams" the next morning after the +retreat, were given as if nothing had transpired to mar the good feeling +that had existed between us. + +They were hardly seated, however, before I began to inform them that as +the war was only between them and Mirambo, and that as I was afraid, if +they were accustomed to run away after every little check, that the war +might last a much longer time than I could afford to lose; and that +as they had deserted their wounded on the field, and left their sick +friends to take care of themselves, they must not consider me in the +light of an ally any more. "I am satisfied," said I, "having seen your +mode of fighting, that the war will not be ended in so short a time as +you think it will. It took you five years, I hear, to conquer and kill +Manwa Sera, you will certainly not conquer Mirambo in less than a year.* +I am a white man, accustomed to wars after a different style, I know +something about fighting, but I never saw people run away from an +encampment like ours at Zimbizo for such slight cause as you had. By +running away, you have invited Mirambo to follow you to Unyanyembe; you +may be sure he will come." __________________ * The same war is still +raging, April, 1874. __________________ + +The Arabs protested one after another that they had not intended to +have left me, but the Wanyamwezi of Mkasiwa had shouted out that the +"Musungu" was gone, and the cry had caused a panic among their people, +which it was impossible to allay. + +Later that day the Arabs continued their retreat to Tabora; which +is twenty-two miles distant from Mfuto. I determined to proceed more +leisurely, and on the second day after the flight from Zimbizo, the +Expedition, with all the stores and baggage, marched back to Masangi, +and on the third day to Kwihara. + +The following extracts from my Diary will serve to show better than +anything else, my feelings and thoughts about this time, after our +disgraceful retreat: + +Kwihara. Friday, 11th August, 1871.--Arrived to-day from Zimbili, +village of Bomboma's. I am quite disappointed and almost disheartened. +But I have one consolation, I have done my duty by the Arabs, a duty I +thought I owed to the kindness they received me with, now, however, the +duty is discharged, and I am free to pursue my own course. I feel +happy, for some reasons, that the duty has been paid at such a slight +sacrifice. Of course if I had lost my life in this enterprise, I should +have been justly punished. But apart from my duty to the consideration +with which the Arabs had received me, was the necessity of trying every +method of reaching Livingstone. This road which the war with Mirambo has +closed, is only a month's march from this place, and, if the road could +be opened with my aid, sooner than without it, why should I refuse my +aid? The attempt has been made for the second time to Ujiji--both have +failed. I am going to try another route; to attempt to go by the north +would be folly. Mirambo's mother and people, and the Wasui, are between +me and Ujiji, without including the Watuta, who are his allies, and +robbers. The southern route seems to be the most practicable one. +Very few people know anything of the country south; those whom I have +questioned concerning it speak of "want of water" and robber Wazavira, +as serious obstacles; they also say that the settlements are few and far +between. + +But before I can venture to try this new route, I have to employ a new +set of men, as those whom I took to Mfuto consider their engagements at +an end, and the fact of five of their number being killed rather damps +their ardor for travelling. It is useless to hope that Wanyamwezi can +be engaged, because it is against their custom to go with caravans, as +carriers, during war time. My position is most serious. I have a good +excuse for returning to the coast, but my conscience will not permit me +to do so, after so much money has been expended, and so much confidence +has been placed in me. In fact, I feel I must die sooner than return. + +Saturday, August 12th.--My men, as I supposed they would, have gone; +they said that I engaged them to go, to Ujiji by Mirambo's road. I have +only thirteen left. + +With this small body of men, whither can I go? I have over one hundred +loads in the storeroom. Livingstone's caravan is also here; his goods +consist of seventeen bales of cloth, twelve boxes, and six bags of +beads. His men are luxuriating upon the best the country affords. + +If Livingstone is at Ujiji, he is now locked up with small means of +escape. I may consider myself also locked up at Unyamyembe, and I +suppose cannot go to Ujiji until this war with Mirambo is settled. +Livingstone cannot get his goods, for they are here with mine. He cannot +return to Zanzibar, and the road to the Nile is blocked up. He might, +if he has men and stores, possibly reach Baker by travelling northwards, +through Urundi, thence through Ruanda, Karagwah, Uganda, Unyoro, and +Ubari to Gondokoro. Pagazis he cannot obtain, for the sources whence a +supply might be obtained are closed. It is an erroneous supposition to +think that Livingstone, any more than any other energetic man of his +calibre, can travel through Africa without some sort of an escort, and a +durable supply of marketable cloth and beads. + +I was told to-day by a man that when Livingstone was coming from Nyassa +Lake towards the Tanganika (the very time that people thought him +murdered) he was met by Sayd bin Omar's caravan, which was bound for +Ulamba. He was travelling with Mohammed bin Gharib. This Arab, who was +coming from Urunga, met Livingstone at Chi-cumbi's, or Kwa-chi-kumbi's, +country, and travelled with him afterwards, I hear, to Manyuema or +Manyema. Manyuema is forty marches from the north of Nyassa. Livingstone +was walking; he was dressed in American sheeting. He had lost all his +cloth in Lake Liemba while crossing it in a boat. He had three canoes +with him; in one he put his cloth, another he loaded with his boxes and +some of his men, into the third he went himself with two servants and +two fishermen. The boat with his cloth was upset. On leaving Nyassa, +Livingstone went to Ubisa, thence to Uemba, thence to Urungu. +Livingstone wore a cap. He had a breech-loading double-barreled rifle +with him, which fired fulminating balls. He was also armed with two +revolvers. The Wahiyow with Livingstone told this man that their master +had many men with him at first, but that several had deserted him. + +August 13th.--A caravan came in to-day from the seacoast. They reported +that William L. Farquhar, whom I left sick at Mpwapwa, Usagara, and +his cook, were dead. Farquhar, I was told, died a few days after I had +entered Ugogo, his cook died a few weeks later. My first impulse was for +revenge. I believed that Leukole had played me false, and had poisoned +him, or that he had been murdered in some other manner; but a personal +interview with the Msawahili who brought the news informing me that +Farquhar had succumbed to his dreadful illness has done away with that +suspicion. So far as I could understand him, Farquhar had in the morning +declared himself well enough to proceed, but in attempting to rise, had +fallen backward and died. I was also told that the Wasagara, possessing +some superstitious notions respecting the dead, had ordered Jako to +take the body out for burial, that Jako, not being able to carry it, +had dragged the body to the jungle, and there left it naked without the +slightest covering of earth, or anything else. + +"There is one of us gone, Shaw, my boy! Who will be the next?" I +remarked that night to my companion. + +August 14th.--Wrote some letters to Zanzibar. Shaw was taken very ill +last night. + +August 19th. Saturday.--My soldiers are employed stringing beads. +Shaw is still a-bed. We hear that Mirambo is coming to Unyanyembe. +A detachment of Arabs and their slaves have started this morning to +possess themselves of the powder left there by the redoubtable Sheikh +Sayd bin Salim, the commander-in-chief of the Arab settlements. + +August 21st. Monday.--Shaw still sick. One hundred fundo of beads have +been strung. The Arabs are preparing for another sally against Mirambo. +The advance of Mirambo upon Unyanyembe was denied by Sayd bin Salim, +this morning. + +August 22nd.--We were stringing beads this morning, when, about 10 A.M., +we heard a continued firing from the direction of Tabora. Rushing out +from our work to the front door facing Tabora, we heard considerable +volleying, and scattered firing, plainly; and ascending to the top of my +tembe, I saw with my glasses the smoke of the guns. Some of my men +who were sent on to ascertain the cause came running back with the +information that Mirambo had attacked Tabora with over two thousand men, +and that a force of over one thousand Watuta, who had allied themselves +with him for the sake of plunder, had come suddenly upon Tabora, +attacking from opposite directions. + +Later in the day, or about noon, watching the low saddle over which we +could see Tabora, we saw it crowded with fugitives from that settlement, +who were rushing to our settlement at Kwihara for protection. From these +people we heard the sad information that the noble Khamis bin Abdullah, +his little protege, Khamis, Mohammed bin Abdullah, Ibrahim bin Rashid, +and Sayf, the son of Ali, the son of Sheikh, the son of Nasib, had been +slain. + +When I inquired into the details of the attack, and the manner of the +death of these Arabs, I was told that after the first firing which +warned the inhabitants of Tabora that the enemy was upon them, Khamis +bin Abdullah and some of the principal Arabs who happened to be with +him had ascended to the roof of his tembe, and with his spyglass he had +looked towards the direction of the firing. To his great astonishment he +saw the plain around Tabora filled with approaching savages, and about +two miles off, near Kazima, a tent pitched, which he knew to belong to +Mirambo, from its having been presented to that chief by the Arabs of +Tabora when they were on good terms with him. + +Khamis bin Abdullah descended to his house saying, "Let us go to meet +him. Arm yourselves, my friends, and come with me." His friends advised +him strongly sat to go out of his tembe; for so long as each Arab kept +to his tembe they were more than a match for the Ruga Ruga and the +Watuta together. But Khamis broke out impatiently with, "Would you +advise us to stop in our tembes, for fear of this Mshensi (pagan)? Who +goes with me?" His little protege, Khamis, son of a dead friend, asked +to be allowed to be his gun-bearer. Mohammed bin Abdulluh, Ibrahim bin +Rashid, and Sayf, the son of Ali, young Arabs of good families, who were +proud to live with the noble Khamis, also offered to go with him. After +hastily arming eighty of his slaves, contrary to the advice of his +prudent friends, he sallied out, and was soon face to face with his +cunning and determined enemy Mirambo. This chief, upon seeing the Arabs +advance towards him, gave orders to retreat slowly. Khamis, deceived by +this, rushed on with his friends after them. Suddenly Mirambo ordered +his men to advance upon them in a body, and at the sight of the +precipitate rush upon their party, Khamis's slaves incontinently took to +their heels, never even deigning to cast a glance behind them, leaving +their master to the fate which was now overtaking him. The savages +surrounded the five Arabs, and though several of them fell before the +Arabs' fire, continued to shoot at the little party, until Khamis bin +Abdullah received a bullet in the leg, which brought him to his knees, +and, for the first time, to the knowledge that his slaves had deserted +him. Though wounded, the brave man continued shooting, but he soon +afterwards received a bullet through the heart. Little Khamis, upon +seeing his adopted father's fall, exclaimed: "My father Khamis is dead, +I will die with him," and continued fighting until he received, shortly +after, his death wound. In a few minutes there was not one Arab left +alive. + +Late at night some more particulars arrived of this tragic scene. I was +told by people who saw the bodies, that the body of Khamis bin Abdullah, +who was a fine noble, brave, portly man, was found with the skin of his +forehead, the beard and skin of the lower part of his face, the fore +part of the nose, the fat over the stomach and abdomen, and, lastly, a +bit from each heel, cut off, by the savage allies of Mirambo. And in +the same condition were found the bodies of his adopted son and fallen +friends. The flesh and skin thus taken from the bodies was taken, of +course, by the waganga or medicine men, to make what they deem to be +the most powerful potion of all to enable men to be strong against their +enemies. This potion is mixed up with their ugali and rice, and is taken +in this manner with the most perfect confidence in its efficacy, as +an invulnerable protection against bullets and missiles of all +descriptions. + +It was a most sorry scene to witness from our excited settlement at +Kwihara, almost the whole of Tabora in flames, and to see the hundreds +of people crowding into Kwihara. + +Perceiving that my people were willing to stand by me, I made +preparations for defence by boring loopholes for muskets into the +stout clay walls of my tembe. They were made so quickly, and seemed so +admirably adapted for the efficient defence of the tembe, that my men +got quite brave, and Wangwana refugees with guns in their hands, driven +out of Tabora, asked to be admitted into our tembe to assist in its +defence. Livingstone's men were also collected, and invited to help +defend their master's goods against Mirambo's supposed attack. By night +I had one hundred and fifty armed men in my courtyard, stationed at +every possible point where an attack might be expected. To-morrow +Mirambo has threatened that he will come to Kwihara. I hope he will +come, and if he comes within range of an American rifle, I shall see +what virtue lies in American lead. + +August 23rd.--We have passed a very anxious day in the valley of +Kwihara. Our eyes were constantly directed towards unfortunate Tabora. +It has been said that three tembes only have stood the brunt of the +attack. Abid bin Suliman's house has been destroyed, and over two +hundred tusks of ivory that belonged to him have become the property of +the African Bonaparte. My tembe is in as efficient a state of defence as +its style and means of defence will allow. Rifle-pits surround the house +outside, and all native huts that obstructed the view have been torn +down, and all trees and shrubs which might serve as a shelter for any +one of the enemy have been cut. Provisions and water enough for six days +have been brought. I have ammunition enough to last two weeks. The walls +are three feet thick, and there are apartments within apartments, so +that a desperate body of men could fight until the last room had been +taken. + +The Arabs, my neighbours, endeavour to seem brave, but it is evident +they are about despairing; I have heard it rumoured that the Arabs of +Kwihara, if Tabora is taken, will start en masse for the coast, and give +the country up to Mirambo. If such are their intentions, and they are +really carried into effect, I shall be in a pretty mess. However, if +they do leave me, Mirambo will not reap any benefit from my stores, +nor from Livingstone's either, for I shall burn the whole house, and +everything in it. + +August 24th.--The American flag is still waving above my house, and the +Arabs are still in Unyanyembe. + +About 10 A.M., a messenger came from Tabora, asking us if we were not +going to assist them against Mirambo. I felt very much like going out to +help them; but after debating long upon the pros and cons of it,--asking +myself, Was it prudent? Ought I to go? What will become of the people +if I were killed? Will they not desert me again? What was the fate of +Khamis bin Abdullah?--I sent word that I would not go; that they ought +to feel perfectly at home in their tembes against such a force as +Mirambo had, that I should be glad if they could induce him to come to +Kwihara, in which case I would try and pick him off. + +They say that Mirambo, and his principal officer, carry umbrellas over +their heads, that he himself has long hair like a Mnyamwezi pagazi, and +a beard. If he comes, all the men carrying umbrellas will have bullets +rained on them in the hope that one lucky bullet may hit him. According +to popular ideas, I should make a silver bullet, but I have no silver +with me. I might make a gold one. + +About, noon I went over to see Sheikh bin Nasib, leaving about 100 men +inside the house to guard it while I was absent. This old fellow is +quite a philosopher in his way. I should call him a professor of minor +philosophy. He is generally so sententious--fond of aphorisms, and a +very deliberate character. I was astonished to find him so despairing. +His aphorisms have deserted him, his philosophy has not been able to +stand against disaster. He listened to me, more like a moribund, than +one possessing all the means of defence and offence. + +I loaded his two-pounder with ball, and grape, and small slugs of iron, +and advised him not to fire it until Mirambo's people were at his gates. + +About 4 p.m. I heard that Mirambo had deported himself to Kazima, a +place north-west of Tabora a couple of miles. + +August 26th.--The Arabs sallied out this morning to attack Kazima, but +refrained, because Mirambo asked for a day's grace, to eat the beef he +had stolen from them. He has asked them impudently to come to-morrow +morning, at which time he says he will give them plenty of fighting. + +Kwihara is once more restored to a peaceful aspect, and fugitives no +longer throng its narrow limits in fear and despair. + +August 27th.--Mirambo retreated during the night; and when the Arabs +went in force to attack his village of Kazima, they found it vacant. + +The Arabs hold councils of war now-a-days--battle meetings, of which +they seem to be very fond, but extremely slow to act upon. They were +about to make friends with the northern Watuta, but Mirambo was ahead of +them. They had talked of invading Mirambo's territory the second time, +but Mirambo invaded Unyanyembe with fire and sword, bringing death to +many a household, and he has slain the noblest of them all. + +The Arabs spend their hours in talking and arguing, while the Ujiji +and Karagwah roads are more firmly closed than ever. Indeed many of +the influential Arabs are talking of returning to Zanzibar; saying, +"Unyanyembe is ruined." + +Meanwhile, with poor success, however, perceiving the impossibility of +procuring Wanyamwezi pagazis, I am hiring the Wangwana renegades living +in Unyanyembe to proceed with me to Ujiji, at treble prices. Each man is +offered 30 doti, ordinary hire of a carrier being only from 5 to 10 doti +to Ujiji. I want fifty men. I intend to leave about sixty or seventy +loads here under charge of a guard. I shall leave all personal baggage +behind, except one small portmanteau. + +August 28th.--No news to-day of Mirambo. Shaw is getting strong again. + +Sheikh bin Nasib called on me to-day, but, except on minor philosophy, +he had nothing to say. + +I have determined, after a study of the country, to lead a flying +caravan to Ujiji, by a southern road through northern Ukonongo +and Ukawendi. Sheikh bin Nasib has been informed to-night of this +determination. + +August 29th.--Shaw got up to-day for a little work. Alas! all my +fine-spun plans of proceeding by boat over the Victoria N'Yanza, thence +down the Nile, have been totally demolished, I fear, through this war +with Mirambo--this black Bonaparte. Two months have been wasted here +already. The Arabs take such a long time to come to a conclusion. Advice +is plentiful, and words are as numerous as the blades of grass in our +valley; all that is wanting indecision. The Arabs' hope and stay is +dead--Khamis bin Abdullah is no more. Where are the other warriors +of whom the Wangwana and Wanyamwezi bards sing? Where is mighty +Kisesa--great Abdullah bin Nasib? Where is Sayd, the son of Majid? +Kisesa is in Zanzibar, and Sayd, the son of Majid, is in Ujiji, as yet +ignorant that his son has fallen in the forest of Wilyankuru. + +Shaw is improving fast. I am unsuccessful as yet in procuring soldiers. +I almost despair of ever being able to move from here. It is such a +drowsy, sleepy, slow, dreaming country. Arabs, Wangwana, Wanyamwezi, are +all alike--all careless how time flies. Their to-morrow means sometimes +within a month. To me it is simply maddening. + +August 30th.--Shaw will not work. I cannot get him to stir himself. I +have petted him and coaxed him; I have even cooked little luxuries +for him myself. And, while I am straining every nerve to get ready for +Ujiji, Shaw is satisfied with looking on listlessly. What a change from +the ready-handed bold man he was at Zanzibar! + +I sat down by his side to-day with my palm and needle in order to +encourage him, and to-day, for the first time, I told him of the real +nature of my mission. I told him that I did not care about the geography +of the country half as much as I cared about FINDING LIVINGSTONE! I told +him, for the first time, "Now, my dear Shaw, you think probably that I +have been sent here to find the depth of the Tanganika. Not a bit of +it, man; I was told to find Livingstone. It is to find Livingstone I am +here. It is to find Livingstone I am going. Don't you see, old fellow, +the importance of the mission; don't you see what reward you will get +from Mr. Bennett, if you will help me? I am sure, if ever you come to +New York, you will never be in want of a fifty-dollar bill. So shake +yourself; jump about; look lively. Say you will not die; that is half +the battle. Snap your fingers at the fever. I will guarantee the fever +won't kill you. I have medicine enough for a regiment here!" + +His eyes lit up a little, but the light that shone in them shortly +faded, and died. I was quite disheartened. I made some strong punch, to +put fire in his veins, that I might see life in him. I put sugar, and +eggs, and seasoned it with lemon and spice. "Drink, Shaw," said I, "and +forget your infirmities. You are not sick, dear fellow; it is only ennui +you are feeling. Look at Selim there. Now, I will bet any amount, that +he will not die; that I will carry him home safe to his friends! I will +carry you home also, if you will, let me!" + +September 1st:--According to Thani bin Abdullah whom I visited to-day, +at his tembe in Maroro, Mirambo lost two hundred men in the attack upon +Tabora, while the Arabs' losses were, five Arabs, thirteen freemen and +eight slaves, besides three tembes, and over one hundred small huts +burned, two hundred and eighty ivory tusks, and sixty cows and bullocks +captured. + +September 3rd.--Received a packet of letters and newspapers from Capt. +Webb, at Zanzibar. What a good thing it is that one's friends, even in +far America, think of the absent one in Africa! They tell me, that no +one dreams of my being in Africa yet! + +I applied to Sheikh bin Nasib to-day to permit Livingstone's caravan to +go under my charge to Ujiji, but he would not listen to it. He says he +feels certain I am going to my death. + +September 4th.--Shaw is quite well to-day, he says. Selim is down with +the fever. My force is gradually increasing, though some of my old +soldiers are falling off. Umgareza is blind; Baruti has the small-pox +very badly; Sadala has the intermittent. + +September 5th.--Baruti died this morning. He was one of my best +soldiers; and was one of those men who accompanied Speke to Egypt. +Baruti is number seven of those who have died since leaving Zanzibar. + +To-day my ears have been poisoned with the reports of the Arabs, about +the state of the country I am about to travel through. "The roads are +bad; they are all stopped; the Ruga-Ruga are out in the forests; the +Wakonongo are coming from the south to help Mirambo; the Washensi are +at war, one tribe against another." My men are getting dispirited, they +have imbibed the fears of the Arabs and the Wanyamwezi. Bombay begins +to feel that I had better go back to the coast, and try again some other +time. + +We buried Baruti under the shade of the banyan-tree, a few yards west +of my tembe. The grave was made four and a half feet deep and three +feet wide. At the bottom on one side a narrow trench was excavated, +into which the body was rolled on his side, with his face turned +towards Mecca. The body was dressed in a doti and a half of new American +sheeting. After it was placed properly in its narrow bed, a sloping +roof of sticks, covered over with matting and old canvas, was made, to +prevent the earth from falling over the body. The grave was then filled, +the soldiers laughing merrily. On the top of the grave was planted a +small shrub, and into a small hole made with the hand, was poured water +lest he might feel thirsty--they said--on his way to Paradise; water was +then sprinkled all ever the grave, and the gourd broken. This ceremony +being ended, the men recited the Arabic Fat-hah, after which they left +the grave of their dead comrade to think no more of him. + +September 7th.--An Arab named Mohammed presented me to-day with a little +boy-slave, called "Ndugu M'hali" (my brother's wealth). As I did not +like the name, I called the chiefs of my caravan together, and asked +them to give him a better name. One suggested "Simba" (a lion), another +said he thought "Ngombe" (a cow) would suit the boy-child, another +thought he ought to be called "Mirambo," which raised a loud laugh. +Bombay thought "Bombay Mdogo" would suit my black-skinned infant very +well. Ulimengo, however, after looking at his quick eyes, and noting his +celerity of movement, pronounced the name Ka-lu-la as the best for him, +"because," said he, "just look at his eyes, so bright look at his form, +so slim! watch his movements, how quick! Yes, Kalulu is his name." "Yes, +bana," said the others, "let it be Kalulu." + +"Kalulu" is a Kisawahili term for the young of the blue-buck +(perpusilla) antelope. + +"Well, then," said I, water being brought in a huge tin pan, Selim, who +was willing to stand godfather, holding him over the water, "let his +name henceforth be Kalulu, and let no man take it from him," and thus it +was that the little black boy of Mohammed's came to be called Kalulu. + +The Expedition is increasing in numbers. + +We had quite an alarm before dark. Much firing was heard at Tabora, +which led us to anticipate an attack on Kwihara. It turned out, however, +to be a salute fired in honour of the arrival of Sultan Kitambi to pay a +visit to Mkasiwa, Sultan of Unyanyembe. + +September 8th.--Towards night Sheikh bin Nasib received a letter from +an Arab at Mfuto, reporting that an attack was made on that place by +Mirambo and his Watuta allies. It also warned him to bid the people of +Kwihara hold themselves in readiness, because if Mirambo succeeded in +storming Mfuto, he would march direct on Kwihara. + +September 9th.--Mirambo was defeated with severe loss yesterday, in his +attack upon Mfuto. He was successful in an assault he made upon a +small Wanyamwezi village, but when he attempted to storm Mfuto, he +was repulsed with severe loss, losing three of his principal men. Upon +withdrawing his forces from the attack, the inhabitants sallied out, and +followed him to the forest of Umanda, where he was again utterly routed, +himself ingloriously flying from the field. + +The heads of his chief men slain in the attack were brought to Kwikuru, +the boma of Mkasiwa. + +September 14th.--The Arab boy Selim is delirious from constant fever. +Shaw is sick again. These two occupy most of my time. I am turned into a +regular nurse, for I have no one to assist me in attending upon them. If +I try to instruct Abdul Kader in the art of being useful, his head is so +befogged with the villainous fumes of Unyamwezi tobacco, that he wanders +bewildered about, breaking dishes, and upsetting cooked dainties, until +I get so exasperated that my peace of mind is broken completely for +a full hour. If I ask Ferajji, my now formally constituted cook, to +assist, his thick wooden head fails to receive an idea, and I am thus +obliged to play the part of chef de cuisine. + +September 15th.--The third month of my residence in Unyanyembe is almost +finished, and I am still here, but I hope to be gone before the 23rd +inst. + +All last night, until nine A.M. this morning, my soldiers danced and +sang to the names of their dead comrades, whose bones now bleach in the +forests of Wilyankuru. Two or three huge pots of pombe failed to satisfy +the raging thirst which the vigorous exercise they were engaged in, +created. So, early this morning, I was called upon to contribute a +shukka for another potful of the potent liquor. + +To-day I was busy selecting the loads for each soldier and pagazi. In +order to lighten their labor as much as possible, I reduced each load +from 70 lbs. to 50 lbs., by which I hope to be enabled to make some long +marches. I have been able to engage ten pagazis during the last two or +three days. + +I have two or three men still very sick, and it is almost useless to +expect that they will be able to carry anything, but I am in hopes that +other men may be engaged to take their places before the actual day of +departure, which now seems to be drawing near rapidly. + +September 16th.--We have almost finished our work--on the fifth day from +this--God willing--we shall march. I engaged two more pagazis besides +two guides, named Asmani and Mabruki. If vastness of the human form +could terrify any one, certainly Asmani's appearance is well calculated +to produce that effect. He stands considerably over six feet without +shoes, and has shoulders broad enough for two ordinary men. + +To-morrow I mean to give the people a farewell feast, to celebrate our +departure from this forbidding and unhappy country. + +September 17th.--The banquet is ended. I slaughtered two bullocks, and +had a barbacue; three sheep, two goats, and fifteen chickens, 120 lbs. +of rice, twenty large loaves of bread made of Indian corn-flour, one +hundred eggs, 10 lbs. of butter, and five gallons of sweet-milk, were +the contents of which the banquet was formed. The men invited their +friends and neighbours, and about one hundred women and children partook +of it. + +After the banquet was ended, the pombe, or native beer, was brought +in in five gallon pots, and the people commenced their dance, which +continues even now as I write. + +September 19th.--I had a slight attack of fever to-day, which has +postponed our departure. Selim and Shaw are both recovered. + +About 8 P.M. Sheik bin Nasib came to me imploring me not to go away +to-morrow, because I was so sick. Thani Sakhburi suggested to me that I +might stay another month. In answer, I told them that white men are not +accustomed to break their words. I had said I would go, and I intended +to go. + +Sheikh bin Nasib gave up all hope of inducing me to remain another day, +and he has gone away, with a promise to write to Seyd Burghash to tell +him how obstinate I am; and that I am determined to be killed. This was +a parting shot. + +About 10 P.M. the fever had gone. All were asleep in the tembe but +myself, and an unutterable loneliness came on me as I reflected on my +position, and my intentions, and felt the utter lack of sympathy with me +in all around. It requires more nerve than I possess, to dispel all the +dark presentiments that come upon the mind. But probably what I call +presentiments are simply the impress on the mind of the warnings which +these false-hearted Arabs have repeated so often. This melancholy and +loneliness I feel, may probably have their origin from the same cause. +The single candle, which barely lights up the dark shade that fills the +corners of my room, is but a poor incentive to cheerfulness. I feel as +though I were imprisoned between stone walls. But why should I feel +as if baited by these stupid, slow-witted Arabs and their warnings and +croakings? I fancy a suspicion haunts my mind, as I write, that there +lies some motive behind all this. I wonder if these Arabs tell me +all these things to keep me here, in the hope that I might be induced +another time to assist them in their war with Mirambo! If they think +so, they are much mistaken, for I have taken a solemn, enduring oath, +an oath to be kept while the least hope of life remains in me, not to +be tempted to break the resolution I have formed, never to give up the +search, until I find Livingstone alive, or find his dead body; and never +to return home without the strongest possible proofs that he is alive, +or that he is dead. No living man, or living men, shall stop me, only +death can prevent me. But death--not even this; I shall not die, I will +not die, I cannot die! And something tells me, I do not know what it +is--perhaps it is the ever-living hopefulness of my own nature, perhaps +it is the natural presumption born out of an abundant and glowing +vitality, or the outcome of an overweening confidence in oneself--anyhow +and everyhow, something tells me to-night I shall find him, and--write +it larger--FIND HIM! FIND HIM! Even the words are inspiring. I feel more +happy. Have I uttered a prayer? I shall sleep calmly to-night. + +I have felt myself compelled to copy out of my Diary the above notes, +as they explain, written as they are on the spot, the vicissitudes of my +"Life at Unyanyembe." To me they appear to explain far better than any +amount of descriptive writing, even of the most graphic, the nature +of the life I led. There they are, unexaggerated, in their literality, +precisely as I conceived them at the time they happened. They speak of +fevers without number to myself and men, they relate our dangers, and +little joys, our annoyances and our pleasures, as they occurred. + + + +CHAPTER X. -- TO MRERA, UKONONGO. + + Departure from Unyanyembe.--The expedition reorganized.-- + Bombay.--Mr. Shaw returns sick to Unyanyembe.--A noble + forest.-The fever described.--Happiness of the camp.--A + park-land.--Herds of game and noble sport.--A mutiny.-- + Punishment of the ringleaders. Elephants.--Arrival at Mrera + +The 20th of September had arrived. This was the day I had decided to cut +loose from those who tormented me with their doubts, their fears, and +beliefs, and commence the march to Ujiji by a southern route. I was very +weak from the fever that had attacked me the day before, and it was a +most injudicious act to commence a march under such circumstances. But I +had boasted to Sheikh bin Nasib that a white man never breaks his word, +and my reputation as a white man would have been ruined had I stayed +behind, or postponed the march, in consequence of feebleness. + +I mustered the entire caravan outside the tembe, our flags and streamers +were unfurled, the men had their loads resting on the walls, there was +considerable shouting, and laughing, and negroidal fanfaronnade. The +Arabs had collected from curiosity's sake to see us off--all except +Sheikh bin Nasib, whom I had offended by my asinine opposition to his +wishes. The old Sheikh took to his bed, but sent his son to bear me a +last morsel of Philosophic sentimentality, which I was to treasure up as +the last words of the patriarchal Sheikh, the son of Nasib, the son of +Ali, the son of Sayf. Poor Sheikh! if thou hadst only known what was at +the bottom of this stubbornness--this ass-like determination to proceed +the wrong way--what wouldst thou then have said, 0 Sheikh? But the +Sheikh comforted himself with the thought that I might know what I was +about better than he did, which is most likely, only neither he nor any +other Arab will ever know exactly the motive that induced me to march at +all westward--when the road to the east was ever so much easier. + +My braves whom I had enlisted for a rapid march somewhere, out of +Unyanyembe, were named as follows:-- + +1. John William Shaw, London, England. + +2. Selim Heshmy, Arab. + +3. Seedy Mbarak Mombay, Zanzibar. + +4. Mabruki Spoke, ditto. + +5. Ulimengo, ditto + +6. Ambari, ditto. + +7. Uledi, ditto. + +8. Asmani, ditto. + +9. Sarmean, ditto. + +10. Kamna, ditto. + +11. Zaidi, ditto. + +12. Khamisi, ditto. + +13. Chowpereh, Bagamoyo. + +14. Kingaru, ditto. + +15. Belali, ditto. + +16. Ferous, Unyanyembe. + +17. Rojab, Bagamoyo. + +18. Mabruk Unyanyembe, Unyanyembe. + +19. Mtamani, ditto. + +20. Chanda, Maroro. + +21. Sadala, Zanzibar. + +22. Kombo, ditto. + +23. Saburi the Great, Maroro. + +24. Saburi the Little, ditto. + +25. Marora, ditto. + +26. Ferajji (the cook), Zanzibar. + +27. Mabruk Saleem, Zanzibar. + +28. Baraka, ditto. + +29. Ibrahim, Maroro. + +30. Mabruk Ferous, ditto. + +31. Baruti, Bagamoyo. + +32. Umgareza, Zanzibar. + +33. Hamadi (the guide), ditto. + +34. Asmani, ditto, ditto. + +35. Mabruk, ditto ditto. + +36. Hamdallah (the guide), Tabora. + +37. Jumah, Zanzibar. + +38. Maganga, Mkwenkwe. + +39. Muccadum, Tabora. + +40. Dasturi, ditto. + +41. Tumayona, Ujiji. + +42. Mparamoto, Ujiji. + +43. Wakiri, ditto. + +44. Mufu, ditto. + +45. Mpepo, ditto. + +46. Kapingu, Ujiji. + +47. Mashishanga, ditto. + +48. Muheruka, ditto. + +49. Missossi, ditto. + +50. Tufum Byah, ditto. + +51. Majwara (boy), Uganda. + +52. Belali (boy), Uemba. + +53. Kalulu (boy), Lunda. + +54. Abdul Kader (tailor), Malabar. + + +These are the men and boys whom I had chosen to be my companions on +the apparently useless mission of seeking for the lost traveller, David +Livingstone. The goods with which I had burdened them, consisted of +1,000 doti, or 4,000 yds. of cloth, six bags of beads, four loads of +ammunition, one tent, one bed and clothes, one box of medicine, sextant +and books, two loads of tea, coffee, and sugar, one load of flour +and candles, one load of canned meats, sardines, and miscellaneous +necessaries, and one load of cooking utensils. + +The men were all in their places except Bombay. Bombay had gone; he +could not be found. I despatched a man to hunt him up. He was found +weeping in the arms of his Delilah. + +"Why did you go away, Bombay, when you knew I intended to go, and was +waiting?" + +"Oh, master, I was saying good-bye to my missis." + +"Oh, indeed?" + +"Yes, master; you no do it, when you go away? + +"Silence, sir." + +"Oh! all right." + +"What is the matter with you, Bombay?" + +"Oh, nuffin." + +As I saw he was in a humour to pick a quarrel with me before those Arabs +who had congregated outside of my tembe to witness my departure; and as +I was not in a humour to be balked by anything that might turn up, the +consequence was, that I was obliged to thrash Bombay, an operation which +soon cooled his hot choler, but brought down on my head a loud chorus +of remonstrances from my pretended Arab friends--"Now, master, don't, +don't--stop it, master: the poor man knows better than you what he and +you may expect on the road you are now taking." + +If anything was better calculated to put me in a rage than Bombay's +insolence before a crowd it was this gratuitous interference with what +I considered my own especial business; but I restrained myself, though I +told them, in a loud voice, that I did not choose to be interfered with, +unless they wished to quarrel with me. + +"No, no, bana," they all exclaimed; "we do not wish to quarrel with you. +In the name of God! go on your way in peace." + +"Fare you well, then," said I, shaking hands with them. + +"Farewell, master, farewell. We wish you, we are sure, all success, and +God be with you, and guide you!" + +"March!" + +A parting salute was fired; the flags were raised up by the guides, each +pagazi rushed for his load, and in a short time, with songs and shouts, +the head of the Expedition had filed round the western end of my tembe +along the road to Ugunda. + +"Now, Mr. Shaw, I am waiting, sir. Mount your donkey, if you cannot +walk." + +"Please, Mr. Stanley, I am afraid I cannot go." + +"Why?" + +"I don't know, I am sure. I feel very weak." + +"So am I weak. It was but late last night, as you know, that the fever +left me. Don't back out before these Arabs; remember you are a white +man. Here, Selim, Mabruki, Bombay, help Mr. Shaw on his donkey, and walk +by him." + +"Oh, bana, bans," said the Arabs, "don't take him. Do you not see he is +sick?" + +"You keep away; nothing will prevent me from taking him. He shall go." + +"Go on, Bombay." + +The last of my party had gone. The tembe, so lately a busy scene, had +already assumed a naked, desolate appearance. I turned towards the +Arabs, lifted my hat, and said again, "Farewell," then faced about +for the south, followed by my four young gun-bearers, Selim, Kalulu, +Majwara, and Belali. + +After half an hour's march the scenery became more animated. Shaw began +to be amused. Bombay had forgotten our quarrel, and assured me, if I +could pass Mirambo's country, I should "catch the Tanganika;" Mabruki +Burton also believed we should. Selim was glad to leave Unyanyembe, +where he had suffered so much from fever; and there was a something in +the bold aspect of the hills which cropped upward--above fair valleys, +that enlivened and encouraged me to proceed. + +In an hour and a half, we arrived at our camp in the Kinyamwezi village +of Mkwenkwe, the birthplace--of our famous chanter Maganga. + +My tent was pitched, the goods were stored in one of the tembes; but +one-half the men had returned to Kwihara, to take one more embrace of +their wives and concubines. + +Towards night I was attacked once again with the intermittent fever. +Before morning it had departed, leaving me terribly prostrated with +weakness. I had heard the men conversing with each other over their +camp-fires upon the probable prospects of the next day. It was a +question with them whether I should continue the march. Mostly all were +of opinion that, since the master was sick, there would be no march. A +superlative obstinacy, however, impelled me on, merely to spite their +supine souls; but when I sallied out of my tent to call them to get +ready, I found that at least twenty were missing; and Livingstone's +letter-carrier, "Kaif-Halek"--or, How-do-ye-do?--had not arrived with +Dr. Livingstone's letter-bag. + +Selecting twenty of the strongest and faithfulest men I despatched them +back to Unyanyembe in search of the missing men; and Selim was sent to +Sheikh bin Nasib to borrow, or buy, a long slave-chain. + +Towards night my twenty detectives returned with nine of the missing +men. The Wajiji had deserted in a body, and they could not be found. +Selim also returned with a strong chain, capable of imprisoning within +the collars attached to it at least ten men. Kaif-Halek also appeared +with the letter-bag which he was to convey to Livingstone under my +escort. The men were then addressed, and the slave-chain exhibited +to them. I told them that I was the first white man who had taken a +slave-chain with him on his travels; but, as they were all so frightened +of accompanying me, I was obliged to make use of it, as it was the only +means of keeping them together. The good need never fear being chained +by me--only the deserters, the thieves, who received their hire and +presents, guns and ammunition, and then ran away. + +I would not put any one this time in chains; but whoever deserted after +this day, I should halt, and not continue the march till I found him, +after which he should march to Ujiji with the slave-chain round +his neck. "Do you hear?"--"Yes," was the answer. "Do you +understand?"--"Yes." + +We broke up camp at 6 P.M., and took the road for Inesuka, at which +place we arrived at 8 P.M. + +When we were about commencing the march the next morning, it was +discovered that two more had deserted. Baraka and Bombay were at once +despatched to Unyanyembe to bring back the two missing men--Asmani and +Kingaru--with orders not to return without them. This was the third +time that the latter had deserted, as the reader may remember. While the +pursuit was being effected we halted at the village of Inesuka, more for +the sake of Shaw than any one else. + +In the evening the incorrigible deserters were brought back, and, as I +had threatened, were well flogged and chained, to secure them against +further temptation. Bombay and Baraka had a picturesque story to relate +of the capture; and, as I was in an exceedingly good humour, their +services were rewarded with a fine cloth each. + +On the following morning another carrier had absconded, taking with +him his hire of fifteen new cloths and a gun but to halt anywhere +near Unyanyembe any longer was a danger that could be avoided only by +travelling without stoppages towards the southern jungle-lands. It will +be remembered I had in my train the redoubtable Abdul Kader, the tailor, +he who had started from Bagamoyo with such bright anticipations of the +wealth of ivory to be obtained in the great interior of Africa. On this +morning, daunted by the reports of the dangers ahead, Abdul Kader +craved to be discharged. He vowed he was sick, and unable to proceed any +further. As I was pretty well tired of him, I paid him off in cloth, and +permitted him to go. + +About half way to Kasegera Mabruk Saleem was suddenly taken sick. I +treated him with a grain of calomel, and a couple of ounces of brandy. +As he was unable to walk, I furnished him with a donkey. Another man +named Zaidi was ill with a rheumatic fever; and Shaw tumbled twice off +the animal he was riding, and required an infinite amount of coaxing to +mount again. Verily, my expedition was pursued by adverse fortunes, +and it seemed as if the Fates had determined upon our return. It really +appeared as if everything was going to wreck and ruin. If I were only +fifteen days from Unyanyembe, thought I, I should be saved! + +Kasegera was a scene of rejoicing the afternoon and evening of our +arrival. Absentees had just returned from the coast, and the youths were +brave in their gaudy bedizenment, their new barsatis, their soharis, and +long cloths of bright new kaniki, with which they had adorned themselves +behind some bush before they had suddenly appeared dressed in all this +finery. The women "Hi-hi'ed" like maenads, and the "Lu-lu-lu'ing" was +loud, frequent, and fervent the whole of that afternoon. Sylphlike +damsels looked up to the youthful heroes with intensest admiration +on their features; old women coddled and fondled them; staff-using, +stooping-backed patriarchs blessed them. This is fame in Unyamwezi! All +the fortunate youths had to use their tongues until the wee hours of +next morning had arrived, relating all the wonders they had seen near +the Great Sea, and in the "Unguja," the island of Zanzibar; of how they +saw great white men's ships, and numbers of white men, of their perils +and trials during their journey through the land of the fierce Wagogo, +and divers other facts, with which the reader and I are by this time +well acquainted. + +On the 24th we struck camp, and marched through a forest of imbiti wood +in a S.S.W. direction, and in about three hours came to Kigandu. + +On arriving before this village, which is governed by a daughter of +Mkasiwa, we were informed we could not enter unless we paid toll. As we +would not pay toll, we were compelled to camp in a ruined, rat-infested +boma, situated a mile to the left of Kigandu, being well scolded by the +cowardly natives for deserting Mkasiwa in his hour of extremity. We were +accused of running away from the war. + +Almost on the threshold of our camp Shaw, in endeavouring to dismount, +lost his stirrups, and fell prone on his face. The foolish fellow +actually, laid on the ground in the hot sun a full hour; and when I +coldly asked him if he did not feel rather uncomfortable, he sat up, and +wept like a child. + +"Do you wish to go back, Mr. Shaw?" + +"If you please. I do not believe I can go any farther; and if you would +only be kind enough, I should like to return very much." + +"Well, Mr. Shaw, I have come to the conclusion that it is best, you +should return. My patience is worn out. I have endeavoured faithfully to +lift you above these petty miseries which you nourish so devotedly. You +are simply suffering from hypochondria. You imagine yourself sick, +and nothing, evidently, will persuade you that you are not. Mark my +words--to return to Unyanyembe, is to DIE! Should you happen to fall +sick in Kwihara who knows how to administer medicine to you? Supposing +you are delirious, how can any of the soldiers know what you want, or +what is beneficial and necessary for you? Once again, I repeat, if you +return, you DIE!" + +"Ah, dear me; I wish I had never ventured to come! I thought life in +Africa was so different from this. I would rather go back if you will +permit me." + +The next day was a halt, and arrangements were made for the +transportation of Shaw back to Kwihara. A strong litter was made, and +four stout pagazis were hired at Kigandu to carry him. Bread was baked, +a canteen was filled with cold tea, and a leg of a kid was roasted for +his sustenance while on the road. + +The night before we parted we spent together. Shaw played some tunes on +an accordion which I had purchased for him at Zanzibar; but, though +it was only a miserable ten-dollar affair, I thought the homely tunes +evoked from the instrument that night were divine melodies. The last +tune played before retiring was "Home, sweet Home." + +The morning of the 27th we were all up early: There was considerable vis +in our movements. A long, long march lay before us that day; but then +I was to leave behind all the sick and ailing. Only those who were +healthy, and could march fast and long, were to accompany me. Mabruk +Saleem I left in charge of a native doctor, who was to medicate him for +a gift of cloth which I gave him in advance. + +The horn sounded to get ready. Shaw was lifted in his litter on the +shoulders of his carriers. My men formed two ranks; the flags were +lifted; and between these two living rows, and under those bright +streamers, which were to float over the waters of the Tanganika before +he should see them again, Shaw was borne away towards the north; while +we filed off to the south, with quicker and more elastic steps, as if we +felt an incubus had been taken from us. + +We ascended a ridge bristling with syenite boulders of massive size, +appearing above a forest of dwarf trees. The view which we saw was +similar to that we had often seen elsewhere. An illimitable forest +stretching in grand waves far beyond the ken of vision--ridges, +forest-clad, rising gently one above another until they receded in the +dim purple-blue distance--with a warm haze floating above them, which, +though clear enough in our neighbourhood, became impenetrably blue in +the far distance. Woods, woods, woods, leafy branches, foliage globes, +or parachutes, green, brown, or sere in colour, forests one above +another, rising, falling, and receding--a very leafy ocean. The horizon, +at all points, presents the same view, there may be an indistinct +outline of a hill far away, or here and there a tall tree higher than +the rest conspicuous in its outlines against the translucent sky--with +this exception it is the same--the same clear sky dropping into the +depths of the forest, the same outlines, the same forest, the same +horizon, day after day, week after week; we hurry to the summit of a +ridge, expectant of a change, but the wearied eyes, after wandering over +the vast expanse, return to the immediate surroundings, satiated with +the eversameness of such scenes. Carlyle, somewhere in his writings, +says, that though the Vatican is great, it is but the chip of an +eggshell compared to the star-fretted dome where Arcturus and Orion +glance for ever; and I say that, though the grove of Central Park, New +York, is grand compared to the thin groves seen in other great cities, +that though the Windsor and the New Forests may be very fine and noble +in England, yet they are but fagots of sticks compared to these eternal +forests of Unyamwezi. + +We marched three hours, and then halted for refreshments. I perceived +that the people were very tired, not yet inured to a series of long +marches, or rather, not in proper trim for earnest, hard work after our +long rest in Kwihara. When we resumed our march again there were several +manifestations of bad temper and weariness. But a few good-natured +remarks about their laziness put them on their mettle, and we reached +Ugunda at 2 P.M. after another four hours' spurt. + +Ugunda is a very large village in the district of Ugunda, which adjoins +the southern frontier of Unyanyembe. The village probably numbers four +hundred families, or two thousand souls. It is well protected by a tall +and strong palisade of three-inch timber. Stages have been erected at +intervals above the palisades with miniature embrasures in the timber, +for the muskets of the sharpshooters, who take refuge within these +box-like stages to pick out the chiefs of an attacking force. An inner +ditch, with the sand or soil thrown up three or four feet high against +the palings, serves as protection for the main body of the defenders, +who kneel in the ditch, and are thus enabled to withstand a very large +force. For a mile or two outside the village all obstructions are +cleared, and the besieged are thus warned by sharp-eyed watchers to +be prepared for the defence before the enemy approaches within +musket range. Mirambo withdrew his force of robbers from before this +strongly-defended village after two or three ineffectual attempts to +storm it, and the Wagunda have been congratulating themselves ever +since, upon having driven away the boldest marauder that Unyamwezi has +seen for generations. + +The Wagunda have about three thousand acres under cultivation around +their principal village, and this area suffices to produce sufficient +grain not only for their own consumption, but also for the many caravans +which pass by this way for Ufipa and Marungu. + +However brave the Wagunda may be within the strong enclosure with which +they have surrounded their principal village, they are not exempt from +the feeling of insecurity which fills the soul of a Mnyamwezi during +war-time. At this place the caravans are accustomed to recruit their +numbers from the swarms of pagazis who volunteer to accompany them to +the distant ivory regions south; but I could not induce a soul to follow +me, so great was their fear of Mirambo and his Ruga-Raga. They were also +full of rumors of wars ahead. It was asserted that Mbogo was advancing +towards Ugunda with a thousand Wakonongo, that the Wazavira had attacked +a caravan four months previously, that Simba was scouring the country +with a band of ferocious mercenaries, and much more of the same nature +and to the same intent. + +On the 28th we arrived at a small snug village embosomed within the +forest called Benta, three hours and a quarter from Ugunda. The road led +through the cornfields of the Wagunda, and then entered the clearings +around the villages of Kisari, within one of which we found the +proprietor of a caravan who was drumming up carriers for Ufipa. He had +been halted here two months, and he made strenuous exertions to induce +my men to join his caravan, a proceeding that did not tend to promote +harmony between us. A few days afterwards I found, on my return, that +he had given up the idea of proceeding south. Leaving Kisari, we marched +through a thin jungle of black jack, over sun-cracked ground with here +and there a dried-up pool, the bottom of which was well tramped by +elephant and rhinoceros. Buffalo and zebra tracks were now frequent, and +we were buoyed up with the hope that before long we should meet game. + +Benta was well supplied with Indian corn and a grain which the natives +called choroko, which I take to be vetches. I purchased a large supply +of choroko for my own personal use, as I found it to be a most healthy +food. The corn was stored on the flat roofs of the tembes in huge boxes +made out of the bark of the mtundu-tree. The largest box I have ever +seen in Africa was seen here. It might be taken for a Titan's hat-box; +it was seven feet in diameter, and ten feet in height. + +On the 29th, after travelling in a S.W. by S. direction, we reached +Kikuru. The march lasted for five hours over sun-cracked plains, growing +the black jack, and ebony, and dwarf shrubs, above which numerous +ant-hills of light chalky-coloured earth appeared like sand dunes. + +The mukunguru, a Kisawahili term for fever, is frequent in this region +of extensive forests and flat plains, owing to the imperfect drainage +provided by nature for them. In the dry season there is nothing very +offensive in the view of the country. The burnt grass gives rather a +sombre aspect to the country, covered with the hard-baked tracks of +animals which haunt these plains during the latter part of the rainy +season. In the forest numbers of trees lie about in the last stages of +decay, and working away with might and main on the prostrate trunks may +be seen numberless insects of various species. Impalpably, however, the +poison of the dead and decaying vegetation is inhaled into the system +with a result sometimes as fatal as that which is said to arise from the +vicinity of the Upas-tree. + +The first evil results experienced from the presence of malaria are +confined bowels and an oppressive languor, excessive drowsiness, and +a constant disposition to yawn. The tongue assumes a yellowish, sickly +hue, coloured almost to blackness; even the teeth become yellow, and +are coated with an offensive matter. The eyes of the patient sparkle +lustrously, and become suffused with water. These are sure symptoms of +the incipient fever which shortly will rage through the system. + +Sometimes this fever is preceded by a violent shaking fit, during which +period blankets may be heaped on the patient's form, with but little +amelioration of the deadly chill he feels. It is then succeeded by an +unusually severe headache, with excessive pains about the loins and +spinal column, which presently will spread over the shoulder-blades, +and, running up the neck, find a final lodgment in the back and front +of the head. Usually, however, the fever is not preceded by a chill, +but after languor and torpitude have seized him, with excessive heat and +throbbing temples, the loin and spinal column ache, and raging thirst +soon possesses him. The brain becomes crowded with strange fancies, +which sometimes assume most hideous shapes. Before the darkened vision +of the suffering man, float in a seething atmosphere, figures of created +and uncreated reptiles, which are metamorphosed every instant into +stranger shapes and designs, growing every moment more confused, more +complicated, more hideous and terrible. Unable to bear longer the +distracting scene, he makes an effort and opens, his eyes, and dissolves +the delirious dream, only, however, to glide again unconsciously +into another dream-land where another unreal inferno is dioramically +revealed, and new agonies suffered. Oh! the many many hours, that I have +groaned under the terrible incubi which the fits of real delirium evoke. +Oh! the racking anguish of body that a traveller in Africa must +undergo! Oh! the spite, the fretfulness, the vexation which the horrible +phantasmagoria of diabolisms induce! The utmost patience fails to +appease, the most industrious attendance fails to gratify, the deepest +humility displeases. During these terrible transitions, which induce +fierce distraction, Job himself would become irritable, insanely +furious, and choleric. A man in such a state regards himself as the +focus of all miseries. When recovered, he feels chastened, becomes +urbane and ludicrously amiable, he conjures up fictitious delights from +all things which, but yesterday, possessed for him such awful portentous +aspects. His men he regards with love and friendship; whatever is trite +he views with ecstasy. Nature appears charming; in the dead woods and +monotonous forest his mind becomes overwhelmed with delight. I speak +for myself, as a careful analysation of the attack, in all its severe, +plaintive, and silly phases, appeared to me. I used to amuse myself +with taking notes of the humorous and the terrible, the fantastic and +exaggerated pictures that were presented to me--even while suffering the +paroxysms induced by fever. + +We arrived at a large pool, known as the Ziwani, after a four hours' +march in a S.S.W. direction, the 1st of October. We discovered an old +half-burnt khambi, sheltered by a magnificent mkuyu (sycamore), the +giant of the forests of Unyamwezi, which after an hour we transformed +into a splendid camp. + +If I recollect rightly, the stem of the tree measured thirty-eight +feet in circumference. It is the finest tree of its kind I have seen +in Africa. A regiment might with perfect ease have reposed under this +enormous dome of foliage during a noon halt. The diameter of the shadow +it cast on the ground was one hundred and twenty feet. The healthful +vigor that I was enjoying about this time enabled me to regard my +surroundings admiringly. A feeling of comfort and perfect contentment +took possession of me, such as I knew not while fretting at Unyanyembe, +wearing my life away in inactivity. I talked with my people as to my +friends and equals. We argued with each other about our prospects in +quite a companionable, sociable vein. + +When daylight was dying, and the sun was sinking down rapidly over the +western horizon, vividly painting the sky with the colours of gold +and silver, saffron, and opal, when its rays and gorgeous tints were +reflected upon the tops of the everlasting forest, with the quiet and +holy calm of heaven resting upon all around, and infusing even into the +untutored minds of those about me the exquisite enjoyments of such a +life as we were now leading in the depths of a great expanse of forest, +the only and sole human occupants of it--this was the time, after our +day's work was ended, and the camp was in a state of perfect security, +when we all would produce our pipes, and could best enjoy the labors +which we had performed, and the contentment which follows a work well +done. + +Outside nothing is heard beyond the cry of a stray florican, or +guinea-fowl, which has lost her mate, or the hoarse croaking of the +frogs in the pool hard by, or the song of the crickets which seems to +lull the day to rest; inside our camp are heard the gurgles of the +gourd pipes as the men inhale the blue ether, which I also love. I am +contented and happy, stretched on my carpet under the dome of living +foliage, smoking my short meerschaum, indulging in thoughts--despite the +beauty of the still grey light of the sky; and of the air of serenity +which prevails around--of home and friends in distant America, and these +thoughts soon change to my work--yet incomplete--to the man who to me is +yet a myth, who, for all I know, may be dead, or may be near or far from +me tramping through just such a forest, whose tops I see bound the +view outside my camp. We are both on the same soil, perhaps in the same +forest--who knows?--yet is he to me so far removed that he might as well +be in his own little cottage of Ulva. Though I am even now ignorant +of his very existence, yet I feel a certain complacency, a certain +satisfaction which would be difficult to describe. Why is man so feeble, +and weak, that he must tramp, tramp hundreds of miles to satisfy +the doubts his impatient and uncurbed mind feels? Why cannot my form +accompany the bold flights of my mind and satisfy the craving I feel to +resolve the vexed question that ever rises to my lips--"Is he alive?" +O soul of mine, be patient, thou hast a felicitous tranquillity, which +other men might envy thee! Sufficient for the hour is the consciousness +thou hast that thy mission is a holy one! Onward, and be hopeful! + +Monday, the 2nd of October, found us traversing the forest and plain +that extends from the Ziwani to Manyara, which occupied us six and a +half hours. The sun was intensely hot; but the mtundu and miombo trees +grew at intervals, just enough to admit free growth to each tree, while +the blended foliage formed a grateful shade. The path was clear and +easy, the tamped and firm red soil offered no obstructions. The only +provocation we suffered was from the attacks of the tsetse, or panga +(sword) fly, which swarmed here. We knew we were approaching an +extensive habitat of game, and we were constantly on the alert for any +specimens that might be inhabiting these forests. + +While we were striding onward, at the rate of nearly three miles an +hour, the caravan I perceived sheered off from the road, resuming it +about fifty yards ahead of something on the road, to which the attention +of the men was directed. On coming up, I found the object to be the +dead body of a man, who had fallen a victim to that fearful scourge +of Africa, the small-pox. He was one of Oseto's gang of marauders, or +guerillas, in the service of Mkasiwa of Unyanyembe, who were hunting +these forests for the guerillas of Mirambo. They had been returning from +Ukonongo from a raid they had instituted against the Sultan of Mbogo, +and they had left their comrade to perish in the road. He had apparently +been only one day dead. + +Apropos of this, it was a frequent thing with us to discover a skeleton +or a skull on the roadside. Almost every day we saw one, sometimes two, +of these relics of dead, and forgotten humanity. + +Shortly after this we emerged from the forest, and entered a mbuga, or +plain, in which we saw a couple of giraffes, whose long necks were seen +towering above a bush they had been nibbling at. This sight was greeted +with a shout; for we now knew we had entered the game country, and that +near the Gombe creek, or river, where we intended to halt, we should see +plenty of these animals. + +A walk of three hours over this hot plain brought us to the cultivated +fields of Manyara. Arriving before the village-gate, we were forbidden +to enter, as the country was throughout in a state of war, and it +behoved them to be very careful of admitting any party, lest the +villagers might be compromised. We were, however, directed to a khambi +to the right of the village, near some pools of clear water, where we +discovered some half dozen ruined huts, which looked very uncomfortable +to tired people. + +After we had built our camp, the kirangozi was furnished with some +cloths to purchase food from the village for the transit of a wilderness +in front of us, which was said to extend nine marches, or 135 miles. +He was informed that the Mtemi had strictly prohibited his people from +selling any grain whatever. + +This evidently was a case wherein the exercise of a little diplomacy +could only be effective; because it would detain us several days here, +if we were compelled to send men back to Kikuru for provisions. Opening +a bale of choice goods, I selected two royal cloths, and told Bombay to +carry them to him, with the compliments and friendship of the white man. +The Sultan sulkily refused them, and bade him return to the white man +and tell him not to bother him. Entreaties were of no avail, he would +not relent; and the men, in exceedingly bad temper, and hungry, were +obliged to go to bed supperless. The words of Njara, a slave-trader, +and parasite of the great Sheikh bin Nasib, recurred to me. "Ah, master, +master, you will find the people will be too much for you, and that you +will have to return. The Wa-manyara are bad, the Wakonongo are very bad, +the Wazavira are the worst of all. You have come to this country at a +bad time. It is war everywhere." And, indeed, judging from the tenor +of the conversations around our camp-fires, it seemed but too evident. +There was every prospect of a general decamp of all my people. However, +I told them not to be discouraged; that I would get food for them in the +morning. + +The bale of choice cloths was opened again next morning, and four royal +cloths were this time selected, and two dotis of Merikani, and Bombay +was again despatched, burdened with compliments, and polite words. + +It was necessary to be very politic with a man who was so surly, and too +powerful to make an enemy of. What if he made up his mind to imitate +the redoubtable Mirambo, King of Uyoweh! The effect of my munificent +liberality was soon seen in the abundance of provender which came to my +camp. Before an hour went by, there came boxes full of choroko, beans, +rice, matama or dourra, and Indian corn, carried on the heads of a dozen +villagers, and shortly after the Mtemi himself came, followed by about +thirty musketeers and twenty spearmen, to visit the first white man +ever seen on this road. Behind these warriors came a liberal gift, fully +equal in value to that sent to him, of several large gourds of honey, +fowls, goats, and enough vetches and beans to supply my men with four +days' food. + +I met the chief at the gate of my camp, and bowing profoundly, invited +him to my tent, which I had arranged as well as my circumstances would +permit, for this reception. My Persian carpet and bear skin were spread +out, and a broad piece of bran-new crimson cloth covered my kitanda, or +bedstead. + +The chief, a tall robust man, and his chieftains, were invited to seat +themselves. They cast a look of such gratified surprise at myself, at +my face, my clothes, and guns, as is almost impossible to describe. They +looked at me intently for a few seconds, and then at each other, which +ended in an uncontrollable burst of laughter, and repeated snappings +of the fingers. They spoke the Kinyamwezi language, and my interpreter +Maganga was requested to inform the chief of the great delight I felt in +seeing them. After a short period expended in interchanging compliments, +and a competitive excellence at laughing at one another, their chief +desired me to show him my guns. The "sixteen-shooter," the Winchester +rifle, elicited a thousand flattering observations from the excited man; +and the tiny deadly revolvers, whose beauty and workmanship they thought +were superhuman, evoked such gratified eloquence that I was fain to try +something else. The double-barrelled guns fired with heavy charges of +power, caused them to jump up in affected alarm, and then to subside +into their seats convulsed with laughter. As the enthusiasm of my guests +increased, they seized each other's index fingers, screwed them, and +pulled at them until I feared they would end in their dislocation. After +having explained to them the difference between white men and Arabs, I +pulled out my medicine chest, which evoked another burst of rapturous +sighs at the cunning neatness of the array of vials. He asked what they +meant. + +"Dowa," I replied sententiously, a word which may be +interpreted--medicine. + +"Oh-h, oh-h," they murmured admiringly. I succeeded, before long, in +winning unqualified admiration, and my superiority, compared to the +best of the Arabs they had seen, was but too evident. "Dowa, dowa," they +added. + +"Here," said I, uncorking a vial of medicinal brandy, "is the Kisungu +pombe" (white man's beer); "take a spoonful and try it," at the same +time handing it. + +"Hacht, hacht, oh, hacht! what! eh! what strong beer the white men +have! Oh, how my throat burns!" + +"Ah, but it is good," said I, "a little of it makes men feel strong, and +good; but too much of it makes men bad, and they die." + +"Let me have some," said one of the chiefs; "and me," "and me," "and +me," as soon as each had tasted. + +"I next produced a bottle of concentrated ammonia, which as I explained +was for snake bites, and head-aches; the Sultan immediately complained +he had a head-ache, and must have a little. Telling him to close his +eyes, I suddenly uncorked the bottle, and presented it to His Majesty's +nose. The effect was magical, for he fell back as if shot, and such +contortions as his features underwent are indescribable. His chiefs +roared with laughter, and clapped their hands, pinched each other, +snapped their fingers, and committed many other ludicrous things. I +verily believe if such a scene were presented on any stage in the world +the effect of it would be visible instantaneously on the audience; that +had they seen it as I saw it, they would have laughed themselves to +hysteria and madness. Finally the Sultan recovered himself, great tears +rolling down his cheeks, and his features quivering with laughter, +then he slowly uttered the word 'kali,'--hot, strong, quick, or ardent +medicine. He required no more, but the other chiefs pushed forward +to get one wee sniff, which they no sooner had, than all went into +paroxysms of uncontrollable laughter. The entire morning was passed in +this state visit, to the mutual satisfaction of all concerned. 'Oh,' +said the Sultan at parting, 'these white men know everything, the Arabs +are dirt compared to them!'" + +That night Hamdallah, one of the guides, deserted, carrying with him his +hire (27 doti), and a gun. It was useless to follow him in the morning, +as it would have detained me many more days than I could afford; but +I mentally vowed that Mr. Hamdallah should work out those 27 doti of +cloths before I reached the coast. + +Wednesday, October 4th, saw us travelling to the Gombe River, which is 4 +h. 15 m. march from Manyara. + +We had barely left the waving cornfields of my friend Ma-manyara before +we came in sight of a herd of noble zebra; two hours afterwards we +had entered a grand and noble expanse of park land, whose glorious +magnificence and vastness of prospect, with a far-stretching carpet of +verdure darkly flecked here and there by miniature clumps of jungle, +with spreading trees growing here and there, was certainly one of the +finest scenes to be seen in Africa. Added to which, as I surmounted one +of the numerous small knolls, I saw herds after herds of buffalo and +zebra, giraffe and antelope, which sent the blood coursing through my +veins in the excitement of the moment, as when I first landed on African +soil. We crept along the plain noiselessly to our camp on the banks of +the sluggish waters of the Gombe. + +Here at last was the hunter's Paradise! How petty and insignificant +appeared my hunts after small antelope and wild boar what a foolish +waste of energies those long walks through damp grasses and through +thorny jungles! Did I not well remember ' my first bitter experience +in African jungles when in the maritime region! But this--where is +the nobleman's park that can match this scene? Here is a soft, velvety +expanse of young grass, grateful shade under those spreading clumps; +herds of large and varied game browsing within easy rifle range. Surely +I must feel amply compensated now for the long southern detour I have +made, when such a prospect as this opens to the view! No thorny jungles +and rank smelling swamps are here to daunt the hunter, and to sicken +his aspirations after true sport! No hunter could aspire after a nobler +field to display his prowess. + +Having settled the position of the camp, which overlooked one of +the pools found in the depression of the Gombe creek, I took my +double-barrelled smooth-bore, and sauntered off to the park-land. +Emerging from behind a clump, three fine plump spring-bok were seen +browsing on the young grass just within one hundred yards. I knelt down +and fired; one unfortunate antelope bounded upward instinctively, and +fell dead. Its companions sprang high into the air, taking leaps about +twelve feet in length, as if they were quadrupeds practising gymnastics, +and away they vanished, rising up like India-rubber balls; until a +knoll hid them from view. My success was hailed with loud shouts by the +soldiers; who came running out from the camp as soon as they heard the +reverberation of the gun, and my gun-bearer had his knife at the beast's +throat, uttering a fervent "Bismillah!" as he almost severed the head +from the body. + +Hunters were now directed to proceed east and north to procure meat, +because in each caravan it generally happens that there are fundi, whose +special trade it is to hunt for meat for the camp. Some of these are +experts in stalking, but often find themselves in dangerous positions, +owing to the near approach necessary, before they can fire their most +inaccurate weapons with any certainty. + +After luncheon, consisting of spring-bok steak, hot corn-cake, and a +cup of delicious Mocha coffee, I strolled towards the south-west, +accompanied by Kalulu and Majwara, two boy gun-bearers. The tiny +perpusilla started up like rabbits from me as I stole along through the +underbrush; the honey-bird hopped from tree to tree chirping its +call, as if it thought I was seeking the little sweet treasure, the +hiding-place of which it only knew; but no! I neither desired perpusilla +nor the honey. I was on the search for something great this day. +Keen-eyed fish-eagles and bustards poised on trees above the sinuous +Gombe thought, and probably with good reason that I was after them; +judging by the ready flight with which both species disappeared as they +sighted my approach. Ah, no! nothing but hartebeest, zebra, giraffe, +eland, and buffalo this day! After following the Gombe's course for +about a mile, delighting my eyes with long looks at the broad and +lengthy reaches of water to which I was so long a stranger, I came upon +a scene which delighted the innermost recesses of my soul; five, six, +seven, eight, ten zebras switching their beautiful striped bodies, and +biting one another, within about one hundred and fifty yards. The scene +was so pretty, so romantic, never did I so thoroughly realize that I +was in Central Africa. I felt momentarily proud that I owned such a vast +domain, inhabited with such noble beasts. Here I possessed, within reach +of a leaden ball, any one I chose of the beautiful animals, the pride of +the African forests! It was at my option to shoot any of them! Mine they +were without money or without price; yet, knowing this, twice I dropped +my rifle, loth to wound the royal beasts, but--crack! and a royal one +was on his back battling the air with his legs. Ah, it was such a +pity! but, hasten, draw the keen sharp-edged knife across the beautiful +stripes which fold around the throat; and--what an ugly gash! it is +done, and 1 have a superb animal at my feet. Hurrah! I shall taste of +Ukonongo zebra to-night. + +I thought a spring-bok and zebra enough for one day's sport, especially +after a long march. The Gombe, a long stretch of deep water, winding in +and out of green groves, calm, placid, with lotus leaves lightly resting +on its surface, all pretty, picturesque, peaceful as a summer's dream, +looked very inviting for a bath. I sought out the most shady spot under +a wide-spreading mimosa, from which the ground sloped smooth as a +lawn, to the still, clear water. I ventured to undress, and had already +stepped in to my ancles in the water, and had brought my hands together +for a glorious dive, when my attention was attracted by an enormously +long body which shot into view, occupying the spot beneath the surface +that I was about to explore by a "header." Great heavens, it was +a crocodile! I sprang backward instinctively, and this proved my +salvation, for the monster turned away with the most disappointed look, +and I was left to congratulate myself upon my narrow escape from his +jaws, and to register a vow never to be tempted again by the treacherous +calm of an African river. + +As soon as I had dressed I turned away from the now repulsive aspect of +the stream. In strolling through the jungle, towards my camp, I detected +the forms of two natives looking sharply about them, and, after bidding +my young attendants to preserve perfect quiet, I crept on towards them, +and, by the aid of a thick clump of underbush, managed to arrive within +a few feet of the natives undetected. Their mere presence in the immense +forest, unexplained, was a cause of uneasiness in the then disturbed +state of the country, and my intention was to show myself suddenly to +them, and note its effect, which, if it betokened anything hostile to +the Expedition, could without difficulty be settled at once, with the +aid of my double-barrelled smooth-bore. + +As I arrived on one side of this bush, the two suspicious-looking +natives arrived on the other side, and we were separated by only a +few feet. I made a bound, and we were face to face. The natives cast a +glance at the sudden figure of a white man, and seemed petrified for a +moment, but then, recovering themselves, they shrieked out, "Bana, bana, +you don't know us. We are Wakonongo, who came to your camp to accompany +you to Mrera, and we are looking for honey." + +"Oh, to be sure, you are the Wakonongo. Yes--Yes. Ah, it is all right +now, I thought you might be Ruga-Ruga." + +So the two parties, instead of being on hostile terms with each other, +burst out laughing. The Wakonongo enjoyed it very much, and laughed +heartily as they proceeded on their way to search for the wild honey. +On a piece of bark they carried a little fire with which they smoked the +bees out from their nest in the great mtundu-trees. + +The adventures of the day were over; the azure of the sky had changed +to a dead grey; the moon was appearing just over the trees; the water +of the Gombe was like a silver belt; hoarse frogs bellowed their +notes loudly by the margin of the creek; the fish-eagles uttered their +dirge-like cries as they were perched high on the tallest tree; elands +snorted their warning to the herds in the forest; stealthy forms of the +carnivora stole through the dark woods outside of our camp. Within the +high inclosure of bush and thorn, which we had raised around our camp, +all was jollity, laughter, and radiant, genial comfort. Around every +camp-fire dark forms of men were seen squatted: one man gnawed at a +luscious bone; another sucked the rich marrow in a zebra's leg-bone; +another turned the stick, garnished with huge kabobs, to the bright +blaze; another held a large rib over a flame; there were others busy +stirring industriously great black potfuls of ugali, and watching +anxiously the meat simmering, and the soup bubbling, while the +fire-light flickered and danced bravely, and cast a bright glow over the +naked forms of the men, and gave a crimson tinge to the tall tent that +rose in the centre of the camp, like a temple sacred to some mysterious +god; the fires cast their reflections upon the massive arms of the +trees, as they branched over our camp, and, in the dark gloom of their +foliage, the most fantastic shadows were visible. Altogether it was +a wild, romantic, and impressive scene. But little recked my men for +shadows and moonlight, for crimson tints, and temple-like tents--they +were all busy relating their various experiences, and gorging themselves +with the rich meats our guns had obtained for us. One was telling how he +had stalked a wild boar, and the furious onset the wounded animal made +on him, causing him to drop his gun, and climb a tree, and the terrible +grunt of the beast he well remembered, and the whole welkin rang with +the peals of laughter which his mimic powers evoked. Another had shot a +buffalo-calf, and another had bagged a hartebeest; the Wakonongo related +their laughable rencontre with me in the woods, and were lavish in their +description of the stores of honey to be found in the woods; and all +this time Selim and his youthful subs were trying their sharp teeth on +the meat of a young pig which one of the hunters had shot, but which +nobody else would eat, because of the Mohammedan aversion to pig, which +they had acquired during their transformation from negro savagery to the +useful docility of the Zanzibar freed-man. + +We halted the two following days, and made frequent raids on the herds +of this fine country. The first day I was fairly successful again in +the sport. I bagged a couple of antelopes, a kudu (A. strepsiceros) with +fine twisting horns, and a pallah-buck (A. melampus), a reddish-brown +animal, standing about three and a half feet, with broad posteriors. +I might have succeeded in getting dozens of animals had I any of those +accurate, heavy rifles manufactured by Lancaster, Reilly, or Blissett, +whose every shot tells. But my weapons, save my light smoothbore, +were unfit for African game. My weapons were more for men. With the +Winchester rifle, and the Starr's carbine, I was able to hit anything +within two hundred yards, but the animals, though wounded, invariably +managed to escape the knife, until I was disgusted with the pea-bullets. +What is wanted for this country is a heavy bore--No. 10 or 12 is the +real bone-crusher--that will drop every animal shot in its tracks, by +which all fatigue and disappointment are avoided. Several times during +these two days was I disappointed after most laborious stalking and +creeping along the ground. Once I came suddenly upon an eland while +I had a Winchester rifle in my hand--the eland and myself mutually +astonished--at not more than twenty-five yards apart. I fired at its +chest, and bullet, true to its aim, sped far into the internal parts, +and the blood spouted from the wound: in a few minutes he was far away, +and I was too much disappointed to follow him. All love of the chase +seemed to be dying away before these several mishaps. What were two +antelopes for one day's sport to the thousands that browsed over the +plain? + +The animals taken to camp during our three days' sport were two +buffaloes, two wild boar, three hartebeest, one zebra, and one pallah; +besides which, were shot eight guinea-fowls, three florican, two +fish-eagles, one pelican, and one of the men caught a couple of large +silurus fish. In the meantime the people had cut, sliced, and dried +this bounteous store of meat for our transit through the long wilderness +before us. + +Saturday the 7th day of October, we broke up camp, to the great regret +of the meat-loving, gormandizing Wangwana. They delegated Bombay early +in the morning to speak to me, and entreat of me to stop one day longer. +It was ever the case; they had always an unconquerable aversion to work, +when in presence of meat. Bombay was well scolded for bearing any such +request to me after two days' rest, during which time they had been +filled to repletion with meat. And Bombay was by no means in the best of +humour; flesh-pots full of meat were more to his taste than a constant +tramping, and its consequent fatigues. I saw his face settle into sulky +ugliness, and his great nether lip hanging down limp, which meant as if +expressed in so many words, "Well, get them to move yourself, you wicked +hard man! I shall not help you." + +An ominous silence followed my order to the kirangozi to sound the +horn, and the usual singing and chanting were not heard. The men turned +sullenly to their bales, and Asmani, the gigantic guide, our fundi, was +heard grumblingly to say he was sorry he had engaged to guide me to the +Tanganika. However, they started, though reluctantly. I stayed behind +with my gunbearers, to drive the stragglers on. In about half an hour I +sighted the caravan at a dead stop, with the bales thrown on the ground, +and the men standing in groups conversing angrily and excitedly. + +Taking my double-barrelled gun from Selim's shoulder, I selected a dozen +charges of buck-shot, and slipping two of them into the barrels, and +adjusting my revolvers in order for handy work, I walked on towards +them. I noticed that the men seized their guns, as I advanced. When +within thirty yards of the groups, I discovered the heads of two men +appear above an anthill on my left, with the barrels of their guns +carelessly pointed toward the road. + +I halted, threw the barrel of my gun into the hollow of the left hand, +and then, taking a deliberate aim at them, threatened to blow their +heads off if they did not come forward to talk to me. These two men +were, gigantic Asmani and his sworn companion Mabruki, the guides of +Sheikh bin Nasib. As it was dangerous not to comply with such an order, +they presently came, but, keeping my eye on Asmani, I saw him move his +fingers to the trigger of his gun, and bring his gun to a "ready." Again +I lifted my gun, and threatened him with instant death, if he did not +drop his gun. + +Asmani came on in a sidelong way with a smirking smile on his face, but +in his eyes shone the lurid light of murder, as plainly as ever it shone +in a villain's eyes. Mabruki sneaked to my rear, deliberately putting +powder in the pan of his musket, but sweeping the gun sharply round, I +planted the muzzle of it at about two feet from his wicked-looking face, +and ordered him to drop his gun instantly. He let it fall from his hand +quickly, and giving him a vigorous poke in the breast with my gun, which +sent him reeling away a few feet from me, I faced round to Asmani, and +ordered him to put his gun down, accompanying it with a nervous movement +of my gun, pressing gently on the trigger at the same time. Never was +a man nearer his death than was Asmani during those few moments. I was +reluctant to shed his blood, and I was willing to try all possible means +to avoid doing so; but if I did not succeed in cowing this ruffian, +authority was at an end. The truth was, they feared to proceed further +on the road, and the only possible way of inducing them to move was +by an overpowering force, and exercise of my power and will in this +instance, even though he might pay the penalty of his disobedience with +death. As I was beginning to feel that Asmani had passed his last moment +on earth, as he was lifting his gun to his shoulder, a form came up from +behind him, and swept his gun aside with an impatient, nervous movement, +and I heard Mabruki Burton say in horror-struck accents: + +"Man, how dare you point your gun, at the master?" Mabruki then threw +himself at my feet, and endeavoured to kiss them and entreated me not +to punish him. "It was all over now," he said; "there would be no more +quarreling, they would all go as far as the Tanganika, without any more +noise; and Inshallah!" said he, "we shall find the old Musungu * at +Ujiji." + +*Livingstone + +"Speak, men, freedmen, shall we not?--shall we not go to the Tanganika +without any more trouble? tell the master with one voice." + +"Ay Wallah! Ay Wallah! Bana yango! Hamuna manneno mgini!" which +literally translated means, "Yes by God! Yes by God! my master! There +are no other words," said each man loudly. + +"Ask the master's pardon, man, or go thy way," said Mabruki +peremptorily, to Asmani: which Asmani did, to the gratification of us +all. + +It remained for me only to extend a general pardon to all except to +Bombay and Ambari, the instigators of the mutiny, which was now happily +quelled. For Bombay could have by a word, as my captain, nipped all +manifestation of bad temper at the outset, had he been so disposed. +But no, Bombay was more averse to marching than the cowardliest of his +fellows, not because he was cowardly, but because he loved indolence. + +Again the word was given to march, and each man, with astonishing +alacrity, seized his load, and filed off quickly out of sight. + +While on this subject, I may as well give here a sketch of each of the +principal men whose names must often appear in the following chapters. +According to rank, they consist of Bombay, Mabruki Burton, Asmani the +guide, Chowpereh, Ulimengo, Khamisi, Ambari, Jumah, Ferajji the cook, +Maganga the Mnyamwezi, Selim the Arab boy, and youthful Kalulu a +gunbearer. + +Bombay has received an excellent character from Burton and Speke. +"Incarnation of honesty" Burton grandly terms him. The truth is, Bombay +was neither very honest nor very dishonest, i.e., he did not venture +to steal much. He sometimes contrived cunningly, as he distributed the +meat, to hide a very large share for his own use. This peccadillo of his +did not disturb me much; he deserved as captain a larger share than the +others. He required to be closely watched, and when aware that this was +the case, he seldom ventured to appropriate more cloth than I would have +freely given him, had he asked for it. As a personal servant, or valet, +he would have been unexceptionable, but as a captain or jemadar over his +fellows, he was out of his proper sphere. It was too much brain-work, +and was too productive of anxiety to keep him in order. At times he was +helplessly imbecile in his movements, forgot every order the moment it +was given him, consistently broke or lost some valuable article, was +fond of argument, and addicted to bluster. He thinks Hajji Abdullah one +of the wickedest white men born, because he saw him pick up men's skulls +and put them in sacks, as if he was about to prepare a horrible medicine +with them. He wanted to know whether his former master had written down +all he himself did, and when told that Burton had not said anything, +in his books upon the Lake Regions, upon collecting skulls at Kilwa, +thought I would be doing a good work if I published this important +fact. + + * Bombay intends to make a pilgrimage to visit Speke's grave + some day. + + ** I find upon returning to England, that Capt. Burton has + informed the world of this "wicked and abominable deed," in + his book upon Zanzibar, and that the interesting collection + may be seen at the Royal College of Surgeons, London. + + +Mabruki, "Ras-bukra Mabruki," Bull-headed Mabruki, as Burton calls +him, is a sadly abused man in my opinion. Mabruki, though stupid, is +faithful. He is entirely out of his element as valet, he might as well +be clerk. As a watchman he is invaluable, as a second captain or fundi, +whose duty it is to bring up stragglers, he is superexcellent. He is +ugly and vain, but he is no coward. + +Asmani the guide is a large fellow, standing over six feet, with the +neck and shoulders of a Hercules. Besides being guide, he is a fundi, +sometimes called Fundi Asmani, or hunter. A very superstitious man, who +takes great care of his gun, and talismanic plaited cord, which he has +dipped in the blood of all the animals he has ever shot. He is afraid of +lions, and will never venture out where lions are known to be. All other +animals he regards as game, and is indefatigable in their pursuit. He is +seldom seen without an apologetic or a treacherous smile on his face. He +could draw a knife across a man's throat and still smile. + +Chowpereh is a sturdy short man of thirty or thereabouts; very +good-natured, and humorous. When Chowpereh speaks in his dry Mark Twain +style, the whole camp laughs. I never quarrel with Chowpereh, never +did quarrel with him. A kind word given to Chowpereh is sure to be +reciprocated with a good deed. He is the strongest, the healthiest, +the amiablest, the faithfulest of all. He is the embodiment of a good +follower. + +Khamisi is a neat, cleanly boy of twenty, or thereabouts, active, +loud-voiced, a boaster, and the cowardliest of the cowardly. He will +steal at every opportunity. He clings to his gun most affectionately; is +always excessively anxious if a screw gets loose, or if a flint will +not strike fire, yet I doubt that he would be able to fire his gun at an +enemy from excessive trembling. Khamisi would rather trust his safety to +his feet, which are small, and well shaped. + +Ambari is a man of about forty. He is one of the "Faithfuls" of Speke, +and one of my Faithfuls. He would not run away from me except when in +the presence of an enemy, and imminent personal danger. He is clever +in his way, but is not sufficiently clever to enact the part of +captain--could take charge of a small party, and give a very good +account of them. Is lazy, and an admirer of good living--abhors +marching, unless he has nothing to carry but his gun. + +Jumah is the best abused man of the party, because he has old-womanish +ways with him, yet in his old-womanish ways he is disposed to do the +best he can for me, though he will not carry a pound in weight without +groaning terribly at his hard fate. To me he is sentimental and +pathetic; to the unimportant members of the caravan he is stern and +uncompromising. But the truth is, that I could well dispense with +Jumah's presence: he was one of the incorrigible inutiles, eating far +more than he was worth; besides being an excessively grumbling and +querulous fool. + +Ulimengo, a strong stalwart fellow of thirty, was the maddest and most +hare-brained of my party. Though an arrant coward, he was a consummate +boaster. But though a devotee of pleasure and fun, he was not averse +from work. With one hundred men such as he, I could travel through +Africa provided there was no fighting to do. It will be remembered that +he was the martial coryphaeus who led my little army to war against +Mirambo, chanting the battle-song of the Wangwana; and that I stated, +that when the retreat was determined upon, he was the first of my party +to reach the stronghold of Mfuto. He is a swift runner, and a fair +hunter. I have been indebted to him on several occasions for a welcome +addition to my larder. + +Ferajji, a former dish-washer to Speke, was my cook. He was promoted +to this office upon the defection of Bunder Salaam, and the extreme +non-fitness of Abdul Kader. For cleaning dishes, the first corn-cob, +green twig, a bunch of leaves or grass, answered Ferajji's purposes in +the absence of a cloth. If I ordered a plate, and I pointed out a +black, greasy, sooty thumbmark to him, a rub of a finger Ferajji thought +sufficient to remove all objections. If I hinted that a spoon was rather +dirty, Ferajji fancied that with a little saliva, and a rub of his loin +cloth, the most fastidious ought to be satisfied. Every pound of meat, +and every three spoonfuls of musk or porridge I ate in Africa, contained +at least ten grains of sand. Ferajji was considerably exercised at a +threat I made to him that on arrival at Zanzibar, I would get the great +English doctor there to open my stomach, and count every grain of sand +found in it, for each grain of which Ferajji should be charged one +dollar. The consciousness that my stomach must contain a large number, +for which the forfeits would be heavy, made him feel very sad at +times. Otherwise, Ferajji was a good cook, most industrious, if not +accomplished. He could produce a cup of tea, and three or four hot +pancakes, within ten minutes after a halt was ordered, for which I was +most grateful, as I was almost always hungry after a long march. Ferajji +sided with Baraka against Bombay in Unyoro, and when Speke took Bombay's +side of the question, Ferajji, out of love for Baraka, left Speke's +service, and so forfeited his pay. + +Maganga was a Mnyamwezi, a native of Mkwenkwe, a strong, faithful +servant, an excellent pagazi, with an irreproachable temper. He it was +who at all times, on the march, started the wildly exuberant song of the +Wanyamwezi porters, which, no matter how hot the sun, or how long the +march, was sure to produce gaiety and animation among the people. At +such times all hands sang, sang with voices that could be heard miles +away, which made the great forests ring with the sounds, which startled +every animal big or little, for miles around. On approaching a village +the temper of whose people might be hostile to us, Maganga would +commence his song, with the entire party joining in the chorus, by +which mode we knew whether the natives were disposed to be friendly or +hostile. If hostile, or timid, the gates would at once be closed, and +dark faces would scowl at us from the interior; if friendly, they rushed +outside of their gates to welcome us, or to exchange friendly remarks. + +An important member of the Expedition was Selim, the young Arab. Without +some one who spoke good Arabic, I could not have obtained the friendship +of the chief Arabs in Unyanyembe; neither could I have well communicated +with them, for though I understood Arabic, I could not speak it. + +I have already related how Kalulu came to be in my service, and how he +came to bear his present name. I soon found how apt and quick he was to +learn, in consequence of which, he was promoted to the rank of personal +attendant. Even Selim could not vie with Kalulu in promptness and +celerity, or in guessing my wants at the table. His little black eyes +were constantly roving over the dishes, studying out the problem of what +was further necessary, or had become unnecessary. + +We arrived at the Ziwani, in about 4 h. 30 m. from the time of our +quitting the scene which had well-nigh witnessed a sanguinary conflict. +The Ziwani, or pool, contained no water, not a drop, until the parched +tongues of my people warned them that they must proceed and excavate +for water. This excavation was performed (by means of strong hard sticks +sharply pointed) in the dry hard-caked bottom. After digging to a depth +of six feet their labours were rewarded with the sight of a few drops of +muddy liquid percolating through the sides, which were eagerly swallowed +to relieve their raging thirst. Some voluntarily started with buckets, +gourds, and canteens south to a deserted clearing called the "Tongoni" +in Ukamba, and in about three hours returned with a plentiful supply for +immediate use, of good and clear water. + +In 1 h. 30 m. we arrived at this Tongoni, or deserted clearing of +the Wakamba. Here were three or four villages burnt, and an extensive +clearing desolate, the work of the Wa-Ruga-Raga of Mirambo. Those of the +inhabitants who were left, after the spoliation and complete destruction +of the flourishing settlement, emigrated westerly to Ugara. A large +herd of buffalo now slake their thirst at the pool which supplied the +villages of Ukamba with water. + +Great masses of iron haematite cropped up above the surfaces in these +forests. Wild fruit began to be abundant; the wood-apple and tamarind +and a small plum-like fruit, furnished us with many an agreeable repast. + +The honey-bird is very frequent in these forests of Ukonongo. Its cry is +a loud, quick chirrup. The Wakonongo understand how to avail themselves +of its guidance to the sweet treasure of honey which the wild bees have +stored in the cleft of some great tree. Daily, the Wakonongo who had +joined our caravan brought me immense cakes of honey-comb, containing +delicious white and red honey. The red honey-comb generally contains +large numbers of dead bees, but our exceedingly gluttonous people +thought little of these. They not only ate the honey-bees, but they also +ate a good deal of the wax. + +As soon as the honey-bird descries the traveller, he immediately utters +a series of wild, excited cries, hops about from twig to twig, and from +branch to branch, then hops to another tree, incessantly repeating his +chirruping call. The native, understanding the nature of the little +bird, unhesitatingly follows him; but perhaps his steps are too slow for +the impatient caller, upon which he flies back, urging him louder, more +impatient cries, to hasten, and then darts swiftly forward, as if he +would show how quickly he could go to the honey-store, until at last the +treasure is reached, the native has applied fire to the bees' nest, and +secured the honey, while the little bird preens himself, and chirrups in +triumphant notes, as if he were informing the biped that without his aid +he never could have found the honey. + +Buffalo gnats and tsetse were very troublesome on this march, owing to +the numerous herds of game in the vicinity. + +On the 9th of October we made a long march in a southerly direction, and +formed our camp in the centre of a splendid grove of trees. The water +was very scarce on the road. The Wamrima and Wanyamwezi are not long +able to withstand thirst. When water is plentiful they slake their +thirst at every stream and pool; when it is scarce, as it is here and +in the deserts of Marenga and Magunda Mkali, long afternoon-marches are +made; the men previously, however, filling their gourds, so as to enable +them to reach the water early next morning. Selim was never able to +endure thirst. It mattered not how much of the precious liquid he +carried, he generally drank it all before reaching camp, and he +consequently suffered during the night. Besides this, he endangered +his life by quaffing from every muddy pool; and on this day he began to +complain that he discharged blood, which I took to be an incipient stage +of dysentery. + +During these marches, ever since quitting Ugunda, a favourite topic +at the camp-fires were the Wa-Ruga-Ruga, and their atrocities, and a +possible encounter that we might have with these bold rovers of +the forest. I verily believe that a sudden onset of half a dozen of +Mirambo's people would have set the whole caravan arunning. + +We reached Marefu the next day, after a short three hours' march. We +there found an embassy sent by the Arabs of Unyanyembe, to the Southern +Watuta, bearing presents of several bales, in charge of Hassan the +Mseguhha. This valiant leader and diplomatist had halted here some ten +days because of wars and rumours of wars in his front. It was said that +Mbogo, Sultan of Mboga in Ukonongo, was at war with the brother of Manwa +Sera, and as Mbogo was a large district of Ukonongo only two days' march +from Marefu; fear of being involved in it was deterring old Hassan from +proceeding. He advised me also not to proceed, as it was impossible to +be able to do so without being embroiled in the conflict. I informed +him that I intended to proceed on my way, and take my chances, and +graciously offered him my escort as far as the frontier of Ufipa, from +which he could easily and safely continue on his way to the Watuta, but +he declined it. + +We had now been travelling fourteen days in a south-westerly direction, +having made a little more than one degree of latitude. I had intended to +have gone a little further south, because it was such a good road, also +since by going further south we should have labored under no fear of +meeting Mirambo; but the report of this war in our front, only two days +off, compelled me, in the interest of the Expedition, to strike across +towards the Tanganika, an a west-by-north course through the forest, +travelling, when it was advantageous, along elephant tracks and local +paths. This new plan was adopted after consulting with Asmani, the +guide. We were now in Ukonongo, having entered this district when +we crossed the Gombe creek. The next day after arriving at Marefu we +plunged westward, in view of the villagers, and the Arab ambassador, +who kept repeating until the last moment that we should "certainly catch +it." + +We marched eight hours through a forest, where the forest peach, or the +"mbembu," is abundant. The tree that bears this fruit is very like +a pear-tree, and is very productive. I saw one tree, upon which I +estimated there were at least six or seven bushels. I ate numbers of the +peaches on this day. So long as this fruit can be produced, a traveller +in these regions need not fear starvation. + +At the base of a graceful hilly cone we found a village called Utende, +the inhabitants of which were in a state of great alarm, as we suddenly +appeared on the ridge above them. Diplomacy urged me to send forward a +present of one doti to the Sultan, who, however, would not accept it, +because he happened to be drunk with pombe, and was therefore disposed +to be insolent. Upon being informed that he would refuse any present, +unless he received four more cloths, I immediately ordered a strong +boma to be constructed on the summits of a little hill, near enough to +a plentiful supply of water, and quietly again packed up the present in +the bale. I occupied a strategically chosen position, as I could have +swept the face of the hill, and the entire space between its base and +the village of Watende. Watchmen were kept on the look-out all +night; but we were fortunately not troubled until the morning; when +a delegation of the principal men came to ask if I intended to depart +without having made a present to the chief. I replied to them that I did +not intend passing through any country without making friends with the +chief; and if their chief would accept a good cloth from me, I would +freely give it to him. Though they demurred at the amount of the present +at first, the difference between us was finally ended by my adding a +fundo of red beads--sami-sami--for the chief's wife. + +From the hill and ridge of Utende sloped a forest for miles and miles +westerly, which was terminated by a grand and smooth-topped ridge rising +500 or 600 feet above the plain. + +A four hours' march, on the 12th of October, brought us to a nullah +similar to the Gombe, which, during the wet season, flows to the Gombe +River, and thence into the Malagarazi River. + +A little before camping we saw a herd of nimba, or pallah; I had the +good fortune to shoot one, which was a welcome addition to our fast +diminishing store of dried meats, prepared in our camp on the Gombe. By +the quantity of bois de vaches, we judged buffaloes were plentiful here, +as well as elephant and rhinoceros. The feathered species were well +represented by ibis, fish-eagles, pelicans, storks, cranes, several +snowy spoon-bills, and flamingoes. + +From the nullah, or mtoni, we proceeded to Mwaru, the principal village +of the district of Mwaru, the chief of which is Ka-mirambo. Our march +lay over desolated clearings once occupied by Ka-mirambo's people, but +who were driven away by Mkasiwa some ten years ago, during his warfare +against Manwa Sera. Niongo, the brother of the latter, now waging war +against Mbogo, had passed through Mwaru the day before we arrived, after +being defeated by his enemy. + +The hilly ridge that bounded the westward horizon, visible from Utende, +was surmounted on this day. The western slope trends south-west, and is +drained by the River Mrera, which empties into the Malagarazi River. We +perceived the influence of the Tanganika, even here, though we were +yet twelve or fifteen marches from the lake. The jungles increased in +density, and the grasses became enormously tall; these points reminded +us of the maritime districts of Ukwere and Ukami. + +We heard from a caravan at this place, just come from Ufipa, that +a white man was reported to be in "Urua," whom I supposed to mean +Livingstone. + +Upon leaving Mwaru we entered the district of Mrera, a chief who once +possessed great power and influence over this region. Wars, however, +have limited his possessions to three or four villages snugly embosomed +within a jungle, whose outer rim is so dense that it serves like a stone +wall to repel invaders. There were nine bleached skulls, stuck on the +top of as many poles, before the principal gate of entrance, which told +us of existing feuds between the Wakonongo and the Wazavira. This latter +tribe dwelt in a country a few marches west of us; whose territory +we should have to avoid, unless we sought another opportunity to +distinguish ourselves in battle with the natives. The Wazavira, we were +told by the Wakonongo of Mrera, were enemies to all Wangwana. + +In a narrow strip of marsh between Mwaru and Mrera, we saw a small herd +of wild elephants. It was the first time I had ever seen these animals +in their native wildness, and my first impressions of them I shall not +readily forget. I am induced to think that the elephant deserves the +title of "king of beasts." His huge form, the lordly way in which he +stares at an intruder on his domain, and his whole appearance indicative +of conscious might, afford good grounds for his claim to that title. +This herd, as we passed it at the distance of a mile, stopped to survey +the caravan as it passed: and, after having satisfied their curiosity, +the elephants trooped into the forest which bounded the marshy plain +southward, as if caravans were every-day things to them, whilst +they--the free and unconquerable lords of the forest and the marsh--had +nothing in common with the cowardly bipeds, who never found courage to +face them in fair combat. The destruction which a herd makes in a forest +is simply tremendous. When the trees are young whole swathes may be +found uprooted and prostrate, which mark the track of the elephants as +they "trampled their path through wood and brake." + +The boy Selim was so ill at this place that I was compelled to halt the +caravan for him for two days. He seemed to be affected with a disease +in the limbs, which caused him to sprawl, and tremble most painfully, +besides suffering from an attack of acute dysentery. But constant +attendance and care soon brought him round again; and on the third day +he was able to endure the fatigue of riding. + +I was able to shoot several animals during our stay at Mrera. The forest +outside of the cultivation teems with noble animals. Zebra, giraffe, +elephant, and rhinoceros are most common; ptarmigan and guinea-fowl were +also plentiful. + +The warriors of Mrera are almost all armed with muskets, of which they +take great care. They were very importunate in their demands for flints, +bullets, and powder, which I always made it a point to refuse, lest +at any moment a fracas occurring they might use the ammunition thus +supplied to my own disadvantage. The men of this village were an idle +set, doing little but hunting, gaping, gossiping, and playing like great +boys. During the interval of my stay at Mrera I employed a large portion +of my time in mending my shoes, and patching up the great rents in my +clothes, which the thorn species, during the late marches, had almost +destroyed. Westward, beyond Mrera, was a wilderness, the transit of +which we were warned would occupy nine days hence arose the necessity +to purchase a large supply of grain, which, ere attempting the great +uninhabited void in our front, was to be ground and sifted. + + + +CHAPTER XI. -- THROUGH UKAWENDI, UVINZA, AND UHHA, TO UJIJI. + + Happy auspices,--Ant-hills.--The water-shed of the Tanganika + Lion.--The king of Kasera.--The home of the lion and the + leopard.--A donkey frightens a leopard--Sublime scenes in + Kawendi,--Starvation imminent.--Amenities of travel in + Africa.--Black-mailers.--The stormy children of Uhha.--News + of a white man.--Energetic marches--Mionvu, chief of + tribute-takers.--An escape at midnight.--Toiling through the + jungles.--The Lake Mountains.--First view of the Tanganika.-- + Arrival at Ujiji,--The happy meeting with Livingstone. + + +We bade farewell to Mrera on the 17th of October, to continue our route +north-westward. All the men and I were firm friends now; all squabbling +had long ceased. Bombay and I had forgotten our quarrel; the kirangozi +and myself were ready to embrace, so loving and affectionate were the +terms upon which we stood towards one another. Confidence returned to +all hearts--for now, as Mabruk Unyanyembe said, "we could smell the fish +of the Tanganika." Unyanyembe, with all its disquietude, was far behind. +We could snap our fingers at that terrible Mirambo and his unscrupulous +followers, and by-and-by, perhaps, we may be able to laugh at the timid +seer who always prophesied portentous events--Sheikh, the son of Nasib. +We laughed joyously, as we glided in Indian file through the young +forest jungle beyond the clearing of Mrera, and boasted of our prowess. +Oh! we were truly brave that morning! + +Emerging from the jungle, we entered a thin forest, where numerous +ant-hills were seen like so many sand-dunes. I imagine that these +ant-hills were formed during a remarkably wet season, when, possibly, +the forest-clad plain was inundated. I have seen the ants at work +by thousands, engaged in the work of erecting their hills in other +districts suffering from inundation. What a wonderful system of cells +these tiny insects construct! A perfect labyrinth--cell within cell, +room within room, hall within hall--an exhibition of engineering talents +and high architectural capacity--a model city, cunningly contrived for +safety and comfort! + +Emerging after a short hour's march out of the forest, we welcome the +sight of a murmuring translucent stream, swiftly flowing towards the +north-west, which we regard with the pleasure which only men who have +for a long time sickened themselves with that potable liquid of the +foulest kind, found in salinas, mbugas, pools, and puddle holes, can +realize. Beyond this stream rises a rugged and steep ridge, from the +summit of which our eyes are gladdened with scenes that are romantic, +animated and picturesque. They form an unusual feast to eyes sated with +looking into the depths of forests, at towering stems of trees, and at +tufted crowns of foliage. We have now before us scores of cones, dotting +the surface of a plain which extends across Southern Ukonongo to the +territory of the Wafipa, and which reaches as far as the Rikwa Plain. +The immense prospect before which we are suddenly ushered is most +varied; exclusive of conical hills and ambitious flat-topped and +isolated mountains, we are in view of the watersheds of the Rungwa +River, which empties into the Tanganika south of where we stand, and of +the Malagarazi River, which the Tanganika receives, a degree or so north +of this position. A single but lengthy latitudinal ridge serves as a +dividing line to the watershed of the Rungwa and Malagarazi; and a score +of miles or so further west of this ridge rises another, which runs +north and south. + +We camped on this day in the jungle, close to a narrow ravine with a +marshy bottom, through the oozy, miry contents of which the waters from +the watershed of the Rungwa slowly trickled southward towards the Rikwa +Plain. This was only one of many ravines, however, some of which were +several hundred yards broad, others were but a few yards in width, the +bottoms of which were most dangerous quagmires, overgrown with dense +tall reeds and papyrus. Over the surface of these great depths of mud +were seen hundreds of thin threads of slimy ochre-coloured water, which +swarmed with animalculae. By-and-by, a few miles south of the base +of this ridge (which I call Kasera, from the country which it cuts in +halves), these several ravines converge and debouch into the +broad, [marshy?], oozy, spongy "river" of Usense, which trends in a +south-easterly direction; after which, gathering the contents of the +watercourses from the north and northeast into its own broader channel, +it soon becomes a stream of some breadth and consequence, and meets a +river flowing from the east, from the direction of Urori, with which it +conflows in the Rikwa Plain, and empties about sixty rectilineal miles +further west into the Tanganika Lake. The Rungwa River, I am informed, +is considered as a boundary line between the country of Usowa on the +north, and Ufipa on the south. + +We had barely completed the construction of our camp defences when +some of the men were heard challenging a small party of natives which +advanced towards our camp, headed by a man who, from his garb and +head-dress, we knew was from Zanzibar. After interchanging the customary +salutations, I was informed that this party was an embassy from Simba +("Lion"), who ruled over Kasera, in Southern Unyamwezi. Simba, I was +told, was the son of Mkasiwa, King of Unyanyembe, and was carrying on +war with the Wazavira, of whom I was warned to beware. He had heard such +reports of my greatness that he was sorry I did not take his road to +Ukawendi, that he might have had the opportunity of seeing me, and +making friends with me; but in the absence of a personal visit Simba had +sent this embassy to overtake me, in the hope that I would present him +with a token of my friendship in the shape of cloth. Though I was rather +taken aback by the demand, still it was politic in me to make this +powerful chief my friend, lest on my return from the search after +Livingstone he and I might fall out. And since it was incumbent on me +to make a present, for the sake of peace, it was necessary to exhibit +my desire for peace by giving--if I gave at all--a royal present. The +ambassador conveyed from me to Simba, or the "Lion" of Kasera, two +gorgeous cloths, and two other doti consisting of Merikani and Kaniki; +and, if I might believe the ambassador, I had made Simba a friend for +ever. + +On the 18th of October, breaking camp at the usual hour, we continued +our march north-westward by a road which zig-zagged along the base of +the Kasera mountains, and which took us into all kinds of difficulties. +We traversed at least a dozen marshy ravines, the depth of mire and +water in which caused the utmost anxiety. I sunk up to my neck in deep +holes in the Stygian ooze caused by elephants, and had to tramp through +the oozy beds of the Rungwa sources with any clothes wet and black with +mud and slime. Decency forbade that I should strip; and the hot sun +would also blister my body. Moreover, these morasses were too frequent +to lose time in undressing and dressing, and, as each man was weighted +with his own proper load, it would have been cruel to compel the men +to bear me across. Nothing remained, therefore, but to march on, all +encumbered as I was with my clothing and accoutrements, into these +several marshy watercourses, with all the philosophical stoicism that my +nature could muster for such emergencies. But it was very uncomfortable, +to say the least of it. + +We soon entered the territory of the dreaded Wazavira, but no enemy was +in sight. Simba, in his wars, had made clean work of the northern +part of Uzavira, and we encountered nothing worse than a view of the +desolated country, which must have been once--judging from the number +of burnt huts and debris of ruined villages--extremely populous. A young +jungle was sprouting up vigorously in their fields, and was rapidly +becoming the home of wild denizens of the forest. In one of the deserted +and ruined villages, I found quarters for the Expedition, which were +by no means uncomfortable. I shot three brace of guinea-fowl in the +neighbourhood of Misonghi, the deserted village we occupied, and +Ulimengo, one of my hunters, bagged an antelope, called the "mbawala," +for whose meat some of the Wanyamwezi have a superstitious aversion. I +take this species of antelope, which stands about three and a half +feet high, of a reddish hide, head long, horns short, to be the "Nzoe" +antelope discovered by Speke in Uganda, and whose Latin designation +is, according to Dr. Sclater, "Tragelaphus Spekii." It has a short bushy +tail, and long hair along the spine. + +A long march in a west-by-north direction, lasting six hours, through +a forest where the sable antelope was seen, and which was otherwise +prolific with game, brought us to a stream which ran by the base of +a lofty conical hill, on whose slopes flourished quite a forest of +feathery bamboo. + +On the 20th, leaving our camp, which lay between the stream and the +conical hill above mentioned, and surmounting a low ridge which sloped +from the base of the hill-cone, we were greeted with another picturesque +view, of cones and scarped mountains, which heaved upward in all +directions. A march of nearly five hours through this picturesque +country brought us to the Mpokwa River, one of the tributaries of the +Rungwa, and to a village lately deserted by the Wazavira. The huts +were almost all intact, precisely as they were left by their former +inhabitants. In the gardens were yet found vegetables, which, after +living so long on meat, were most grateful to us. On the branches of +trees still rested the Lares and Penates of the Wazavira, in the shape +of large and exceedingly well-made earthen pots. + +In the neighbouring river one of my men succeeded, in few minutes, in +catching sixty fish of the silurus species the hand alone. A number of +birds hovered about stream, such as the white-headed fish-eagle and the +kingfisher, enormous, snowy spoonbills, ibis, martins, &c. This river +issued from a mountain clump eight miles or so north of the village +of Mpokwa, and comes flowing down a narrow thread of water, sinuously +winding amongst tall reeds and dense brakes on either side-the home +of hundreds of antelopes and buffaloes. South of Mpokwa, the valley +broadens, and the mountains deflect eastward and westward, and beyond +this point commences the plain known as the Rikwa, which, during the +Masika is inundated, but which, in the dry season, presents the same +bleached aspect that plains in Africa generally do when the grass has +ripened. + +Travelling up along the right bank of the Mpokwa, on the 21st we came +to the head of the stream, and the sources of the Mpokwa, issuing out of +deep defiles enclosed by lofty ranges. The mbawala and the buffalo were +plentiful. + +On the 22nd, after a march of four hours and a half, we came to the +beautiful stream of Mtambu--the water of which was sweet, and clear as +crystal, and flowed northward. We saw for the first time the home of the +lion and the leopard. Hear what Freiligrath says of the place: + + + Where the thorny brake and thicket + Densely fill the interspace + Of the trees, through whose thick branches + Never sunshine lights the place, + There the lion dwells, a monarch, + Mightiest among the brutes; + There his right to reign supremest + Never one his claim disputes. + There he layeth down to slumber, + Having slain and ta'en his fill; + There he roameth, there be croucheth, + As it suits his lordly will. + + +We camped but a few yards from just such a place as the poet describes. +The herd-keeper who attended the goats and donkeys, soon after our +arrival in camp, drove the animals to water, and in order to obtain it +they travelled through a tunnel in the brake, caused by elephants and +rhinoceros. They had barely entered the dark cavernous passage, when a +black-spotted leopard sprang, and fastened its fangs in the neck of +one of the donkeys, causing it, from the pain, to bray hideously. Its +companions set up such a frightful chorus, and so lashed their heels in +the air at the feline marauder, that the leopard bounded away through +the brake, as if in sheer dismay at the noisy cries which the attack +had provoked. The donkey's neck exhibited some frightful wounds, but the +animal was not dangerously hurt. + +Thinking that possibly I might meet with an adventure with a lion or a +leopard in that dark belt of tall trees, under whose impenetrable +shade grew the dense thicket that formed such admirable coverts for the +carnivorous species, I took a stroll along the awesome place with +the gunbearer, Kalulu, carrying an extra gun, and a further supply of +ammunition. We crept cautiously along, looking keenly into the deep +dark dens, the entrances of which were revealed to us, as we journeyed, +expectant every moment to behold the reputed monarch of the brake and +thicket, bound forward to meet us, and I took a special delight in +picturing, in my imagination, the splendor and majesty of the wrathful +brute, as he might stand before me. I peered closely into every dark +opening, hoping to see the deadly glitter of the great angry eyes, and +the glowering menacing front of the lion as he would regard me. But, +alas! after an hour's search for adventure, I had encountered nothing, +and I accordingly waxed courageous, and crept into one of these leafy, +thorny caverns, and found myself shortly standing under a canopy of +foliage that was held above my head fully a hundred feet by the shapely +and towering stems of the royal mvule. Who can imagine the position? A +smooth lawn-like glade; a dense and awful growth of impenetrable jungle +around us; those stately natural pillars--a glorious phalanx of royal +trees, bearing at such sublime heights vivid green masses of foliage, +through which no single sun-ray penetrated, while at our feet babbled +the primeval brook, over smooth pebbles, in soft tones befitting the +sacred quiet of the scene! Who could have desecrated this solemn, holy +harmony of nature? But just as I was thinking it impossible that any man +could be tempted to disturb the serene solitude of the place, I saw +a monkey perched high on a branch over my head, contemplating, with +something of an awe-struck look, the strange intruders beneath. Well, I +could not help it, I laughed--laughed loud and long, until I was hushed +by the chaos of cries and strange noises which seemed to respond to my +laughing. A troop of monkeys, hidden in the leafy depths above, had been +rudely awakened, and, startled by the noise I made, were hurrying away +from the scene with a dreadful clamor of cries and shrieks. + +Emerging again into the broad sunlight, I strolled further in search +of something to shoot. Presently, I saw, feeding quietly in the +forest which bounded the valley of the Mtambu on the left, a huge, +reddish-coloured wild boar, armed with most horrid tusks. Leaving Kalulu +crouched down behind a tree, and my solar helmet behind another close +by--that I might more safely stalk the animal--I advanced towards him +some forty yards, and after taking a deliberate aim, fired at his fore +shoulder. As if nothing had hurt him whatever, the animal made a furious +bound, and then stood with his bristles erected, and tufted tail, curved +over the back--a most formidable brute in appearance. While he was thus +listening, and searching the neighbourhood with his keen, small eyes, +I planted another shot in his chest, which ploughed its way through his +body. Instead of falling, however, as I expected he would, he charged +furiously in the direction the bullet had come, and as he rushed past +me, another ball was fired, which went right through him; but still he +kept on, until, within six or seven yards from the trees behind which +Kalulu was crouching down on one side, and the helmet was resting behind +another, he suddenly halted, and then dropped. But as I was about to +advance on him with my knife to cut his throat, he suddenly started +up; his eyes had caught sight of the little boy Kalulu, and were then, +almost immediately afterwards, attracted by the sight of the snowy +helmet. These strange objects on either side of him proved too much for +the boar, for, with a terrific grunt, he darted on one side into a +thick brake, from which it was impossible to oust him, and as it was now +getting late, and the camp was about three miles away, I was reluctantly +obliged to return without the meat. + +On our way to camp we were accompanied by a large animal which +persistently followed us on our left. It was too dark to see plainly, +but a large form was visible, if not very clearly defined. It must have +been a lion, unless it was the ghost of the dead boar. + +That night, about 11 P.M., we were startled by the roar of a lion, in +close proximity to the camp. Soon it was joined by another, and another +still, and the novelty of the thing kept me awake. I peered through +the gate of the camp, and endeavoured to sight a rifle--my little +Winchester, in the accuracy of which I had perfect confidence; but, +alas! for the cartridges, they might have been as well filled with +sawdust for all the benefit I derived from them. Disgusted with the +miserable ammunition, I left the lions alone, and turned in, with their +roaring as a lullaby. + +That terrestrial paradise for the hunter, the valley of the pellucid +Mtambu, was deserted by us the next morning for the settlement commonly +known to the Wakawendi as Imrera's, with as much unconcern as though +it were a howling desert. The village near which we encamped was called +Itaga, in the district of Rusawa. As soon as we had crossed the River +Mtambu we had entered Ukawendi, commonly called "Kawendi" by the natives +of the country. + +The district of Rusawa is thickly populated. The people are quiet and +well-disposed to strangers, though few ever come to this region from +afar. One or two Wasawahili traders visit it every year or so from +Pumburu and Usowa; but very little ivory being obtained from the people, +the long distance between the settlements serves to deter the regular +trader from venturing hither. + +If caravans arrive here, the objective point to them is the district +of Pumburu, situated south-westerly one day's good marching, or, +say, thirty statute miles from Imrera; or they make for Usowa, on the +Tanganika, via Pumburu, Katuma, Uyombeh, and Ugarawah. Usowa is quite an +important district on the Tanganika, populous and flourishing. This was +the road we had intended to adopt after leaving Imrera, but the reports +received at the latter place forbade such a venture. For Mapunda, the +Sultan of Usowa, though a great friend to Arab traders, was at war with +the colony of the Wazavira, who we must remember were driven from +Mpokwa and vicinity in Utanda, and who were said to have settled between +Pumburu and Usowa. + +It remained for us, like wise, prudent men, having charge of a large and +valuable Expedition on our hands, to decide what to do, and what route +to adopt, now that we had approached much nearer to Ujiji than we were +to Unyanyembe. I suggested that we should make direct for the Tanganika +by compass, trusting to no road or guide, but to march direct west until +we came to the Tanganika, and then follow the lake shore on foot until +we came to Ujiji. For it ever haunted my mind, that, if Dr. Livingstone +should hear of my coming, which he might possibly do if I travelled +along any known road, he would leave, and that my search for him would +consequently be a "stern chase." But my principal men thought it better +that we should now boldly turn our faces north, and march for the +Malagarazi, which was said to be a large river flowing from the east +to the Tanganika. But none of my men knew the road to the Malagarazi, +neither could guides be hired from Sultan Imrera. We were, however, +informed that the Malagarazi was but two days' march from Imrera. I +thought it safe, in such a case, to provision my men with three days' +rations. The village of Itaga is situated in a deep mountain hollow, +finely overlooking a large extent of cultivation. The people grow sweet +potatoes, manioc--out of which tapioca is made--beans, and the holcus. +Not one chicken could be purchased for love or money, and, besides +grain, only a lean, scraggy specimen of a goat, a long time ago imported +form Uvinza, was procurable. + +October the 25th will be remembered by me as a day of great troubles; in +fact, a series of troubles began from this date. We struck an easterly +road in order to obtain a passage to the lofty plateau which bounded the +valley of Imrera on the west and on the north. We camped, after a two +and a half hours' march, at its foot. The defile promised a feasible +means of ascent to the summit of the plateau, which rose upward in a +series of scarps a thousand feet above the valley of Imrera. + +While ascending that lofty arc of mountains which bounded westerly +and northerly the basin of Imrera, extensive prospects southward and +eastward were revealed. The character of the scenery at Ukawendi is +always animated and picturesque, but never sublime. The folds of this +ridge contained several ruins of bomas, which seemed to have been +erected during war time. + +The mbemba fruit was plentiful along this march, and every few minutes I +could see from the rear one or two men hastening to secure a treasure of +it which they discovered on the ground. + +A little before reaching the camp I had a shot at a leopard, but failed +to bring him down as he bounded away. At night the lions roared as at +the Mtambu River. + +A lengthy march under the deep twilight shadows of a great forest, which +protected us from the hot sunbeams, brought us, on the next day, to a +camp newly constructed by a party of Arabs from Ujiji, who had advanced +thus far on their road to Unyanyembe, but, alarmed at the reports of the +war between Mirambo and the Arabs, had returned. Our route was along the +right bank of the Rugufu, a broad sluggish stream, well choked with +the matete reeds and the papyrus. The tracks and the bois de vaches +of buffaloes were numerous, and there were several indications of +rhinoceros being near. In a deep clump of timber near this river we +discovered a colony of bearded and leonine-looking monkeys. + +As we were about leaving our camp on the morning of the 28th a herd of +buffalo walked deliberately into view. Silence was quickly restored, +but not before the animals, to their great surprise, had discovered the +danger which confronted them. We commenced stalking them, but we soon +heard the thundering sound of their gallop, after which it becomes a +useless task to follow them, with a long march in a wilderness before +one. + +The road led on this day over immense sheets of sandstone and iron ore. +The water was abominable, and scarce, and famine began to stare us +in the face. We travelled for six hours, and had yet seen no sign of +cultivation anywhere. According to my map we were yet two long marches +from the Malagarazi--if Captain Burton had correctly laid down the +position of the river; according to the natives' account, we should have +arrived at the Malagarazi on this day. + +On the 29th we left our camp, and after a few minutes, we were in view +of the sublimest, but ruggedest, scenes we had yet beheld in Africa. The +country was cut up in all directions by deep, wild, and narrow ravines +trending in all directions, but generally toward the north-west, while +on either side rose enormous square masses of naked rock (sandstone), +sometimes towering, and rounded, sometimes pyramidal, sometimes in +truncated cones, sometimes in circular ridges, with sharp, rugged, naked +backs, with but little vegetation anywhere visible, except it obtained +a precarious tenure in the fissured crown of some gigantic hill-top, +whither some soil had fallen, or at the base of the reddish ochre scarps +which everywhere lifted their fronts to our view. + +A long series of descents down rocky gullies, wherein we were environed +by threatening masses of disintegrated rock, brought us to a dry, stony +ravine, with mountain heights looming above us a thousand feet high. +This ravine we followed, winding around in all directions, but which +gradually widened, however, into a broad plain, with a western trend. +The road, leaving this, struck across a low ridge to the north; and we +were in view of deserted settlements where the villages were built on +frowning castellated masses of rock. Near an upright mass of rock over +seventy feet high, and about fifty yards in diameter, which dwarfed the +gigantic sycamore close to it, we made our camp, after five hours and +thirty minutes' continuous and rapid marching. + +The people were very hungry; they had eaten every scrap of meat, and +every grain they possessed, twenty hours before, and there was no +immediate prospect of food. I had but a pound and a half of flour +left, and this would not have sufficed to begin to feed a force of over +forty-five people; but I had something like thirty pounds of tea, and +twenty pounds of sugar left, and I at once, as soon as we arrived at +camp, ordered every kettle to be filled and placed on the fire, and then +made tea for all; giving each man a quart of a hot, grateful beverage; +well sweetened. Parties stole out also into the depths: of the jungle +to search for wild fruit, and soon returned laden with baskets of the +wood-peach and tamarind fruit, which though it did not satisfy, relieved +them. That night, before going to sleep, the Wangwana set up a loud +prayer to "Allah" to give them food. + +We rose betimes in the morning, determined to travel on until food +could be procured, or we dropped down from sheer fatigue and weakness. +Rhinoceros' tracks abounded, and buffalo seemed to be plentiful, but +we never beheld a living thing. We crossed scores of short steeps, +and descended as often into the depths of dry, stony gullies, and then +finally entered a valley, bounded on one side by a triangular mountain +with perpendicular sides, and on the other by a bold group, a triplet +of hills. While marching down this valley--which soon changed its dry, +bleached aspect to a vivid green--we saw a forest in the distance, and +shortly found ourselves in corn-fields. Looking keenly around for a +village, we descried it on the summit of the lofty triangular hill on +our right. A loud exultant shout was raised at the discovery. The men +threw down their packs, and began to clamour for food. Volunteers were +asked to come forward to take cloth, and scale the heights to obtain +it from the village, at any price. While three or four sallied off we +rested on the ground, quite worn out. In about an hour the foraging +party returned with the glorious tidings that food was plentiful; +that the village we saw was called, "Welled Nzogera's"--the son of +Nzogera--by which, of course, we knew that we were in Uvinza, Nzogera +being the principal chief in Uvinza. We were further informed that +Nzogera, the father, was at war with Lokanda-Mire, about some salt-pans +in the valley of the Malagarazi, and that it would be difficult to go +to Ujiji by the usual road, owing to this war; but, for a consideration, +the son of Nzogera was willing to supply us with guides, who would take +us safely, by a northern road, to Ujiji. + +Everything auguring well for our prospects, we encamped to enjoy the +good cheer, for which our troubles and privations, during the transit of +the Ukawendi forests and jungles, had well prepared us. + +I am now going to extract from my Diary of the march, as, without its +aid, I deem it impossible to relate fully our various experiences, so as +to show them properly as they occurred to us; and as these extracts +were written and recorded at the close of each day, they possess more +interest, in my opinion, than a cold relation of facts, now toned down +in memory. + +October 31st. Tuesday.--Our road led E.N.E. for a considerable time +after leaving the base of the triangular mountain whereon the son of +Nzogera has established his stronghold, in order to avoid a deep and +impassable portion of marsh, that stood between us and the direct route +to the Malagarazi River. The valley sloped rapidly to this marsh, which +received in its broad bosom the drainage of three extensive ranges. Soon +we turned our faces northwest, and prepared to cross the marsh; and +the guides informed us, as we halted on its eastern bank, of a terrible +catastrophe which occurred a few yards above where we were preparing to +cross. They told of an Arab and his caravan, consisting of thirty-five +slaves, who had suddenly sunk out of sight, and who were never more +heard of. This marsh, as it appeared to us, presented a breadth of some +hundreds of yards, on which grew a close network of grass, with much +decayed matter mixed up with it. In the centre of this, and underneath +it, ran a broad, deep, and rapid stream. As the guides proceeded across, +the men stole after them with cautious footsteps. As they arrived near +the centre we began to see this unstable grassy bridge, so curiously +provided by nature for us, move up and down in heavy languid +undulations, like the swell of the sea after a storm. Where the two +asses of the Expedition moved, the grassy waves rose a foot high; but +suddenly one unfortunate animal plunged his feet through, and as he was +unable to rise, he soon made a deep hollow, which was rapidly filling +with water. With the aid of ten men, however, we were enabled to lift +him bodily up and land him on a firmer part, and guiding them both +across rapidly, the entire caravan crossed without accident. + +On arriving at the other side, we struck off to the north, and +found ourselves in a delightful country, in every way suitable for +agriculturists. Great rocks rose here and there, but in their fissures +rose stately trees, under whose umbrage nestled the villages of the +people. We found the various village elders greedy for cloth, but the +presence of the younger son of Nzogera's men restrained their propensity +for extortion. Goats and sheep were remarkably cheap, and in good +condition; and, consequently, to celebrate our arrival near the +Malagarazi, a flock of eight goats was slaughtered, and distributed to +the men. + +November 1st.--Striking north-west, after leaving our camp, and +descending the slope of a mountain, we soon beheld the anxiously +looked-for Malagarazi, a narrow but deep stream, flowing through a +valley pent in by lofty mountains. Fish-eating birds lined the trees on +its banks; villages were thickly scattered about. Food was abundant and +cheap. + +After travelling along the left bank of the river a few miles, we +arrived at the settlements recognizing Kiala as their ruler. I +had anticipated we should be able at once to cross the river, but +difficulties arose. We were told to camp, before any negotiations could +be entered into. When we demurred, we were informed we might cross the +river if we wished, but we should not be assisted by any Mvinza. + +Being compelled to halt for this day, the tent was pitched in the middle +of one of the villages, and the bales were stored in one of the huts, +with four soldiers to guard them. After despatching an embassy to Kiala, +eldest son of the great chief Nzogera, to request permission to cross +the river as a peaceable caravan, Kiala sent word that the white man +should cross his river after the payment of fifty-six cloths! Fifty-six +cloths signified a bale nearly! + +Here was another opportunity for diplomacy. Bombay and Asmani were +empowered to treat with Kiala about the honga, but it was not to exceed +twenty-five doti. At 6 A.M., having spoken for seven hours, the two men +returned, with the demand for thirteen doti for Nzogera, and ten doti +for Kiala. Poor Bombay was hoarse, but Asmani still smiled; and I +relented, congratulating myself that the preposterous demand, which was +simply robbery, was no worse. + +Three hours later another demand was made. Kiala had been visited by a +couple of chiefs from his father; and the chiefs being told that a white +man was at the ferry, put in a claim for a couple of guns and a keg of +gunpowder. But here my patience was exhausted, and I declared that +they should have to take them by force, for I would never consent to be +robbed and despoiled after any such fashion. + +Until 11 P.M., Bombay and Asmani were negotiating about this extra +demand, arguing, quarreling, threatening, until Bombay declared they +would talk him mad if it lasted much longer. I told Bombay to take two +cloths, one for each chief, and, if they did not consider it enough, +then I should fight. The present was taken, and the negotiations were +terminated at midnight. + +November 2nd.--Ihata Island, one and a half hour west of Kiala's. We +arrived before the Island of Ihata, on the left bank of the Malagarazi, +at 5 p.m.; the morning having been wasted in puerile talk with the owner +of the canoes at the ferry. The final demand for ferriage across was +eight yards of cloth and four fundo* of sami-sami, or red beads; which +was at once paid. Four men, with their loads, were permitted to cross in +the small, unshapely, and cranky canoes. When the boatmen had discharged +their canoes of their passengers and cargoes, they were ordered to halt +on the other side, and, to my astonishment, another demand was made. The +ferrymen had found that two fundo of these were of short measure, and +two fundo more must be paid, otherwise the contract for ferrying us +across would be considered null and void. So two fundo more were +added, but not without demur and much "talk," which in these lands is +necessary. + +** 4 fundo == 40 necklaces; 1 fundo being 10 necklaces. + +Three times the canoes went backwards and forwards, when, lo! another +demand was made, with the usual clamour and fierce wordy dispute; this +time for five khete # for the man who guided us to the ferry, a shukka +of cloth for a babbler, who had attached himself to the old-womanish +Jumah, who did nothing but babble and increase the clamor. These demands +were also settled. + +# Necklaces. + +About sunset we endeavoured to cross the donkeys. "Simba," a fine wild +Kinyamwezi donkey, went in first, with a rope attached to his neck. +He had arrived at the middle of the stream when we saw him begin to +struggle--a crocodile had seized him by the throat. The poor animal's +struggles were terrific. Chowpereh was dragging on the rope with all his +might, but to no use, for the donkey sank, and we saw no more of him. +The depth of the river at this place was about fifteen feet. We had +seen the light-brown heads, the glittering eyes, and the ridgy backs, +hovering about the vicinity, but we had never thought that the reptiles +would advance so near such an exciting scene as the vicinity of the +ferry presented during the crossing. Saddened a little by this loss, we +resumed our work, and by 7 P.M. we were all across, excepting Bombay and +the only donkey now left, which was to be brought across in the morning, +when the crocodiles should have deserted the river. + +November 3rd.--What contention have we not been a witness to these last +three days! What anxiety have we not suffered ever since our arrival in +Uvinza! The Wavinza are worse than the Wagogo, and their greed is +more insatiable. We got the donkey across with the aid of a mganga, or +medicine man, who spat some chewed leaves of a tree which grows close +to the stream over him. He informed me he could cross the river at any +time, day or night, after rubbing his body with these chewed leaves, +which he believed to be a most potent medicine. + +About 10 A.M. appeared from the direction of Ujiji a caravan of eighty +Waguhha, a tribe which occupies a tract of country on the south-western +side of the Lake Tanganika. We asked the news, and were told a white man +had just arrived at Ujiji from Manyuema. This news startled us all. + +"A white man?" we asked. + +"Yes, a white man," they replied. + +"How is he dressed?" + +"Like the master," they answered, referring to me. + +"Is he young, or old?" + +"He is old. He has white hair on his face, and is sick." + +"Where has he come from?" + +"From a very far country away beyond Uguhha, called Manyuema." + +"Indeed! and is he stopping at Ujiji now?" + +"Yes, we saw him about eight days ago." + +"Do you think he will stop there until we see him?" + +"Sigue" (don't know). + +"Was he ever at Ujiji before?" + +"Yes, he went away a long time ago." + +Hurrah! This is Livingstone! He must be Livingstone! He can be no other; +but still;--he may be some one else--some one from the West Coast--or +perhaps he is Baker! No; Baker has no white hair on his face. But we +must now march quick, lest he hears we are coming, and runs away. + +I addressed my men, and asked them if they were willing to march to +Ujiji without a single halt, and then promised them, if they acceded to +my wishes, two doti each man. All answered in the affirmative, almost as +much rejoiced as I was myself. But I was madly rejoiced; intensely eager +to resolve the burning question, "Is it Dr. David Livingstone?" God +grant me patience, but I do wish there was a railroad, or, at least, +horses in this country. + +We set out at once from the banks of the Malagarazi, accompanied by two +guides furnished us by Usenge, the old man of the ferry, who, now that +we had crossed, showed himself more amiably disposed to us. We arrived +at the village of Isinga, Sultan Katalambula, after a little over an +hour's march across a saline plain, but which as we advanced into the +interior became fertile and productive. + +November 4th.--Started early with great caution, maintaining deep +silence. The guides were sent forward, one two hundred yards ahead of +the other, that we might be warned in time. The first part of the march +was through a thin jungle of dwarf trees, which got thinner and thinner +until finally it vanished altogether, and we had entered Uhha--a plain +country. Villages were visible by the score among the tall bleached +stalks of dourra and maize. Sometimes three, sometimes five, ten, or +twenty beehive-shaped huts formed a village. The Wahha were evidently +living in perfect security, for not one village amongst them all was +surrounded with the customary defence of an African village. A narrow +dry ditch formed the only boundary between Uhha and Uvinza. On entering +Uhha, all danger from Makumbi vanished. + +We halted at Kawanga, the chief of which lost no time in making us +understand that he was the great Mutware of Kimenyi under the king, and +that he was the tribute gatherer for his Kiha majesty. He declared that +he was the only one in Kimenyi--an eastern division of Uhha--who could +demand tribute; and that it would be very satisfactory to him, and a +saving of trouble to ourselves, if we settled his claim of twelve doti +of good cloths at once. We did not think it the best way of proceeding, +knowing as we did the character of the native African; so we at once +proceeded to diminish this demand; but, after six hours' hot argument, +the Mutware only reduced it by two. This claim was then settled, upon +the understanding that we should be allowed to travel through Uhha as +far as the Rusugi River without being further mulcted. + +November 5th.--Leaving Kawanga early in the morning and continuing our +march over the boundless plains, which were bleached white by the hot +equatorial sun, we were marching westward full of pleasant anticipations +that we were nearing the end of our troubles, joyfully congratulating +ourselves that within five days we should see that which I had come so +far from civilisation, and through so many difficulties, to see, and +were about passing a cluster of villages, with all the confidence which +men possess against whom no one had further claim or a word to say, when +I noticed two men darting from a group of natives who were watching +us, and running towards the head of the Expedition, with the object, +evidently, of preventing further progress. + +The caravan stopped, and I walked forward to ascertain the cause from +the two natives. I was greeted politely by the two Wahha with the +usual "Yambos," and was then asked, "Why does the white man pass by the +village of the King of Uhha without salutation and a gift? Does not +the white man know there lives a king in Uhha, to whom the Wangwana and +Arabs pay something for right of passage?" + +"Why, we paid last night to the chief of Kawanga, who informed us that +he was the man deputed by the King of Uhha to collect the toll." + +"How much did you pay?" + +"Ten doti of good cloth." + +"Are you sure?" + +"Quite sure. If you ask him, he will tell you so." + +"Well," said one of the Wahha, a fine, handsome, intelligent-looking +youth, "it is our duty to the king to halt you here until we find out +the truth of this. Will you walk to our village, and rest yourselves +under the shade of our trees until we can send messengers to Kawanga?" + +"No; the sun is but an hour high, and we have far to travel; but, in +order to show you we do not seek to pass through your country without +doing that which is right, we will rest where we now stand, and we will +send with your messengers two of our soldiers, who will show you the man +to whom we paid the cloth." + +The messengers departed; but, in the meantime, the handsome youth, who +turned out to be the nephew of the King, whispered some order to a lad, +who immediately hastened away, with the speed of an antelope, to the +cluster of villages which we had just passed. The result of this errand, +as we saw in a short time, was the approach of a body of warriors, about +fifty in number, headed by a tall, fine-looking man, who was dressed in +a crimson robe called Joho, two ends of which were tied in a knot over +the left shoulder; a new piece of American sheeting was folded like a +turban around his head, and a large curved piece of polished ivory was +suspended to his neck. He and his people were all armed with spears, and +bows and arrows, and their advance was marked with a deliberation that +showed they felt confidence in any issue that might transpire. + +We were halted on the eastern side of the Pombwe stream, near the +village of Lukomo, in Kimenyi, Uhha. The gorgeously-dressed chief was +a remarkable man in appearance. His face was oval in form, high +cheek-bones, eyes deeply sunk, a prominent and bold forehead, a fine +nose, and a well-cut mouth; he was tall in figure, and perfectly +symmetrical. + +When near to us, he hailed me with the words, + +"Yambo, bana?--How do you do, master?" in quite a cordial tone. + +I replied cordially also, "Yambo, mutware?--How do you do, chief?" + +We, myself and men, interchanged "Yambos" with his warriors; and there +was nothing in our first introduction to indicate that the meeting was +of a hostile character. + +The chief seated himself, his haunches resting on his heels, laying down +his bow and arrows by his side; his men did likewise. + +I seated myself on a bale, and each of my men sat down on their loads, +forming quite a semicircle. The Wahha slightly outnumbered my party; +but, while they were only armed with bows and arrows, spears, and +knob-sticks, we were armed with rifles, muskets, revolvers, pistols, and +hatchets. + +All were seated, and deep silence was maintained by the assembly. The +great plains around us were as still in this bright noon as if they were +deserted of all living creatures. Then the chief spoke: + +"I am Mionvu, the great Mutware of Kimenyi, and am next to the King, who +lives yonder," pointing to a large village near some naked hills about +ten miles to the north. "I have come to talk with the white man. It has +always been the custom of the Arabs and the Wangwana to make a present +to the King when they pass through his country. Does not the white man +mean to pay the King's dues? Why does the white man halt in the road? +Why will he not enter the village of Lukomo, where there is food and +shade--where we can discuss this thing quietly? Does the white man mean +to fight? I know well he is stronger than we are. His men have guns, and +the Wahha have but bows and arrows, and spears; but Uhha is large, and +our villages are many. Let him look about him everywhere--all is Uhha, +and our country extends much further than he can see or walk in a day. +The King of Uhha is strong; yet he wishes friendship only with the white +man. Will the white man have war or peace?" + +A deep murmur of assent followed this speech of Mionvu from his people, +and disapprobation, blended with a certain uneasiness; from my men. When +about replying, the words of General Sherman, which I heard him utter to +the chiefs of the Arapahoes and Cheyennes at North Platte, in 1867, +came to my mind; and something of their spirit I embodied in my reply to +Mionvu, Mutware of Kimenyi. + +"Mionvu, the great Mutware, asks me if I have come for war. When did +Mionvu ever hear of white men warring against black men? Mionvu must +understand that the white men are different from the black. White men do +not leave their country to fight the black people, neither do they +come here to buy ivory or slaves. They come to make friends with black +people; they come to search for rivers; and lakes, and mountains; they +come to discover what countries, what peoples, what rivers, what lakes, +what forests, what plains, what mountains and hills are in your country; +to know the different animals that are in the land of the black people, +that, when they go back, they may tell the white kings, and men, and +children, what they have seen and heard in the land so far from them. +The white people are different from the Arabs and Wangwana; the white +people know everything, and are very strong. When they fight, the Arabs +and the Wangwana run away. We have great guns which thunder, and when +they shoot the earth trembles; we have guns which carry bullets further +than you can see: even with these little things" (pointing to my +revolvers) "I could kill ten men quicker than you could count. We are +stronger than the Wahha. Mionvu has spoken the truth, yet we do not wish +to fight. I could kill Mionvu now, yet I talk to him as to a friend. I +wish to be a friend to Mionvu, and to all black people. Will Mionvu say +what I can do for him?" + +As these words were translated to him--imperfectly, I suppose, but +still, intelligibly--the face of the Wahha showed how well they +appreciated them. Once or twice I thought I detected something like +fear, but my assertions that I desired peace and friendship with them +soon obliterated all such feelings. + +Mionvu replied: + +"The white man tells me he is friendly. Why does he not come to our +village? Why does he stop on the road? The sun is hot. Mionvu will not +speak here any more. If the white man is a friend he will come to the +village." + +"We must stop now. It is noon. You have broken our march. We will go and +camp in your village," I said, at the same time rising and pointing to +the men to take up their loads. + +We were compelled to camp; there was no help for it; the messengers had +not returned from Kawanga. Having arrived in his village, Mionvu had +cast himself at full length under the scanty shade afforded by a few +trees within the boma. About 2 P.M. the messengers returned, saying it +was true the chief of Kawanga had taken ten cloths; not, however for the +King of Uhha, but for himself! + +Mionvu, who evidently was keen-witted, and knew perfectly what he was +about, now roused himself, and began to make miniature faggots of thin +canes, ten in each faggot, and shortly he presented ten of these small +bundles, which together contained one hundred, to me, saying each stick +represented a cloth, and the amount of the "honga" required by the King +of Uhha was ONE HUNDRED CLOTHS!--nearly two bales! + +Recovering from our astonishment, which was almost indescribable, we +offered TEN. + +"Ten! to the King of Uhha! Impossible. You do not stir from Lukomo until +you pay us one hundred!" exclaimed Mionvu, in a significant manner. + +I returned no answer, but went to my hut, which Mionvu had cleared for +my use, and Bombay, Asmani, Mabruki, and Chowpereh were invited--to come +to me for consultation. Upon my asking them if we could not fight our +way through Uhha, they became terror-stricken, and Bombay, in imploring +accents, asked me to think well what I was about to do, because it was +useless to enter on a war with the Wahha. "Uhha is all a plain country; +we cannot hide anywhere. Every village will rise all about us, and how +can forty-five men fight thousands of people? They would kill us all in +a few minutes, and how would you ever reach Ujiji if you died? Think of +it, my dear master, and do not throw your life away for a few rags of +cloth." + +"Well, but, Bombay, this is robbery. Shall we submit to be robbed? Shall +we give this fellow everything he asks? He might as well ask me for all +the cloth, and all my guns, without letting him see that we can fight. I +can kill Mionvu and his principal men myself, and you can slay all those +howlers out there without much trouble. If Mionvu and his principal were +dead we should not be troubled much, and we could strike south to the +Mala-garazi, and go west to Ujiji." + + "No, no, dear master, don't think of it for a moment. If we went + neat the Malagarazi we should come across Lokanda-Mira." + + "Well, then, we will go north." + + "Up that way Uhha extends far; and beyond Uhha are the Watuta." + + "Well, then, say what we shall do. We must do something; but we + must not be robbed." + + "Pay Mionvu what he asks, and let us go away from here. This is + the last place we shall have to pay. And in four days we shall be + in Ujiji." + + "Did Mionvu tell you that this is the last time we would have to + pay?" + + "He did, indeed." + + "What do you say, Asmani? Shall we fight or pay?" Asmani's + face wore the usual smile, but he replied, + + "I am afraid we must pay. This is positively the last time." + + "And you, Chowpereh?" + + "Pay, bana; it is better to get along quietly in this country. + If we were strong enough they would pay us. Ah, if we had only + two hundred guns, how these Wahha would run!" + + "What do you say, Mabruki?" + + "Ah, master, dear master; it is very hard, and these people are + great robbers. I would like to chop their heads off, all; so I + would. But you had better pay. This is the last time; and what + are one hundred cloths to you?" + + "Well, then, Bombay and Asmani, go to Mionvu, and offer him twenty. + If he will not take twenty, give him thirty. If he refuses thirty, + give him forty; then go up to eighty, slowly. Make plenty of talk; + not one doti more. I swear to you I will shoot Mionvu if he demands + more than eighty. Go, and remember to be wise." + + I will cut the matter short. At 9 P.M. sixty-four doti were + handed over to Mionvu, for the King of Uhha; six doti for + himself, and five doti for his sub; altogether seventy-five doti-- + a bale and a quarter! No sooner had we paid than they began to + fight amongst themselves over the booty, and I was in hopes that + the factions would proceed to battle, that I might have good excuse + for leaving them, and plunging south to the jungle that I believed + existed there, by which means, under its friendly cover, we might + strike west. But no, it was only a verbose war, which portended + nothing more than a noisy clamor. + + November 6th.--At dawn we were on the road, very silent and sad. + Our stock of cloth was much diminished; we had nine bales left, + sufficient to have taken us to the Atlantic Ocean--aided by the + beads, which were yet untouched--if we practised economy. If I + met many more like Mionvu I had not enough to take me to Ujiji, + and, though we were said to be so near, Livingstone seemed to me + to be just as far as ever. + + We crossed the Pombwe, and then struck across a slowly-undulating + plain rising gradually to mountains on our right, and on our left + sinking towards the valley of the Malagarazi, which river was + about twenty miles away. Villages rose to our view everywhere. + Food was cheap, milk was plentiful, and the butter good. + + After a four hours' march, we crossed the Kanengi River, and + entered the boma of Kahirigi, inhabited by several Watusi and Wahha. + Here, we were told, lived the King of Uhha's brother. This + announcement was anything but welcome, and I began to suspect I had + fallen into another hornets' nest. We had not rested two hours + before two Wangwana entered my tent, who were slaves of Thani bin + Abdullah, our dandified friend of Unyanyembe. These men came, on + the part of the king's brother, to claim the HONGA! The king's + brother, demanded thirty doti! Half a bale! Merciful Providence! + What shall I do? + + We had been told by Mionvu that the honga of Uhha was settled--and + now here is another demand from the King's brother! It is the + second time the lie has been told, and we have twice been deceived. + We shall be deceived no more. + + These two men informed us there were five more chiefs, living but + two hours from each other, who would exact tribute, or black-mail, + like those we had seen. Knowing this much, I felt a certain calm. + It was far better to know the worst at once. Five more chiefs with + their demands would assuredly ruin us. In view of which, what is + to be done? How am I to reach Livingstone, without being beggared? + + Dismissing the men, I called Bombay, and told him to assist Asmani + in settling the honga--"as cheaply as possible." I then lit my + pipe, put on the cap of consideration, and began to think. Within + half an hour, I had made a plan, which was to be attempted to be + put in execution that very night. + + I summoned the two slaves of Thani bin Abdullah, after the honga + had been settled to everybody's satisfaction--though the profoundest + casuistries and diplomatic arguments failed to reduce it lower than + twenty-six doti--and began asking them about the possibility of + evading the tribute-taking Wahha ahead. + + This rather astonished them at first, and they declared it to be + impossible; but, finally, after being pressed, they replied, that + one of their number should guide us at midnight, or a little after, + into the jungle which grew on the frontiers of Uhha and Uvinza. By + keeping a direct west course through this jungle until we came to + Ukaranga we might be enabled--we were told--to travel through Uhha + without further trouble. If I were willing to pay the guide + twelve doti, and if I were able to impose silence on my people + while passing through the sleeping village, the guide was positive + I could reach Ujiji without paying another doti. It is needless to + add, that I accepted the proffered assistance at such a price with + joy. + + But there was much to be done. Provisions were to be purchased, + sufficient to last four days, for the tramp through the jungle, + and men were at once sent with cloth to purchase grain at any price. + Fortune favoured us, for before 8 P.M. we had enough for six days. + + November 7th.--I did not go to sleep at all last night, but a + little after midnight, as the moon was beginning to show itself, + by gangs of four, the men stole quietly out of the village; and + by 3 A.M. the entire Expedition was outside the boma, and not the + slightest alarm had been made. After a signal to the new guide, + the Expedition began to move in a southern direction along the + right bank of the Kanengi River. After an hour's march in this + direction, we struck west, across the grassy plain, and maintained + it, despite the obstacles we encountered, which were sore enough to + naked men. The bright moon lighted our path: dark clouds now and + then cast immense long shadows over the deserted and silent plains, + and the moonbeans were almost obscured, and at such times our + position seemed awful-- + + Till the moon. + Rising in clouded majesty, at length, + Apparent queen, unveiled her peerless light, + And o'er the dark her silver mantle threw. + + Bravely toiled the men, without murmur, though their legs were + bleeding from the cruel grass. "Ambrosial morn" at last appeared, + with all its beautiful and lovely features. Heaven was born anew + to us, with comforting omens and cheery promise. The men, though + fatigued at the unusual travel, sped forward with quicker, pace as + daylight broke, until, at 8 A.M., we sighted the swift Rusugi River, + when a halt was ordered in a clump of jungle near it, for breakfast + and rest. Both banks of the river were alive with buffalo, eland, + and antelope, but, though the sight was very tempting, we did not + fire, because we dared not. The report of a gun would have alarmed + the whole country. I preferred my coffee, and the contentment which + my mind experienced at our success. + + An hour after we had rested, some natives, carrying salt from the + Malagarazi, were seen coming up the right bank of the river. When + abreast of our hiding-place, they detected us, and dropping their + salt-bags, they took to their heels at once, shouting out as they + ran, to alarm some villages that appeared about four miles north of + us. The men were immediately ordered to take up their loads, and + in a few minutes we had crossed the Rusugi, and were making direct + for a bamboo jungle that appeared in our front. On, on, we kept + steadily until, at 1 P.M., we sighted the little lake of Musunya, + as wearied as possible with our nine hours march. + + Lake Musunya is one of the many circular basins found in this part + of Uhha. There was quite a group of them. The more correct term + of these lakes would be immense pools. In the Masika season, Lake + Musunya must extend to three or four miles in length by two in breadth. + It swarms with hippopotami, and its shores abound with noble game. + + We were very quiet, as may be imagined, in our bivouac; neither + tent nor hut was raised, nor was fire kindled, so that, in case of + pursuit, we could move off without delay. I kept my Winchester + rifle (the gift of my friend Mr. Morris, and a rare gift it was + for such a crisis) with its magazine full, and two hundred + cartridges in a bag slung over my shoulders. Each soldier's gun + was also ready and loaded, and we retired to sleep our fatigues + off with a feeling of perfect security. + + November 8th.--Long before dawn appeared, we were on the march, and, + as daylight broke, we emerged from the bamboo jungle, and struck + across the naked plain of Uhha, once more passing several large + pools by the way--far-embracing prospects of undulating country, + with here and there a characteristic clump of trees relieving the + general nudity of the whole. Hour after hour we toiled on, + across the rolling land waves, the sun shining with all its wonted + African fervor, but with its heat slightly tempered by the + welcome breezes, which came laden with the fragrance of young + grass, and perfume of strange flowers of various hues, that flecked + the otherwise pale-green sheet which extended so far around us. + + We arrived at the Rugufu River--not the Ukawendi Rugufu, but the + northern stream of that name, a tributary of the Malagarazi. It + was a broad shallow stream, and sluggish, with an almost imperceptible + flow south-west. While we halted in the deep shade afforded by a + dense clump of jungle, close to the right bank, resting awhile before + continuing our journey. I distinctly heard a sound as of distant + thunder in the west. Upon asking if it were thunder, I was told it + was Kabogo. + + "Kabogo? what is that?" + + "It is a great mountain on the other side of the Tanganika, full + of deep holes, into which the water rolls; and when there is wind + on the Tanganika, there is a sound like mvuha (thunder). Many + boats have been lost there, and it is a custom with Arabs and + natives to throw cloth--Merikani and Kaniki--and especially white + (Merikani) beads, to appease the mulungu (god) of the lake. + Those who throw beads generally get past without trouble, + but those who do not throw beads into the lake get lost, and are + drowned. Oh, it is a dreadful place!" This story was told me by + the ever-smiling guide Asmani, and was corroborated by other + former mariners of the lake whom I had with me. + + At the least, this place where we halted for dinner, on the banks + of the Rugufu River, is eighteen and a half hours, or forty-six + miles, from Ujiji; and, as Kabogo is said to be near Uguhha, it + must be over sixty miles from Ujiji; therefore the sound of the + thundering surf, which is said to roll into the caves of Kabogo, + was heard by us at a distance of over one hundred miles away from + them. + + Continuing our journey for three hours longer, through thin + forests, over extensive beds of primitive rock, among fields of + large boulders thickly strewn about, passing by numerous herds + of buffalo, giraffe, and zebra, over a quaking quagmire which + resembled peat, we arrived at the small stream of Sunuzzi, to a + camping place only a mile removed from a large settlement of Wahha. + But we were buried in the depths of a great forest--no road was in + the vicinity, no noise was made, deep silence was preserved; nor + were fires lit. We might therefore rest tranquilly secure, certain + that we should not be disturbed. To-morrow morning the kirangozi + has promised we shall be out of Uhha, and if we travel on to + Niamtaga, in Ukaranga, the same day, the next day would see us + in Ujiji. + + Patience, my soul! A few hours more, then the end of all this + will be known! I shall be face to face with that "white man with + the white hairs on his face, whoever he is!" + + November 9th.--Two hours before dawn we left our camp on the Sunuzzi + River, and struck through the forest in a north-by-west direction, + having muzzled our goats previously, lest, by their bleating, they + might betray us. This was a mistake which might have ended + tragically, for just as the eastern sky began to assume a pale + greyish tint, we emerged from the jungle on the high road. The + guide thought we had passed Uhha, and set up a shout which was + echoed by every member of the caravan, and marched onward with + new vigor and increased energy, when plump we came to the outskirts + of a village, the inhabitants of which were beginning to stir. + Silence was called for at once, and the Expedition halted + immediately. I walked forward to the front to advise with the guide. + He did not know what to do. There was no time to consider, so I + ordered the goats to be slaughtered and left on the road, and the + guide to push on boldly through the village. The chickens also had + their throats cut; after which the Expedition resumed the march + quickly and silently, led by the guide, who had orders to plunge + into the jungle south of the road. I stayed until the last man + had disappeared; then, after preparing my Winchester, brought up + the rear, followed by my gunbearers with their stock of ammunition. + As we were about disappearing beyond the last hut, a man darted out + of his hut, and uttered an exclamation of alarm, and loud voices + were heard as if in dispute. But in a short time we were in the + depths of the jungle, hurrying away from the road in a southern + direction, and edging slightly westward. Once I thought we were + pursued, and I halted behind a tree to check our foes if they + persisted in following us; but a few minutes proved to me that we + were not pursued, After half-an-hour's march we again turned our + faces westward. It was broad daylight now, and our eyes were + delighted with most picturesque and sequestered little valleys, + where wild fruit-trees grew, and rare flowers blossomed, and + tiny brooks tumbled over polished pebbles--where all was bright + and beautiful--until, finally, wading through one pretty pure + streamlet, whose soft murmurs we took for a gentle welcome, we + passed the boundary of wicked Uhha, and had entered Ukaranga!-- + an event that was hailed with extravagant shouts of joy. + + Presently we found the smooth road, and we trod gaily with + elastic steps, with limbs quickened for the march which we all + knew to be drawing near its end. What cared we now for the + difficulties we had encountered--for the rough and cruel forests, + for the thorny thickets and hurtful grass, for the jangle of all + savagedom, of which we had been the joyless audience! To-morrow! + Ay, the great day draws nigh, and we may well laugh and sing while + in this triumphant mood. We have been sorely tried; we have been + angry with each other when vexed by troubles, but we forget all + these now, and there is no face but is radiant with the happiness + we have all deserved. + + We made a short halt at noon, for rest and refreshment. I was + shown the hills from which the Tanganika could be seen, which + bounded the valley of the Liuche on the east. I could not contain + myself at the sight of them. Even with this short halt I was + restless and unsatisfied. We resumed the march again. I spurred + my men forward with the promise that to-morrow should see their reward. + + We were in sight of the villages of the Wakaranga; the people + caught sight of us, and manifested considerable excitement. I sent + men ahead to reassure them, and they came forward to greet us. This + was so new and welcome to us, so different from the turbulent Wavinza + and the black-mailers of Uhha, that we were melted. But we had + no time to loiter by the way to indulge our joy. I was impelled onward + by my almost uncontrollable feelings. I wished to resolve my doubts + and fears. Was HE still there? Had HE heard of my coming? Would HE + fly? + + How beautiful Ukaranga appears! The green hills are crowned by + clusters of straw-thatched cones. The hills rise and fall; here + denuded and cultivated, there in pasturage, here timbered, yonder + swarming with huts. The country has somewhat the aspect of Maryland. + + We cross the Mkuti, a glorious little river! We ascend the opposite + bank, and stride through the forest like men who have done a deed + of which they may be proud. We have already travelled nine hours, + and the sun is sinking rapidly towards the west; yet, apparently, + we are not fatigued. + + We reach the outskirts of Niamtaga, and we hear drums beat. The + people are flying into the woods; they desert their villages, for + they take us to be Ruga-Ruga--the forest thieves of Mirambo, who, + after conquering the Arabs of Unyanyembe, are coming to fight the + Arabs of Ujiji. Even the King flies from his village, and every + man, woman, and child, terror-stricken, follows him. We enter + into it and quietly take possession. Finally, the word is bruited + about that we are Wangwana, from Unyanyembe. + + "Well, then, is Mirambo dead?" they ask. + + "No," we answer. + + "Well, how did you come to Ukaranga?" + + "By way of Ukonongo, Ukawendi, and Uhha." + + "Oh--hi-le!" Then they laugh heartily at their fright, and begin + to make excuses. The King is introduced to me, and he says he had + only gone to the woods in order to attack us again--he meant to have + come back and killed us all, if we had been Ruga-Ruga. But then we + know the poor King was terribly frightened, and would never have + dared to return, had we been RugaRuga--not he. We are not, however, + in a mood to quarrel with him about an idiomatic phrase peculiar + to him, but rather take him by the hand and shake it well, and say + we are so very glad to see him. And he shares in our pleasure, + and immediately three of the fattest sheep, pots of beer, flour, + and honey are brought to us as a gift, and I make him happier still + with two of the finest cloths I have in my bales; and thus a + friendly pact is entered into between us. + + While I write my Diary of this day's proceedings, I tell my + servant to lay out my new flannel suit, to oil my boots, to + chalk my helmet, and fold a new puggaree around it, that I may + make as presentable an appearance as possible before the white + man with the grey beard, and before the Arabs of Ujiji; for the + clothes I have worn through jungle and forest are in tatters. + Good-night; only let one day come again, and we shall see what + we shall see. + + November 10th. Friday.--The 236th day from Bagamoyo on the Sea, + and the 51st day from Unyanyembe. General direction to Ujiji, + west-by-south. Time of march, six hours. + + It is a happy, glorious morning. The air is fresh and cool. + The sky lovingly smiles on the earth and her children. The deep + woods are crowned in bright vernal leafage; the water of the Mkuti, + rushing under the emerald shade afforded by the bearded banks, + seems to challenge us for the race to Ujiji, with its continuous + brawl. + + We are all outside the village cane fence, every man of us looking + as spruce, as neat, and happy as when we embarked on the dhows at + Zanzibar, which seems to us to have been ages ago--we have witnessed + and experienced so much. + + "Forward!" + + "Ay Wallah, ay Wallah, bana yango!" and the lighthearted braves + stride away at a rate which must soon bring us within view of + Ujiji. We ascend a hill overgrown with bamboo, descend into a + ravine through which dashes an impetuous little torrent, ascend + another short hill, then, along a smooth footpath running across + the slope of a long ridge, we push on as only eager, lighthearted + men can do. + + In two hours I am warned to prepare for a view of the Tanganika, + for, from the top of a steep mountain the kirangozi says I can see + it. I almost vent the feeling of my heart in cries. But wait, we + must behold it first. And we press forward and up the hill + breathlessly, lest the grand scene hasten away. We are at last on + the summit. Ah! not yet can it be seen. A little further on--just + yonder, oh! there it is--a silvery gleam. I merely catch sight of + it between the trees, and--but here it is at last! True--THE TANGANIKA! + and there are the blue-black mountains of Ugoma and Ukaramba. An + immense broad sheet, a burnished bed of silver--lucid canopy of + blue above--lofty mountains are its valances, palm forests form its + fringes! The Tanganika!--Hurrah! and the men respond to the + exultant cry of the Anglo-Saxon with the lungs of Stentors, and the + great forests and the hills seem to share in our triumph. + + "Was this the place where Burton and Speke stood, Bombay, when they + saw the lake first?" + + "I don't remember, master; it was somewhere about here, I think." + + "Poor fellows! The one was half-paralyzed, the other half-blind," + said Sir Roderick Murchison, when he described Burton and Spoke's + arrival in view of the Tanganika. + + And I? Well, I am so happy that, were I quite paralyzed and + blinded, I think that at this supreme moment I could take up my + bed and walk, and all blindness would cease at once. Fortunately, + however, I am quite well; I have not suffered a day's sickness + since the day I left Unyanyembe. How much would Shaw be willing + to give to be in my place now? Who is happiest--he revelling in + the luxuries of Unyanyembe, or I, standing on the summit of this + mountain, looking down with glad eyes and proud heart on the + Tanganika? + + We are descending the western slope of the mountain, with the + valley of the Liuche before us. Something like an hour before + noon we have gained the thick matete brake, which grows on both + banks of the river; we wade through the clear stream, arrive on + the other side, emerge out of the brake, and the gardens of the + Wajiji are around us--a perfect marvel of vegetable wealth. + Details escape my hasty and partial observation. I am almost + overpowered with my own emotions. I notice the graceful palms, + neat plots, green with vegetable plants, and small villages + surrounded with frail fences of the matete-cane. + + We push on rapidly, lest the news of our coming might reach the + people of Ujiji before we come in sight, and are ready for them. + We halt at a little brook, then ascend the long slope of a naked + ridge, the very last of the myriads we have crossed. This alone + prevents us from seeing the lake in all its vastness. We arrive + at the summit, travel across and arrive at its western rim, and-- + pause, reader--the port of Ujiji is below us, embowered in the + palms, only five hundred yards from us! + + At this grand moment we do not think of the hundreds of miles we + have marched, or of the hundreds of hills that we have ascended + and descended, or of the many forests we have traversed, or of the + jungles and thickets that annoyed us, or of the fervid salt plains + that blistered our feet, or of the hot suns that scorched us, nor + of the dangers and difficulties, now happily surmounted! + + At last the sublime hour has arrived;--our dreams, our hopes, and + anticipations are now about to be realised! Our hearts and our + feelings are with our eyes, as we peer into the palms and try to + make out in which hut or house lives the "white man with the grey + beard" we heard about when we were at the Malagarazi. + + "Unfurl the flags, and load your guns!" + + "We will, master, we will, master!" respond the men eagerly. + + "One, two, three,--fire!" + + A volley from nearly fifty guns roars like a salute from a + battery of artillery: we shall note its effect presently on + the peaceful-looking village below. + + "Now, kirangozi, hold the white man's flag up high, and let the + Zanzibar flag bring up the rear. And you men keep close together, + and keep firing until we halt in the market-place, or before the + white man's house. You have said to me often that you could smell + the fish of the Tanganika--I can smell the fish of the Tanganika + now. There are fish, and beer, and a long rest waiting for you. + MARCH!" + + Before we had gone a hundred yards our repeated volleys had the + effect desired. We had awakened Ujiji to the knowledge that a + caravan was coming, and the people were witnessed rushing up in + hundreds to meet us. The mere sight of the flags informed every + one immediately that we were a caravan, but the American flag + borne aloft by gigantic Asmani, whose face was one vast smile on + this day, rather staggered them at first. However, many of the + people who now approached us, remembered the flag. They had seen + it float above the American Consulate, and from the mast-head of + many a ship in the harbor of Zanzibar, and they were soon heard + welcoming the beautiful flag with cries of "Bindera Kisungu!"--a + white man's flag! "Bindera Merikani!"--the American flag! + + Then we were surrounded by them: by Wajiji, Wanyamwezi, Wangwana, + Warundi, Waguhha, Wamanyuema, and Arabs, and were almost + deafened with the shouts of "Yambo, yambo, bana! Yambo, bana! + Yambo, bana!" To all and each of my men the welcome was given. + + We were now about three hundred yards from the village of Ujiji, + and the crowds are dense about me. Suddenly I hear a voice on + my right say, + + "Good morning, sir!" + + Startled at hearing this greeting in the midst of such a crowd of + black people, I turn sharply around in search of the man, and see + him at my side, with the blackest of faces, but animated and + joyous--a man dressed in a long white shirt, with a turban of + American sheeting around his woolly head, and I ask: + + "Who the mischief are you?" + + "I am Susi, the servant of Dr. Livingstone," said be, smiling, + and showing a gleaming row of teeth. + + "What! Is Dr. Livingstone here?" + + "Yes, sir." + + "In this village?" + + "Yes, sir." + + "Are you sure?" + + "Sure, sure, sir. Why, I leave him just now." + + "Good morning, sir," said another voice. + + "Hallo," said I, "is this another one?" + + "Yes, sir." + + "Well, what is your name?" + + "My name is Chumah, sir." + + "What! are you Chumah, the friend of Wekotani?" + + "Yes, sir." + + "And is the-Doctor well?" + + "Not very well, sir." + + "Where has he been so long?" + + "In Manyuema." + + "Now, you Susi, run, and tell the Doctor I am coming." + + "Yes, sir," and off he darted like a madman. + + But by this time we were within two hundred yards of the village, + and the multitude was getting denser, and almost preventing our + march. Flags and streamers were out; Arabs and Wangwana were + pushing their way through the natives in order to greet us, for + according to their account, we belonged to them. But the great + wonder of all was, "How did you come from Unyanyembe?" + + Soon Susi came running back, and asked me my name; he had told + the Doctor I was coming, but the Doctor was too surprised to believe + him, and when the Doctor asked him my name, Susi was rather staggered. + + But, during Susi's absence, the news had been conveyed to the + Doctor that it was surely a white man that was coming, whose guns + were firing, and whose flag could be seen; and the great Arab + magnates of Ujiji--Mohammed bin Sali, Sayd bin Majid, Abid bin + Suliman, Mohammed bin Gharib, and others--had gathered together + before the Doctor's house, and the Doctor had come out from his + veranda to discuss the matter and await my arrival. + + In the meantime, the head of the Expedition had halted, and the + kirangozi was out of the ranks, holding his flag aloft, and Selim + said to me, "I see the Doctor, sir. Oh, what an old man! He has + got a white beard." And I--what would I not have given for a bit + of friendly wilderness, where, unseen, I might vent my joy in some + mad freak, such as idiotically biting my hand; turning a somersault, + or slashing at trees, in order to allay those exciting feelings + that were well-nigh uncontrollable. My heart beats fast, but I must + not let my face betray my emotions, lest it shall detract from the + dignity of a white man appearing under such extraordinary circumstances. + + So I did that which I thought was most dignified. I pushed back + the crowds, and, passing from the rear, walked down a living avenue + of people, until I came in front of the semicircle of Arabs, before + which stood the "white man with the grey beard." + + As I advanced slowly towards him I noticed he was pale, that he + looked wearied and wan, that he had grey whiskers and moustache, + that he wore a bluish cloth cap with a faded gold band on a red + ground round it, and that he had on a red-sleeved waistcoat, and a + pair of grey tweed trousers. + + I would have run to him, only I was a coward in the presence of + such a mob--would have embraced him, but that I did not know how + he would receive me; so I did what moral cowardice and false pride + suggested was the best thing--walked deliberately to him, took off + my hat, and said: + + "DR. LIVINGSTONE, I PRESUME?" + + "Yes," said he, with a kind, cordial smile, lifting his cap slightly. + + I replaced my hat on my head, and he replaced his cap, and we + both grasped hands. I then said aloud: + + "I thank God, Doctor, I have been permitted to see you." + + He answered, "I feel thankful that I am here to welcome you." + + I turned to the Arabs, took off my hat to them in response to the + saluting chorus of "Yambos" I received, and the Doctor introduced + them to me by name. Then, oblivious of the crowds, oblivious of + the men who shared with me my dangers, we--Livingstone and I-- + turned our faces towards his house. He pointed to the veranda, + or rather, mud platform, under the broad overhanging eaves; he + pointed to his own particular seat, which I saw his age and + experience in Africa had suggested, namely, a straw mat, with a + goatskin over it, and another skin nailed against the wall to + protect his back from contact with the cold mud. I protested + against taking this seat, which so much more befitted him than I, + but the Doctor would not yield: I must take it. + + We were seated--the Doctor and I--with our backs to the wall. + The Arabs took seats on our left. More than a thousand natives + were in our front, filling the whole square densely, indulging + their curiosity, and discussing the fact of two white men meeting + at Ujiji--one just come from Manyuema, in the west, the other from + Unyanyembe, in the east. + + Conversation began. What about? I declare I have forgotten. + Oh! we mutually asked questions of one another, such as + "How did you come here?" and "Where have you been all this long + time?--the world has believed you to be dead." Yes, that was the + way it began: but whatever the Doctor informed me, and that which + I communicated to him, I cannot correctly report, for I found myself + gazing at him, conning the wonderful figure and face of the man at + whose side I now sat in Central Africa. Every hair of his head + and beard, every wrinkle of his face, the wanness of his features, + and the slightly wearied look he wore, were all imparting + intelligence to me--the knowledge I craved for so much ever since + I heard the words, "Take what you want, but find Livingstone." + What I saw was deeply interesting intelligence to me, and unvarnished + truth. I was listening and reading at the same time. What did these + dumb witnesses relate to me? + + Oh, reader, had you been at my side on this day in Ujiji, how + eloquently could be told the nature of this man's work! Had you + been there but to see and hear! His lips gave me the details; lips + that never lie. I cannot repeat what he said; I was too much + engrossed to take my note-book out, and begin to stenograph his story. + He had so much to say that he began at the end, seemingly oblivious + of the fact that five or six years had to be accounted for. But his + account was oozing out; it was growing fast into grand proportions-- + into a most marvellous history of deeds. + + The Arabs rose up, with a delicacy I approved, as if they intuitively + knew that we ought to be left to ourselves. I sent Bombay with them + to give them the news they also wanted so much to know about the + affairs at Unyanyembe. Sayd bin Majid was the father of the gallant + young man whom I saw at Masangi, and who fought with me at Zimbizo, + and who soon afterwards was killed by Mirambo's Ruga-Ruga in the + forest of Wilyankuru; and, knowing that I had been there, he + earnestly desired to hear the tale of the fight; but they had all + friends at Unyanyembe, and it was but natural that they should be + anxious to hear of what concerned them. + + After giving orders to Bombay and Asmani for the provisioning of + the men of the Expedition, I called "Kaif-Halek," or "How-do-ye-do," + and introduced him to Dr. Livingstone as one of the soldiers in + charge of certain goods left at Unyanyembe, whom I had compelled + to accompany me to Ujiji, that he might deliver in person to his + master the letter-bag with which he had been entrusted. This was + that famous letter-bag marked "Nov. 1st, 1870," which was now + delivered into the Doctor's hands 365 days after it left Zanzibar! + How long, I wonder, had it remained at Unyanyembe had I not been + despatched into Central Africa in search of the great traveller? + + The Doctor kept the letter-bag on his knee, then, presently, opened + it, looked at the letters contained there, and read one or two of + his children's letters, his face in the meanwhile lighting up. + + He asked me to tell him the news. "No, Doctor," said I, "read your + letters first, which I am sure you must be impatient to read." + + "Ah," said he, "I have waited years for letters, and I have been + taught patience. I can surely afford to wait a few hours longer. + No, tell me the general news: how is the world getting along? + + "You probably know much already. Do you know that the Suez Canal + is a fact--is opened, and a regular trade carried on between Europe + and India through it?" + + "I did not hear about the opening of it. Well, that is grand news! + What else?" + + Shortly I found myself enacting the part of an annual periodical + to him. There was no need of exaggeration of any penny-a-line + news, or of any sensationalism. The world had witnessed and + experienced much the last few years. The Pacific Railroad had been + completed (1869); Grant had been elected President of the United States; + Egypt had been flooded with savans: the Cretan rebellion had + terminated (1866-1868); a Spanish revolution had driven Isabella + from the throne of Spain, and a Regent had been appointed: General + Prim was assassinated; a Castelar had electrified Europe with his + advanced ideas upon the liberty of worship; Prussia had humbled Denmark, + and annexed Schleswig-Holstein <1864>, and her armies were now around + Paris; the "Man of Destiny" was a prisoner at Wilhelmshohe; + the Queen of Fashion and the Empress of the French was a fugitive; + and the child born in the purple had lost for ever the Imperial + crown intended for his head; the Napoleon dynasty was extinguished + by the Prussians, Bismarck and Von Moltke; and France, the proud + empire, was humbled to the dust. + + What could a man have exaggerated of these facts? What a budget + of news it was to one who had emerged from the depths of the + primeval forests of Manyuema! The reflection of the dazzling + light of civilisation was cast on him while Livingstone was thus + listening in wonder to one of the most exciting pages of history + ever repeated. How the puny deeds of barbarism paled before + these! Who could tell under what new phases of uneasy life Europe + was labouring even then, while we, two of her lonely children, + rehearsed the tale of her late woes and glories? More worthily, + perhaps, had the tongue of a lyric Demodocus recounted them; but, + in the absence of the poet, the newspaper correspondent performed + his part as well and truthfully as he could. + + Not long after the Arabs had departed, a dishful of hot hashed-meat + cakes was sent to us by Sayd bin Majid, and a curried chicken was + received from Mohammed bin Sali, and Moeni Kheri sent a dishful of + stewed goat-meat and rice; and thus presents of food came in + succession, and as fast as they were brought we set to. I had a + healthy, stubborn digestion--the exercise I had taken had put it in + prime order; but Livingstone--he had been complaining that he had + no appetite, that his stomach refused everything but a cup of tea + now and then--he ate also--ate like a vigorous, hungry man; and, + as he vied with me in demolishing the pancakes, he kept repeating, + "You have brought me new life. You have brought me new life." + + "Oh, by George!" I said, "I have forgotten something. Hasten, + Selim, and bring that bottle; you know which and bring me the silver + goblets. I brought this bottle on purpose for this event, which + I hoped would come to pass, though often it seemed useless to expect + it." + + Selim knew where the bottle was, and he soon returned with it--a + bottle of Sillery champagne; and, handing the Doctor a silver + goblet brimful of the exhilarating wine, and pouring a small + quantity into my own, I said, + + "Dr. Livingstone, to your very good health, sir." + + "And to yours!" he responded, smilingly. + + And the champagne I had treasured for this happy meeting was drunk + with hearty good wishes to each other. + + But we kept on talking and talking, and prepared food was being + brought to us all that afternoon; and we kept on eating each time + it was brought, until I had eaten even to repletion, and the Doctor + was obliged to confess that he had eaten enough. Still, Halimah, + the female cook of the Doctor's establishment, was in a state of + the greatest excitement. She had been protruding her head out of + the cookhouse to make sure that there were really two white men + sitting down in the veranda, when there used to be only one, who + would not, because he could not, eat anything; and she had been + considerably exercised in her mind about this fact. She was + afraid the Doctor did not properly appreciate her culinary + abilities; but now she was amazed at the extraordinary quantity + of food eaten, and she was in a state of delightful excitement. + We could hear her tongue rolling off a tremendous volume of + clatter to the wondering crowds who halted before the kitchen + to hear the current of news with which she edified them. Poor, + faithful soul! While we listened to the noise of her furious + gossip, the Doctor related her faithful services, and the + terrible anxiety she evinced when the guns first announced + the arrival of another white man in Ujiji; how she had been + flying about in a state cf the utmost excitement, from the kitchen + into his presence, and out again into the square, asking all sorts + of questions; how she was in despair at the scantiness of the + general larder and treasury of the strange household; how she + was anxious to make up for their poverty by a grand appearance-- + to make up a sort of Barmecide feast to welcome the white man. + "Why," said she, "is he not one of us? Does he not bring plenty + of cloth and beads? Talk about the Arabs! Who are they that + they should be compared to white men? Arabs, indeed!" + + The Doctor and I conversed upon many things, especially upon his + own immediate troubles, and his disappointments, upon his arrival + in Ujiji, when told that all his goods had been sold, and he was + reduced to poverty. He had but twenty cloths or so left of the + stock he had deposited with the man called Sherif, the half-caste + drunken tailor, who was sent by the Consul in charge of the goods. + Besides which he had been suffering from an attack of dysentery, + and his condition was most deplorable. He was but little improved + on this day, though he had eaten well, and already began to feel + stronger and better. + + This day, like all others, though big with happiness to me, at last + was fading away. While sitting with our faces looking to the east, + as Livingstone had been sitting for days preceding my arrival, we + noted the dark shadows which crept up above the grove of palms + beyond the village, and above the rampart of mountains which we had + crossed that day, now looming through the fast approaching + darkness; and we listened, with our hearts full of gratitude to + the Great Giver of Good and Dispenser of all Happiness, to the + sonorous thunder of the surf of the Tanganika, and to the chorus + which the night insects sang. Hours passed, and we were still + sitting there with our minds busy upon the day's remarkable events, + when I remembered that the traveller had not yet read his letters. + + "Doctor," I said, "you had better read your letters. I will not + keep you up any longer." + + "Yes," he answered, "it is getting late; and I will go and read + my friends' letters. Good-night, and God bless you." + + "Good-night, my dear Doctor; and let me hope that your news will + be such as you desire." + + I have now related, by means of my Diary, "How I found Livingstone," + as recorded on the evening of that great day. I have been averse + to reduce it by process of excision and suppression, into a mere + cold narrative, because, by so doing, I would be unable to record + what feelings swayed each member of the Expedition as well as myself + during the days preceding the discovery of the lost traveller, and + more especially the day it was the good fortune of both Livingstone + and myself to clasp each other's hands in the strong friendship + which was born in that hour we thus strangely met. The aged + traveller, though cruelly belied, contrary to all previous expectation, + received me as a friend; and the cordial warmth with which he accepted + my greeting; the courtesy with which he tendered to me a shelter + in his own house; the simple candour of his conversation; graced + by unusual modesty of manner, and meekness of spirit, wrought in me + such a violent reaction in his favor, that when the parting + "good-night" was uttered, I felt a momentary vague fear lest the + fulness of joy which I experienced that evening would be diminished + by some envious fate, before the morrow's sun should rise above Ujiji. + + + +CHAPTER XII. -- INTERCOURSE WITH LIVINGSTONE AT UJIJI--LIVINGSTONE'S OWN +STORY OF HIS JOURNEYS, HIS TROUBLES, AND DISAPPOINTMENTS. + + "If there is love between us, inconceivably delicious, and + profitable will our intercourse be; if not, your time is lost, + and you will only annoy me. I shall seem to you stupid, and the + reputation I have false. All my good is magnetic, and I educate + not by lessons, but by going about my business."--Emerson's + 'Representative Men'. + + + I woke up early next morning with a sudden start. The room was + strange! It was a house, and not my tent! Ah, yes! I recollected + I had discovered Livingstone, and I was in his house. I listened, + that the knowledge dawning on me might be confirmed by the sound + of his voice. I heard nothing but the sullen roar of the surf. + + I lay quietly in bed. Bed! Yes, it was a primitive four-poster, + with the leaves of the palm-tree spread upon it instead of down, + and horsehair and my bearskin spread over this serving me in place + of linen. I began to put myself under rigid mental cross-examination, +and to an analyzation of my position. + +"What was I sent for?" + +"To find Livingstone." + +"Have you found him?" + +"Yes, of course; am I not in his house? Whose compass is that hanging +on a peg there? Whose clothes, whose boots, are those? Who reads those +newspapers, those 'Saturday Reviews' and numbers of 'Punch' lying on the +floor?" + +"Well, what are you going to do now?" + +"I shall tell him this morning who sent me, and what brought me here. +I will then ask him to write a letter to Mr. Bennett, and to give +what news he can spare. I did not come here to rob him of his news. +Sufficient for me is it that I have found him. It is a complete success +so far. But it will be a greater one if he gives me letters for Mr. +Bennett, and an acknowledgment that he has seen me." + +"Do you think he will do so?" + +"Why not? I have come here to do him a service. He has no goods. I have. +He has no men with him. I have. If I do a friendly part by him, will he +not do a friendly part by me? What says the poet?-- + + Nor hope to find + A friend, but who has found a friend in thee. + All like the purchase; few the price will pay + And this makes friends such wonders here below. + +I have paid the purchase, by coming so far to do him a service. But I +think, from what I have seen of him last night, that he is not such +a niggard and misanthrope as I was led to believe. He exhibited +considerable emotion, despite the monosyllabic greeting, when he shook +my hand. If he were a man to feel annoyance at any person coming after +him, he would not have received me as he did, nor would he ask me to +live with him, but he would have surlily refused to see me, and told +me to mind my own business. Neither does he mind my nationality; for +'here,' said he, 'Americans and Englishmen are the same people. We speak +the same language and have the same ideas.' Just so, Doctor; I agree +with you. Here at least, Americans and Englishmen shall be brothers, +and, whatever I can do for you, you may command me freely." + +I dressed myself quietly, intending to take a stroll along the Tanganika +before the Doctor should rise; opened the door, which creaked horribly +on its hinges, and walked out to the veranda. + +"Halloa, Doctor!--you up already? I hope you have slept well?" + +"Good-morning, Mr. Stanley! I am glad to see you. I hope you rested +well. I sat up late reading my letters. You have brought me good and bad +news. But sit down." He made a place for me by his side. "Yes, many of +my friends are dead. My eldest son has met with a sad accident--that is, +my boy Tom; my second son, Oswell, is at college studying medicine, and +is doing well I am told. Agnes, my eldest daughter, has been enjoying +herself in a yacht, with 'Sir Paraffine' Young and his family. Sir +Roderick, also, is well, and expresses a hope that he will soon see me. +You have brought me quite a budget." + +The man was not an apparition, then, and yesterday's scenes were not the +result of a dream! and I gazed on him intently, for thus I was assured +he had not run away, which was the great fear that constantly haunted me +as I was journeying to Ujiji. + +"Now, Doctor," said I, "you are, probably, wondering why I came here?" + +"It is true," said he; "I have been wondering. I thought you, at first, +an emissary of the French Government, in the place of Lieutenant Le +Saint, who died a few miles above Gondokoro. I heard you had boats, +plenty of men, and stores, and I really believed you were some French +officer, until I saw the American flag; and, to tell you the truth, I +was rather glad it was so, because I could not have talked to him in +French; and if he did not know English, we had been a pretty pair of +white men in Ujiji! I did not like to ask you yesterday, because I +thought it was none of my business." + +"Well," said I, laughing, "for your sake I am glad that I am an American, +and not a Frenchman, and that we can understand each other perfectly +without an interpreter. I see that the Arabs are wondering that you, an +Englishman, and I, an American, understand each other. We must take care +not to tell them that the English and Americans have fought, and that +there are 'Alabama' claims left unsettled, and that we have such people +as Fenians in America, who hate you. But, seriously, Doctor--now don't +be frightened when I tell you that I have come after--YOU!" + +"After me?" + +"Yes." + +"How?" + +"Well. You have heard of the 'New York Herald?'" + +"Oh--who has not heard of that newspaper?" + +"Without his father's knowledge or consent, Mr. James Gordon Bennett, +son of Mr. James Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the 'Herald,' has +commissioned me to find you--to get whatever news of your discoveries +you like to give--and to assist you, if I can, with means." + +"Young Mr. Bennett told you to come after me, to find me out, and help +me! It is no wonder, then, you praised Mr. Bennett so much last night." + +"I know him--I am proud to say--to be just what I say he is. He is an +ardent, generous, and true man." + +"Well, indeed! I am very much obliged to him; and it makes me feel proud +to think that you Americans think so much of me. You have just come in +the proper time; for I was beginning to think that I should have to beg +from the Arabs. Even they are in want of cloth, and there are but few +beads in Ujiji. That fellow Sherif has robbed me of all. I wish I could +embody my thanks to Mr. Bennett in suitable words; but if I fail to do +so, do not, I beg of you, believe me the less grateful." + +"And now, Doctor, having disposed of this little affair, Ferajji shall +bring breakfast; if you have no objection." + +"You have given me an appetite," he said. + +"Halimah is my cook, but she never can tell the difference between tea +and coffee." + +Ferajji, the cook, was ready as usual with excellent tea, and a dish of +smoking cakes; "dampers," as the Doctor called them. I never did care +much for this kind of a cake fried in a pan, but they were necessary +to the Doctor, who had nearly lost all his teeth from the hard fare of +Lunda. He had been compelled to subsist on green ears of Indian corn; +there was no meat in that district; and the effort to gnaw at the +corn ears had loosened all his teeth. I preferred the corn scones of +Virginia, which, to my mind, were the nearest approach to palatable +bread obtainable in Central Africa. + +The Doctor said he had thought me a most luxurious and rich man, when he +saw my great bath-tub carried on the shoulders of one of my men; but he +thought me still more luxurious this morning, when my knives and forks, +and plates, and cups, saucers, silver spoons, and silver teapot were +brought forth shining and bright, spread on a rich Persian carpet, and +observed that I was well attended to by my yellow and ebon Mercuries. + +This was the beginning of our life at Ujiji. I knew him not as a friend +before my arrival. He was only an object to me--a great item for a daily +newspaper, as much as other subjects in which the voracious news-loving +public delight in. I had gone over battlefields, witnessed revolutions, +civil wars, rebellions, emeutes and massacres; stood close to the +condemned murderer to record his last struggles and last sighs; but +never had I been called to record anything that moved me so much as this +man's woes and sufferings, his privations and disappointments, which now +were poured into my ear. Verily did I begin to perceive that "the Gods +above do with just eyes survey the affairs of men." I began to recognize +the hand of an overruling and kindly Providence. + +The following are singular facts worthy for reflection. I was, +commissioned for the duty of discovering Livingstone sometime in +October, 1869. Mr. Bennett was ready with the money, and I was ready for +the journey. But, observe, reader, that I did not proceed directly upon +the search mission. I had many tasks to fulfil before proceeding with +it, and many thousand miles to travel over. Supposing that I had +gone direct to Zanzibar from Paris, seven or eight months afterwards, +perhaps, I should have found myself at Ujiji, but Livingstone would not +have been found there then; he was on the Lualaba; and I should have +had to follow him on his devious tracks through the primeval forests of +Manyuema, and up along the crooked course of the Lualaba for hundreds +of miles. The time taken by me in travelling up the Nile, back to +Jerusalem, then to Constantinople, Southern Russia, the Caucasus, and +Persia, was employed by Livingstone in fruitful discoveries west of the +Tanganika. Again, consider that I arrived at Unyanyembe in the latter +part of June, and that owing to a war I was delayed three months at +Unyanyembe, leading a fretful, peevish and impatient life. But while I +was thus fretting myself, and being delayed by a series of accidents, +Livingstone was being forced back to Ujiji in the same month. It took +him from June to October to march to Ujiji. Now, in September, I broke +loose from the thraldom which accident had imposed on me, and hurried +southward to Ukonongo, then westward to Kawendi, then northward to +Uvinza, then westward to Ujiji, only about three weeks after the +Doctor's arrival, to find him resting under the veranda of his house +with his face turned eastward, the direction from which I was coming. +Had I gone direct from Paris on the search I might have lost him; had I +been enabled to have gone direct to Ujiji from Unyanyembe I might have +lost him. + +The days came and went peacefully and happily, under the palms of Ujiji. +My companion was improving in health and spirits. Life had been brought +back to him; his fading vitality was restored, his enthusiasm for his +work was growing up again into a height that was compelling him to +desire to be up and doing. But what could he do, with five men and +fifteen or twenty cloths? + +"Have you seen the northern head of the Tangannka, Doctor?" I asked one +day. + +"No; I did try to go there, but the Wajiji were doing their best to +fleece me, as they did both Burton and Speke, and I had not a great deal +of cloth. If I had gone to the head of the Tanganika, I could not have +gone, to Manyuema. The central line of drainage was the most important, +and that is the Lualaba. Before this line the question whether there +is a connection between the Tanganika and the Albert N'Yanza sinks into +insignificance. The great line of drainage is the river flowing from +latitude 11 degrees south, which I followed for over seven degrees +northward. The Chambezi, the name given to its most southern extremity, +drains a large tract of country south of the southernmost source of the +Tanganika; it must, therefore, be the most important. I have not the +least doubt, myself, but that this lake is the Upper Tanganika, and the +Albert N'Yanza of Baker is the Lower Tanganika, which are connected by a +river flowing from the upper to the lower. This is my belief, based upon +reports of the Arabs, and a test I made of the flow with water-plants. +But I really never gave it much thought." + +"Well, if I were you, Doctor, before leaving Ujiji, I should explore it, +and resolve the doubts upon the subject; lest, after you leave here, +you should not return by this way. The Royal Geographical Society attach +much importance to this supposed connection, and declare you are the +only man who can settle it. If I can be of any service to you, you may +command me. Though I did not come to Africa as an explorer, I have +a good deal of curiosity upon the subject, and should be willing to +accompany you. I have with me about twenty men who understand rowing we +have plenty of guns, cloth, and beads; and if we can get a canoe from +the Arabs we can manage the thing easily." + +"Oh, we can get a canoe from Sayd bin Majid. This man has been very kind +to me, and if ever there was an Arab gentleman, he is one." + +"Then it is settled, is it, that we go?" + +"I am ready, whenever you are." + +"I am at your command. Don't you hear my men call you the 'Great +Master,' and me the 'Little Master?' It would never do for the 'Little +Master' to command." + +By this time Livingstone was becoming known to me. I defy any one to be +in his society long without thoroughly fathoming him, for in him there +is no guile, and what is apparent on the surface is the thing that is in +him. I simply write down my own opinion of the man as I have seen him, +not as he represents himself; as I know him to be, not as I have heard +of him. I lived with him from the 10th November, 1871, to the 14th +March, 1872; witnessed his conduct in the camp, and on the march, and +my feelings for him are those of unqualified admiration. The camp is the +best place to discover a man's weaknesses, where, if he is flighty or +wrong-headed, he is sure to develop his hobbies and weak side. I think +it possible, however, that Livingstone, with an unsuitable companion, +might feel annoyance. I know I should do so very readily, if a man's +character was of that oblique nature that it was an impossibility to +travel in his company. I have seen men, in whose company I felt nothing +but a thraldom, which it was a duty to my own self-respect to cast off +as soon as possible; a feeling of utter incompatibility, with whose +nature mine could never assimilate. But Livingstone was a character that +I venerated, that called forth all my enthusiasm, that evoked nothing +but sincerest admiration. + +Dr. Livingstone is about sixty years old, though after he was restored +to health he appeared more like a man who had not passed his fiftieth +year. His hair has a brownish colour yet, but is here and there streaked +with grey lines over the temples; his whiskers and moustache are +very grey. He shaves his chin daily. His eyes, which are hazel, are +remarkably bright; he has a sight keen as a hawk's. His teeth alone +indicate the weakness of age; the hard fare of Lunda has made havoc in +their lines. His form, which soon assumed a stoutish appearance, is a +little over the ordinary height with the slightest possible bow in the +shoulders. When walking he has a firm but heavy tread, like that of an +overworked or fatigued man. He is accustomed to wear a naval cap with +a semicircular peak, by which he has been identified throughout Africa. +His dress, when first I saw him, exhibited traces of patching and +repairing, but was scrupulously clean. + +I was led to believe that Livingstone possessed a splenetic, +misanthropic temper; some have said that he is garrulous, that he is +demented; that he has utterly changed from the David Livingstone whom +people knew as the reverend missionary; that he takes no notes or +observations but such as those which no other person could read but +himself; and it was reported, before I proceeded to Central Africa, that +he was married to an African princess. + +I respectfully beg to differ with all and each of the above statements. +I grant he is not an angel, but he approaches to that being as near +as the nature of a living man will allow. I never saw any spleen or +misanthropy in him--as for being garrulous, Dr. Livingstone is quite +the reverse: he is reserved, if anything; and to the man who says Dr. +Livingstone is changed, all I can say is, that he never could have known +him, for it is notorious that the Doctor has a fund of quiet humour, +which he exhibits at all times whenever he is among friends. I must +also beg leave to correct the gentleman who informed me that Livingstone +takes no notes or observations. The huge Letts's Diary which I carried +home to his daughter is full of notes, and there are no less than a +score of sheets within it filled with observations which he took during +the last trip he made to Manyuema alone; and in the middle of the book +there is sheet after sheet, column after column, carefully written, of +figures alone. A large letter which I received from him has been sent to +Sir Thomas MacLear, and this contains nothing but observations. During +the four months I was with him, I noticed him every evening making most +careful notes; and a large tin box that he has with him contains numbers +of field note-books, the contents of which I dare say will see the +light some time. His maps also evince great care and industry. As to the +report of his African marriage, it is unnecessary to say more than that +it is untrue, and it is utterly beneath a gentleman to hint at such a +thing in connection with the name of David Livingstone. + +There is a good-natured abandon about Livingstone which was not lost +on me. Whenever he began to laugh, there was a contagion about it, +that compelled me to imitate him. It was such a laugh as Herr +Teufelsdrockh's--a laugh of the whole man from head to heel. If he +told a story, he related it in such a way as to convince one of its +truthfulness; his face was so lit up by the sly fun it contained, that I +was sure the story was worth relating, and worth listening to. + +The wan features which had shocked me at first meeting, the heavy step +which told of age and hard travel, the grey beard and bowed shoulders, +belied the man. Underneath that well-worn exterior lay an endless fund +of high spirits and inexhaustible humour; that rugged frame of his +enclosed a young and most exuberant soul. Every day I heard innumerable +jokes and pleasant anecdotes; interesting hunting stories, in which his +friends Oswell, Webb, Vardon, and Gorden Cumming were almost always the +chief actors. I was not sure, at first, but this joviality, humour, and +abundant animal spirits were the result of a joyous hysteria; but as I +found they continued while I was with him, I am obliged to think them +natural. + +Another thing which specially attracted my attention was his wonderfully +retentive memory. If we remember the many years he has spent in Africa, +deprived of books, we may well think it an uncommon memory that can +recite whole poems from Byron, Burns, Tennyson, Longfellow, Whittier, +and Lowell. The reason of this may be found, perhaps, in the fact, that +he has lived all his life almost, we may say, within himself. Zimmerman, +a great student of human nature, says on this subject "The unencumbered +mind recalls all that it has read, all that pleased the eye, +and delighted the ear; and reflecting on every idea which either +observation, or experience, or discourse has produced, gains new +information by every reflection. The intellect contemplates all the +former scenes of life; views by anticipation those that are yet to come; +and blends all ideas of past and future in the actual enjoyment of the +present moment." He has lived in a world which revolved inwardly, out +of which he seldom awoke except to attend to the immediate practical +necessities of himself and people; then relapsed again into the same +happy inner world, which he must have peopled with his own friends, +relations, acquaintances, familiar readings, ideas, and associations; so +that wherever he might be, or by whatsoever he was surrounded, his own +world always possessed more attractions to his cultured mind than were +yielded by external circumstances. + +The study of Dr. Livingstone would not be complete if we did not take +the religious side of his character into consideration. His religion +is not of the theoretical kind, but it is a constant, earnest, sincere +practice. It is neither demonstrative nor loud, but manifests itself +in a quiet, practical way, and is always at work. It is not aggressive, +which sometimes is troublesome, if not impertinent. In him, religion +exhibits its loveliest features; it governs his conduct not only towards +his servants, but towards the natives, the bigoted Mohammedans, and all +who come in contact with him. Without it, Livingstone, with his ardent +temperament, his enthusiasm, his high spirit and courage, must have +become uncompanionable, and a hard master. Religion has tamed him, and +made him a Christian gentleman: the crude and wilful have been refined +and subdued; religion has made him the most companionable of men and +indulgent of masters--a man whose society is pleasurable. + +In Livingstone I have seen many amiable traits. His gentleness never +forsakes him; his hopefulness never deserts him. No harassing anxieties, +distraction of mind, long separation from home and kindred, can make him +complain. He thinks "all will come out right at last;" he has such faith +in the goodness of Providence. The sport of adverse circumstances, the +plaything of the miserable beings sent to him from Zanzibar--he has been +baffled and worried, even almost to the grave, yet he will not desert +the charge imposed upon him by his friend, Sir Roderick Murchison. To +the stern dictates of duty, alone, has he sacrificed his home and ease, +the pleasures, refinements, and luxuries of civilized life. His is the +Spartan heroism, the inflexibility of the Roman, the enduring resolution +of the Anglo-Saxon--never to relinquish his work, though his heart +yearns for home; never to surrender his obligations until he can write +Finis to his work. + +But you may take any point in Dr. Livingstone's character, and analyse +it carefully, and I would challenge any man to find a fault in it. He is +sensitive, I know; but so is any man of a high mind and generous nature. +He is sensitive on the point of being doubted or being criticised. An +extreme love of truth is one of his strongest characteristics, which +proves him to be a man of strictest principles, and conscientious +scruples; being such, he is naturally sensitive, and shrinks from any +attacks on the integrity of his observations, and the accuracy of his +reports. He is conscious of having laboured in the course of geography +and science with zeal and industry, to have been painstaking, and as +exact as circumstances would allow. Ordinary critics seldom take into +consideration circumstances, but, utterly regardless of the labor +expended in obtaining the least amount of geographical information in a +new land, environed by inconceivable dangers and difficulties, such +as Central Africa presents, they seem to take delight in rending to +tatters, and reducing to nil, the fruits of long years of labor, by +sharply-pointed shafts of ridicule and sneers. + +Livingstone no doubt may be mistaken in some of his conclusions about +certain points in the geography of Central Africa, but he is not so +dogmatic and positive a man as to refuse conviction. He certainly +demands, when arguments in contra are used in opposition to him, higher +authority than abstract theory. His whole life is a testimony against +its unreliability, and his entire labor of years were in vain if theory +can be taken in evidence against personal observation and patient +investigation. + +The reluctance he manifests to entertain suppositions, possibilities +regarding the nature, form, configuration of concrete immutable matter +like the earth, arises from the fact, that a man who commits himself +to theories about such an untheoretical subject as Central Africa +is deterred from bestirring himself to prove them by the test of +exploration. His opinion of such a man is, that he unfits himself +for his duty, that he is very likely to become a slave to theory--a +voluptuous fancy, which would master him. + +It is his firm belief, that a man who rests his sole knowledge of the +geography of Africa on theory, deserves to be discredited. It has been +the fear of being discredited and criticised and so made to appear +before the world as a man who spent so many valuable years in Africa +for the sake of burdening the geographical mind with theory that has +detained him so long in Africa, doing his utmost to test the value of +the main theory which clung to him, and would cling to him until he +proved or disproved it. + +This main theory is his belief that in the broad and mighty Lualaba he +has discovered the head waters of the Nile. His grounds for believing +this are of such nature and weight as to compel him to despise +the warning that years are advancing on him, and his former iron +constitution is failing. He believes his speculations on this point will +be verified; he believes he is strong enough to pursue his explorations +until he can return to his country, with the announcement that the +Lualaba is none other than the Nile. + +On discovering that the insignificant stream called the Chambezi, which +rises between 10 degrees S. and 12 degrees S., flowed westerly, and then +northerly through several lakes, now under the names of the Chambezi, +then as the Luapula, and then as the Lualaba, and that it still +continued its flow towards the north for over 7 degrees, Livingstone +became firmly of the opinion that the river whose current he followed +was the Egyptian Nile. Failing at lat. 4 degrees S. to pursue his +explorations further without additional supplies, he determined to +return to Ujiji to obtain them. + +And now, having obtained them, he intends to return to the point where +he left off work. He means to follow that great river until it is firmly +established what name shall eventually be given the noble water-way +whose course he has followed through so many sick toilings and +difficulties. To all entreaties to come home, to all the glowing +temptations which home and innumerable friends offer, he returns the +determined answer:-- + +"No; not until my work is ended." + +I have often heard our servants discuss our respective merits. "Your +master," say my servants to Livingstone's, "is a good man--a very good +man; he does not beat you, for he has a kind heart; but ours--oh! he +is sharp--hot as fire"--"mkali sana, kana moto." From being hated and +thwarted in every possible way by the Arabs and half-castes upon +first arrival in Ujiji, he has, through his uniform kindness and mild, +pleasant temper, won all hearts. I observed that universal respect was +paid to him. Even the Mohammedans never passed his house without calling +to pay their compliments, and to say, "The blessing of God rest on you." +Each Sunday morning he gathers his little flock around him, and reads +prayers and a chapter from the Bible, in a natural, unaffected, and +sincere tone; and afterwards delivers a short address in the Kisawahili +language, about the subject read to them, which is listened to with +interest and attention. + +There is another point in Livingstone's character about which readers of +his books, and students of his travels, would like to know, and that is +his ability to withstand the dreadful climate of Central Africa, and +the consistent energy with which he follows up his explorations. His +consistent energy is native to him and to his race. He is a very fine +example of the perseverance, doggedness, and tenacity which characterise +the Anglo-Saxon spirit; but his ability to withstand the climate is due +not only to the happy constitution with which he was born, but to the +strictly temperate life he has ever led. A drunkard and a man of vicious +habits could never have withstood the climate of Central Africa. + +The second day after my arrival in Ujiji I asked the Doctor if he did +not feel a desire, sometimes, to visit his country, and take a little +rest after his six years' explorations; and the answer he gave me fully +reveals the man. Said he: + +"I should like very much to go home and see my children once again, but +I cannot bring my heart to abandon the task I have undertaken, when it +is so nearly completed. It only requires six or seven months more to +trace the true source that I have discovered with Petherick's branch of +the White Nile, or with the Albert N'Yanza of Sir Samuel Baker, which is +the lake called by the natives 'Chowambe.' Why should I go home before +my task is ended, to have to come back again to do what I can very well +do now?" + +"And why?" I asked, "did you come so far back without finishing the task +which you say you have got to do?" + +"Simply because I was forced. My men would not budge a step forward. +They mutinied, and formed a secret resolution--if I still insisted upon +going on--to raise a disturbance in the country, and after they had +effected it to abandon me; in which case I should have been killed. It +was dangerous to go any further. I had explored six hundred miles of the +watershed, had traced all the principal streams which discharge their +waters into the central line of drainage, but when about starting to +explore the last hundred miles the hearts of my people failed them, +and they set about frustrating me in every possible way. Now, having +returned seven hundred miles to get a new supply of stores, and another +escort, I find myself destitute of even the means to live but for a few +weeks, and sick in mind and body." + +Here I may pause to ask any brave man how he would have comported +himself in such a crisis. Many would have been in exceeding hurry to get +home to tell the news of the continued explorations and discoveries, +and to relieve the anxiety of the sorrowing family and friends awaiting +their return. Enough surely had been accomplished towards the solution +of the problem that had exercised the minds of his scientific associates +of the Royal Geograpical Society. It was no negative exploration, it was +hard, earnest labor of years, self-abnegation, enduring patience, and +exalted fortitude, such as ordinary men fail to exhibit. + +Suppose Livingstone had hurried to the coast after he had discovered +Lake Bangweolo, to tell the news to the geographical world; then had +returned to discover Moero, and run away again; then went back once more +only to discover Kamolondo, and to race back again. This would not be in +accordance with Livingstone's character. He must not only discover the +Chambezi, Lake Bangweolo, Luapula River, Lake Moero, Lualaba River, and +Lake Kamolondo, but he must still tirelessly urge his steps forward to +put the final completion to the grand lacustrine river system. Had he +followed the example of ordinary explorers, he would have been running +backwards and forwards to tell the news, instead of exploring; and he +might have been able to write a volume upon the discovery of each lake, +and earn much money thereby. They are no few months' explorations that +form the contents of his books. His 'Missionary Travels' embraces a +period of sixteen years; his book on the Zambezi, five years; and if the +great traveller lives to come home, his third book, the grandest of all, +must contain the records of eight or nine years. + +It is a principle with Livingstone to do well what he undertakes to do; +and in the consciousness that he is doing it, despite the yearning for +his home which is sometimes overpowering, he finds, to a certain extent, +contentment, if not happiness. To men differently constituted, a long +residence amongst the savages of Africa would be contemplated +with horror, yet Livingstone's mind can find pleasure and food for +philosophic studies. The wonders of primeval nature, the great forests +and sublime mountains, the perennial streams and sources of the great +lakes, the marvels of the earth, the splendors of the tropic sky by day +and by night--all terrestrial and celestial phenomena are manna to a +man of such self-abnegation and devoted philanthropic spirit. He can be +charmed with the primitive simplicity of Ethiop's dusky children, with +whom he has spent so many years of his life; he has a sturdy faith in +their capabilities; sees virtue in them where others see nothing but +savagery; and wherever he has gone among them, he has sought to elevate +a people that were apparently forgotten of God and Christian man. + +One night I took out my note-book, and prepared to take down from his +own lips what he had to say about his travels; and unhesitatingly he +related his experiences, of which the following is a summary: + +Dr. David Livingstone left the Island of Zanzibar in March, 1866. On +the 7th of the following month he departed from Mikindany Bay for the +interior, with an expedition consisting of twelve Sepoys from Bombay, +nine men from Johanna, of the Comoro Islands, seven liberated slaves, +and two Zambezi men, taking them as an experiment; six camels, three +buffaloes, two mules, and three donkeys. He had thus thirty men with +him, twelve of whom, viz., the Sepoys, were to act as guards for the +Expedition. They were mostly armed with the Enfield rifles presented +to the Doctor by the Bombay Government. The baggage of the expedition +consisted of ten bales of cloth and two bags of beads, which were to +serve as the currency by which they would be enabled to purchase the +necessaries of life in the countries the Doctor intended to visit. +Besides the cumbrous moneys, they carried several boxes of instruments, +such as chronometers, air thermometers, sextant, and artificial horizon, +boxes containing clothes, medicines, and personal necessaries. The +expedition travelled up the left bank of the Rovuma River, a route as +full of difficulties as any that could be chosen. For miles Livingstone +and his party had to cut their way with their axes through the dense and +almost impenetrable jungles which lined the river's banks. The road was +a mere footpath, leading in the most erratic fashion into and through +the dense vegetation, seeking the easiest outlet from it without any +regard to the course it ran. The pagazis were able to proceed easily +enough; but the camels, on account of their enormous height, could not +advance a step without the axes of the party clearing the way. These +tools of foresters were almost always required; but the advance of the +expedition was often retarded by the unwillingness of the Sepoys and +Johanna men to work. + +Soon after the departure of the expedition from the coast, the +murmurings and complaints of these men began, and upon every occasion +and at every opportunity they evinced a decided hostility to an advance. +In order to prevent the progress of the Doctor, and in hopes that it +would compel him to return to the coast, these men so cruelly treated +the animals that before long there was not one left alive. But as this +scheme failed, they set about instigating the natives against the white +men, whom they accused most wantonly of strange practices. As this plan +was most likely to succeed, and as it was dangerous to have such men +with him, the Doctor arrived at the conclusion that it was best to +discharge them, and accordingly sent the Sepoys back to the coast; but +not without having first furnished them with the means of subsistence on +their journey to the coast. These men were such a disreputable set that +the natives spoke of them as the Doctor's slaves. One of their worst +sins was the custom of giving their guns and ammunition to carry to the +first woman or boy they met, whom they impressed for that purpose by +such threats or promises as they were totally unable to perform, and +unwarranted in making. An hour's marching was sufficient to fatigue +them, after which they lay down on the road to bewail their hard fate, +and concoct new schemes to frustrate their leader's purposes. Towards +night they generally made their appearance at the camping-ground with +the looks of half-dead men. Such men naturally made but a poor escort; +for, had the party been attacked by a wandering tribe of natives of +any strength, the Doctor could have made no defence, and no other +alternative would have been left to him but to surrender and be ruined. + +The Doctor and his little party arrived on the 18th July, 1866, at a +village belonging to a chief of the Wahiyou, situate eight days' march +south of the Rovuma, and overlooking the watershed of the Lake Nyassa. +The territory lying between the Rovuma River and this Wahiyou village +was an uninhabited wilderness, during the transit of which Livingstone +and his expedition suffered considerably from hunger and desertion of +men. + +Early in August, 1866, the Doctor came to the country of Mponda, a +chief who dwelt near the Lake Nyassa. On the road thither, two of the +liberated slaves deserted him. Here also, Wekotani, a protege of the +Doctor, insisted upon his discharge, alleging as an excuse--an excuse +which the Doctor subsequently found to be untrue--that he had found his +brother. He also stated that his family lived on the east side of the +Nyassa Lake. He further stated that Mponda's favourite wife was his +sister. Perceiving that Wekotani was unwilling to go with him further, +the Doctor took him to Mponda, who now saw and heard of him for the +first time, and, having furnished the ungrateful boy with enough cloth +and beads to keep him until his "big brother" should call for him, left +him with the chief, after first assuring himself that he would +receive honourable treatment from him. The Doctor also gave Wekotanti +writing-paper--as he could read and write, being accomplishments +acquired at Bombay, where he had been put to school--so that, should he +at any time feel disposed, he might write to his English friends, or to +himself. The Doctor further enjoined him not to join in any of the +slave raids usually made by his countrymen, the men of Nyassa, on +their neighbours. Upon finding that his application for a discharge was +successful, Wekotani endeavoured to induce Chumah, another protege +of the Doctor's, and a companion, or chum, of Wekotani, to leave the +Doctor's service and proceed with him, promising, as a bribe, a wife +and plenty of pombe from his "big brother." Chumah, upon referring the +matter to the Doctor, was advised not to go, as he (the Doctor) strongly +suspected that Wekotani wanted only to make him his slave. Chumah wisely +withdrew from his tempter. From Mponda's, the Doctor proceeded to the +heel of the Nyassa, to the village of a Babisa chief, who required +medicine for a skin disease. With his usual kindness, he stayed at this +chief's village to treat his malady. + +While here, a half-caste Arab arrived from the western shore of the +lake, and reported that he had been plundered by a band of Mazitu, at +a place which the Doctor and Musa, chief of the Johanna men, were very +well aware was at least 150 miles north-north-west of where they were +then stopping. Musa, however, for his own reasons--which will appear +presently--eagerly listened to the Arab's tale, and gave full credence +to it. Having well digested its horrible details, he came to the Doctor +to give him the full benefit of what he had heard with such willing +ears. The traveller patiently listened to the narrative, which lost +nothing of its portentous significance through Musa's relation, and then +asked Musa if he believed it. "Yes," answered Musa, readily; "he tell +me true, true. I ask him good, and he tell me true, true." The Doctor, +however, said he did not believe it, for the Mazitu would not have been +satisfied with merely plundering a man, they would have murdered him; +but suggested, in order to allay the fears of his Moslem subordinate, +that they should both proceed to the chief with whom they were staying, +who, being a sensible man, would be able to advise them as to the +probability or improbability of the tale being correct. Together, they +proceeded to the Babisa chief, who, when he had heard the Arab's story, +unhesitatingly denounced the Arab as a liar, and his story without the +least foundation in fact; giving as a reason that, if the Mazitu had +been lately in that vicinity, he should have heard of it soon enough. + +But Musa broke out with "No, no, Doctor; no, no, no; I no want to go to +Mazitu. I no want Mazitu to kill me. I want to see my father, my +mother, my child, in Johanna. I want no Mazitu." These are Musa's words +_ipsissima verba_. + +To which the Doctor replied, "I don't want the Mazitu to kill me either; +but, as you are afraid of them, I promise to go straight west until we +get far past the beat of the Mazitu." + +Musa was not satisfied, but kept moaning and sorrowing, saying, "If we +had two hundred guns with us I would go; but our small party of men they +will attack by night, and kill all." + +The Doctor repeated his promise, "But I will not go near them; I will go +west." + +As soon as he turned his face westward, Musa and the Johanna men ran +away in a body. + +The Doctor says, in commenting upon Musa's conduct, that he felt +strongly tempted to shoot Musa and another ringleader, but was, +nevertheless, glad that he did not soil his hands with their vile blood. +A day or two afterwards, another of his men--Simon Price by name--came +to the Doctor with the same tale about the Mazitu, but, compelled by the +scant number of his people to repress all such tendencies to desertion +and faint-heartedness, the Doctor silenced him at once, and sternly +forbade him to utter the name of the Mazitu any more. + +Had the natives not assisted him, he must have despaired of ever being +able to penetrate the wild and unexplored interior which he was now +about to tread. "Fortunately," as the Doctor says with unction, "I was +in a country now, after leaving the shores of Nyassa, which the foot +of the slave-trader has not trod; it was a new and virgin land, and of +course, as I have always found in such cases, the natives were really +good and hospitable, and for very small portions of cloth my baggage +was conveyed from village to village by them." In many other ways +the traveller, in his extremity, was kindly treated by the yet +unsophisticated and innocent natives. + +On leaving this hospitable region in the early part of December, 1866, +the Doctor entered a country where the Mazitu had exercised their +customary marauding propensities. The land was swept clean of provisions +and cattle, and the people had emigrated to other countries, beyond the +bounds of those ferocious plunderers. Again the Expedition was besieged +by pinching hunger from which they suffered; they had recourse to the +wild fruits which some parts of the country furnished. At intervals +the condition of the hard-pressed band was made worse by the heartless +desertion of some of its members, who more than once departed with the +Doctor's personal kit, changes of clothes, linen, &c. With more or less +misfortunes constantly dogging his footsteps, he traversed in safety the +countries of the Babisa, Bobemba, Barungu, Ba-ulungu, and Lunda. + +In the country of Lunda lives the famous Cazembe, who was first made +known to Europeans by Dr. Lacerda, the Portuguese traveller. Cazembe +is a most intelligent prince; he is a tall, stalwart man, who wears +a peculiar kind of dress, made of crimson print, in the form of +a prodigious kilt. In this state dress, King Cazembe received Dr. +Livingstone, surrounded by his chiefs and body-guards. A chief, who had +been deputed by the King and elders to discover all about the white man, +then stood up before the assembly, and in a loud voice gave the result +of the inquiry he had instituted. He had heard that the white man had +come to look for waters, for rivers, and seas; though he could not +understand what the white man could want with such things, he had no +doubt that the object was good. Then Cazembe asked what the Doctor +proposed doing, and where he thought of going. The Doctor replied that +he had thought of proceeding south, as he had heard of lakes and rivers +being in that direction. Cazembe asked, "What can you want to go there +for? The water is close here. There is plenty of large water in this +neighbourhood." Before breaking up the assembly, Cazembe gave orders to +let the white man go where he would through his country undisturbed and +unmolested. He was the first Englishman he had seen, he said, and he +liked him. + +Shortly after his introduction to the King, the Queen entered the large +house, surrounded by a body-guard of Amazons with spears. She was a +fine, tall, handsome young woman, and evidently thought she was about +to make an impression upon the rustic white man, for she had clothed +herself after a most royal fashion, and was armed with a ponderous +spear. But her appearance--so different from what the Doctor had +imagined--caused him to laugh, which entirely spoiled the effect +intended; for the laugh of the Doctor was so contagious, that she +herself was the first to imitate it, and the Amazons, courtier-like, +followed suit. Much disconcerted by this, the Queen ran back, followed +by her obedient damsels--a retreat most undignified and unqueenlike, +compared with her majestic advent into the Doctor's presence. But +Livingstone will have much to say about his reception at this court, and +about this interesting King and Queen; and who can so well relate the +scenes he witnessed, and which belong exclusively to him, as he himself? + +Soon after his arrival in the country of Lunda, or Londa, and before he +had entered the district ruled over by Cazembe, he had crossed a river +called the Chambezi, which was quite an important stream. The similarity +of the name with that large and noble river south, which will be for +ever connected with his name, misled Livingstone at that time, and he, +accordingly, did not pay to it the attention it deserved, believing that +the Chambezi was but the head-waters of the Zambezi, and consequently +had no bearing or connection with the sources of the river of Egypt, of +which he was in search. His fault was in relying too implicitly upon +the correctness of Portuguese information. This error it cost him many +months of tedious labour and travel to rectify. + +From the beginning of 1867--the time of his arrival at Cazembe's--till +the middle of March, 1869--the time of his arrival at Ujiji--he was +mostly engaged in correcting the errors and misrepresentations of +the Portuguese travellers. The Portuguese, in speaking of the River +Chambezi, invariably spoke of it as "our own Zambezi,"--that is, +the Zambezi which flows through the Portuguese possessions of the +Mozambique. "In going to Cazembe from Nyassa," said they, "you will +cross our own Zambezi." Such positive and reiterated information--given +not only orally, but in their books and maps--was naturally confusing. +When the Doctor perceived that what he saw and what they described were +at variance, out of a sincere wish to be correct, and lest he might +have been mistaken himself, he started to retravel the ground he had +travelled before. Over and over again he traversed the several countries +watered by the several rivers of the complicated water system, like an +uneasy spirit. Over and over again he asked the same questions from +the different peoples he met, until he was obliged to desist, lest they +might say, "The man is mad; he has got water on the brain!" + +But his travels and tedious labours in Lunda and the adjacent countries +have established beyond doubt--first, that the Chambezi is a totally +distinct river from the Zambezi of the Portuguese; and, secondly, that +the Chambezi, starting from about latitude 11 degrees south, is no +other than the most southerly feeder of the great Nile; thus giving that +famous river a length of over 2,000 miles of direct latitude; making it, +second to the Mississippi, the longest river in the world. The real and +true name of the Zambezi is Dombazi. When Lacerda and his Portuguese +successors, coming to Cazembe, crossed the Chambezi, and heard its +name, they very naturally set it down as "our own Zambezi," and, without +further inquiry, sketched it as running in that direction. + +During his researches in that region, so pregnant in discoveries, +Livingstone came to a lake lying north-east of Cazembe, which the +natives call Liemba, from the country of that name which bordered it on +the east and south. In tracing the lake north, he found it to be none +other than the Tanganika, or the south-eastern extremity of it, which +looks, on the Doctor's map, very much like an outline of Italy. The +latitude of the southern end of this great body of water is about 8 +degrees 42 minutes south, which thus gives it a length, from north to +south, of 360 geographical miles. From the southern extremity of the +Tanganika he crossed Marungu, and came in sight of Lake Moero. Tracing +this lake, which is about sixty miles in length, to its southern head, +he found a river, called the Luapula, entering it from that direction. +Following the Luapula south, he found it issue from the large lake +of Bangweolo, which is nearly as large in superficial area as the +Tanganika. In exploring for the waters which discharged themselves into +the lake, he found that by far the most important of these feeders was +the Chambezi; so that he had thus traced the Chambezi from its source to +Lake Bangweolo, and the issue from its northern head, under the name of +Luapula, and found it enter Lake Moero. Again he returned to Cazembe's, +well satisfied that the river running north through three degrees of +latitude could not be the river running south under the name of Zambezi, +though there might be a remarkable resemblance in their names. + +At Cazembe's he found an old white-bearded half-caste named Mohammed bin +Sali, who was kept as a kind of prisoner at large by the King because +of certain suspicious circumstances attending his advent and stay in the +country. Through Livingstone's influence Mohammed bin Sali obtained +his release. On the road to Ujiji he had bitter cause to regret having +exerted himself in the half-caste's behalf. He turned out to be a most +ungrateful wretch, who poisoned the minds of the Doctor's few followers, +and ingratiated himself with them by selling the favours of his +concubines to them, by which he reduced them to a kind of bondage under +him. The Doctor was deserted by all but two, even faithful Susi and +Chumah deserted him for the service of Mohammed bin Sali. But they soon +repented, and returned to their allegiance. From the day he had the +vile old man in his company manifold and bitter misfortunes followed the +Doctor up to his arrival at Ujiji in March, 1869. + +From the date of his arrival until the end of June, 1869, he remained +at Ujiji, whence he dated those letters which, though the outside +world still doubted his being alive, satisfied the minds of the Royal +Geographical people, and his intimate friends, that he still existed, +and that Musa'a tale was the false though ingenious fabrication of a +cowardly deserter. It was during this time that the thought occurred to +him of sailing around the Lake Tanganika, but the Arabs and natives were +so bent upon fleecing him that, had he undertaken it, the remainder +or his goods would not have enabled him to explore the central line of +drainage, the initial point of which he found far south of Cazembe's in +about latitude 11 degrees, in the river called Chambezi. + +In the days when tired Captain Burton was resting in Ujiji, after his +march from the coast near Zanzibar, the land to which Livingstone, on +his departure from Ujiji, bent his steps was unknown to the Arabs save +by vague report. Messrs. Burton and Speke never heard of it, it seems. +Speke, who was the geographer of Burton's Expedition, heard of a place +called Urua, which he placed on his map, according to the general +direction indicated by the Arabs; but the most enterprising of the +Arabs, in their search after ivory, only touched the frontiers of Rua, +as, the natives and Livingstone call it; for Rua is an immense country, +with a length of six degrees of latitude, and as yet an undefined +breadth from east to west. + +At the end of June, 1869, Livingstone quitted Ujiji and crossed over +to Uguhha, on the western shore, for his last and greatest series of +explorations; the result of which was the further discovery of a lake +of considerable magnitude connected with Moero by the large river called +the Lualaba, and which was a continuation of the chain of lakes he had +previously discovered. + +From the port of Uguhha he set off, in company with a body of traders, +in an almost direct westerly course, for the country of Urua. Fifteen +days' march brought them to Bambarre, the first important ivory depot +in Manyema, or, as the natives pronounce it, Manyuema. For nearly +six months he was detained at Bambarre from ulcers in the feet, which +discharged bloody ichor as soon as he set them on the ground. When +recovered, he set off in a northerly direction, and after several days +came to a broad lacustrine river, called the Lualaba, flowing northward +and westward, and in some places southward, in a most confusing way. +The river was from one to three miles broad. By exceeding pertinacity he +contrived to follow its erratic course, until he saw the Lualaba enter +the narrow, long lake of Kamolondo, in about latitude 6 degrees 30 +minutes. Retracing this to the south, he came to the point where he had +seen the Luapula enter Lake Moero. + +One feels quite enthusiastic when listening to Livingstone's description +of the beauties of Moero scenery. Pent in on all sides by high +mountains, clothed to the edges with the rich vegetation of the tropics, +the Moero discharges its superfluous waters through a deep rent in the +bosom of the mountains. The impetuous and grand river roars through +the chasm with the thunder of a cataract, but soon after leaving its +confined and deep bed it expands into the calm and broad Lualaba, +stretching over miles of ground. After making great bends west and +south-west, and then curving northward, it enters Kamolondo. By +the natives it is called the Lualaba, but the Doctor, in order to +distinguish it from other rivers of the same name, has given it the name +of "Webb's River," after Mr. Webb, the wealthy proprietor of Newstead +Abbey, whom the Doctor distinguishes as one of his oldest and most +consistent friends. Away to the south-west from Kamolondo is another +large lake, which discharges its waters by the important River Loeki, or +Lomami, into the great Lualaba. To this lake, known as Chebungo by +the natives, Dr. Livingstone has given the name of "Lincoln," to be +hereafter distinguished on maps and in books as Lake Lincoln, in memory +of Abraham Lincoln, our murdered President. This was done from the vivid +impression produced on his mind by hearing a portion of his inauguration +speech read from an English pulpit, which related to the causes that +induced him to issue his Emancipation Proclamation, by which memorable +deed 4,000,000 of slaves were for ever freed. To the memory of the man +whose labours on behalf of the negro race deserves the commendation of +all good men, Livingstone has contributed a monument more durable than +brass or stone. + +Entering Webb's River from the south-south-west, a little north of +Kamolondo, is a large river called Lufira, but the streams, that +discharge themselves from the watershed into the Lualaba are so numerous +that the Doctor's map would not contain them, so he has left all out +except the most important. Continuing his way north, tracing the Lualaba +through its manifold and crooked curves as far as latitude 4 degrees +south, he came to where he heard of another lake, to the north, into +which it ran. But here you may come to a dead halt, and read what lies +beyond this spot thus.... This was the furthermost point, whence he was +compelled to return on the weary road to Ujiji, a distance of 700 miles. + +In this brief sketch of Dr. Livingstone's wonderful travels it is to be +hoped the most superficial reader, as well as the student of geography, +comprehends this grand system of lakes connected together by Webb's +River. To assist him, let him glance at the map accompanying this book. +He will then have a fair idea of what Dr. Livingstone has been doing +during these long years, and what additions he has made to the study of +African geography. That this river, distinguished under several titles, +flowing from one lake into another in a northerly direction, with all +its great crooked bends and sinuosities, is the Nile--the true Nile--the +Doctor has not the least doubt. For a long time he entertained great +scepticism, because of its deep bends and curves west, and south-west +even; but having traced it from its head waters, the Chambezi, through +7 degrees of latitude--that is, from 11 degrees S. to lat. 4 degrees +N.--he has been compelled to come to the conclusion that it can be no +other river than the Nile. He had thought it was the Congo; but has +discovered the sources of the Congo to be the Kassai and the Kwango, two +rivers which rise on the western side of the Nile watershed, in about +the latitude of Bangweolo; and he was told of another river called the +Lubilash, which rose from the north, and ran west. But the Lualaba, the +Doctor thinks, cannot be the Congo, from its great size and body, +and from its steady and continued flow northward through a broad and +extensive valley, bounded by enormous mountains westerly and easterly. +The altitude of the most northerly point to which the Doctor traced the +wonderful river was a little in excess of 2,000 feet; so that, though +Baker makes out his lake to be 2,700 feet above the sea, yet the Bahr +Ghazal, through which Petherick's branch of the White Nile issues into +the Nile, is but 2,000 feet; in which case there is a possibility that +the Lualaba may be none other than Petherick's branch. + +It is well known that trading stations for ivory have been established +for about 500 miles up Petherick's branch. We must remember this fact +when told that Gondokoro, in lat. 4 degrees N., is 2,000 feet above the +sea, and lat. 4 degrees S., where the halt was made, is only a little +over 2,000 feet above the sea. That the two rivers said to be 2,000 feet +above the sea, separated from each other by 8 degrees of latitude, are +one and the same river, may among some men be regarded as a startling +statement. But we must restrain mere expressions of surprise, and take +into consideration that this mighty and broad Lualaba is a lacustrine +river broader than the Mississippi; that at intervals the body of water +forms extensive lakes; then, contracting into a broad river, it again +forms a lake, and so on, to lat. 4 degrees; and even beyond this point +the Doctor hears of a large lake again north. + +We must wait also until the altitudes of the two rivers, the Lualaba, +where the Doctor halted, and the southern point on the Bahr Ghazal, +where Petherick has been, are known with perfect accuracy. + +Now, for the sake of argument, suppose we give this nameless lake a +length of 6 degrees of latitude, as it may be the one discovered by +Piaggia, the Italian traveller, from which Petherick's branch of the +White Nile issues out through reedy marshes, into the Bahr Ghazal, +thence into the White Nile, south of Gondokoro. By this method we can +suppose the rivers one; for if the lake extends over so many degrees of +latitude, the necessity of explaining the differences of altitude that +must naturally exist between two points of a river 8 degrees of latitude +apart, would be obviated. + +Also, Livingstone's instruments for observation and taking altitudes +may have been in error; and this is very likely to have been the case, +subjected as they have been to rough handling during nearly six years +of travel. Despite the apparent difficulty of the altitude, there is +another strong reason for believing Webb's River, or the Lualaba, to be +the Nile. The watershed of this river, 600 miles of which Livingstone +has travelled, is drained from a valley which lies north and south +between lofty eastern and western ranges. + +This valley, or line of drainage, while it does not receive the Kassai +and the Kwango, receives rivers flowing from a great distance west, for +instance, the important tributaries Lufira and Lomami, and large +rivers from the east, such as the Lindi and Luamo; and, while the most +intelligent Portuguese travellers and traders state that the Kassai, the +Kwango, and Lubilash are the head waters of the Congo River, no one +has yet started the supposition that the grand river flowing north, and +known by the natives as the Lualaba, is the Congo. + +This river may be the Congo, or, perhaps, the Niger. If the Lualaba is +only 2,000 feet above the sea, and the Albert N'Yanza 2,700 feet, the +Lualaba cannot enter that lake. If the Bahr Ghazal does not extend by +an arm for eight degrees above Gondokoro, then the Lualaba cannot be the +Nile. But it would be premature to dogmatise on the subject. Livingstone +will clear up the point himself; and if he finds it to be the Congo, +will be the first to admit his error. + +Livingstone admits the Nile sources have not been found, though he has +traced the Lualaba through seven degrees of latitude flowing north; and, +though he has not a particle of doubt of its being the Nile, not yet can +the Nile question be said to be resolved and ended. For two reasons: + +1. He has heard of the existence of four fountains, two of which gave +birth to a river flowing north, Webb's River, or the Lualaba, and to a +river flowing south, which is the Zambezi. He has repeatedly heard of +these fountains from the natives. Several times he has been within 100 +and 200 miles from them, but something always interposed to prevent his +going to see them. According to those who have seen them, they rise on +either side of a mound or level, which contains no stones. Some have +called it an ant-hill. One of these fountains is said to be so large +that a man, standing on one side, cannot be seen from the other. These +fountains must be discovered, and their position taken. The Doctor does +not suppose them to be south of the feeders of Lake Bangweolo. In his +letter to the 'Herald' he says "These four full-grown gushing fountains, +rising so near each other, and giving origin to four large rivers, +answer in a certain degree to the description given of the unfathomable +fountains of the Nile, by the secretary of Minerva, in the city of Sais, +in Egypt, to the father of all travellers--Herodotus." + +For the information of such readers as may not have the original at +hand, I append the following from Cary's translation of Herodotus: +(II.28) + +(Jul 2001 The History of Herodotus V1 by Herodotus; Macaulay) + + +*** With respect to the sources of the Nile, no man of all the + Egyptians, Libyans, or Grecians, with whom I have conversed, + ever pretended to know anything, except the registrar* of Minerva's + +*the secretary of the treasury of the goddess Neith, or Athena as +Herodotus calls her: ho grammatiste:s to:n hiro:n xre:mato:n te:s +Athe:naie:s> + + treasury at Sais, in Egypt. He, indeed, seemed to be trifling + with me when he said he knew perfectly well; yet his account was + as follows: "That there are two mountains, rising into a sharp + peak, situated between the city of Syene, in Thebais, and + Elephantine. The names of these mountains are the one Crophi, + the other Mophi; that the sources of the Nile, which are bottomless, + flow from between these mountains and that half of the water flows + over Egypt and to the north, the other half over Ethiopia and the + south. That the fountains of the Nile are bottomless, he said, + Psammitichus, king of Egypt, proved by experiment: for, having + caused a line to be twisted many thousand fathoms in length, he + let it down, but could not find a bottom." Such, then, was the + opinion the registrar gave, if, indeed, he spoke the real truth; + proving, in my opinion, that there are strong whirlpools and an + eddy here, so that the water beating against the rocks, a + sounding-line, when let down, cannot reach the bottom. I was + unable to learn anything more from any one else. But thus much + I learnt by carrying my researches as far as possible, having gone + and made my own observations as far as Elephantine, and beyond + that obtaining information from hearsay. As one ascends the river, + above the city of Elephantine, the country is steep; here, + therefore; it is necessary to attach a rope on both sides of a boat, + as one does with an ox in a plough, and so proceed; but if + the rope should happen to break, the boat is carried away by the + force of the stream. This kind of country lasts for a four-days' + passage, and the Nile here winds as much as the Maeander. There + are twelve schoeni, which it is necessary to sail through in + this manner; and after that you will come to a level plain, where + the Nile flows round an island; its name is Tachompso. Ethiopians + inhabit the country immediately above Elephantine, and one half + of the island; the other half is inhabited by Egyptians. Near to + this island lies a vast lake, on the borders of which Ethiopian + nomades dwell. After sailing through this lake you will come to + the channel of the Nile, which flows into it: then you will have + to land and travel forty days by the side of the river, for sharp + rocks rise in the Nile, and there are many sunken ones, through + which it is not possible to navigate a boat. Having passed this + country in the forty days, you must go on board another boat, and + sail for twelve days; and then you will arrive at a large city, + called Meroe; this city is said to be the capital of all + Ethiopia. The inhabitants worship no other gods than Jupiter and + Bacchus; but these they honour with great magnificence. They + have also an oracle of Jupiter; and they make war whenever that + god bids them by an oracular warning, and against whatever + country he bids them. Sailing from this city, you will arrive at + the country of the Automoli, in a space of time equal to that + which you took in coming from Elephantine to the capital of the + Ethiopians. These Automoli are called by the name of Asmak, + which, in the language of Greece, signifies "those that stand at + the left hand of the king." These, to the number of two hundred and + forty thousand of the Egyptian war-tribe, revolted to the + Ethiopians on the following occasion. In the reign of King + Psammitichus garrisons were stationed at Elephantine against the + Ethiopians, and another at the Pelusian Daphnae against the + Arabians and Syrians, and another at Marea against Libya; and even + in my time garrisons of the Persians are stationed in the same + places as they were in the time of Psammitichus, for they + maintain guards at Elephantine and Daphnae. Now, these Egyptians, + after they had been on duty three years, were not relieved; + therefore, having consulted together and come to an unanimous + resolution, they all revolted from Psammitichus, and went to + Ethiopia. Psammitichus, hearing of this, pursued them; and when + he overtook them he entreated them by many arguments, and adjured + them not to forsake the gods of their fathers, and their + children and wives But one of them is reported to have uncovered + [ ] and to have said, that wheresoever these were there they + +["which it is said that one of them pointed to his privy member and +said that wherever this was, there would they have both children and +wives"--Macaulay tr.; published edition censors] + + should find both children and wives." These men, when they arrived + in Ethiopia, offered their services to the king of the Ethiopians, + who made them the following recompense. There were certain + Ethiopians disaffected towards him; these he bade them expel, + and take possession of their land. By the settlement of these men + among the Ethiopians, the Ethiopians became more civilized, and + learned the manners of the Egyptians. + + Now, for a voyage and land journey of four months, the Nile is + known, in addition to the part f the stream that is in Egypt; for, + upon computation, so many months are known to be spent by a + person who travels from Elephantine to the Automoli. This river + flows from the west and the setting of the sun; but beyond this no + one is able to speak with certainty, for the rest of the country + is desert by reason of the excessive heat. But I have heard the + following account from certain Cyrenaeans, who say that they went + to the oracle of Ammon, and had a conversation with Etearchus, King + of the Ammonians, and that, among other subjects, they happened to + discourse about the Nile--that nobody knew its sources; whereupon + Etearchus said that certain Nasamonians once came to him--this + nation is Lybian, and inhabits the Syrtis, and the country for no + great distance eastward of the Syrtis--and that when these + Nasamonians arrived, and were asked if they could give any + further formation touching the deserts of Libya, they answered, + that there were some daring youths amongst them, sons of powerful + men; and that they, having reached man's estate, formed many + other extravagant plans, and, moreover, chose five of their number + by lot to explore the deserts of Libya, to see if they could make + any further discovery than those who had penetrated the farthest. + (For, as respects the parts of Libya along the Northern Sea, + beginning from Egypt to the promontory of Solois, where is the + extremity of Libya, Libyans and various nations of Libyans reach + all along it, except those parts which are occupied by Grecians + and Phoenicians; but as respects the parts above the sea, and + those nations which reach down to the sea, in the upper parts + Libya is infested by wild beasts; and all beyond that is sand, + dreadfully short of water, and utterly desolate.) They further + related, "that when the young men deputed by their companions + set out, well furnished with water and provisions, they passed + first through the inhabited country; and having traversed this, + they came to the region infested by wild beasts; and after this + they crossed the desert, making their way towards the west; and + when they had traversed much sandy ground, during a journey of + many days, they at length saw some trees growing in a plain; and + that they approached and began to gather the fruit that grew on + the trees; and while they were gathering, some diminutive men, + less than men of middle stature, came up, and having seized them + carried them away; and that the Nasamonians did not at all understand + their language, nor those who carried them off the language of + the Nasamonians. However, they conducted them through vast + morasses, and when they had passed these, they came to a city in + which all the inhabitants were of the same size as their conductors, + and black in colour: and by the city flowed a great river, running + from the west to the east, and that crocodiles were seen in it." + Thus far I have set forth the account of Etearchus the Ammonian; + to which may be added, as the Cyrenaeans assured me, "that he said + the Nasamonians all returned safe to their own country, and that + the men whom they came to were all necromancers." Etearchus also + conjectured that this river, which flows by their city, is the Nile; + and reason so evinces: for the Nile flows from Libya, and intersects + it in the middle; and (as I conjecture, inferring things unknown + from things known) it sets out from a point corresponding with the + Ister. For the Ister, beginning from the Celts, and the city of + Pyrene, divides Europe in its course; but the Celts are beyond + the pillars of Hercules, and border on the territories of the + Cynesians, who lie in the extremity of Europe to the westward; + and the Ister terminates by flowing through all Europe into the + Euxine Sea, where a Milesian colony is settled in Istria. Now + the Ister, as it flows through a well-peopled country, is generally + known; but no one is able to speak about the sources of the Nile, + because Libya, through which it flows, is uninhabited and desolate. + Respecting this stream, therefore, as far as I was able to reach by + inquiry, I have already spoken. It however discharges itself into + Egypt; and Egypt lies, as near as may be, opposite to the + mountains of Cilicia; from whence to Sinope, on the Euxine Sea, + is a five days' journey in a straight line to an active man; and + Sinope is opposite to the Ister, where it discharges itself into + the sea. So I think that the Nile, traversing the whole of Libya, + may be properly compared with the Ister. Such, then, is the + account that I am able to give respecting the Nile. + *** <end of Herodotus's account) *** + +2. Webb's River must be traced to its connection with some portion of +the old Nile. + +When these two things have been accomplished, then, and not till then, +can the mystery of the Nile be explained. The two countries through +which the marvellous lacustrine river, the Lualaba, flows, with its +manifold lakes and broad expanse of water, are Rua (the Uruwwa of Speke) +and Manyuema. For the first time Europe is made aware that between +the Tanganika and the known sources of the Congo there exist teeming +millions of the negro race, who never saw, or heard of the white people +who make such a noisy and busy stir outside of Africa. Upon the minds +of those who had the good fortune to see the first specimen of these +remarkable white races in Dr. Livingstone, he seems to have made a +favourable impression, though, through misunderstanding his object, and +coupling him with the Arabs, who make horrible work there, his life +was sought after more than once. These two extensive countries, Rua +and Manyuema, are populated by true heathens, governed, not as the +sovereignties of Karagwah, Urundi, and Uganda, by despotic kings, but +each village by its own sultan or lord. Thirty miles outside of their +own immediate settlements, the most intelligent of these small chiefs +seem to know nothing. Thirty miles from the Lualaba, there were but few +people who had ever heard of the great river. Such ignorance among +the natives of their own country naturally increased the labours of +Livingstone. Compared with these, all tribes and nations in Africa with +whom Livingstone came in contact may be deemed civilized, yet, in +the arts of home manufacture, these wild people of Manyuema were far +superior to any he had seen. Where other tribes and nations contented +themselves with hides and skins of animals thrown negligently over their +shoulders, the people of Manyuema manufactured a cloth from fine grass, +which may favorably compare with the finest grass cloth of India. They +also know the art of dyeing them in various colours--black, yellow, +and purple. The Wangwana, or freed-men of Zanzibar, struck with the +beauty of the fabric, eagerly exchange their cotton cloths for fine +grass cloth; and on almost every black man from Manyuema I have seen +this native cloth converted into elegantly made damirs (Arabic)--short +jackets. These countries are also very rich in ivory. The fever for +going to Manyuema to exchange tawdry beads for its precious tusks is +of the same kind as that which impelled men to go to the gulches and +placers of California, Colorado, Montana, and Idaho; after nuggets to +Australia, and diamonds to Cape Colony. Manyuema is at present the El +Dorado of the Arab and the Wamrima tribes. It is only about four years +since that the first Arab returned from Manyuema, with such wealth of +ivory, and reports about the fabulous quantities found there, that ever +since the old beaten tracks of Karagwah, Uganda, Ufipa, and Marungu have +been comparatively deserted. The people of Manyuema, ignorant of the +value of the precious article, reared their huts upon ivory stanchions. +Ivory pillars were common sights in Manyuema, and, hearing of these, one +can no longer, wonder at the ivory palace of Solomon. For generations +they have used ivory tusks as door-posts and supports to the eaves, +until they had become perfectly rotten and worthless. But the advent of +the Arabs soon taught them the value of the article. It has now risen +considerably in price, though still fabulously cheap. At Zanzibar +the value of ivory per frasilah of 35 lbs. weight is from $50 to $60, +according to its quality. In Unyanyembe it is about $1-10 per pound, but +in Manyuema, it may be purchased for from half a cent to 14 cent's worth +of copper per pound of ivory. The Arabs, however, have the knack of +spoiling markets by their rapacity and cruelty. With muskets, a small +party of Arabs is invincible against such people as those of Manyuema, +who, until lately, never heard the sound of a gun. The discharge of a +musket inspires mortal terror in them, and it is almost impossible to +induce them to face the muzzle of a gun. They believe that the Arabs +have stolen the lightning, and that against such people the bow and +arrow can have little effect. They are by no means devoid of courage, +and they have often declared that, were it not for the guns, not one +Arab would leave the country alive; this tends to prove that they would +willingly engage in fight with the strangers who had made themselves +so detestable, were it not that the startling explosion of gunpowder +inspires them with terror. + +Into what country soever the Arabs enter, they contrive to render their +name and race abominated. But the mainspring of it all is not the Arab's +nature, colour, or name, but simply the slave-trade. So long as the +slave-trade is permitted to be kept up at Zanzibar, so long will these +otherwise enterprising people, the Arabs, kindle gainst them the hatred +of the natives throughout Africa. + +On the main line of travel from Zanzibar into the interior of Africa +these acts of cruelty are unknown, for the very good reason that +the natives having been armed with guns, and taught how to use those +weapons, are by no means loth to do so whenever an opportunity presents +itself. When, too late, they have perceived their folly in selling guns +to the natives, the Arabs now begin to vow vengeance on the person who +will in future sell a gun to a native. But they are all guilty of the +same mistake, and it is strange they did not perceive that it was folly +when they were doing so. + +In former days the Arab, when protected by his slave escort, armed with +guns, could travel through Useguhha, Urori, Ukonongo, Ufipa, Karagwah, +Unyoro, and Uganda, with only a stick in his hand; now, however, it is +impossible for him or any one else to do so. Every step he takes, armed +or unarmed, is fraught with danger. The Waseguhha, near the coast, +detain him, and demand the tribute, or give him the option of war; +entering Ugogo, he is subjected every day to the same oppressive demand, +or to the fearful alternative. The Wanyamwezi also show their readiness +to take the same advantage; the road to Karagwah is besieged with +difficulties; the terrible Mirambo stands in the way, defeats their +combined forces with ease, and makes raids even to the doors of their +houses in Unyanyembe; and should they succeed in passing Mirambo, a +chief--Swaruru--stands before them who demands tribute by the bale, and +against whom it is useless to contend. + +These remarks have reference to the slave-trade inaugurated in Manyuema +by the Arabs. Harassed on the road between Zanzibar and Unyanyembe +by minatory natives, who with bloody hands are ready to avenge the +slightest affront, the Arabs have refrained from kidnapping between the +Tanganika and the sea; but in Manyuema, where the natives are timid, +irresolute, and divided into small weak tribes, they recover their +audacity, and exercise their kidnapping propensities unchecked. + +The accounts which the Doctor brings from that new region are most +deplorable. He was an unwilling spectator of a horrible deed--a massacre +committed on the inhabitants of a populous district who had assembled +in the market-place on the banks of the Lualaba, as they had been +accustomed to do for ages. It seems that the Wamanyuema are very fond of +marketing, believing it to be the summum bonum of human enjoyment. They +find endless pleasure in chaffering with might and main for the least +mite of their currency--the last bead; and when they gain the point to +which their peculiar talents are devoted, they feel intensely happy. +The women are excessively fond of this marketing, and, as they are very +beautiful, the market place must possess considerable attractions for +the male sex. It was on such a day amidst such a scene, that Tagamoyo, +a half-caste Arab, with his armed slave escort, commenced an +indiscriminate massacre by firing volley after volley into the dense +mass of human beings. It is supposed that there were about 2,000 +present, and at the first sound of the firing these poor people all made +a rush for their canoes. In the fearful hurry to avoid being shot, the +canoes were paddled away by the first fortunate few who got possession +of them; those that were not so fortunate sprang into the deep waters +of the Lualaba, and though many of them became an easy prey to the +voracious crocodiles which swarmed to the scene, the majority received +their deaths from the bullets of the merciless Tagamoyo and his +villanous band. The Doctor believes, as do the Arabs themselves, that +about 400 people, mostly women and children, lost their lives, while +many more were made slaves. This outrage is only one of many such he has +unwillingly witnessed, and he is utterly unable to describe the feelings +of loathing he feels for the inhuman perpetrators. + +Slaves from Manyuema command a higher price than those of any other +country, because of their fine forms and general docility. The women, +the Doctor said repeatedly, are remarkably pretty creatures, and have +nothing, except the hair, in common with the negroes of the West +Coast. They are of very light colour, have fine noses, well-cut and not +over-full lips, while the prognathous jaw is uncommon. These women are +eagerly sought after as wives by the half-castes of the East Coast, and +even the pure Omani Arabs do not disdain to take them in marriage. + +To the north of Manyuema, Livingstone came to the light-complexioned +race, of the colour of Portuguese, or our own Louisiana quadroons, +who are very fine people, and singularly remarkable for commercial +"'cuteness" and sagacity. The women are expert divers for oysters, which +are found in great abundance in the Lualaba. + +Rua, at a place called Katanga, is rich in copper. The copper-mines of +this place have been worked for ages. In the bed of a stream, gold has +been found, washed down in pencil-shaped pieces or in particles as large +as split peas. Two Arabs have gone thither to prospect for this metal; +but, as they are ignorant of the art of gulch-mining, it is scarcely +possible that they will succeed. From these highly important and +interesting discoveries, Dr. Livingstone was turned back, when almost +on the threshold of success, by the positive refusal of his men to +accompany him further. They were afraid to go on unless accompanied by +a large force of men; and, as these were not procurable in Manyuema, the +Doctor reluctantly turned his face towards Ujiji. + +It was a long and weary road back. The journey had now no interest for +him. He had travelled the road before when going westward, full of high +hopes and aspirations, impatient to reach the goal which promised +him rest from his labors--now, returning unsuccessful, baffled, and +thwarted, when almost in sight of the end, and having to travel the same +path back on foot, with disappointed expectations and defeated hopes +preying on his mind, no wonder that the old brave spirit almost +succumbed, and the strong constitution almost went to wreck. + +Livingstone arrived at Ujiji, October 16th, almost at death's door. On +the way he had been trying to cheer himself up, since he had found it +impossible to contend against the obstinacy of his men, with, "It won't +take long; five or six months more; it matters not since it cannot be +helped. I have got my goods in Ujiji, and can hire other people, and +make a new start again." These are the words and hopes by which he tried +to delude himself into the idea that all would be right yet; but imagine +the shock he must have suffered, when he found that the man to whom was +entrusted his goods for safe keeping had sold every bale for ivory. + +The evening of the day Livingstone had returned to Ujiji, Susi and +Chuma, two of his most faithful men, were seen crying bitterly. The +Doctor asked of them what ailed them, and was then informed, for the +first time, of the evil tidings that awaited him. + +Said they, "All our things are sold, sir; Sherif has sold everything for +ivory." + +Later in the evening, Sherif came to see him, and shamelessly offered +his hand, but Livingstone repulsed him, saying he could not shake hands +with a thief. As an excuse, Sherif said he had divined on the Koran, and +that this had told him the Hakim (Arabic for Doctor) was dead. + +Livingstone was now destitute; he had just enough to keep him and his +men alive for about a month, when he would be forced to beg from the +Arabs. + +The Doctor further stated, that when Speke gives the altitude of the +Tanganika at only 1,800 feet above the sea, Speke must have fallen into +that error by a frequent writing of the Anne Domini, a mere slip of +the pen; for the altitude, as he makes it out, is 2,800 feet by boiling +point, and a little over 3,000 feet by barometer. + +The Doctor's complaints were many because slaves were sent to him, in +charge of goods, after he had so often implored the people at Zanzibar +to send him freemen. A very little effort on the part of those entrusted +with the despatch of supplies to him might have enabled them to procure +good and faithful freemen; but if they contented themselves, upon the +receipt of a letter from Dr. Livingstone, with sending to Ludha Damji +for men, it is no longer a matter of wonder that dishonest and incapable +slaves were sent forward. It is no new fact that the Doctor has +discovered when he states that a negro freeman is a hundred times +more capable and trustworthy than a slave. Centuries ago Eumaeus, the +herdsman, said to Ulysses: + +Jove fixed it certain, that whatever day Makes man a slave, takes half +his worth away. + +We passed several happy days at Ujiji, and it was time we were now +preparing for our cruise on the Tanganika. Livingstone was improving +every day under the different diet which my cook furnished him. I could +give him no such suppers as that which Jupiter and Mercury received at +the cottage of Baucis and Philemon. We had no berries of chaste Minerva, +pickled cherries, endive, radishes, dried figs, dates, fragrant apples, +and grapes; but we had cheese, and butter which I made myself, new-laid +eggs, chickens, roast mutton, fish from the lake, rich curds and cream, +wine from the Guinea-palm, egg-plants, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, +pea-nuts, and beans, white honey from Ukaranga, luscious singwe--a +plum-like fruit--from the forests of Ujiji, and corn scones and dampers, +in place of wheaten bread. + +During the noontide heats we sat under our veranda discussing our +various projects, and in the early morning and evening we sought the +shores of the lake--promenading up and down the beach to breathe the +cool breezes which ruffled the surface of the water, and rolled the +unquiet surf far up on the smooth and whitened shore. + +It was the dry season, and we had most lovely weather; the temperature +never was over 80 degrees in the shade. + +The market-place overlooking the broad silver water afforded us +amusement and instruction. Representatives of most of the tribes +dwelling near the lake were daily found there. There were the +agricultural and pastoral Wajiji, with their flocks and herds; there +were the fishermen from Ukaranga and Kaole, from beyond Bangwe, and +even from Urundi, with their whitebait, which they called dogara, the +silurus, the perch, and other fish; there were the palm-oil merchants, +principally from Ujiji and Urundi, with great five-gallon pots full of +reddish oil, of the consistency of butter; there were the salt merchants +from the salt-plains of Uvinza and Uhha; there were the ivory merchants +from Uvira and Usowa; there were the canoe-makers from Ugoma and Urundi; +there were the cheap-Jack pedlers from Zanzibar, selling flimsy prints, +and brokers exchanging blue mutunda beads for sami-sami, and sungomazzi, +and sofi. The sofi beads are like pieces of thick clay-pipe stem +about half an inch long, and are in great demand here. Here were found +Waguhha, Wamanyuema, Wagoma, Wavira, Wasige, Warundi, Wajiji, Waha, +Wavinza, Wasowa, Wangwana, Wakawendi, Arabs, and Wasawahili, engaged in +noisy chaffer and barter. Bareheaded, and almost barebodied, the youths +made love to the dark-skinned and woolly-headed Phyllises, who knew not +how to blush at the ardent gaze of love, as their white sisters; old +matrons gossiped, as the old women do everywhere; the children played, +and laughed, and struggled, as children of our own lands; and the old +men, leaning on their spears or bows, were just as garrulous in the +Place de Ujiji as aged elders in other climes. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. -- OUR CRUISE ON THE LAKE TANGANIKA--EXPLORATION OF THE +NORTH-END OF THE LAKE-- THE RUSIZI IS DISCOVERED TO ENTER INTO THE +LAKE--RETURN TO UJIJI. + +"I distinctly deny that 'any misleading by my instructions from the +Royal Geographical Society as to the position of the White Nile' made me +unconscious of the vast importance of ascertaining the direction of +the Rusizi River. The fact is, we did our best to reach it, and we +failed."--Burton's Zanzibar. + +"The universal testimony of the natives to the Rusizi River being an +influent is the most conclusive argument that it does run out of the +lake."--Speke. + +"I therefore claim for Lake Tanganika the honour of being the +SOUTHERNMOST RESERVOIR OF THE NILE, until some more positive evidence, +by actual observation, shall otherwise determine it."--Findlay, R.G.S. + + +Had Livingstone and myself, after making up our minds to visit the +northern head of the Lake Tanganika, been compelled by the absurd +demands or fears of a crew of Wajiji to return to Unyanyembe without +having resolved the problem of the Rusizi River, we had surely deserved +to be greeted by everybody at home with a universal giggling and +cackling. But Capt. Burton's failure to settle it, by engaging Wajiji, +and that ridiculous savage chief Kannena, had warned us of the negative +assistance we could expect from such people for the solution of a +geographical problem. We had enough good sailors with us, who were +entirely under our commands. Could we but procure the loan of a canoe, +we thought all might be well. + +Upon application to Sayd bin Majid, he at once generously permitted us +to use his canoe for any service for which we might require it. After +engaging two Wajiji guides at two doti each, we prepared to sail from +the port of Ujiji, in about a week or so after my entrance into Ujiji. + +I have already stated how it was that the Doctor and I undertook the +exploration of the northern half of the Tanganika and the River Rusizi, +about which so much had been said and written. + +Before embarking on this enterprise, Dr. Livingstone had not definitely +made up his mind which course he should take, as his position was truly +deplorable. His servants consisted of Susi, Chumah, Hamoydah, Gardner, +and Halimah, the female cook and wife of Hamoydah; to these was added +Kaif-Halek, the man whom I compelled to follow me from Unyanyembe to +deliver the Livingstone letters to his master. + +Whither could Dr. Livingstone march with these few men, and the few +table-cloths and beads that remained to him from the store squandered by +the imbecile Sherif? This was a puzzling question. Had Dr. Livingstone +been in good health, his usual hardihood and indomitable spirit had +answered it in a summary way. He might have borrowed some cloth from +Sayd bin Majid at an exorbitant price, sufficient to bring him to +Unyanyembe and the sea-coast. But how long would he have been compelled +to sit down at Ujiji, waiting and waiting for the goods that were said +to be at Unyanyembe, a prey to high expectations, hoping day after day +that the war would end--hoping week after week to hear that his goods +were coming? Who knows how long his weak health had borne up against the +several disappointments to which he would be subjected? + +Though it was with all due deference to Dr. Livingstone's vast +experience as a traveller, I made bold to suggest the following courses +to him, either of which he could adopt: + +Ist. To go home, and take the rest he so well deserved and, as he +appeared then, to be so much in need of. + +2nd. To proceed to Unyanyembe, receive his goods, and enlist pagazis +sufficient to enable him to travel anywhere, either to Manyuema or +Rua, and settle the Nile problem, which he said he was in a fair way of +doing. + +3rd. To proceed to Unyanyembe, receive his caravan, enlist men, and try +to join Sir Samuel Baker, either by going to Muanza, and sailing through +Ukerewe or Victoria N'Yanza in my boats--which I should put up--to +Mtesa's palace at Uganda, thus passing by Mirambo and Swaruru of Usui, +who would rob him if he took the usual caravan road to Uganda; thence +from Mtesa to Kamrasi, King of Unyoro, where he would of course hear +of the great white man who was said to be with a large force of men at +Gondokoro. + +4th. To proceed to Unyanyembe, receive his caravan, enlist men, and +return to Ujiji, and back to Manyuema by way of Uguhha. + +5th. To proceed by way of the Rusizi through Ruanda, and so on to Itara, +Unyoro, and Baker. + +For either course, whichever he thought most expedient, I and my men +would assist him as escort and carriers, to the best of our ability. If +he should elect to go home, I informed him I should be proud to escort +him, and consider myself subject to his commands--travelling only when +he desired, and camping only when he gave the word. + +6th. The last course which I suggested to him, was to permit me to +escort him to Unyanyembe, where he could receive his own goods, and +where I could deliver up to him a large supply of first-class cloth and +beads, guns and ammunition, cooking utensils, clothing, boats, tents, +&c., and where he could rest in a comfortable house, while I would hurry +down to the coast, organise a new expedition composed of fifty or sixty +faithful men, well armed, by whom I could send an additional supply of +needful luxuries in the shape of creature comforts. + +After long consideration, he resolved to adopt the last course, as it +appeared to him to be the most feasible one, and the best, though he did +not hesitate to comment upon the unaccountable apathy of his agent at +Zanzibar, which had caused him so much trouble and vexation, and weary +marching of hundreds of miles. + +Our ship--though nothing more than a cranky canoe hollowed out of +a noble mvule tree of Ugoma--was an African Argo bound on a nobler +enterprise than its famous Grecian prototype. We were bound upon no +mercenary errand, after no Golden Fleece, but perhaps to discover a +highway for commerce which should bring the ships of the Nile up to +Ujiji, Usowa, and far Marungu. We did not know what we might discover +on our voyage to the northern head of the Tanganika; we supposed that we +should find the Rusizi to be an effluent of the Tanganika, flowing down +to the Albert or the Victoria N'Yanza. We were told by natives and Arabs +that the Rusizi ran out of the lake. + +Sayd bin Majid had stated that his canoe would carry twenty-five men, +and 3,500 lbs. of ivory. Acting upon this information, we embarked +twenty-five men, several of whom had stored away bags of salt for the +purposes of trade with the natives; but upon pushing off from the shore +near Ujiji, we discovered the boat was too heavily laden, and was down +to the gunwale. Returning in-shore, we disembarked six men, and unloaded +the bags of salt, which left us with sixteen rowers, Selim, Ferajji the +cook, and the two Wajiji guides. + +Having thus properly trimmed our boat we again pushed off, and steered +her head for Bangwe Island, which was distant four or five miles from +the Bunder of Ujiji. While passing this island the guides informed us +that the Arabs and Wajiji took shelter on it during an incursion of +the Watuta--which took place some years ago--when they came and invaded +Ujiji, and massacred several of the inhabitants. Those who took refuge +on the island were the only persons who escaped the fire and sword with +which the Watuta had visited Ujiji. + +After passing the island and following the various bends and +indentations of the shore, we came in sight of the magnificent bay of +Kigoma, which strikes one at once as being an excellent harbor from the +variable winds which blow over the Tanganika. About 10 A.M. we drew in +towards the village of Kigoma, as the east wind was then rising, and +threatened to drive us to sea. With those travelling parties who are +not in much hurry Kigoma is always the first port for canoes bound north +from Ujiji. The next morning at dawn we struck tent, stowed baggage, +cooked, and drank coffee, and set off northward again. + +The lake was quite calm; its waters, of a dark-green colour, reflected +the serene blue sky above. The hippopotami came up to breathe in +alarmingly close proximity to our canoe, and then plunged their heads +again, as if they were playing hide-and-seek with us. Arriving opposite +the high wooded hills of Bemba, and being a mile from shore, we thought +it a good opportunity to sound the depth of the water, whose colour +seemed to indicate great depth. We found thirty-five fathoms at this +place. + +Our canoeing of this day was made close in-shore, with a range of hills, +beautifully wooded and clothed with green grass, sloping abruptly, +almost precipitously, into the depths of the fresh-water sea, towering +immediately above us, and as we rounded the several capes or points, +roused high expectations of some new wonder, or some exquisite picture +being revealed as the deep folds disclosed themselves to us. Nor were +we disappointed. The wooded hills with a wealth of boscage of beautiful +trees, many of which were in bloom, and crowned with floral glory, +exhaling an indescribably sweet fragrance, lifting their heads in varied +contour--one pyramidal, another a truncated cone; one table-topped, +another ridgy, like the steep roof of a church; one a glorious +heave with an even outline, another jagged and savage-interested us +considerably; and the pretty pictures, exquisitely pretty, at the head +of the several bays, evoked many an exclamation of admiration. It was +the most natural thing in the world that I should feel deepest +admiration for these successive pictures of quiet scenic beauty, but the +Doctor had quite as much to say about them as I had myself, though, as +one might imagine, satiated with pictures of this kind far more +beautiful--far more wonderful--he should long ago have expended all his +powers of admiring scenes in nature. + +From Bagamoyo to Ujiji I had seen nothing to compare to them--none +of these fishing settlements under the shade of a grove of palms and +plantains, banians and mimosa, with cassava gardens to the right and +left of palmy forests, and patches of luxuriant grain looking down upon +a quiet bay, whose calm waters at the early morn reflected the beauties +of the hills which sheltered them from the rough and boisterous tempests +that so often blew without. + +The fishermen evidently think themselves comfortably situated. The lake +affords them all the fish they require, more than enough to eat, and +the industrious a great deal to sell. The steep slopes of the hills, +cultivated by the housewives, contribute plenty of grain, such as dourra +and Indian corn, besides cassava, ground-nuts or peanuts, and sweet +potatoes. The palm trees afford oil, and the plantains an abundance of +delicious fruit. The ravines and deep gullies supply them with the tall +shapely trees from which they cut out their canoes. Nature has supplied +them bountifully with all that a man's heart or stomach can desire. It +is while looking at what seems both externally and internally complete +and perfect happiness that the thought occurs--how must these people +sigh, when driven across the dreary wilderness that intervenes between +the lake country and the sea-coast, for such homes as these!--those +unfortunates who, bought by the Arabs for a couple of doti, are taken +away to Zanzibar to pick cloves, or do hamal work! + +As we drew near Niasanga, our second camp, the comparison between the +noble array of picturesque hills and receding coves, with their pastoral +and agricultural scenes, and the shores of old Pontus, was very great. +A few minutes before we hauled our canoe ashore, two little incidents +occurred. I shot an enormous dog-faced monkey, which measured from nose +to end of tail 4 feet 9 inches; the face was 8 1/2 inches long, its body +weighed about 100 lbs. It had no mane or tuft at end of tail, but the +body was covered with long wiry hair. Numbers of these specimens were +seen, as well as of the active cat-headed and long-tailed smaller ones. +The other was the sight of a large lizard, about 2 ft. 6 in. long, which +waddled into cover before we had well noticed it. The Doctor thought it +to be the Monitor terrestris. + +We encamped under a banian tree; our surroundings were the now +light-grey waters of the Tanganika, an amphitheatral range of hills, and +the village of Niasanga, situated at the mouth of the rivulet Niasanga, +with its grove of palms, thicket of plantains, and plots of grain and +cassava fields. Near our tent were about half-a-dozen canoes, large and +small, belonging to the villagers. Our tent door fronted the glorious +expanse of fresh water, inviting the breeze, and the views of distant +Ugoma and Ukaramba, and the Island of Muzimu, whose ridges appeared of +a deep-blue colour. At our feet were the clean and well-washed pebbles, +borne upward into tiny lines and heaps by the restless surf. A search +amongst these would reveal to us the material of the mountain heaps +which rose behind and on our right and left; there was schist, +conglomerate sandstone, a hard white clay, an ochreish clay containing +much iron, polished quartz, &c. Looking out of our tent, we could see a +line on each side of us of thick tall reeds, which form something like +a hedge between the beach and the cultivated area around Niasanga. +Among birds seen here, the most noted were the merry wagtails, which are +regarded as good omens and messengers of peace by the natives, and any +harm done unto them is quickly resented, and is fineable. Except to the +mischievously inclined, they offer no inducement to commit violence. On +landing, they flew to meet us, balancing themselves in the air in +front, within easy reach of our hands. The other birds were crows, +turtle-doves, fish-hawks, kingfishers, ibis nigra and ibis religiosa, +flocks of whydah birds, geese, darters, paddy birds, kites, and eagles. + +At this place the Doctor suffered from dysentery--it is his only weak +point, he says; and, as I afterwards found, it is a frequent complaint +with him. Whatever disturbed his mind, or any irregularity in eating, +was sure to end in an attack of dysentery, which had lately become of a +chronic character. + +The third day of our journey on the Tanganika brought us to Zassi +River and village, after a four hours' pull. Along the line of road +the mountains rose 2,000 and 2,500 feet above the waters of the lake. +I imagined the scenery getting more picturesque and animated at every +step, and thought it by far lovelier than anything seen near Lake George +or on the Hudson. The cosy nooks at the head of the many small bays +constitute most admirable pictures, filled in as they are with the +ever-beautiful feathery palms and broad green plantain fronds. These +nooks have all been taken possession of by fishermen, and their +conically beehive-shaped huts always peep from under the frondage. The +shores are thus extremely populous; every terrace, small plateau, and +bit of level ground is occupied. + +Zassi is easily known by a group of conical hills which rise near by, +and are called Kirassa. Opposite to these, at the distance of about a +mile from shore, we sounded, and obtained 35 fathoms, as on the previous +day. Getting out a mile further, I let go the whole length of my line, +115 fathoms, and obtained no bottom. In drawing it up again the line +parted, and I lost the lead, with three-fourths of the line. The Doctor +stated, apropos of this, that he had sounded opposite the lofty Kabogo, +south of Ujiji, and obtained the great depth of 300 fathoms. He also +lost his lead and 100 fathoms of his line, but he had nearly 900 fathoms +left, and this was in the canoes. We hope to use this long sounding line +in going across from the eastern to the western shore. + +On the fourth day we arrived at Nyabigma, a sandy island in Urundi. +We had passed the boundary line between Ujiji and Urundi half-an-hour +before arriving at Nyabigma. The Mshala River is considered by both +nations to be the proper divisional line; though there are parties of +Warundi who have emigrated beyond the frontier into Ujiji; for instance, +the Mutware and villagers of populous Kagunga, distant an hour north +from Zassi. There are also several small parties of Wajiji, who +have taken advantage of the fine lands in the deltas of the Kasokwe, +Namusinga, and Luaba Rivers, the two first of which enter the Tanganika +in this bay, near the head of which Nyabigma is situated. + +From Nyabigma, a pretty good view of the deep curve in the great +mountain range which stretches from Cape Kazinga and terminates at Cape +Kasofu, may be obtained--a distance of twenty or twenty-five miles. It +is a most imposing scene, this great humpy, ridgy, and irregular line +of mountains. Deep ravines and chasms afford outlets to the numerous +streams and rivers which take their rise in the background; the pale +fleecy ether almost always shrouds its summit. From its base extends a +broad alluvial plain, rich beyond description, teeming with palms +and plantains, and umbrageous trees. Villages are seen in clusters +everywhere. Into this alluvial plain run the Luaba, or Ruaba River, on +the north side of Cape Kitunda, and the Kasokwe, Namusinga, and Mshala +Rivers, on the south side of the cape. All the deltas of rivers emptying +into the Tanganika are hedged in on all sides with a thick growth of +matete, a gigantic species of grass, and papyrus. In some deltas, as +that of Luaba and Kasokwe, morasses have been formed, in which the +matete and papyrus jungle is impenetrable. In the depths of them are +quiet and deep pools, frequented by various aquatic birds, such as +geese, ducks, snipes, widgeons, kingfishers and ibis, cranes and +storks, and pelicans. To reach their haunts is, however, a work of great +difficulty to the sportsman in quest of game; a work often attended with +great danger, from the treacherous nature of these morasses, as well as +from the dreadful attacks of fever which, in these regions, invariably +follow wet feet and wet clothes. + +At Nyabigma we prepared, by distributing ten rounds of ammunition to +each of our men, for a tussle with the Warundi of two stages ahead, +should they invite it by a too forward exhibition of their prejudice to +strangers. + +At dawn of the fifth day we quitted the haven of Nyabigma Island, and +in less than an hour had arrived off Cape Kitunda. This cape is a low +platform of conglomerate sandstone, extending for about eight miles from +the base of the great mountain curve which gives birth to the Luaba and +its sister streams. Crossing the deep bay, at the head of which is the +delta of the Luaba, we came to Cape Kasofu. Villages are numerous in +this vicinity. From hence we obtained a view of a series of points or +capes, Kigongo, Katunga, and Buguluka, all of which we passed before +coming to a halt at the pretty position of Mukungu. + +At Mukungu, where we stopped on the fifth day, we were asked for honga, +or tribute. The cloth and beads upon which we subsisted during our +lake voyage were mine, but the Doctor, being the elder of the two, +more experienced, and the "big man" of the party, had the charge of +satisfying all such demands. Many and many a time had I gone through the +tedious and soul-wearying task of settling the honga, and I was quite +curious to see how the great traveller would perform the work. + +The Mateko (a man inferior to a Mutware) of Mukungu asked for two and a +half doti. This was the extent of the demand, which he made known to us +a little after dark. The Doctor asked if nothing had been brought to us. +He was answered, "No, it was too late to get anything now; but, if we +paid the honga, the Mateko would be ready to give us something when we +came back." Livingstone, upon hearing this, smiled, and the Mateko being +then and there in front of him, he said to him. "Well, if you can't get +us anything now, and intend to give something when we return, we had +better keep the honga until then." The Mateko was rather taken aback +at this, and demurred to any such proposition. Seeing that he was +dissatisfied, we urged him to bring one sheep--one little sheep--for our +stomachs were nearly empty, having been waiting more than half a day for +it. The appeal was successful, for the old man hastened, and brought us +a lamb and a three-gallon pot of sweet but strong zogga, or palm toddy, +and in return the Doctor gave him two and a half doti of cloth. The lamb +was killed, and, our digestions being good, its flesh agreed with us; +but, alas, for the effects of zogga, or palm toddy! Susi, the invaluable +adjunct of Dr. Livingstone, and Bombay, the headman of my caravan, were +the two charged with watching the canoe; but, having imbibed too freely +of this intoxicating toddy, they slept heavily, and in the morning +the Doctor and I had to regret the loss of several valuable and +indispensable things; among which may be mentioned the Doctor's +900-fathom sounding-line, 500 rounds of pin, rim, and central-fire +cartridges for my arms, and ninety musket bullets, also belonging to me. +Besides these, which were indispensable in hostile Warundi, a large bag +of flour and the Doctor's entire stock of white sugar were stolen. This +was the third time that my reliance in Bombay's trustworthiness resulted +in a great loss to me, and for the ninety-ninth time I had to +regret bitterly having placed such entire confidence in Speke's loud +commendation of him. It was only the natural cowardice of ignorant +thieves that prevented the savages from taking the boat and its entire +contents, together with Bombay and Susi as slaves. I can well imagine +the joyful surprise which must have been called forth at the sight and +exquisite taste of the Doctor's sugar, and the wonder with which they +must have regarded the strange ammunition of the Wasungu. It is to be +sincerely hoped that they did not hurt themselves with the explosive +bullets and rim cartridges through any ignorance of the nature of the +deadly contents; in which ease the box and its contents would prove a +very Pandora's casket. + +Much grieved at our loss, we set off on the sixth day at the usual hour +on our watery journey. We coasted close to the several low headlands +formed by the rivers Kigwena, Kikuma, and Kisunwe; and when any +bay promised to be interesting, steered the canoe according to its +indentations. While travelling on the water--each day brought forth +similar scenes--on our right rose the mountains of Urundi, now and then +disclosing the ravines through which the several rivers and streams +issued into the great lake; at their base were the alluvial plains, +where flourished the oil-palm and grateful plantain, while scores of +villages were grouped under their shade. Now and then we passed long +narrow strips of pebbly or sandy beach, whereon markets were improvised +for selling fish, and the staple products of the respective communities. +Then we passed broad swampy morasses, formed by the numerous streams +which the mountains discharged, where the matete and papyrus flourished. +Now the mountains approached to the water, their sides descending +abruptly to the water's edge; then they receded into deep folds, at the +base of which was sure to be seen an alluvial plain from one to +eight miles broad. Almost constantly we observed canoes being punted +vigorously close to the surf, in fearless defiance of a catastrophe, +such as a capsize and gobbling-up by voracious crocodiles. Sometimes we +sighted a canoe a short distance ahead of us; whereupon our men, with +song and chorus, would exert themselves to the utmost to overtake it. +Upon observing our efforts, the natives would bend themselves to +their tasks, and paddling standing and stark naked, give us ample +opportunities for studying at our leisure comparative anatomy. Or we +saw a group of fishermen lazily reclining in _puris naturalibus_ on +the beach, regarding with curious eye the canoes as they passed their +neighbourhood; then we passed a flotilla of canoes, their owners sitting +quietly in their huts, busily plying the rod and hook, or casting their +nets, or a couple of men arranging their long drag nets close in shore +for a haul; or children sporting fearlessly in the water, with their +mothers looking on approvingly from under the shade of a tree, from +which I infer that there are not many crocodiles in the lake, except in +the neighbourhood of the large rivers. + +After passing the low headland of Kisunwe, formed by the Kisunwe River, +we came in view of Murembwe Cape, distant about four or five miles: the +intervening ground being low land, a sandy and pebbly beach. Close to +the beach are scores of villages, while the crowded shore indicates the +populousness of the place beyond. About half way between Cape Kisunwe +and Murembwe, is a cluster of villages called Bikari, which has a +mutware who is in the habit of taking honga. As we were rendered +unable to cope for any length of time with any mischievously inclined +community, all villages having a bad reputation with the Wajiji were +avoided by us. But even the Wajiji guides were sometimes mistaken, and +led us more than once into dangerous places. The guides evidently had +no objections to halt at Bikari, as it was the second camp from Mukungu; +because with them a halt in the cool shade of plaintains was infinitely +preferable to sitting like carved pieces of wood in a cranky canoe. But +before they stated their objections and preferences, the Bikari people +called to us in a loud voice to come ashore, threatening us with the +vengeance of the great Wami if we did not halt. As the voices were +anything but siren-like, we obstinately refused to accede to the +request. Finding threats of no avail, they had recourse to stones, +and, accordingly, flung them at us in a most hearty manner. As one came +within a foot of my arm, I suggested that a bullet be sent in return in +close proximity to their feet; but Livingstone, though he said nothing, +yet showed plainly enough that he did not quite approve of this. As +these demonstrations of hostility were anything but welcome, and as we +saw signs of it almost every time we came opposite a village, we kept on +our way until we came to Murembwe Point, which, being a delta of a river +of the same name, was well protected by a breadth of thorny jungle, +spiky cane, and a thick growth of reed and papyrus, from which the +boldest Mrundi might well shrink, especially if he called to mind that +beyond this inhospitable swamp were the guns of the strangers his like +had so rudely challenged. We drew our canoe ashore here, and, on a +limited area of clean sand, Ferajji, our rough-and-ready cook, lit his +fire, and manufactured for us a supply of most delicious Mocha coffee. +Despite the dangers which still beset us, we were quite happy, and +seasoned our meal with a little moral philosophy, which lifted us +unconsciously into infinitely superior beings to the pagans by whom we +were surrounded--upon whom we now looked down, under the influence of +Mocha coffee and moral philosophy, with calm contempt, not unmixed with +a certain amount of compassion. The Doctor related some experiences he +had had among people of similar disposition, but did not fail to ascribe +them, with the wisdom of a man of ripe experiences, to the unwise +conduct of the Arabs and half-castes; in this opinion I unreservedly +concur. + +From Murembwe Point, having finished our coffee and ended our discourse +on ethics, we proceeded on our voyage, steering for Cape Sentakeyi, +which, though it was eight or ten miles away, we hoped to make before +dark. The Wangwana pulled with right good will, but ten hours went by, +and night was drawing near, and we were still far from Sentakeyi. As +it was a fine moonlight night, and we were fully alive to the dangerous +position in which we might find ourselves, they consented to pull +an hour or two more. About 1 P.M., we pulled in shore for a deserted +spot--a clean shelf of sand, about thirty feet long by ten deep, from +which a clay bank rose about ten or twelve feet above, while on each +side there were masses of disintegrated rock. Here we thought, that +by preserving some degree of silence, we might escape observation, and +consequent annoyance, for a few hours, when, being rested, we might +continue our journey. Our kettle was boiling for tea, and the men had +built a little fire for themselves, and had filled their black earthen +pot with water for porridge, when our look-outs perceived dark forms +creeping towards our bivouac. Being hailed, they at once came forward, +and saluted us with the native "Wake." Our guides explained that we were +Wangwana, and intended to camp until morning, when, if they had anything +to sell, we should be glad to trade with them. They said they were +rejoiced to hear this, and after they had exchanged a few words +more--during which time we observed that they were taking mental notes +of the camp--they went away. Upon leaving, they promised to return in +the morning with food, and make friends with us. While drinking our tea, +the look-outs warned us of the approach of a second party, which went +through the same process of saluting and observing as the first had +done. These also went away, over-exuberant, as I thought, and were +shortly succeeded by a third party, who came and went as the others had. +From all this we inferred that the news was spreading rapidly through +the villages about, and we had noticed two canoes passing backwards and +forwards with rather more haste than we deemed usual or necessary. We +had good cause to be suspicious; it is not customary for people (at +least, between Ujiji and Zanzibar) to be about visiting and saluting +after dark, under any pretence; it is not permitted to persons to prowl +about camp after dark without being shot at; and this going backward and +forward, this ostentatious exuberance of joy at the arrival of a small +party of Wangwana, which in many parts of Urundi would be regarded as a +very common event, was altogether very suspicious. While the Doctor and +I were arriving at the conclusion that these movements were preliminary +to or significant of hostility, a fourth body, very boisterous and loud, +came and visited us. Our supper had been by this time despatched, and +we thought it high time to act. The fourth party having gone with +extravagant manifestations of delight, the men were hurried into the +canoe, and, when all were seated, and the look-outs embarked, we quietly +pushed off, but not a moment too soon. As the canoe was gliding from the +darkened light that surrounded us, I called the Doctor's attention to +several dark forms; some of whom were crouching behind the rocks on +our right, and others scrambling over them to obtain good or better +positions; at the same time people were approaching from the left of +our position, in the same suspicious way; and directly a voice hailed us +from the top of the clay bank overhanging the sandy shelf where we +had lately been resting. "Neatly done," cried the Doctor, as we were +shooting through the water, leaving the discomfited would-be robbers +behind us. Here, again, my hand was stayed from planting a couple of +good shots, as a warning to them in future from molesting strangers, by +the more presence of the Doctor, who, as I thought, if it were actually +necessary, would not hesitate to give the word. + +After pulling six hours more, during which we had rounded Cape +Sentakeyi, we stopped at the small fishing village of Mugeyo, where we +were permitted to sleep unmolested. At dawn we continued our journey, +and about 8 A.M. arrived at the village of the friendly Mutware of +Magala. We had pulled for eighteen hours at a stretch, which, at the +rate of two miles and a half per hour, would make forty-five miles. +Taking bearings from our camp at Cape Magala, one of the most prominent +points in travelling north from Ujiji, we found that the large island +of Muzimu, which had been in sight ever since rounding Cape Bangwe, near +Ujiji Bunder, bore about south-south-west, and that the western shore +had considerably approached to the eastern; the breadth of the lake +being at this point about eight or ten miles. We had a good view of the +western highlands, which seemed to be of an average height, about 3,000 +feet above the lake. Luhanga Peak, rising a little to the north of west +from Magala, might be about 500 feet higher; and Sumburizi, a little +north of Luhanga, where lived Mruta, Sultan of Uvira, the country +opposite to this part of Urundi, about 300 feet higher than the +neighbouring heights. Northward from Magala Cape the lake streamed away +between two chains of mountains; both meeting in a point about thirty +miles north of us. + +The Warundi of Magala were very civil, and profound starers. They +flocked around the tent door, and most pertinaciously gazed on us, as +if we were subjects of most intense interest, but liable to sudden and +eternal departure. The Mutware came to see us late in the afternoon, +dressed with great pomp. He turned out to be a boy whom I had noticed in +the crowd of gazers for his good looks and fine teeth, which he showed, +being addicted to laughing continually. There was no mistaking him, +though he was now decorated with many ivory ornaments, with necklaces, +and with heavy brass bracelets and iron wire anklets. Our admiration +of him was reciprocated; and, in return for our two doti of cloth and a +fundo of samsam, he gave a fine fat and broad-tailed sheep, and a pot of +milk. In our condition both were extremely acceptable. + +At Magala we heard of a war raging between Mukamba, for whose country we +were bound, and Warumashanya, a Sultan of an adjoining district; and +we were advised that, unless we intended to assist one of these chiefs +against the other, it would be better for us to return. But, as we had +started to solve the problem of the Rusizi River, such considerations +had no weight with us. + +On the eighth morning from leaving Ujiji we bade farewell to the +hospitable people of Magala, and set off for Mukamba's country, which +was in view. Soon after passing the boundary between Urundi proper, +and what is known as Usige, a storm from the south-west arose; and +the fearful yawing of our canoe into the wave trough warned us from +proceeding further; so we turned her head for Kisuka village, about four +miles north, where Mugere, in Usige, begins. + +At Kisuka a Mgwana living with Mukamba came to see us, and gave us +details of the war between Mukamba and Warumashanya, from which it +seemed that these two chiefs were continually at loggerheads. It is a +tame way of fighting, after all. One chief makes a raid into the other's +country, and succeeds in making off with a herd of cattle, killing one +or two men who have been surprised. Weeks, or perhaps months elapse +before the other retaliates, and effects a capture in a similar way, and +then a balance is struck in which neither is the gainer. Seldom do they +attack each other with courage and hearty goodwill, the constitution of +the African being decidedly against any such energetic warfare. + +This Mgwana, further, upon being questioned, gave us information far +more interesting, viz., about the Rusizi. He told us positively, with +the air of a man who knew all about it, and as if anybody who doubted +him might well be set down as an egregious ass, that the Rusizi River +flowed out of the lake, away to Suna's (Mtesa's) country. "Where else +could it flow to?" he asked. The Doctor was inclined to believe it, or, +perhaps he was more inclined to let it rest as stated until our own eyes +should confirm it. I was more inclined to doubt, as I told the +Doctor; first, it was too good to be true; second, the fellow was too +enthusiastic upon a subject that could not possibly interest him. His +"Barikallahs" and "Inshallahs" were far too fervid; his answers too +much in accordance with our wishes. The Doctor laid great stress on the +report of a Mgwana he met far south, who stated that the grandfather or +father of Rumanika, present King of Karagwah, had thought of excavating +the bed of the Kitangule River, in order that his canoes might go to +Ujiji to open a trade. From this, I imagine, coinciding as it did with +his often-expressed and present firm belief that the waters of the +Tanganika had an outlet somewhere, the Doctor was partial to the report +of the Mgwana; but as we proceed we shall see how all this will end. + +On the ninth morning from Ujiji, about two hours after sunrise, we +passed the broad delta of the Mugere, a river which gives its name also +to the district on the eastern shore ruled over by Mukamba. We had come +directly opposite the most southern of its three mouths, when we found +quite a difference in the colour of the water. An almost straight line, +drawn east and west from the mouth would serve well to mark off the +difference that existed between the waters. On the south side was pure +water of a light green, on the north side it was muddy, and the current +could be distinctly seen flowing north. Soon after passing the first +mouth we came to a second, and then a third mouth, each only a few yards +broad, but each discharging sufficient water to permit our following the +line of the currents several rods north beyond the respective mouths. + +Beyond the third mouth of the Mugere a bend disclosed itself, with +groups of villages beyond on its bank. These were Mukamba's, and in one +of them lived Mukamba, the chief. The natives had yet never seen a white +man, and, of course, as soon as we landed we were surrounded by a large +concourse, all armed with long spears--the only weapon visible amongst +them save a club-stick, and here and there a hatchet. + +We were shown into a hut, which the Doctor and I shared between us. What +followed on that day I have but a dim recollection, having been struck +down by fever--the first since leaving Unyanyembe. I dimly recollect +trying to make out what age Mukamba might be, and noting that he was +good-looking withal, and kindly-disposed towards us. And during the +intervals of agony and unconsciousness, I saw, or fancied I saw, +Livingstone's form moving towards me, and felt, or fancied I felt, +Livingstone's hand tenderly feeling my hot head and limbs. I had +suffered several fevers between Bagamoyo and Unyanyembe, without +anything or anybody to relieve me of the tedious racking headache and +pain, or to illumine the dark and gloomy prospect which must necessarily +surround the bedside of the sick and solitary traveller. But though this +fever, having enjoyed immunity from it for three months, was more severe +than usual, I did not much regret its occurrence, since I became the +recipient of the very tender and fatherly kindness of the good man whose +companion I now found myself. + +The next morning, having recovered slightly from the fever, when Mukamba +came with a present of an ox, a sheep, and a goat, I was able to attend +to the answers which he gave to the questions about the Rusizi River +and the head of the lake. The ever cheerful and enthusiastic Mgwana was +there also, and he was not a whit abashed, when, through him, the chief +told us that the Rusizi, joined by the Ruanda, or Luanda, at a distance +of two days' journey by water, or one day by land from the head of the +lake, flowed INTO the lake. + +Thus our hopes, excited somewhat by the positive and repeated assurances +that the river flowed out away towards Karagwah, collapsed as speedily +as they were raised. + +We paid Mukamba the honga, consisting of nine doti and nine fundo of +samsam, lunghio, muzurio n'zige. The printed handkerchiefs, which I had +in abundance at Unyanyembe, would have gone well here. After receiving +his present, the chief introduced his son, a tall youth of eighteen or +thereabouts, to the Doctor, as a would-be son of the Doctor; but, with +a good-natured laugh, the Doctor scouted all such relationship with him, +as it was instituted only for the purpose of drawing more cloth out of +him. Mukamba took it in good part, and did not insist on getting more. + +Our second evening at Mukamba's, Susi, the Doctor's servant, got +gloriously drunk, through the chief's liberal and profuse gifts of +pombe. Just at dawn neat morning I was awakened by hearing several +sharp, crack-like sounds. I listened, and I found the noise was in our +hut. It was caused by the Doctor, who, towards midnight, had felt some +one come and lie down by his side on the same bed, and, thinking it was +me, he had kindly made room, and laid down on the edge of the bed. But +in the morning, feeling rather cold, he had been thoroughly awakened, +and, on rising on his elbow to see who his bed-fellow was, he +discovered, to his great astonishment, that it was no other than his +black servant, Susi, who taking possession of his blankets, and folding +them about himself most selfishly, was occupying almost the whole bed. +The Doctor, with that gentleness characteristic of him, instead of +taking a rod, had contented himself with slapping Susi on the back, +saying, "Get up, Susi, will you? You are in my bed. How dare you, sir, +get drunk in this way, after I have told you so often not to. Get up. +You won't? Take that, and that, and that." Still Susi slept and grunted; +so the slapping continued, until even Susi's thick hide began to feel +it, and he was thoroughly awakened to the sense of his want of devotion +and sympathy for his master in the usurping of even his master's bed. +Susi looked very much crestfallen after this expose of his infirmity +before the "little master," as I was called. + +The next day at dusk--Mukamba having come to bid us good-bye, and +requested that as soon as we reached his brother Ruhinga, whose country +was at the head of the lake, we would send our canoe back for him, and +that in the meanwhile we should leave two of our men with him, with +their guns, to help defend him in case Warumashanya should attack him +as soon as we were gone--we embarked and pulled across. In nine hours we +had arrived at the head of the lake in Mugihewa, the country of Ruhinga; +Mukamba's elder brother. In looking back to where we had come from we +perceived that we had made a diagonal cut across from south-east to +north-west, instead of having made a direct east and west course; or, +in other words, from Mugere--which was at least ten miles from the +northernmost point of the eastern shore--we had come to Mugihewa, +situated at the northernmost point of the western shore. Had we +continued along the eastern shore, and so round the northern side of the +lake, we should have passed by Mukanigi, the country of Warumashanya, +and Usumbura of Simveh, his ally and friend. But by making a diagonal +course, as just described, we had arrived at the extreme head of the +lake without any difficulty. + +The country in which we now found ourselves, Mugihewa, is situated in +the delta of the Rusizi River. It is an extremely flat country, the +highest part of which is not ten feet above the lake, with numerous +depressions in it overgrown with the rankest of matete-grass and the +tallest of papyrus, and pond-like hollows, filled with stagnant water, +which emit malaria wholesale. Large herds of cattle are reared on it; +for where the ground is not covered with marshy plants it produces rich, +sweet grass. The sheep and goats, especially the former, are always in +good condition; and though they are not to be compared with English +or American sheep, they are the finest I have seen in Africa. Numerous +villages are seen on this land because the intervening spaces are not +occupied with the rank and luxuriant jungle common in other parts of +Africa. Were it not for the Euphorbia kolquall of Abyssinia--which some +chief has caused to be planted as a defence round the villages--one +might see from one end of Mugihewa to the other. The waters along the +head of the lake, from the western to the eastern shores, swarm with +crocodiles. From the banks, I counted ten heads of crocodiles, and the +Rusizi, we were told, was full of them. + +Ruhinga, who came to see us soon after we had taken up our quarters +in his village, was a most amiable man, who always contrived to see +something that excited his risibility; though older by five or six years +perhaps--he said he was a hundred years old--than Mukamba, he was not +half so dignified, nor regarded with so much admiration by his people +as his younger brother. Ruhinga had a better knowledge, however, of the +country than Mukamba, and an admirable memory, and was able to impart +his knowledge of the country intelligently. After he had done the +honours as chief to us--presented us with an ox and a sheep, milk +and honey--we were not backward in endeavouring to elicit as much +information as possible out of him. + +The summary of the information derived from Ruhinga may be stated as +follows: + +The country bordering the head of the lake from Urundi proper, on the +eastern shore, to Uvira on the western, is divided into the following +districts: 1st. Mugere, governed by Mukamba, through which issued into +the lake the small rivers of Mugere and Mpanda. 2nd. Mukanigi, governed +by Warumashanya, which occupied the whole of the north-eastern head +of the lake, through which issued into the lake the small rivers of +Karindwa and Mugera wa Kanigi. 3rd. On the eastern half of the district, +at the head of the lake, was Usumbura, governed by Simveh, ally and +friend of Warumashanya, extending to the eastern bank of the Rusizi. +4th. Commencing from the western bank of the Rusizi, to the extreme +north-western head of the lake, was Mugihewa--Ruhinga's country. 5th. +From Uvira on the west, running north past Mugihewa, and overlapping it +on the north side as far as the hills of Chamati, was Ruwenga, also a +country governed by Mukamba. Beyond Ruwenga, from the hills of Chamati +to the Ruanda River, was the country of Chamati. West of Ruwenga, +comprising all the mountains for two days' journey in that direction, +was Uashi. These are the smaller sub-divisions of what is commonly known +as Ruwenga and Usige. Ruwenga comprises the countries of Ruwenga and +Mugihewa; Usige, the countries of Usumbura, Mukanigi, and Mugere. But +all these countries are only part and parcel of Urundi, which comprises +all that country bordering the lake from Mshala River, on the eastern +shore, to Uvira, on the western, extending over ten days' journey +direct north from the head of the lake, and one month in a northeastern +direction to Murukuko, the capital of Mwezi, Sultan of all Urundi. +Direct north of Urundi is Ruanda; also a very large country. + +The Rusizi River--according to Ruhinga--rose near a lake called Kivo, +which he said is as long as from Mugihawa to Mugere, and as broad as +from Mugihewa to Warumashanya's country, or, say eighteen miles in +length by about eight in breadth. The lake is surrounded by mountains +on the western and northern sides: on the south-western side of one of +these mountains issues the Rusizi--at first a small rapid stream; but as +it proceeds towards the lake it receives the rivers Kagunissi, Kaburan, +Mohira, Nyamagana, Nyakagunda, Ruviro, Rofubu, Kavimvira, Myove, Ruhuha, +Mukindu, Sange, Rubirizi, Kiriba, and, lastly, the Ruanda River, which +seems to be the largest of them all. Kivo Lake is so called from the +country in which it is situated. On one side is Mutumbi (probably +the Utumbi of Speke and Baker), on the west is Ruanda; on the east is +Urundi. The name of the chief of Kivo is Kwansibura. + +After so many minute details about the River Rusizi, it only remained +for us to see it. On the second morning of our arrival at Mugihewa we +mustered ten strong paddlers, and set out to explore the head of the +lake and the mouth of the Rusizi. We found that the northern head of +the lake was indented with seven broad bays, each from one and a half to +three miles broad; that long broad spits of sand, overgrown with matete, +separated each bay from the other. The first, starting from west to +east, at the broadest part, to the extreme southern point of Mugihewa, +was about three miles broad, and served as a line of demarcation between +Mukamba's district of Ruwenga and Mugihewa of Ruhinga; it was also two +miles deep. The second bay was a mile from the southern extremity of +Mugihewa to Ruhinga's village at the head of the bay, and it was a mile +across to another spit of sand which was terminated by a small island. +The third bay stretched for nearly a mile to a long spit, at the end of +which was another island, one and a quarter mile in length, and was the +western side of the fourth bay, at the head of which was the delta +of the Rusizi. This fourth bay, at its base, was about three miles +in depth, and penetrated half a mile further inland than any other. +Soundings indicated six feet deep, and the same depth was kept to within +a few hundred yards of the principal mouth of the Rusizi. The current +was very sluggish; not more than a mile an hour. Though we constantly +kept our binocular searching for the river, we could not see the main +channel until within 200 yards of it, and then only by watching by what +outlet the fishing; canoes came out. The bay at this point had narrowed +from two miles to about 200 yards in breadth. Inviting a canoe to show +us the way, a small flotilla of canoes preceded us, from the sheer +curiosity of their owners. We followed, and in a few minutes were +ascending the stream, which was very rapid, though but about ten yards +wide, and very shallow; not more than two feet deep. We ascended about +half a mile, the current being very strong, from six to eight miles an +hour, and quite far enough to observe the nature of the stream at its +embouchure. We could see that it widened and spread out in a myriad of +channels, rushing by isolated clumps of sedge and matete grass; and that +it had the appearance of a swamp. We had ascended the central, or main +channel. The western channel was about eight yards broad. We observed, +after we had returned to the bay, that the easternmost channel was about +six yards broad, and about ten feet deep, but very sluggish. We had +thus examined each of its three mouths, and settled all doubts as to +the Rusizi being an effluent or influent. It was not necessary to ascend +higher, there being nothing about the river itself to repay exploration +of it. + +The question, "Was the Rusizi an effluent or an influent?" was answered +for ever. There was now no doubt any more on that point. In size it was +not to be compared with the Malagarazi River, neither is it, or can +it be, navigable for anything but the smallest canoes. The only thing +remarkable about it is that it abounds in crocodiles, but not one +hippopotamus was seen; which may be taken as another evidence of +its shallowness. The bays to the east of the Rusizi are of the same +conformation as those on the west. Carefully judging from the width of +the several bays from point to point, and of the several spits which +separate them, the breadth of the lake may be said to be about twelve +or fourteen miles. Had we contented ourselves with simply looking at +the conformation, and the meeting of the eastern and western ranges, we +should have said that the lake ended in a point, as Captain Speke has +sketched it on his map. But its exploration dissolved that idea. Chamati +Hill is the extreme northern termination of the western range, and +seems, upon a superficial examination, to abut against the Ramata +mountains of the eastern range, which are opposite Chamati; but a valley +about a mile in breadth separates the two ranges, and through this +valley the Rusizi flows towards the lake.* Though Chamati terminates +the western range, the eastern range continues for miles beyond, +north-westerly. After its issue from this broad gorge, the Rusizi runs +seemingly in a broad and mighty stream, through a wide alluvial plain, +its own formation, in a hundred channels, until, approaching the +lake, it flows into it by three channels only, as above described. +______________ * After the patient investigation of the North end of the +Lake, and satisfying ourselves by personal observation that the Rusizi +ran into the Lake, the native rumor which Sir Samuel Baker brought home +that the Tanganika and the Albert N'Yanza have a water connection still +finds many believers! ______________ + +I should not omit to state here, that though the Doctor and I have had +to contend against the strong current of the Rusizi River, as it flowed +swift and strong INTO the Tanganika, the Doctor still adheres to the +conviction that, whatever part the Rusizi plays, there must be an outlet +to the Tanganika somewhere, from the fact that all fresh-water lakes +have outlets, The Doctor is able to state his opinions and reasons far +better than I can find for him; and, lest I misconstrue the subject, +I shall leave it until he has an opportunity to explain them himself; +which his great knowledge of Africa will enable him to do with +advantage. + +One thing is evident to me, and I believe to the Doctor, that Sir Samuel +Baker will have to curtail the Albert N'Yanza by one, if not two degrees +of latitude. That well-known traveller has drawn his lake far into the +territory of the Warundi, while Ruanda has been placed on the eastern +side; whereas a large portion of it, if not all, should be placed north +of what he has designated on his map as Usige. The information of such +an intelligent man as Ruhinga is not to be despised; for, if Lake Albert +came within a hundred miles of the Tanganika, he would surely have heard +of its existence, even if he had not seen it himself. Originally he came +from Mutumbi, and he has travelled from that country into Mugihewa, the +district he now governs. He has seen Mwezi, the great King of Urundi, +and describes him as a man about forty years old, and as a very good +man. + +Our work was now done; there was nothing more to detain us at Mugihewa. +Ruhinga had been exceedingly kind, and given us one ox after another to +butcher and eat. Mukamba had done the same. Their women had supplied us +with an abundance of milk and butter, and we had now bounteous supplies +of both. + +The Doctor had taken a series of observations for latitude and +longitude; and Mugihewa was made out to be in 3 degrees 19 minutes S. +latitude. + +On the 7th December, early in the morning, we left Mugihewa, and rowing +past the southern extremity of the Katangara Islands, we approached the +highlands of Uashi near the boundary line between Mukamba's country and +Uvira. The boundary line is supposed to be a wide ravine, in the depths +of which is a grove of tall, beautiful, and straight-stemmed trees, out +of which the natives make their canoes. + +Passing Kanyamabengu River, which issues into the lake close to the +market-ground of Kirabula, the extreme point of Burton and Speke's +explorations of the Tanganika, we steered south along the western shore +of the lake for half an hour longer to Kavimba, where we halted to cook +breakfast. + +The village where lived Mruta, the King of Uvira, was in sight of our +encampment, and as we observed parties of men ascending and descending +the mountains much more often than we thought augured good to ourselves, +we determined to continue on our course south. Besides, there was a +party of disconsolate-looking Wajiji here, who had been plundered only a +few days before our arrival, for attempting, as the Wavira believed, to +evade the honga payment. Such facts as these, and our knowledge of the +general state of insecurity in the country, resulting from the many wars +in which the districts of the Tanganika were engaged, determined us not +to halt at Kavimba. + +We embarked quickly in our boat before the Wavira had collected +themselves, and headed south against a strong gale, which came driving +down on us from the south-west. After a hard pull of about two hours in +the teeth of the storm, which was rapidly rising, we pointed the head +of the boat into a little quiet cove, almost hidden in tall reeds, and +disembarked for the night. + +Cognizant of the dangers which surrounded us, knowing, that savage +and implacable man was the worst enemy we had to fear, we employed our +utmost energies in the construction of a stout fence of thorn bushes, +and then sat down to supper after our work was done, and turned in to +sleep; but not before we had posted watchmen to guard our canoe, lest +the daring thieves of Uvira might abstract it, in which case we should +have been in a pretty plight, and in most unenviable distress. + +At daybreak, leaving Kukumba Point after our humble breakfast of coffee, +cheese, and dourra cakes was despatched, we steered south once more. +Our fires had attracted the notice of the sharp-eyed and suspicious +fishermen of Kukumba; but our precautions and the vigilant watch we +had set before retiring, had proved an effectual safeguard against the +Kivira thieves. + +The western shores of the lake as we proceeded were loftier, and more +bold than the wooded heights of Urundi and bearded knolls of Ujiji. A +back ridge--the vanguard of the mountains which rise beyond--disclosed +itself between the serrated tops of the front line of mountains, which +rose to a height of from 2,500 to 3,000 feet above the lake. Within the +folds of the front line of mountains rise isolated hills of considerable +magnitude, precipitous and abrupt, but scenically very picturesque. +The greater part of these hills have the rounded and smooth top, or +are tabularly summited. The ridge enfolding these hills shoots out, at +intervals, promontorial projections of gradual sloping outlines, which +on the map I have designated capes, or points. When rounding these +points, up went our compasses for the taking of bearings, and observing +the directions of all prominent objects of interest. Often these capes +are formed by the alluvial plains, through which we may be sure a river +will be found flowing. These pretty alluvial plains, enfolded on the +south, the west, and the north by a grand mountain arc, present +most luxurious and enchanting scenery. The vegetation seems to be of +spontaneous growth. Groups of the Elaeis Guineansis palm embowering some +dun-brown village; an array of majestic, superb growth of mvule trees; +a broad extent covered with vivid green sorghum stalks; parachute-like +tops of mimosa; a line of white sand, on which native canoes are +drawn far above the reach of the plangent, uneasy surf; fishermen idly +reclining in the shade of a tree;--these are the scenes which reveal +themselves to us as we voyage in our canoe on the Tanganika. When +wearied with the romance of wild tropic scenes such as these, we have +but to lift our eyes to the great mountain tops looming darkly and +grandly on our right; to watch the light pencilling of the cirrus, +brushing their summits, as it is drifted toward the north by the rising +wind: to watch the changing forms which the clouds assume, from the +fleecy horizontal bars of the cirrus, to the denser, gloomier cumulus, +prognosticator of storm and rain, which soon settles into a portentous +group--Alps above Alps, one above another--and we know the storm which +was brewing is at hand, and that it is time to seek shelter. + +Passing Muikamba, we saw several groves of the tall mvule tree. As +far as Bemba the Wabembe occupy the mountain summits, while the Wavira +cultivate the alluvial plains along the base and lower slopes of +the mountain. At Bemba we halted to take in pieces of pipe-clay, in +accordance with the superstition of the Wajiji, who thought us certain +of safe passage and good fortune if we complied with the ancient custom. + +Passing Ngovi, we came to a deep bend, which curved off to Cape Kabogi +at the distance of ten miles. About two-thirds of the way we arrived +at a group of islets, three in number, all very steep and rocky; the +largest about 300 feet in length at the base, and about 200 feet +in breadth. Here we made preparations to halt for the night. The +inhabitants of the island were a gorgeously-feathered old cock, which +was kept as a propitiatory offering to the spirit of the island, a +sickly yellow-looking thrush, a hammer-headed stork, and two fish-hawks, +who, finding we had taken possession of what had been religiously +reserved for them, took flight to the most western island, where from +their perches they continued to eye us most solemnly. As these islands +were with difficulty pronounced by us as Kavunvweh, the Doctor, seeing +that they were the only objects we were likely to discover, named +them the "'New York Herald' Islets;" and, in confirmation of the +new designation given them, shook hands with me upon it. Careful +dead-reckoning settled them to be in lat. 3 degrees 41 minutes S. + +The summit of the largest island was well adapted to take bearings, and +we improved the opportunity, as most extensive views of the broad +and lengthy lake and surrounding lines of imposing mountains were +attainable. The Ramata Hills were clearly visible, and bore N.N.E. +from it; Katanga Cape, S.E. by S.; Sentakeyi, E.S.E.; Magala, E. by N.; +south-western point of Muzimu bore S., northern point of Muzimu island, +S.S.E. + +At dawn on the 9th December we prepared to resume our voyage. Once or +twice in the night we had been visited by fishermen, but our anxious +watchfulness prevented any marauding. It seemed to me, however, that +the people of the opposite shore, who were our visitors, were eagerly +watching an opportunity to pounce upon our canoe, or take us bodily for +a prey; and our men were considerably affected by these thoughts, if we +may judge from the hearty good-will with which they rowed away from our +late encampment. + +Arriving at Cape Kabogi, we came to the territory of the Wasansi. We +knew we were abreast of a different tribe by the greeting "Moholo," +which a group of fishermen gave us; as that of the Wavira was "Wake," +like that of Urundi, Usige, and Uhha. + +We soon sighted Cape Luvumba--a sloping projection of a mountain ridge +which shot far into the lake. As a storm was brewing, we steered for a +snug little cove that appeared before a village; and, drawing our canoe +from the water, began to set the tent, and make other preparations for +passing the night. + +As the natives appeared quiet and civil enough, we saw no reason to +suspect that they entertained any hostility to Arabs and Wangwana. +Accordingly we had our breakfast cooked, and as usual laid down for an +afternoon nap. I soon fell asleep, and was dreaming away in my tent, in +happy oblivion of the strife and contention that had risen since I had +gone to sleep, when I heard a voice hailing me with, "Master, master! +get up, quick. Here is a fight going to begin!" I sprang up, and +snatching my revolver belt from the gun-stand, walked outside. Surely, +there appeared to be considerable animus between the several factions; +between a noisy, vindictive-looking set of natives of the one part, and +our people of the other part. Seven or eight of our people had taken +refuge behind the canoe, and had their loaded guns half pointing at the +passionate mob, which was momentarily increasing in numbers, but I could +not see the Doctor anywhere. + +"Where is the Doctor?" I asked. + +"He has gone over that hill, sir, with his compass," said Selim. + +"Anybody with him?" + +"Susi and Chumah." + +"You, Bombay, send two men off to warn the Doctor, and tell him to hurry +up here." + +But just at this period the Doctor and his two men appeared on the +brow of the hill, looking down in a most complacent manner upon the +serio-comic scene that the little basin wherein we were encamped +presented. For, indeed, despite the serious aspect of it, there was much +that was comical blended with it--in a naked young man who--perfectly +drunk, barely able to stand on his feet--was beating the ground with his +only loin-cloth, screaming and storming away like a madman; declaring +by this, and by that, in his own choice language, that no Mgwana or Arab +should halt one moment on the sacred soil of Usansi. His father, the +Sultan, was as inebriated as himself, though not quite so violent in his +behaviour. In the meantime the Doctor arrived upon the scene, and Selim +had slipped my Winchester rifle, with the magazine full of cartridges, +into my hand. The Doctor calmly asked what was the matter, and was +answered by the Wajiji guides that the people wished us to leave, as +they were on hostile terms with the Arabs, because the eldest son of the +Sultan of Muzimu, the large island nearly opposite, had been beaten to +death by a Baluch, named Khamis, at Ujiji, because the young fellow had +dared look into his harem, and ever since peace had been broken between +the Wasansi and Arabs. + +After consulting with the guides, the Doctor and I came to the +conclusion that it were better that we should endeavour to pacify +the Sultan by a present, rather than take offence at a drunken boy's +extravagant freak. In his insane fury he had attempted to slash at +one of my men with a billhook he carried. This had been taken as a +declaration of hostilities, and the soldiers were ready enough to engage +in war; but there was no necessity to commence fighting with a drunken +mob, who could have been cleared off the ground with our revolvers alone +had we desired it. + +The Doctor, baring his arm, said to them that he was not a Mgwana, or an +Arab; but a white man; that Arabs and Wangwana had no such colour as we +had. We were white men, different people altogether from those whom they +were accustomed to see: that no black men had ever suffered injury +from white men. This seemed to produce great effect, for after a little +gentle persuasion the drunken youth, and his no less inebriate sire, +were induced to sit down to talk quietly. In their conversation with us, +they frequently referred to Mombo, the son of Kisesa, Sultan of Muzimu, +who was brutally murdered. "Yes, brutally murdered!" they exclaimed +several times, in their own tongue; illustrating, by a faithful +pantomime, how the unfortunate youth had died. + +Livingstone continued talking with them in a mild, paternal way, and +their loud protestations against Arab cruelty were about to subside, +when the old Sultan suddenly rose up and began to pace about in an +excited manner, and in one of his perambulations deliberately slashed +his leg with the sharp blade of his spear, and then exclaimed that the +Wangwana had wounded him! + +At this cry one half of the mob hastily took to flight, but one old +woman, who carried a strong staff with a carved lizard's body on its +top, commenced to abuse the chief with all the power of her voluble +tongue, charging him with a desire to have them all killed, and other +women joined in with her in advising him to be quiet, and accept the +present we were willing to give. + +But it is evident that there was little needed to cause all men present +in that little hollow to begin a most sanguinary strife. The gentle, +patient bearing of the Doctor had more effect than anything else in +making all forbear bloodshed, while there was left the least chance of +an amicable settlement, and in the end it prevailed. The Sultan and his +son were both sent on their way rejoicing. + +While the Doctor conversed with them, and endeavoured to calm their +fierce passions, I had the tent struck, and the canoes launched, and +the baggage stowed, and when the negotiations had concluded amicably, +I begged the Doctor to jump into the boat, as this apparent peace was +simply a lull before a storm; besides, said I, there are two or three +cowardly creatures in the boat, who, in case of another disturbance, +would not scruple to leave both of us here. + +From Cape Luvumba, about 4.30 P.M. we commenced pulling across; at 8 +P.M. we were abreast of Cape Panza, the northern extremity of the +island of Muzimu; at 6 A.M. we were southward of Bikari, and pulling for +Mukungu, in Urundi, at which place we arrived at 10 A.M., having been +seventeen hours and a half in crossing the lake, which, computing at two +miles an hour, may be said to be thirty-five miles direct breadth, and a +little more than forty-three miles from Cape Luvumba. + +On the 11th of December, after seven hours' pulling, we arrived at +picturesque Zassi again; on the 12th, at the pretty cove of Niasanga; +and at 11 A.M. we had rounded past Bangwe, and Ujiji was before us. + +We entered the port very quietly, without the usual firing of guns, as +we were short of powder and ball. As we landed, our soldiers and the +Arab magnates came to the water's edge to greet us. + +Mabruki had a rich budget to relate to us, of what had occurred during +our absence. This faithful man, left behind in charge of Livingstone's +house, had done most excellently. Kalulu had scalded himself, and had +a frightful raw sore on his chest in consequence. Mabruki had locked up +Marora in chains for wounding one of the asses. Bilali, the stuttering +coward, a bully of women, had caused a tumult in the market-place, and +had been sharply belaboured with the stick by Mabruki. And, above +all most welcome, was a letter I received from the American Consul at +Zanzibar, dated June 11th, containing telegrams from Paris as late as +April 22nd of the same year! Poor Livingstone exclaimed, "And I have +none. What a pleasant thing it is to have a real and good friend!" + +Our voyage on the Tanganika had lasted twenty-eight days, during which +time we had traversed over 300 miles of water. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. -- OUR JOURNEY FROM UJIJI TO UNYANYEMBE. + + +We felt quite at home when we sat down on our black bear-skin, gay +Persian carpet and clean new mats, to rest with our backs to the wall, +sipping our tea with the air of comfortable men, and chat over the +incidents of the "picnic," as Livingstone persisted in calling our +journey to the Rusizi. It seemed as if old times, which we loved to +recall, had come back again, though our house was humble enough in its +aspect, and our servants were only naked barbarians; but it was near +this house that I had met him--Livingstone--after that eventful march +from Unyanyembe; it was on this same veranda that I listened to that +wonderful story of his about those far, enchanting regions west of the +Lake Tanganika; it was in this same spot that I first became acquainted +with him; and ever since my admiration has been growing for him, and I +feel elated when he informs me that he must go to Unyanyembe under my +escort, and at my expense. The old mud walls and the bare rafters, and +the ancient thatched roof, and this queer-looking old veranda, will have +an historical interest for me while I live, and so, while I can, I have +taken pains and immortalized the humble old building by a sketch. + +I have just said that my admiration for Livingstone has been growing. +This is true. The man that I was about to interview so calmly and +complacently, as I would interview any prominent man with the view +of specially delineating his nature, or detailing his opinions, has +conquered me. I had intended to interview him, report in detail what he +said, picture his life and his figure, then bow him my "au revoir," +and march back. That he was specially disagreeable and brusque in his +manner, which would make me quarrel with him immediately, was firmly +fixed in my mind. + +But Livingstone--true, noble Christian, generous-hearted, frank +man--acted like a hero, invited me to his house, said he was glad to see +me, and got well on purpose to prove the truth of his statement, "You +have brought new life unto me;" and when I fell sick with the remittent +fever, hovering between life and death, he attended me like a father, +and we have now been together for more than a month. + +Can you wonder, then, that I like this man, whose face is the reflex of +his nature, whose heart is essentially all goodness, whose aims are so +high, that I break out impetuously sometimes: "But your family, Doctor, +they would like to see you, oh! so much. Let me tempt you to come home +with me. I promise to carry you every foot of the way to the coast. +You shall have the finest donkey to ride that is in Unyanyembe. Your +wants--you have but to hint them, and they shall be satisfied. Let the +sources of the Nile go--do you come home and rest; then, after a year's +rest, and restored health, you can return and finish what you have to +do." + +But ever the answer was, "No, I should like to see my family very much +indeed. My children's letters affect me intensely; but I must not go +home; I must finish my task. It is only the want of supplies that has +detained me. I should have finished the discovery of the Nile by this, +by tracing it to its connection with either Baker's Lake, or Petherick's +branch of the Nile. If I had only gone one month further, I could have +said, 'the work is done."' + +Some of these men who had turned the Doctor back from his interesting +discoveries were yet in Ujiji, and had the Government Enfield rifles in +their hands, which they intended to retain until their wages had been +paid to them; but as they had received $60 advance each at Zanzibar from +the English Consul, with the understanding entered into by contract that +they should follow their master wherever he required them to go; and as +they had not only not gone where they were required to proceed with him, +but had baffled and thwarted him, it was preposterous that a few men +should triumph over the Doctor, by keeping the arms given to him by the +Bombay Government. I had listened to the Arab sheikhs, friends of the +Doctor, advising them in mild tones to give them up; I had witnessed +the mutineer's stubbornness; and it was then, on the burzani of Sayd bin +Majid's house, that I took advantage to open my mind on the subject, not +only for the benefit of the stubborn slaves, but also for the benefit +of the Arabs; and to tell them that it was well that I had found +Livingstone alive, for if they had but injured a hair of his head, I +should have gone back to the coast, to return with a party which would +enable me to avenge him. I had been waiting to see Livingstone's guns +returned to him every day, hoping that I should not have to use force; +but when a month or more had elapsed, and still the arms had not been +returned, I applied for permission to take them, which was granted. +Susi, the gallant servant of Dr. Livingstone, was immediately despatched +with about a dozen armed men to recover them, and in a few minutes we +had possession of them without further trouble. + +The Doctor had resolved to accompany me to Unyanyembe, in order to meet +his stores, which had been forwarded from Zanzibar, November 1st, 1870. +As I had charge of the escort, it was my duty to study well the several +routes to Unyanyembe from Ujiji. I was sufficiently aware of the +difficulties and the responsibilities attached to me while escorting +such a man. Besides, my own personal feelings were involved in the case. +If Livingstone came to any harm through any indiscretion of mine +while he was with me, it would immediately be said, "Ah! had he not +accompanied Stanley, he would have been alive now." + +I took out my chart--the one I had made myself--in which I had perfect +faith, and I sketched out a route which would enable us to reach +Unyanyembe without paying a single cloth as tribute, and without +encountering any worse thing than a jungle, by which we could avoid all +the Wavinza and the plundering Wahha. This peaceable, secure route +led by water, south, along the coast of Ukaranga and Ukawendi, to Cape +Tongwe. Arriving at Cape Tongwe, I should be opposite the village of +Itaga, Sultan Imrera, in the district of Rusawa of Ukawendi; after which +we should strike my old road, which I had traversed from Unyanyembe, +when bound for Ujiji. I explained it to the Doctor, and he instantly +recognised its feasibility and security; and if I struck Imrera, as I +proposed to do, it would demonstrate whether my chart was correct or +not. + +We arrived at Ujiji from our tour of discovery, north of the Tanganika, +December 13th; and from this date the Doctor commenced writing his +letters to his numerous friends, and to copy into his mammoth Letts's +Diary, from his field books, the valuable information he had acquired +during his years of travel south and west of the Tanganika. I sketched +him while sitting in his shirt-sleeves in the veranda, with his Letts's +Diary on his knee; and the likeness on the frontispiece is an admirable +portrait of him, because the artist who has assisted me, has with an +intuitive eye, seen the defects in my own sketch; and by this I am +enabled to restore him to the reader's view exactly as I saw him--as he +pondered on what he had witnessed during his long marches. + +Soon after my arrival at Ujiji, he had rushed to his paper, and indited +a letter to James Gordon Bennett, Esq., wherein he recorded his thanks; +and after he had finished it, I asked him to add the word "Junior" to +it, as it was young Mr. Bennett to whom he was indebted. I thought the +letter admirable, and requested the Doctor not to add another word to +it. The feelings of his heart had found expression in the grateful words +he had written; and if I judged Mr. Bennett rightly, I knew he would be +satisfied with it. For it was not the geographical news he cared so much +about, as the grand fact of Livingstone's being alive or dead. + +In this latter part of December he was writing letters to his children, +to Sir Roderick Murchison, and to Lord Granville. He had intended to +have written to the Earl of Clarendon, but it was my sad task to inform +him of the death of that distinguished nobleman. + +In the meantime I was preparing the Expedition for its return march to +Unyanyembe, apportioning the bales and luggage, the Doctor's large tin +boxes, and my own among my own men; for I had resolved upon permitting +the Doctor's men to march as passengers, because they had so nobly +performed their duty to their master. + +Sayd bin Majid had left, December 12, for Mirambo's country, to give the +black Bonaparte battle for the murder of his son Soud in the forests +of Wilyankuru; and he had taken with him 300 stout fellows, armed with +guns, from Ujiji. The stout-hearted old chief was burning with rage +and resentment, and a fine warlike figure he made with his 7-foot gun. +Before we had departed for the Rusizi, I had wished him bon voyage, +and expressed a hope that he would rid the Central African world of the +tyrant Mirambo. + +On the 20th of December the rainy season was ushered in with heavy rain, +thunder, lightning, and hail; the thermometer falling to 66 degrees +Fahrenheit. The evening of this day I was attacked with urticaria, +or "nettle rash," for the third time since arriving in Africa, and I +suffered a woeful sickness; and it was the forerunner of an attack of +remittent fever, which lasted four days. This is the malignant type, +which has proved fatal to so many African travellers on the Zambezi, the +White Nile, the Congo, and the Niger. The head throbs, the pulses bound, +the heart struggles painfully, while the sufferer's thoughts are in a +strange world, such only as a sick man's fancy can create. This was the +fourth attack of fever since the day I met Livingstone. The excitement +of the march, and the high hope which my mind constantly nourished, +had kept my body almost invincible against an attack of fever while +advancing towards Ujiji; but two weeks after the great event had +transpired my energies were relaxed, my mind was perfectly tranquil, and +I became a victim. + +Christmas came, and the Doctor and I had resolved upon the blessed and +time-honoured day being kept as we keep it in Anglo-Saxon lands, with a +feast such as Ujiji could furnish us. The fever had quite gone from me +the night before, and on Christmas morning, though exceedingly weak, I +was up and dressed, and lecturing Ferajji, the cook, upon the importance +of this day to white men, and endeavouring to instil into the mind of +the sleek and pampered animal some cunning secrets of the culinary +art. Fat broad-tailed sheep, goats, zogga and pombe, eggs, fresh milk, +plantains, singwe, fine cornflour, fish, onions, sweet potatoes, &c., +&c., were procured in the Ujiji market, and from good old Moeni Kheri. +But, alas! for my weakness. Ferajji spoiled the roast, and our custard +was burned--the dinner was a failure. That the fat-brained rascal +escaped a thrashing was due only to my inability to lift my hands for +punishment; but my looks were dreadful and alarming, and capable of +annihilating any one except Ferajji. The stupid, hard-headed cook only +chuckled, and I believe he had the subsequent gratification of eating +the pies, custards, and roast that his carelessness had spoiled for +European palates. + +Sayd bin Majid, previous to his departure, had left orders that we +should be permitted to use his canoe for our homeward trip, and Moeni +Kheri kindly lent his huge vessel for the same purpose. The Expedition, +now augmented by the Doctor and his five servants, and their luggage, +necessitated the employment of another canoe. We had our flocks of +milch-goats and provision of fat sheep for the jungle of Ukawendi, the +transit of which I was about to attempt. Good Halimah, Livingstone's +cook, had made ready a sackful of fine flour, such as she only could +prepare in her fond devotion for her master. Hamoydah, her husband, also +had freely given his assistance and attention to this important article +of food. I purchased a donkey for the Doctor, the only one available in +Ujiji, lest the Doctor might happen to suffer on the long march from his +ancient enemy. In short, we were luxuriously furnished with food, sheep, +goats, cheese, cloth, donkeys, and canoes, sufficient to convey us a +long distance; we needed nothing more. + +The 27th of December has arrived; it is the day of our departure from +Ujiji. I was probably about to give an eternal farewell to the port +whose name will for ever be sacred in my memory. The canoes--great +lumbering hollow trees--are laden with good things; the rowers are +in their places; the flag of England is hoisted at the stern of the +Doctor's canoe; the flag of America waves and rustles joyously above +mine; and I cannot look at them without feeling a certain pride that the +two Anglo-Saxon nations are represented this day on this great inland +sea, in the face of wild nature and barbarism. + +We are escorted to our boats by the great Arab merchants, by the +admiring children of Unyamwezi, by the freemen of Zanzibar, by wondering +Waguhha and Wajiji, by fierce Warundi, who are on this day quiet, even +sorrowful, that the white men are going-"Whither?" they all ask. + +At 8 A.M. we start, freely distributing our farewells as the Arabs and +quidnuncs wave their hands. On the part of one or two of them there was +an attempt to say something sentimental and affecting, especially by the +convicted sinner Mohammed bin Sali; but though outwardly I manifested no +disapprobation of his words, or of the emphatic way in which he shook +my hand, I was not sorry to see the last of him, after his treachery to +Livingstone in 1869. I was earnestly requested to convey to Unyanyembe +"Mengi salaams" to everybody, but had I done so, as he evidently desired +me to do, I would not have been surprised at being regarded by all as +hopelessly imbecile. + +We pushed off from the clayey bank at the foot of the market-place, +while the land party, unencumbered with luggage, under the leadership of +gigantic Asmani and Bombay, commenced their journey southward along the +shores of the lake. We had arranged to meet them at the mouth of every +river to transport them across from bank to bank. + +The Doctor being in Sayd bin Majid's boat, which was a third or so +shorter than the one under my command, took the lead, with the British +flag, held aloft by a bamboo, streaming behind like a crimson meteor. +My boat-manned by Wajiji sailors, whom we had engaged to take the canoes +back from Tongwe Cape to Ujiji Bunder--came astern, and had a much +taller flagstaff, on which was hoisted the ever-beautiful Stars and +Stripes. Its extreme height drew from the Doctor--whose patriotism and +loyalty had been excited--the remark that he would cut down the tallest +palmyra for his flagstaff, as it was not fitting that the British flag +should be so much lower than that of the United States. + +Our soldiers were not a whit behind us in lightheartedness at the +thought of going to Unyanyembe. They struck up the exhilarating song of +the Zanzibar boatmen, with the ecstatic chorus-- + + Kinan de re re Kitunga, + +rowing away like madmen, until they were compelled to rest from sheer +exhaustion, while the perspiration exuded from the pores of their bodies +in streams. When refreshed, they bent back to their oars, raising the +song of the Mrima-- + + O mama, re de mi Ky, + +which soon impelled them to an extravagant effort again, It was by +this series of ferocious spurts, racing, shouting, singing, perspiring, +laughing, groaning, and puffing, that our people vented their joyous +feelings, as the thought filled their minds that we were homeward bound, +and that by the route I had adopted between us and Unyanyembe there was +not the least danger. + + We have given the Waha, the slip! ha, ha! + The Wavinza will trouble us no more! ho! ho! + Mionvu can get no more cloth from us! by,by! + And Kiala will see us no more---never more! he, he! + +they shouted with wild bursts of laughter, seconded by tremendous and +rapid strokes with their oars, which caused the stiff old canoes to +quiver from stem to stern. + +Our party ashore seemed to partake of our excitement, and joined in the +wild refrain of the mad African song. We watched them urging their steps +forward to keep pace with us, as we rounded the capes and points, and +rowed across the bays whose margins were sedge, and rush, and reed; the +tiny and agile Kalulu, little Bilali, and Majwara were seen racing the +herds of goats, sheep, and donkeys which belonged to the caravan, and +the animals even seemed to share the general joy. + +Nature, also--proud, wild nature-0-with the lofty azure dome upheaved +into infinity--with her breadth and depth of vivid greenness and +enormous vastness on our left--with her immense sheet of bright, +glancing water--with her awful and intense serenity--she partook of and +added to our joy. + +About 10 A.M. we arrived at Kirindo's, an old chief, noted for his +singular kindness to Dr. Livingstone, while he bore animosity to the +Arabs. To the Arabs this was unaccountable--to the Doctor it was plain: +he had but spoken kind and sincere words, while all the Arabs spoke to +him as if he were not even a man, least of all a chief. + +Kirindo's place is at the mouth of the Liuche, which is very wide; the +river oozes out through a forest of eschinomenae (pith tree). This was +a rendezvous agreed upon between shore and lake parties, that the canoes +might all cross to the other side, distant a mile and a half. The mouth +of the Liuche forms the Bay of Ukaranga, so named because on the other +side, whither we were about to cross our party, was situated the village +of Ukaranga, a few hundred yards from the lake. All the baggage was +taken out of the largest canoe, and stowed snugly in the smaller one, +and a few select oarsmen having taken seats, pushed off with the Doctor +on board, who was to superintend pitching the encampment at Ukaranga; +while I remained behind to bind the fractious and ill-natured donkeys, +and stow them away in the bottom of the large canoe, that no danger +of upsetting might be incurred, and a consequent gobbling-up by hungry +crocodiles, which were all about us waiting their opportunity. The flock +of goats were then embarked, and as many of our people as could be got +in. About thirty still remained behind with myself, for whom my canoe +was to return. + +We all arrived safe at Ukaranga, though we got dangerously near a herd +of hippopotami. The crossing of the wide mouth (the Liuche being then in +flood) was effected in about four hours. + +The next day, in the same order as on our departure from Ujiji, we +pursued our way south, the lake party keeping as closely as possible to +the shore, yet, when feasible, wind and weather permitting, we struck +off boldly across the numerous small bays which indent the shores of +the Tanganika. The shores were beautifully green, the effect of the +late rains; the waters of the lake were a faithful reflex of the blue +firmament above. The hippopotami were plentiful. Those noticed on this +day were coloured with reddish rings round the base of their ears and on +the neck. One monster, coming up rather late, was surprised by the canoe +making full for him, and in great fright took a tremendous dive which +showed the whole length of his body. Half way between the mouth of +the Malagarazi and that of the Liuche we saw a camp on shore--that of +Mohammed bin Gharib, a Msawahili, who figured often in Livingstone's +verbal narrative to me of his adventures and travels as one of the +kindest and best of the Moslems in Central Africa. He appeared to me +a kindly disposed man, with a face seldom seen, having the stamp of an +unusual characteristic on it--that of sincerity. + +The vegetation of the shores as we proceeded was truly tropical, each +curve revealed new beauties. With the soft chalky stone, of which most +of the cliffs and bluffs are made, seen as we neared the mouth of the +Malagarazi, the surf has played strange freaks. + +We arrived at the mouth of the Malagarazi about P.M., having rowed +eighteen miles from Ukaranga. The shore party arrived, very much +fatigued, about 5 P.M. + +The next day was employed in crossing the caravan across the broad mouth +of the Malagarazi to our camp, a couple of miles north of the river. +This is a river which a civilised community would find of immense +advantage for shortening the distance between the Tanganika and the +coast. Nearly one hundred miles might be performed by this river, which +is deep enough at all seasons to allow navigation as far as Kiala, +in Uvinza, whence a straight road might be easily made to +Unyanyembe. Missionaries also might reap the same benefit from it for +conversion-tours to Uvinza, Uhha, and Ugala. Pursuing our way on the +30th, and rounding the picturesque capes of Kagongo, Mviga and Kivoe, we +came, after about three hours' rowing, in sight of villages at the +mouth of the swift and turbid Rugufu. Here we had again to transport the +caravan ever the crocodile-infested mouth of the river. + +On the morning of the 31st we sent a canoe with men to search for food +in the two or three villages that were visible on the other side. +Four doti purchased just sufficient for four days for our caravan +of forty-eight persons. We then got under weigh, having informed the +kirangozi that Urimba was our destination, and bidding him keep as +closely as possible to the lake shore, where it was practicable, but +if not, to make the best he could of it. From the debouchement of the +Rugufu, the headwaters of which we had crossed on our random route +to Ujiji, to Urimba, a distance of six days by water, there are no +villages, and consequently no food. The shore party, however, before +leaving Ujiji, had eight days' rations, and on this morning four days', +distributed to each person, and therefore was in no danger of starvation +should the mountain headlands, now unfolding, abrupt and steep, one +after another, prevent them from communicating with us. It must be +understood that such a journey as this had never been attempted before +by any Arab or Msawahili, and every step taken was in sheer ignorance +of where the road would lead the men ashore. Rounding Kivoe's steep +promontory, whose bearded ridge and rugged slope, wooded down to the +water's edge, whose exquisite coves and quiet recesses, might well have +evoked a poetical effusion to one so inclined, we dared the chopping +waves of Kivoe's bay, and stood direct for the next cape, Mizohazy, +behind which, owing to wind and wave, we were compelled to halt for the +night. + +After Mizohazy is the bold cape of Kabogo--not the terrible Kabogo +around whose name mystery has been woven by the superstitious +natives--not the Kabogo whose sullen thunder and awful roar were heard +when crossing the Rugufu on our flight from the Wahha---but a point +in Ukaranga, on whose hard and uninviting rocks many a canoe has been +wrecked. We passed close to its forbidding walls, thankful for the +calm of the Tanganika. Near Kabogo are some very fine mvule trees, well +adapted for canoe building, and there are no loud-mouthed natives about +to haggle for the privilege of cutting them. + +Along the water's edge, and about three feet above it, was observed very +clearly on the smooth face of the rocky slopes of Kabogo the high-water +mark of the lake. This went to show that the Tanganika, during the rainy +season, rises about three feet above its dry season level, and that, +during the latter season, evaporation reduces it to its normal level. +The number of rivers which we passed on this journey enabled me to +observe whether, as I was told, there was any current setting north. +It was apparent to me that, while the south-west, south, or south-east +winds blew, the brown flood of the rivers swept north; but it happened +that, while passing, once or twice, the mouths of rivers, after a +puff from the north-west and north, that the muddied waters were seen +southward of the mouths; from which I conclude that there is no current +in the Tanganika except such as is caused by the fickle wind. + +Finding a snug nook of a bay at a place called Sigunga, we put in for +lunch. An island at the mouth of the bay suggested to our minds that +this was a beautiful spot for a mission station; the grandly sloping +hills in the background, with an undulating shelf of land well-wooded +between them and the bay, added to the attractions of such a spot. +The island, capable of containing quite a large village, and perfectly +defensible, might, for prudence' sake, contain the mission and its +congregation; the landlocked bay would protect their fishery and trade +vessels; more than sustain a hundred times the number of the population +of the island. Wood for building their canoes and houses is close at +hand; the neighbouring country would afford game in abundance; and the +docile and civil people of Ukaranga but wait religious shepherds. + +From beautiful Sigunga, after a brief halt, we set off, and, after +three hours, arrived at the mouth of the River Uwelasia. Hippopotami +and crocodiles being numerous; we amused ourselves by shooting at them, +having also a hope of attracting the attention of our shore party, the +sound of whose guns we had not heard since leaving the Rugufu. + +On the 3rd of January we left Uwelasia, and, passing by Cape Herembe, +were in the bay of Tongwe. This bay is about twenty-five miles broad, +and stretches from Cape Herembe to Cape Tongwe. Finding themselves so +near their destination, Urimba being but six miles from Herembe Point, +the men of both boats bent themselves to their oars, and, with shouts, +songs, and laughter, encouraged each other to do their utmost. The flags +of the two great Anglo-Saxon nations rippled and played in the soft +breeze, sometimes drawing near caressingly together, again bending away, +like two lovers coy to unite. The tight little boat of the Doctor would +keep ahead, and the crimson and crossed flag of England would wave +before me, and it seemed to say to the beautiful laggard astern, "Come +on, come on; England leads the way." But was it not England's place +to be in the front here? She won the right to it by discovering the +Tanganika; America came but second. + +Urimba, though a large district of Kawendi, has a village of the +same name peopled by refugees from Yombeh, who found the delta of +the Loajeri, though the unhealthiest of spots--equal to that of the +Rusizi--far preferable to the neighbourhood of Sultan Pumburu, of +Southern Kawendi. A good chase by the victors seems to have given a +shock to their systems, for they are very timid and distrustful of +strangers, and would by no means permit us to enter their village, of +which, to say the truth, I was very glad, after a glance at the +reeking corruption on which they were encamped. In the immediate +neighbourhood--nay, for a couple of miles on either side--I should +suppose that to a white man it were death to sleep a single night. +Leading the way south of the village, I found a fit camping-place at +the extreme south-east corner of Tongwe Bay, about a mile and a half due +west of the lofty peak of Kivanga, or Kakungu. By an observation taken +by the Doctor, we found ourselves to be in latitude 5 degrees 54 minutes +south. + +None of the natives had heard of our shore party, and, as the delta of +the Loajeri and Mogambazi extended for about fifteen miles, and withal +was the most impassable of places, being perfectly flat, overgrown with +the tallest of matete, eschinomenae, and thorny bush, and flooded with +water, it was useless to fatigue our men searching for the shore party +in such an inhospitable country. No provisions were procurable, for the +villages were in a state of semi-starvation, the inhabitants living from +hand to mouth on what reluctant Fortune threw into their nets. + +The second day of our arrival at Urimba I struck off into the +interior with my gun-bearer, Kalulu, carrying the Doctor's splendid +double-barreled rifle (a Reilly, No. 12), on the search for venison. +After walking about a mile I came to a herd of zebras. By creeping on +all-fours I managed to come within one hundred yards of them; but I was +in a bad spot--low prickly shrubs; and tsetse flies alighting on the +rifle-sight, biting my nose, and dashing into my eyes, completely +disconcerted me; and, to add to my discontent, my efforts to disengage +myself from the thorns, alarmed the zebras, which all stood facing the +suspicious object in the bush. I fired at the breast of one, but, as +might be expected, missed. The zebras galloped away to about three +hundred yards off, and I dashed into the open, and, hastily cocking the +left-hand trigger, aimed at a proud fellow trotting royally before his +fellows, and by good chance sent a bullet through his heart. A fortunate +shot also brought down a huge goose, which had a sharp horny spur on +the fore part of each wing. This supply of meat materially contributed +towards the provisioning of the party for the transit of the unknown +land that lay between us and Mrera, in Rusawa, Kawendi. + +It was not until the third day of our arrival at our camp at Urimba that +our shore party arrived. They had perceived our immense flag hoisted on +a twenty-feet long bamboo above the tallest tree near our camp as they +surmounted the sharp lofty ridge behind Nerembe, fifteen miles off, and +had at first taken it for a huge bird; but there were sharp eyes in the +crowd, and, guided by it, they came to camp, greeted as only lost and +found men are greeted. + +I suffered from another attack of fever at this camp, brought on by the +neighbourhood of the vile delta, the look of which sickened the very +heart in me. + +On the 7th of January we struck camp, and turned our faces eastward, +and for me, home! Yet regretfully! There had been enough happiness and +pleasure, and pleasantest of social companionship found on the shores +of the lake for me. I had seen enough lovely scenes which, siren-like, +invited one to quiet rest; gentle scenes, where there was neither jar +nor tumult, neither strife nor defeat, neither hope nor disappointment, +but rest-a drowsy, indolent, yet pleasant rest. And only a few drawbacks +to these. There was fever; there were no books, no newspapers, no wife +of my own race and blood, no theatres, no hotels, no restaurants, no +East River oysters, no mince-pies, neither buckwheat cakes, nor anything +much that was good for a cultivated palate to love. So, in turning to +say farewell to the then placid lake and the great blue mountains, that +grew bluer as they receded on either hand, I had the courage to utter +that awful word tearlessly, and without one sigh. + +Our road led up through the valley of the Loajeri, after leaving its +delta, a valley growing ever narrower, until it narrowed into a ravine +choked by the now roaring, bellowing river, whose resistless rush seemed +to affect the very air we breathed. It was getting oppressive, this +narrowing ravine, and opportunely the road breasted a knoll, then a +terrace, then a hill, and lastly a mountain, where we halted to encamp. +As we prepared to select a camping-place, the Doctor silently pointed +forward, and suddenly a dead silence reigned everywhere. The quinine +which I had taken in the morning seemed to affect me in every crevice of +my brain; but a bitter evil remained, and, though I trembled under the +heavy weight of the Reilly rifle, I crept forward to where the Doctor +was pointing. I found myself looking down a steep ravine, on the other +bank of which a fine buffalo cow was scrambling upward. She had just +reached the summit, and was turning round to survey her enemy, when I +succeeded in planting a shot just behind the shoulder blade, and close +to the spine, evoking from her a deep bellow of pain. "She is shot! she +is shot!" exclaimed the Doctor; "that is a sure sign you have hit her." +And the men even raised a shout at the prospect of meat. A second, +planted in her spine, brought her to her knees, and a third ended her. +We thus had another supply of provisions, which, cut up and dried over +a fire, as the Wangwana are accustomed to do, would carry them far over +the unpeopled wilderness before us. For the Doctor and myself, we had +the tongue, the hump, and a few choice pieces salted down, and in a few +days had prime corned beef. It is not inapt to state that the rifle had +more commendations bestowed on it than the hunter by the Wangwana. + +The next day we continued the march eastward, under the guidance of +our kirangozi; but it was evident, by the road he led us, that he knew +nothing of the country, though, through his volubility, he had led us to +believe that he knew all about Ngondo, Yombeh, and Pumburu's districts. +When recalled from the head of the caravan, we were about to descend +into the rapid Loajeri, and beyond it were three ranges of impassable +mountains, which we were to cross in a north-easterly direction; quite +out of our road. After consulting with the Doctor, I put myself at the +head of the caravan, and following the spine of the ridge, struck off +due east, regardless of how the road ran. At intervals a travelled road +crossed our path, and, after following it a while, we came to the ford +of the Loajeri. The Loajeri rises south and south-east of Kakungu Peak. +We made the best we could of the road after crossing the river, until +we reached the main path that runs from Karah to Ngondo and Pumburu, in +Southern Kawendi. + +On the 9th, soon after leaving camp, we left the travelled path, and +made for a gap in the are of hills before us, as Pumburu was at war with +the people of Manya Msenge, a district of northern Kawendi. The country +teemed with game, the buffaloes and zebras were plentiful. Among the +conspicuous trees were the hyphene and borassus palm trees, and a tree +bearing a fruit about the size of a 600-pounder cannon-ball, called by +some natives "mabyah,"* according to the Doctor, the seeds of which are +roasted and eaten. They are not to be recommended as food to Europeans. + + * In the Kisawahili tongue, "mabyah," "mbyah, "byah," mean + bad, unpleasant. + +On the 10th, putting myself at the head of my men, with my compass in +hand, I led the way east for three hours. A beautiful park-land was +revealed to us; but the grass was very tall, and the rainy season, which +had commenced in earnest, made my work excessively disagreeable. Through +this tall grass, which was as high as my throat, I had to force my way, +compass in hand, to lead the Expedition, as there was not the least sign +of a road, and we were now in an untravelled country. We made our camp +on a beautiful little stream flowing north; one of the feeders of the +Rugufu River. + +The 11th still saw me plunging through the grass, which showered drops +of rain on me every time I made a step forward. In two hours we crossed +a small stream, with slippery syenitic rocks in its bed, showing the +action of furious torrents. Mushrooms were in abundance, and very large. +In crossing, an old pagazi of Unyamwezi, weather-beaten, uttered, in +a deplorable tone, "My kibuyu is dead;" by which he meant that he had +slipped, and in falling had broken his gourd, which in Kisawahili is +"kibuyu." + +On the eastern bank we halted for lunch, and, after an hour and a half's +march, arrived at another stream, which I took to be the Mtambu, at +first from the similarity of the land, though my map informed me that it +was impossible. The scenery around was very similar, and to the north we +had cited a similar tabular hill to the "Magdala" Mount I had discovered +north of Imrera, while going to the Malagarazi. Though we had only +travelled three and a half hours the Doctor was very tired as the +country was exceedingly rough. + +The next day, crossing several ranges, with glorious scenes of +surpassing beauty everywhere around us, we came in view of a mighty and +swift torrent, whose bed was sunk deep between enormous lofty walls of +sandstone rock, where it roared and brawled with the noise of a little +Niagara. + +Having seen our camp prepared on a picturesque knoll, I thought I would +endeavour to procure some meat, which this interesting region seemed to +promise. I sallied out with my little Winchester along the banks of the +river eastward. I travelled for an hour or two, the prospect getting +more picturesque and lovely, and then went up a ravine which looked very +promising. Unsuccessful, I strode up the bank, and my astonishment may +be conceived when I found myself directly in front of an elephant, who +had his large broad ears held out like studding sails--the colossal +monster, the incarnation of might of the African world. Methought when +I saw his trunk stretched forward, like a warning finger, that I heard +a voice say, "Siste, Venator!" But whether it did not proceed from my +imagination or--No; I believe it proceeded from Kalulu, who must have +shouted, "Tembo, tembo! bana yango!" "Lo! an elephant! an elephant, my +master!" + +For the young rascal had fled as soon as he had witnessed the awful +colossus in such close vicinage. Recovering from my astonishment, I +thought it prudent to retire also--especially, with a pea-shooter loaded +with treacherous sawdust cartridges in my hand. As I looked behind, I +saw him waving his trunk, which I understood to mean, "Good-bye, young +fellow; it is lucky for you you went in time, for I was going to pound +you to a jelly." + +As I was congratulating myself, a wasp darted fiercely at me and planted +its sting in my neck, and for that afternoon my anticipated pleasures +were dispelled. Arriving at camp I found the men grumbling; their +provisions were ended, and there was no prospect for three days, at +least, of procuring any. With the improvidence usual with the gluttons, +they had eaten their rations of grain, all their store of zebra and +dried buffalo meat, and were now crying out that they were famished. + +The tracks of animals were numerous, but it being the rainy season the +game was scattered everywhere; whereas, had we travelled during the dry +season through these forests our larders might have been supplied fresh +each day. + +Some time about 6 P.M., as the Doctor and I were taking our tea outside +the tent, a herd of elephants, twelve in number, passed about 800 yards +off. Our fundi, Asmani and Mabruki Kisesa, were immediately despatched +in pursuit. I would have gone myself with the heavy Reilly rifle, only +I was too much fatigued. We soon heard their guns firing, and hoped +they were successful, as a plentiful supply of meat might then have been +procured, while we ourselves would have secured one of the elephant's +feet for a nice delicate roast; but within an hour they returned +unsuccessful, having only drawn blood, some of which they exhibited to +us on a leaf. + +It requires a very good rifle to kill an African elephant. A No. 8 bore +with a Frazer's shell, planted in the temple, I believe, would drop an +elephant each shot. Faulkner makes some extraordinary statements, +about walking up in front of an elephant and planting a bullet in his +forehead, killing him instantly. The tale, however, is so incredible +that I would prefer not to believe it; especially when he states that +the imprint of the muzzle of his rifle was on the elephant's trunk. +African travellers--especially those with a taste for the chase--are too +fond of relating that which borders on the incredible for ordinary men +to believe them. Such stories must be taken with a large grain of salt, +for the sake of the amusement they afford to readers at home. In future, +whenever I hear a man state how he broke the back of an antelope at 600 +yards, I shall incline to believe a cipher had been added by a slip of +the pen, or attribute it to a typographical error, for this is almost an +impossible feat in an African forest. It may be done once, but it could +never be done twice running. An antelope makes a very small target at +600 yards distance; but, then, all these stories belong by right divine +to the chasseur who travels to Africa for the sake only of sport. + +On the 13th we continued our march across several ridges; and the series +of ascents and descents revealed to us valleys and mountains never +before explored streams; rushing northward, swollen by the rains, and +grand primeval forests, in whose twilight shade no white man ever walked +before. + +On the 14th the same scenes were witnessed--an unbroken series of +longitudinal ridges, parallel one with another and with Lake Tanganika. +Eastward the faces of these ridges present abrupt scarps and terraces, +rising from deep valleys, while the western declivities have gradual +slopes. These are the peculiar features of Ukawendi, the eastern +watershed of the Tanganika. + +In one of these valleys on this day we came across a colony of +reddish-bearded monkeys, whose howls, or bellowing, rang amongst the +cliffs as they discovered the caravan. I was not able to approach +them, for they scrambled up trees and barked their defiance at me, then +bounded to the ground as I still persisted in advancing; and they would +have soon drawn me in pursuit if I had not suddenly remembered that my +absence was halting the Expedition. + +About noon we sighted our Magdala--the grand towering mount whose +upright frowning mass had attracted our eyes, as it lifted itself from +above the plain in all its grandeur, when we were hurrying along the +great ridge of Rusawa towards the "Crocodile" River. We recognised +the old, mystic beauty of the tree-clad plain around it. Then it +was bleached, and a filmy haze covered it lovingly; now it was vivid +greenness. Every vegetable, plant, herb and tree, had sprung into quick +life--the effect of the rains. Rivers that ran not in those hot summer +days now fumed and rushed impetuously between thick belts of mighty +timber, brawling hoarsely in the glades. We crossed many of these +streams, all of which are feeders of the Rugufu. + +Beautiful, bewitching Ukawendi! By what shall I gauge the loveliness of +the wild, free, luxuriant, spontaneous nature within its boundaries? By +anything in Europe? No. By anything in Asia? Where? India, perhaps. Yes; +or say Mingrelia and Imeritia. For there we have foaming rivers; we have +picturesque hillocks; we have bold hills, ambitious mountains, and broad +forests, with lofty solemn rows of trees, with clean straight stems, +through which you can see far, lengthy vistas, as you see here. Only in +Ukawendi you can almost behold the growth of vegetation; the earth is +so generous, nature so kind and loving, that without entertaining any +aspiration for a residence, or a wish to breathe the baleful atmosphere +longer than is absolutely necessary, one feels insensibly drawn towards +it, as the thought creeps into his mind, that though all is foul beneath +the captivating, glamorous beauty of the land, the foulness might be +removed by civilized people, and the whole region made as healthy as +it is productive. Even while staggering under the pressure of the awful +sickness, with mind getting more and more embittered, brain sometimes +reeling with the shock of the constantly recurring fevers--though I +knew how the malaria, rising out of that very fairness, was slowly +undermining my constitution, and insidiously sapping the powers of mind +and body--I regarded the alluring face of the land with a fatuous love, +and felt a certain sadness steal over me as each day I was withdrawing +myself from it, and felt disposed to quarrel with the fate that seemed +to eject me out of Ukawendi. + +On the ninth day of our march from the shores of the Tanganika we +again perceived our "Magdala Mount," rising like a dark cloud to the +north-east, by which I knew that we were approaching Imrera, and that +our Icarian attempt to cross the uninhabited jungle of Ukawendi would +soon be crowned with success. Against the collective counsel of the +guides, and hypothetical suggestions of the tired and hungry souls of +our Expedition, I persisted in being guided only by the compass and my +chart. The guides strenuously strove to induce me to alter my course and +strike in a south-west direction, which, had I listened to them, would +have undoubtedly taken me to South-western Ukonongo, or North-eastern +Ufipa. The veteran and experienced soldiers asked mournfully if I were +determined to kill them with famine, as the road I should have taken +was north-east; but I preferred putting my trust in the compass. No sun +shone upon us as we threaded our way through the primeval forest, by +clumps of jungle, across streams, up steep ridges, and down into deep +valleys. A thick haze covered the forests; rain often pelted us; the +firmament was an unfathomable depth of grey vapour. The Doctor had +perfect confidence in me, and I held on my way. + +As soon as we arrived at our camp the men scattered themselves through +the forest to search for food. A grove of singwe trees was found close +by. Mushrooms grew in abundance, and these sufficed to appease the +gnawing hunger from which the people suffered. Had it not been such +rainy weather I should have been enabled to procure game for the camp; +but the fatigue which I suffered, and the fever which enervated me, +utterly prevented me from moving out of the camp after we once came to +a halt. The fear of lions, which were numerous in our vicinity, whose +terrible roaring was heard by day and by night, daunted the hunters so +much, that though I offered five doti of cloth for every animal brought +to camp, none dared penetrate the gloomy glades, or awesome belts of +timber, outside the friendly defence of the camp. + +The morning of the tenth day I assured the people that we were close +to food; cheered the most amiable of them with promise of abundant +provender, and hushed the most truculent knaves with a warning not to +tempt my patience too much, lest we came to angry blows; and then +struck away east by north through the forest, with the almost exhausted +Expedition dragging itself weakly and painfully behind me. It was a most +desperate position certainly, and I pitied the poor people far more than +they pitied themselves; and though I fumed and stormed in their presence +when they were disposed to lie down and give up, never was a man +further from doing them injury. I was too proud of them; but under the +circumstances it was dangerous--nay, suicidal--to appear doubtful or +dubious of the road. The mere fact that I still held on my way according +to the Doctor's little pearly monitor (the compass) had a grand moral +effect on them, and though they demurred in plaintive terms and with +pinched faces, they followed my footsteps with a trustfulness which +quite affected me. + +For long miles we trudged over smooth sloping sward, with a vision of +forest and park-land beauty on our right and left, and in front of us +such as is rarely seen. At a pace that soon left the main body of the +Expedition far behind, I strode on with a few gallant fellows, who, +despite their heavy loads, kept pace with me. After a couple of hours we +were ascending the easy slope of a ridge, which promised to decide in +a few minutes the truth or the inaccuracy of my chart. Presently we +arrived at the eastern edge of the ridge, and about five miles away, and +1,000 feet below the high plateau on which we stood, we distinguished +the valley of Imrera! + +By noon we were in our old camp. The natives gathered round, bringing +supplies of food, and to congratulate us upon having gone to Ujiji +and returned. But it was long before the last member of the Expedition +arrived. The Doctor's feet were very sore, bleeding from the weary +march. His shoes were in a very worn-out state, and he had so cut and +slashed them with a knife to ease his blistered feet, that any man of +our force would have refused them as a gift, no matter how ambitious he +might be to encase his feet a la Wasungu. + +Asmani, the guide, was very much taken aback when he discovered that the +tiny compass knew the way better than he did, and he declared it as his +solemn opinion that it could not lie. He suffered much in reputation +from having contested the palm with the "little thing," and ever +afterwards his boasted knowledge of the country was considerably +doubted. + +After halting a day to recruit ourselves, we continued our journey on +the 18th January, 1872, towards Unyanyembe. A few miles beyond Imrera, +Asmani lost the road again, and I was obliged to show it to him, by +which I gained additional honour and credit as a leader and guide. My +shoes were very bad, and it was difficult to decide whose were the worst +in condition, the Doctor's or mine. A great change had come upon the +face of the land since I had passed northward en route to Ujiji. The +wild grapes now hung in clusters along the road; the corn ears were +advanced enough to pluck and roast for food; the various plants shed +their flowers; and the deep woods and grasses of the country were +greener than ever. + +On the 19th we arrived at Mpokwa's deserted village. The Doctor's feet +were very much chafed and sore by the marching. He had walked on foot +all the way from Urimba, though he owned a donkey; while I, considerably +to my shame be it said, had ridden occasionally to husband my strength, +that I might be enabled to hunt after arrival at camp. + +Two huts were cleared for our use, but, just as we had made ourselves +comfortable, our sharp-eyed fellows had discovered several herds of game +in the plain west of Mpokwa. Hastily devouring a morsel of corn-bread +with coffee, I hastened away, with Bilali for a gunbearer, taking +with me the famous Reilly rifle of the Doctor and a supply of Fraser's +shells. After plunging through a deep stream, and getting wet again, +and pushing my way through a dense brake, I arrived at a thin belt of +forest, through which I was obliged to crawl, and, in half an hour, I +had arrived within one hundred and forty yards of a group of zebras, +which were playfully biting each other under the shade of a large tree. +Suddenly rising up, I attracted their attention; but the true old rifle +was at my shoulder, and "crack--crack" went both barrels, and two fine +zebras, a male and female, fell dead under the tree where they had +stood. In a few seconds their throats were cut, and after giving the +signal of my success, I was soon surrounded by a dozen of my men, who +gave utterance to their delight by fulsome compliments to the merits of +the rifle, though very few to me. When I returned to camp with the meat +I received the congratulations of the Doctor, which I valued far higher, +as he knew from long experience what shooting was. + +When the eatable portions of the two zebras were hung to the scale, we +found, according to the Doctor's own figures, that we had 719 lbs. of +good meat, which, divided among forty-four men, gave a little over +16 lbs. to each person. Bombay, especially, was very happy, as he had +dreamed a dream wherein I figured prominently as shooting animals down +right and left; and, when he had seen me depart with that wonderful +Reilly rifle he had not entertained a doubt of my success, and, +accordingly, had commanded the men to be ready to go after me, as soon +as they should hear the reports of the gun. + +The following is quoted from my Diary: + +January 20th, 1872.--To-day was a halt. On going out for a hunt I saw +a herd of eleven giraffes. After crossing Mpokwa stream I succeeded in +getting within one hundred and fifty yards of one of them, and fired at +it; but, though it was wounded, I did not succeed in dropping it, though +I desired the skin of one of them very much. + +In the afternoon I went out to the east of the village, and came to a +herd of six giraffes. I wounded one of them, but it got off, despite my +efforts. + +What remarkable creatures they are! How beautiful their large limpid +eyes! I could have declared on oath that both shots had been a success, +but they sheered off with the stately movements of a clipper about to +tack. When they ran they had an ungainly, dislocated motion, somewhat +like the contortions of an Indian nautch or a Theban danseuse--a dreamy, +undulating movement, which even the tail, with its long fringe of black +hair, seemed to partake of. + +The Doctor, who knew how to console an ardent but disappointed young +hunter, attributed my non-success to shooting with leaden balls, which +were too soft to penetrate the thick hide of the giraffes, and advised +me to melt my zinc canteens with which to harden the lead. It was +not the first time that I had cause to think the Doctor an admirable +travelling companion; none knew so well how to console one for bad luck +none knew so well how to elevate one in his own mind. If I killed a +zebra, did not his friend Oswell--the South African hunter--and himself +long ago come to the conclusion that zebra meat was the finest in +Africa? If I shot a buffalo cow, she was sure to be the best of her +kind, and her horns were worth while carrying home as specimens; and was +she not fat? If I returned without anything, the game was very wild, or +the people had made a noise, and the game had been frightened; and who +could stalk animals already alarmed? Indeed, he was a most considerate +companion, and, knowing him to be literally truthful, I was proud of his +praise when successful, and when I failed I was easily consoled. + +Ibrahim, the old pagazi whose feelings had been so lacerated in +Ukawendi, when his ancient kibuyu broke, before leaving Ujiji invested +his cloth in a slave from Manyuema, who bore the name of "Ulimengo," +which signifies the "World." As we approached Mpokwa, Ulimengo absconded +with all his master's property, consisting of a few cloths and a bag of +salt, which he had thought of taking to Unyanyembe for trade. Ibrahim +was inconsolable, and he kept lamenting his loss daily in such +lugubrious tones that the people, instead of sympathizing, laughed at +him. I asked him why he purchased such a slave, and, while he was with +him, why he did not feed him? Replied he, tartly, "Was he not my slave? +Was not the cloth with which I bought him mine? If the cloth was my own, +could I not purchase what I liked? Why do you talk so?" + +Ibrahim's heart was made glad this evening by the return of Ulimengo +with the salt and the cloth, and the one-eyed old man danced with his +great joy, and came in all haste to impart to me the glad news. "Lo, +the 'World' has come back. Sure. My salt and my cloth are with him also. +Sure." To which I replied, that he had better feed him in future, as +slaves required food as well as their masters. + +From 10 P.M. to midnight the Doctor was employed in taking observations +from the star Canopus, the result of which was that he ascertained +Mpokwa, district of Utanda, Ukonongo, to be in S. latitude 6 degrees 18 +minutes 40 seconds. On comparing it with its position as laid down in my +map by dead reckoning, I found we differed by three miles; I having laid +it down at 6 degrees 15 minutes south latitude. + +The day following was a halt. The Doctor's feet were so inflamed and +sore that he could not bear his shoes on. My heels were also raw, and I +viciously cut large circles out of my shoes to enable me to move about. + +Having converted my zinc canteens into bullets, and provided myself with +a butcher and gun-bearer, I set out for the lovely park-land and plain +west of Mpokwa stream, with the laudable resolution to obtain something; +and seeing nothing in the plain, I crossed over a ridge, and came to +a broad basin covered with tall grass, with clumps here and there of +hyphene palm, with a stray mimosa or so scattered about. Nibbling off +the branches of the latter, I saw a group of giraffes, and then +began stalking them through the grass, taking advantage of the tall +grass-grown ant-hills that I might approach the wary beasts before their +great eyes could discover me. I contrived to come within 175 yards, by +means of one of these curious hummocks; but beyond it no man could crawl +without being observed--the grass was so thin and short. I took a long +breath, wiped my perspiring brow, and sat down for a while; my black +assistants also, like myself, were almost breathless with the exertion, +and the high expectations roused by the near presence of the royal +beasts. I toyed lovingly with the heavy Reilly, saw to my cartridges, +and then stood up and turned, with my rifle ready; took one good, long, +steady aim; then lowered it again to arrange the sights, lifted it up +once more--dropped it. A giraffe half turned his body; for the last time +I lifted it, took one quick sight at the region of the heart, and +fired. He staggered, reeled, then made a short gallop; but the blood was +spouting from the wound in a thick stream, and before he had gone 200 +yards he came to a dead halt, with his ears drawn back, and allowed +me to come within twenty yards of him, when, receiving a zinc bullet +through the head, he fell dead. + +"Allah ho, akhbar!" cried Khamisi, my butcher, fervently. "This is meat, +master!" + +I was rather saddened than otherwise at seeing the noble animal +stretched before me. If I could have given him his life back I think +I should have done so. I thought it a great pity that such splendid +animals, so well adapted for the service of man in Africa, could not +be converted to some other use than that of food. Horses, mules, and +donkeys died in these sickly regions; but what a blessing for Africa +would it be if we could tame the giraffes and zebras for the use of +explorers and traders! Mounted on a zebra, a man would be enabled to +reach Ujiji in one month from Bagamoyo; whereas it took me over seven +months to travel that distance! + +The dead giraffe measured 16 feet 9 inches from his right fore-hoof to +the top of his head, and was one of the largest size, though some have +been found to measure over 17 feet. He was spotted all over with large +black, nearly round, patches. + +I left Khamisi in charge of the dead beast, while I returned to camp +to send off men to cut it up, and convey the meat to our village. But +Khamisi climbed a tree for fear of the lions, and the vultures settled +on it, so that when the men arrived on the spot, the eyes, the tongue, +and a great part of the posteriors were eaten up. What remained weighed +as follows, when brought in and hung to the scales: + +1 hind leg.... 134 lbs. + +1 " .... 136 " + +1 fore leg.... 160 " + +I " .... 160 " + +Ribs...... 158 " + +Neck...... 74 " + +Rump...... 87 " + +Breast..... 46 " + +Liver..... 20 " + +Lungs..... 12 " + +Heart..... 6 " + +Total weight of eatable portions.. 993 lbs. + +Skin and head, 181 lbs. + +The three days following I suffered from a severe attack of fever, and +was unable to stir from bed. I applied my usual remedies for it, which +consisted of colocynth and quinine; but experience has shown me that +an excessive use of the same cathartic weakens its effect, and that it +would be well for travellers to take with them different medicines to +cause proper action in the liver, such as colocynth, calomel, resin +of jalap, Epsom salts; and that no quinine should be taken until such +medicines shall have prepared the system for its reception. + +The Doctor's prescription for fever consists of 3 grains of resin of +jalap, and 2 grains of calomel, with tincture of cardamoms put in just +enough to prevent irritation of the stomach--made into the form of a +pill--which is to be taken as soon as one begins to feel the excessive +languor and weariness which is the sure forerunner of the African type +of fever. An hour or two later a cup of coffee, unsugared and without +milk, ought to be taken, to cause a quicker action. The Doctor +also thinks that quinine should be taken with the pill; but my +experience--though it weighs nothing against what he has endured--has +proved to me that quinine is useless until after the medicine has taken +effect. My stomach could never bear quinine unless subsequent to +the cathartic. A well-known missionary at Constantinople recommends +travellers to take 3 grains of tartar-emetic for the ejection of the +bilious matter in the stomach; but the reverend doctor possibly forgets +that much more of the system is disorganized than the stomach; and +though in one or two cases of a slight attack, this remedy may have +proved successful, it is altogether too violent for an enfeebled man in +Africa. I have treated myself faithfully after this method three or +four times; but I could not conscientiously recommend it. For cases of +urticaria, I could recommend taking 3 grains of tartar-emetic; but then +a stomach-pump would answer the purpose as well. + +On the 27th we set out for Misonghi. About half-way I saw the head of +the Expedition on the run, and the motive seemed to be communicated +quickly, man after man, to those behind, until my donkey commenced to +kick, and lash behind with his heels. In a second, I was made aware of +the cause of this excitement, by a cloud of wild bees buzzing about +my head, three or four of which settled on my face, and stung me +frightfully. We raced madly for about half a mile, behaving in as wild a +manner as the poor bestung animals. + +As this was an unusually long march, I doubted if the Doctor could march +it, because his feet were so sore, so I determined to send four men +back with the kitanda; but the stout old hero refused to be carried, and +walked all the way to camp after a march of eighteen miles. He had been +stung dreadfully in the head and in the face; the bees had settled in +handfuls in his hair; but, after partaking of a cup of warm tea and some +food, he was as cheerful as if he had never travelled a mile. + +At Mrera, Central Ukonongo, we halted a day to grind grain, and +to prepare the provision we should need during the transit of the +wilderness between Mrera and Manyara. + +On the 31st of January, at Mwaru, Sultan Ka-mirambo, we met a caravan +under the leadership of a slave of Sayd bin Habib, who came to visit us +in our camp, which was hidden in a thick clump of jungle. After he was +seated, and had taken his coffee, I asked, + +"What is thy news, my friend, that thou bast brought from Unyanyembe?" + +"My news is good, master." + +"How goes the war?" + +"Ah, Mirambo is where? He eats the hides even. He is famished. Sayd bin +Habib, my master, hath possession of Kirira. The Arabs are thundering at +the gates of Wilyankuru. Sayd bin Majid, who came from Ujiji to Usagozi +in twenty days, hath taken and slain 'Moto' (Fire), the King. Simba +of Kasera hath taken up arms for the defence of his father, Mkasiwa of +Unyanyembe. The chief of Ugunda hath sent five hundred men to the field. +Ough--Mirambo is where? In a month he will be dead of hunger." + +"Great and good news truly, my friend." + +"Yes-in the name of God." + +"And whither art thou bound with thy caravan?" + +"Sayd, the son of Majid, who came from Ujiji, hath told us of the road +that the white man took, that he had arrived at Ujiji safely, and that +he was on his way back to Unyanyembe. So we have thought that if the +white man could go there, we could also. Lo, the Arabs come by the +hundred by the white man's road, to get the ivory from Ujiji. + +"I am that white man." + +"You?" + +"Yes." + +"Why it was reported that you were dead--that you fought with the +Wazavira." + +"Ah, my friend, these are the words of Njara, the son of Khamis. See" +(pointing to Livingstone), "this is the white man, my father *, whom I +saw at Ujiji. He is going with me to Unyanyembe to get his cloth, after +which he will return to the great waters." + + * It is a courteous custom in Africa to address elderly + people as "Baba," (Father.) + +"Wonderful!--thou sayest truly." + +"What has thou to tell me of the white man at Unyanyembe?" + +"Which white man?" + +"The white man I left in the house of Sayd, the son of Salim--my +house--at Kwihara." + +"He is dead." + +"Dead!" + +"True." + +"You do not mean to say the white man is dead?" + +"True--he is dead." + +"How long ago?" + +"Many months now." + +"What did he die of?" + +"Homa (fever)." + +"Any more of my people dead?" + +"I know not." + +"Enough." I looked sympathetically at the Doctor, and he replied, + +"I told you so. When you described him to me as a drunken man, I knew he +could not live. Men who have been habitual drunkards cannot live in +this country, any more than men who have become slaves to other vices. +I attribute the deaths that occurred in my expedition on the Zambezi to +much the same cause." + +"Ah, Doctor, there are two of us gone. I shall be the third, if this +fever lasts much longer." + +"Oh no, not at all. If you would have died from fever, you would have +died at Ujiji when you had that severe attack of remittent. Don't think +of it. Your fever now is only the result of exposure to wet. I never +travel during the wet season. This time I have travelled because I was +anxious, and I did not wish to detain you at Ujiji." + +"Well, there is nothing like a good friend at one's back in this country +to encourage him, and keep his spirits up. Poor Shaw! I am sorry--very +sorry for him. How many times have I not endeavoured to cheer him up! +But there was no life in him. And among the last words I said to him, +before parting, were, 'Remember, if you return to Unyanyembe, you die!'" + +We also obtained news from the chief of Sayd bin Habib's caravan that +several packets of letters and newspapers, and boxes, had arrived for me +from Zanzibar by my messengers and Arabs; that Selim, the son of Sheikh +Hashid of Zanzibar, was amongst the latest arrivals in Unyanyembe. The +Doctor also reminded me with the utmost good-nature that, according to +his accounts, he had a stock of jellies and crackers, soups, fish, and +potted ham, besides cheese, awaiting him in Unyanyembe, and that he +would be delighted to share his good things; whereupon I was greatly +cheered, and, during the repeated attacks of fever I suffered about this +time, my imagination loved to dwell upon the luxuries at Unyanyembe. +I pictured myself devouring the hams and crackers and jellies like a +madman. I lived on my raving fancies. My poor vexed brain rioted on such +homely things as wheaten bread and butter, hams, bacon, caviare, and I +would have thought no price too high to pay for them. Though so far +away and out of the pale of Europe and America, it was a pleasure to +me, during the _athumia_ or despondency into which I was plunged by ever +recurring fevers, to dwell upon them. I wondered that people who had +access to such luxuries should ever get sick, and become tired of life. +I thought that if a wheaten loaf with a nice pat of fresh butter were +presented to me, I would be able, though dying, to spring up and dance a +wild fandango. + +Though we lacked the good things of this life above named, we possessed +salted giraffe and pickled zebra tongues; we had ugali made by Halimah +herself; we had sweet potatoes, tea, coffee, dampers, or slap jacks; but +I was tired of them. My enfeebled stomach, harrowed and irritated with +medicinal compounds, with ipecac, colocynth, tartar-emetic, quinine, +and such things, protested against the coarse food. "Oh, for a wheaten +loaf!" my soul cried in agony. "Five hundred dollars for one loaf of +bread!" + +The Doctor, somehow or another, despite the incessant rain, the dew, +fog, and drizzle, the marching, and sore feet, ate like a hero, and I +manfully, sternly, resolved to imitate the persevering attention he paid +to the welfare of his gastric powers; but I miserably failed. + +Dr. Livingstone possesses all the attainments of a traveller. His +knowledge is great about everything concerning Africa--the rocks, the +trees, the fruits, and their virtues, are known to him. He is also full +of philosophic reflections upon ethnological matter. With camp-craft, +with its cunning devices, he is au fait. His bed is luxurious as a +spring mattress. Each night he has it made under his own supervision. +First, he has two straight poles cut, three or four inches in diameter; +which are laid parallel one with another, at the distance of two feet; +across these poles are laid short sticks, saplings, three feet long, +and over them is laid a thick pile of grass; then comes a piece of +waterproof canvas and blankets--and thus a bed has been improvised fit +for a king. + +It was at Livingstone's instigation I purchased milch goats, by which, +since leaving Ujiji, we have had a supply of fresh milk for our tea +and coffee three times a day. Apropos of this, we are great drinkers of +these welcome stimulants; we seldom halt drinking until we have each +had six or seven cups. We have also been able to provide ourselves with +music, which, though harsh, is better than none. I mean the musical +screech of parrots from Manyuema. + +Half-way between Mwaru--Kamirambo's village--and the deserted Tongoni of +Ukamba, I carved the Doctor's initials and my own on a large tree, with +the date February 2nd. I have been twice guilty of this in Africa once +when we were famishing in Southern Uvinza I inscribed the date, my +initials, and the word "Starving," in large letters on the trunk of a +sycamore. + +In passing through the forest of Ukamba, we saw the bleached skull of +an unfortunate victim to the privations of travel. Referring to it, the +Doctor remarked that he could never pass through an African forest, with +its solemn stillness and serenity, without wishing to be buried quietly +under the dead leaves, where he would be sure to rest undisturbed. In +England there was no elbow-room, the graves were often desecrated; and +ever since he had buried his wife in the woods of Shupanga he had sighed +for just such a spot, where his weary bones would receive the eternal +rest they coveted. + +The same evening, when the tent door was down, and the interior was made +cheerful by the light of a paraffin candle, the Doctor related to me +some incidents respecting the career and the death of his eldest son, +Robert. Readers of Livingstone's first book, 'South Africa,' without +which no boy should be, will probably recollect the dying Sebituane's +regard for the little boy "Robert." Mrs. Livingstone and family were +taken to the Cape of Good Hope, and thence sent to England, where Robert +was put in the charge of a tutor; but wearied of inactivity, when he +was about eighteen, he left Scotland and came to Natal, whence he +endeavoured to reach his father. Unsuccessful in his attempt, he took +ship and sailed for New York, and enlisted in the Northern Army, in a +New Hampshire regiment of Volunteers, discarding his own name of Robert +Moffatt Livingstone, and taking that of Rupert Vincent that his tutor, +who seems to have been ignorant of his duties to the youth, might not +find him. From one of the battles before Richmond, he was conveyed to a +North Carolina hospital, where he died from his wounds. + +On the 7th of February we arrived at the Gombe, and camped near one of +its largest lakes. This lake is probably several miles in length, and +swarms with hippopotami and crocodiles. + +From this camp I despatched Ferajji, the cook, and Chowpereh to +Unyanyembe, to bring the letters and medicines that were sent to me from +Zanzibar, and meet us at Ugunda, while the next day we moved to our +old quarters on the Gombe, where we were first introduced to the real +hunter's paradise in Central Africa. The rain had scattered the greater +number of the herds, but there was plenty of game in the vicinity. Soon +after breakfast I took Khamisi and Kalulu with me for a hunt. After a +long walk we arrived near a thin jungle, where I discovered the tracks +of several animals--boar, antelope, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, +and an unusual number of imprints of the lion's paw. Suddenly I heard +Khamisi say, "Master, master! here is a 'simba!' (lion);" and he came +up to me trembling with excitement and fear--for the young fellow was +an arrant coward--to point out the head of a beast, which could be seen +just above the tall grass, looking steadily towards us. It immediately +afterwards bounded from side to side, but the grass was so high that it +was impossible to tell exactly what it was. Taking advantage of a tree +in my front, I crept quietly onwards, intending to rest the heavy rifle +against it, as I was so weak from the effects of several fevers that I +felt myself utterly incapable of supporting my rifle for a steady aim. +But my surprise was great when I cautiously laid it against the tree, +and then directed its muzzle to the spot where I had seen him stand. +Looking further away--to where the grass was thin and scant--I saw the +animal bound along at a great rate, and that it was a lion: the noble +monarch of the forest was in full flight! From that moment I ceased to +regard him as the "mightiest among the brutes;" or his roar as anything +more fearful in broad daylight than a sucking dove's. + +The next day was also a halt, and unable to contain my longing for the +chase, where there used to be such a concourse of game of all kinds, +soon after morning coffee, and after despatching a couple of men with +presents to my friend Ma-manyara, of ammonia-bottle memory, I sauntered +out once more for the park. Not five hundred yards from the camp, myself +and men were suddenly halted by hearing in our immediate vicinity, +probably within fifty yards or so, a chorus of roars, issuing from a +triplet of lions. Instinctively my fingers raised the two hammers, as +I expected a general onset on me; for though one lion might fly, it +was hardly credible that three should. While looking keenly about I +detected, within easy rifle-shot, a fine hartebeest, trembling and +cowering behind a tree, as if it expected the fangs of the lion in its +neck. Though it had its back turned to me, I thought a bullet might +plough its way to a vital part, and without a moment's hesitation I +aimed and fired. The animal gave a tremendous jump, as if it intended +to take a flying leap through the tree; but recovering itself it dashed +through the underbrush in a different direction from that in which I +supposed the lions to be, and I never saw it again, though I knew I +had struck it from the bloody trail it left; neither did I see nor hear +anything more of the lions. I searched far and wide over the park-land +for prey of some kind, but was compelled to return unsuccessful to camp. + +Disgusted with my failure, we started a little after noon for Manyara, +at which place we were hospitably greeted by my friend, who had sent men +to tell me that his white brother must not halt in the woods but must +come to his village. We received a present of honey and food from +the chief, which was most welcome to us in our condition. Here was an +instance of that friendly disposition among Central African chiefs when +they have not been spoiled by the Arabs, which Dr. Livingstone found +among the Babisa and Ba-ulungu, and in Manyuema. I received the same +friendly recognition from all the chiefs, from Imrera, in Ukawendi, to +Unyanyembe, as I did from Mamanyara. + +On the 14th we arrived at Ugunda, and soon after we had established +ourselves comfortably in a hut which the chief lent us for our use, in +came Ferajji and Chowpereh, bringing with them Sarmean and Uledi +Manwa Sera, who, it will be recollected, were the two soldiers sent +to Zanzibar with letters and who should Sarmean have in charge but the +deserter Hamdallah, who decamped at Manyara, as we were going to Ujiji. +This fellow, it seems, had halted at Kigandu, and had informed the chief +and the doctor of the village that he had been sent by the white man to +take back the cloth left there for the cure of Mabruk Saleem; and the +simple chief had commanded it to be given up to him upon his mere word, +in consequence of which the sick man had died. + +Upon Sarmean's arrival in Unyanyembe from Zanzibar, about fifty days +after the Expedition had departed for Ujiji the news he received was +that the white man (Shaw) was dead; and that a man called Hamdallah, +who had engaged himself as one of my guides, but who had shortly after +returned, was at Unyanyembe. He had left him unmolested until the +appearance of Ferajji and his companion, when they at once, in a body, +made a descent on his hut and secured him. With the zeal which always +distinguished him in my service, Sarmean had procured a forked pole, +between the prongs of which the neck of the absconder was placed; and +a cross stick, firmly lashed, effectually prevented him from relieving +himself of the incumbrance attached to him so deftly. + +There were no less than seven packets of letters and newspapers from +Zanzibar, which had been collecting during my absence from Unyanyembe. +These had been intrusted at various times to the chiefs of caravans, who +had faithfully delivered them at my tembe, according to their promise +to the Consul. There was one packet for me, which contained two or +three letters for Dr. Livingstone, to whom, of course, they were at once +transferred, with my congratulations. In the same packet there was also +a letter to me from the British Consul at Zanzibar requesting me to take +charge of Livingstone's goods and do the best I could to forward them on +to him, dated 25th September, 1871, five days after I left Unyanyembe on +my apparently hopeless task. + +"Well, Doctor," said I to Livingstone, "the English Consul requests me +to do all I can to push forward your goods to you. I am sorry that I did +not get the authority sooner, for I should have attempted it; but in the +absence of these instructions I have done the best I could by pushing +you towards the goods. The mountain has not been able to advance +towards Mohammed, but Mohammed has been compelled to advance towards the +mountain." + +But Dr. Livingstone was too deeply engrossed in his own letters from +home, which were just a year old. + +I received good and bad news from New York, but the good news was +subsequent, and wiped out all feelings that might have been evoked had I +received the bad only. But the newspapers, nearly a hundred of them, New +York, Boston, and London journals, were full of most wonderful news. The +Paris Commune was in arms against the National Assembly; the Tuileries, +the Louvre, and the ancient city Lutetia Parisiorum had been set in +flames by the blackguards of Saint-Antoine! French troops massacring +and murdering men, women, and children; rampant diabolism, and incarnate +revenge were at work in the most beautiful city in the world! Fair women +converted into demons, and dragged by ruffianly soldiery through the +streets to universal execration and pitiless death; children of tender +age pinned to the earth and bayoneted; men innocent or not, shot, cut, +stabbed, slashed, destroyed--a whole city given up to the summa injuria +of an infuriate, reckless, and brutal army! Oh France! Oh Frenchmen! +Such things are unknown even in the heart of barbarous Central Africa. +We spurned the newspapers with our feet; and for relief to sickened +hearts gazed on the comic side of our world, as illustrated in the +innocent pages of 'Punch.' Poor 'Punch!' good-hearted, kindly-natured +'Punch!' a traveller's benison on thee! Thy jokes were as physic; thy +innocent satire was provocative of hysteric mirth. + +Our doors were crowded with curious natives, who looked with +indescribable wonder at the enormous sheets. I heard them repeat the +words, "Khabari Kisungu"--white man's news--often, and heard them +discussing the nature of such a quantity of news, and expressing their +belief that the "Wasungu" were "mbyah sana," and very "mkali;" by which +they meant to say that the white men were very wicked, and very smart +and clever though the term wicked is often employed to express high +admiration. + +On the fourth day from Ugunda, or the 18th of February, and the +fifty-third day from Ujiji, we made our appearance with flags flying +and guns firing in the valley of Kwihara, and when the Doctor and myself +passed through the portals of my old quarters I formally welcomed him to +Unyanyembe and to my house. + +Since the day I had left the Arabs, sick and, weary almost with my +life, but, nevertheless, imbued with the high hope that my mission would +succeed, 131 days had elapsed--with what vicissitudes of fortune the +reader well knows--during which time I had journeyed over 1,200 miles. + +The myth after which I travelled through the wilderness proved to be +a fact; and never was the fact more apparent than when the Living Man +walked with me arm in arm to my old room, and I said to him, "Doctor, we +are at last HOME!" + + + +CHAPTER XV. -- HOMEWARD BOUND.--LIVINGSTONE'S LAST WORDS--THE FINAL +FAREWELL + + +Unyanyembe was now to me a terrestrial Paradise. Livingstone was no less +happy; he was in comfortable quarters, which were a palace compared to +his hut in Ujiji. Our store-rooms were full of the good things of this +life, besides cloth, beads, wire, and the thousand and one impedimenta +and paraphernalia of travel with which I had loaded over one hundred and +fifty men at Bagamoyo. I had seventy-four loads of miscellaneous things, +the most valuable of which were now to be turned over to Livingstone, +for his march back to the sources of the Nile. + +It was a great day with, us when, with hammer and chisel, I broke open +the Doctor's boxes, that we might feast our famished stomachs on the +luxuries which were to redeem us from the effect of the cacotrophic +dourra and maize food we had been subjected to in the wilderness. +I conscientiously believed that a diet on potted ham, crackers, and +jellies would make me as invincible as Talus, and that I only required +a stout flail to be able to drive the mighty Wagogo into the regions of +annihilation, should they dare even to wink in a manner I disapproved. + +The first box opened contained three tins of biscuits, six tins of +potted hams--tiny things, not much larger than thimbles, which, when +opened, proved to be nothing more than a table-spoonful of minced meat +plentifully seasoned with pepper: the Doctor's stores fell five hundred +degrees below zero in my estimation. Next were brought out five pots of +jam, one of which was opened--this was also a delusion. The stone jars +weighed a pound, and in each was found a little over a tea-spoonful +of jam. Verily, we began to think our hopes and expectations had +been raised to too high a pitch. Three bottles of curry were next +produced--but who cares for curry? Another box was opened, and out +tumbled a fat dumpy Dutch cheese, hard as a brick, but sound and good; +though it is bad for the liver in Unyamwezi. Then another cheese was +seen, but this was all eaten up--it was hollow and a fraud. The third +box contained nothing but two sugar loaves; the fourth, candles; the +fifth, bottles of salt, Harvey, Worcester, and Reading sauces, essence +of anchovies, pepper, and mustard. Bless me! what food were these for +the revivifying of a moribund such as I was! The sixth box contained +four shirts, two pairs of stout shoes, some stockings and shoe-strings, +which delighted the Doctor so much when he tried them on that he +exclaimed, "Richard is himself again!" "That man," said I, "whoever he +is, is a friend, indeed." "Yes, that is my friend Waller." + +The five other boxes contained potted meat and soups; but the twelfth, +containing one dozen bottles of medicinal brandy, was gone; and a strict +cross-examination of Asmani, the head man of Livingstone's caravan, +elicited the fact, that not only was one case of brandy missing, but +also two bales of cloth and four bags of the most valuable beads in +Africa--sami-sami--which are as gold with the natives. + +I was grievously disappointed after the stores had been examined; +everything proved to be deceptions in my jaundiced eyes. Out of the +tins of biscuits when opened, there was only one sound box; the whole of +which would not make one full meal. The soups--who cared for meat soups +in Africa? Are there no bullocks, and sheep, and goats in the land, from +which far better soup can be made than any that was ever potted? Peas, +or any other kind of vegetable soup, would have been a luxury; but +chicken and game soups!--what nonsense! + +I then overhauled my own stores. I found some fine old brandy and one +bottle of champagne still left; though it was evident, in looking at the +cloth bales, that dishonesty had been at work; and some person +happened to suggest Asmani--the head man sent by Dr. Kirk in charge +of Livingstone's goods--as the guilty party. Upon his treasures being +examined, I found eight or ten coloured cloths, with the mark of my own +agent at Zanzibar on them. As he was unable to give a clear account of +how they came in his box, they were at once confiscated, and distributed +among the most deserving of the Doctor's people. Some of the watchmen +also accused him of having entered into my store-room, and of having +abstracted two or three gorah of domestics from my bales, and of having, +some days afterwards, snatched the keys from the hands of one of my men, +and broken them, lest other people might enter, and find evidences of +his guilt. As Asmani was proved to be another of the "moral idiots," +Livingstone discharged him on the spot. Had we not arrived so soon at +Unyanyembe, it is probable that the entire stock sent from Zanzibar had +in time disappeared. + +Unyanyembe being rich in fruits, grain, and cattle, we determined to +have our Christmas dinner over again in style, and, being fortunately in +pretty good health, I was enabled to superintend its preparation. Never +was such prodigality seen in a tembe of Unyamwezi as was seen in ours, +nor were ever such delicacies provided. + +There were but few Arabs in Unyanyembe when we arrived, as they were +investing the stronghold of Mirambo. About a week after our return, +"the little mannikin," Sheikh Sayd bin Salim--El Wali--who was the +commander-in-chief of their forces, came to Kwihara from the front. But +the little Sheikh was in no great hurry to greet the man he had wronged +so much. As soon as we heard of his arrival we took the opportunity to +send men immediately after the goods which were forwarded to the Wali's +care soon after Livingstone's departure for Mikindany Bay. The first +time we sent men for them the governor declared himself too sick to +attend to such matters, but the second day they were surrendered, with +a request that the Doctor would not be very angry at their condition, as +the white ants had destroyed everything. + +The stores this man had detained at Unyanyembe were in a most sorry +state. The expenses were prepaid for their carriage to Ujiji, but the +goods had been purposely detained at this place by Sayd bin Salim since +1867 that he might satisfy his appetite for liquor, and probably fall +heir to two valuable guns that were known to be with them. The white +ants had not only eaten up bodily the box in which the guns were packed, +but they had also eaten the gunstocks. The barrels were corroded, and +the locks were quite destroyed. The brandy bottles, most singular +to relate, had also fallen a prey to the voracious and irresistible +destroyers the white ants--and, by some unaccountable means, they had +imbibed the potent Hennessy, and replaced the corks with corn-cobs. The +medicines had also vanished, and the zinc pots in which they had been +snugly packed up were destroyed by corrosion. Two bottles of brandy and +one small zinc case of medicines only were saved out of the otherwise +utter wreck. + +I also begged the Doctor to send to Sheikh Sayd, and ask him if he had +received the two letters despatched by him upon his first arrival at +Ujiji for Dr. Kirk and Lord Clarendon; and if he had forwarded them to +the coast, as he was desired to do. The reply to the messengers was in +the affirmative; and, subsequently, I obtained the same answer in the +presence of the Doctor, + +On the 222nd of February, the pouring rain, which had dogged us the +entire distance from Ujiji, ceased, and we had now beautiful weather; +and while I prepared for the homeward march, the Doctor was busy writing +his letters, and entering his notes into his journal, which I was to +take to his family. When not thus employed, we paid visits to the Arabs +at Tabora, by whom we were both received with that bounteous hospitality +for which they are celebrated. + +Among the goods turned over by me to Dr. Livingstone, while assorting +such cloths as I wished to retain for my homeward trip, were-- + + Doti. Yards. + +First-class American sheeting... 285 = 1140 + + " Kaniki (blue stuff)... 16 = 64 + +Medium " (blue stuff)... 60 = 240 + + " Dabwani cloth.... 41 = 64 + + Barsati cloths.... 28 = 112 + + Printed handkerchiefs.. 70 = 280 + +Medium Rehani cloth..... 127 = 508 + + " Ismahili " .... 20 = 80 + + " Sohari "..... 20 = 80 + +4 pieces fine Kungura (red check) 22 = 88 + +4 gorah Rehani....... 8 = 32 + +Total number of cloths. 697 = 2788 + +Besides: + +Cloth, 2788 yards. + +Assorted beads, 16 sacks, weight = 992 lbs. + +Brass wire, Nos. 5 and 6; 10 fraslilah = 350 lbs. + +1 canvas tent, waterproof. + +1 air-bed. + +1 boat (canvas} + +1 bag of tools, carpenter's. + +1 rip saw. + +2 barrels of tar. + +12 sheets of ship's copper = 60 lbs. + +Clothes. + +1 Jocelyn breech-loader (metallic cartridge). + +1 Starr's " " " + +1 Henry (16-shooter) " " + +1 revolver. + +200 rounds revolver ammunition. + +2000 " Jocelyn and Starrs ammunition. + +1500 " Henry rifle ammunition. + +Cooking utensils, medicine chest, books, sextant, canvas bags, &c., &c., +&c. + +The above made a total of about forty loads. Many things in the list +would have brought fancy prices in Unyanyembe, especially the carbines +and ammunition, the saw, carpenter's tools the beads, and wire. Out of +the thirty-three loads which were stored for him in my tembe--the stock +sent to Livingstone, Nov. 1,1870--but few of them would be available for +his return trip to Rua and Manyuema. The 696 doti of cloth which were +left to him formed the only marketable articles of value he possessed; +and in Manyuema, where the natives manufactured their own cloth, such +an article would be considered a drug; while my beads and wire, with +economy, would suffice to keep him and his men over two years in those +regions. His own cloth, and what I gave him, made in the aggregate 1,393 +doti, which, at 2 doti per day for food, were sufficient to keep him and +sixty men 696 days. He had thus four years' supplies. The only articles +he lacked to make a new and completely fitted-up expedition were the +following, a list of which he and I drew up;-- + +A few tins of American wheat-flour. " " soda crackers. + " " preserved fruits +A few tins of salmon, 10 lbs. Hyson tea. Some sewing thread and needles. +1 dozen official envelopes. 'Nautical Almanac' for 1872 and 1873. 1 +blank journal. 1 chronometer, stopped. 1 chain for refractory people. + +With the articles just named he would have a total of seventy loads, +but without carriers they were an incumbrance to him; for, with only +the nine men which he now had, he could go nowhere with such a splendid +assortment of goods. I was therefore commissioned to enlist,--as soon as +I reached Zanzibar,--fifty freemen, arm them with a gun and hatchet each +man, besides accoutrements, and to purchase two thousand bullets, one +thousand flints, and ten kegs of gunpowder. The men were to act as +carriers, to follow wherever Livingstone might desire to go. For, +without men, he was simply tantalized with the aspirations roused in him +by the knowledge that he had abundance of means, which were irrealizable +without carriers. All the wealth of London and New York piled before +him were totally unavailable to him without the means of locomotion. No +Mnyamwezi engages himself as carrier during war-time. You who have read +the diary of my 'Life in Unyanyembe' know what stubborn Conservatives +the Wanyamwezi are. A duty lay yet before me which I owed to my +illustrious companion, and that was to hurry to the coast as if on a +matter of life and death--act for him in the matter of enlisting men as +if he were there himself--to work for him with the same zeal as I would +for myself--not to halt or rest until his desires should be gratified, +And this I vowed to do; but it was a death-blow to my project of going +down the Nile, and getting news of Sir S. Baker. + +The Doctor's task of writing his letters was ended. He delivered into my +hand twenty letters for Great Britain, six for Bombay, two for New York, +and one for Zanzibar. The two letters for New York were for James Gordon +Bennett, junior, as he alone, not his father, was responsible for +the Expedition sent under my command. I beg the reader's pardon for +republishing one of these letters here, as its spirit and style indicate +the man, the mere knowledge of whose life or death was worth a costly +Expedition. + +Ujiji, on Tanganika, East Africa, November, 1871. + +James Gordon Bennett, Jr., Esq. + +My Dear Sir,--It is in general somewhat difficult to write to one we +have never seen--it feels so much like addressing an abstract idea--but +the presence of your representative, Mr. H. M. Stanley, in this distant +region takes away the strangeness I should otherwise have felt, and in +writing to thank you for the extreme kindness that prompted you to send +him, I feel quite at home. + +If I explain the forlorn condition in which he found me you will easily +perceive that I have good reason to use very strong expressions of +gratitude. I came to Ujiji off a tramp of between four hundred and five +hundred miles, beneath a blazing vertical sun, having been baffled, +worried, defeated and forced to return, when almost in sight of the end +of the geographical part of my mission, by a number of half-caste Moslem +slaves sent to me from Zanzibar, instead of men. The sore heart made +still sorer by the woeful sights I had seen of man's inhumanity to man +racked and told on the bodily frame, and depressed it beyond measure. +I thought that I was dying on my feet. It is not too much to say that +almost every step of the weary sultry way was in pain, and I reached +Ujiji a mere ruckle of bones. + +There I found that some five hundred pounds' sterling worth of goods +which I had ordered from Zanzibar had unaccountably been entrusted to +a drunken half-caste Moslem tailor, who, after squandering them for +sixteen months on the way to Ujiji; finished up by selling off all that +remained for slaves and ivory for himself. He had "divined" on the +Koran and found that I was dead. He had also written to the Governor of +Unyanyembe that he had sent slaves after me to Manyuema, who returned +and reported my decease, and begged permission to sell off the few goods +that his drunken appetite had spared. + +He, however, knew perfectly well, from men who had seen me, that I was +alive, and waiting for the goods and men; but as for morality, he is +evidently an idiot, and there being no law here except that of the +dagger or musket, I had to sit down in great weakness, destitute of +everything save a few barter cloths and beads, which I had taken the +precaution to leave here in case of extreme need. + +The near prospect of beggary among Ujijians made me miserable. + +I could not despair, because I laughed so much at a friend who, on +reaching the mouth of the Zambezi, said that he was tempted to despair +on breaking the photograph of his wife. We could have no success after +that. Afterward the idea of despair had to me such a strong smack of the +ludicrous that it was out of the question. + +Well, when I had got to about the lowest verge, vague rumors of an +English visitor reached me. I thought of myself as the man who went down +from Jerusalem to Jericho; but neither priest, Levite, nor Samaritan +could possibly pass my way. Yet the good Samaritan was close at hand, +and one of my people rushed up at the top of his speed, and, in great +excitement, gasped out, "An Englishman coming! I see him!" and off he +darted to meet him. + +An American flag, the first ever seen in these parts, at the head of a +caravan, told me the nationality of the stranger. + +I am as cold and non-demonstrative as we islanders are usually +reputed to be; but your kindness made my frame thrill. It was, indeed, +overwhelming, and I said in my soul, "Let the richest blessings descend +from the Highest on you and yours!" + +The news Mr. Stanley had to tell was thrilling. The mighty political +changes on the Continent; the success of the Atlantic cables; the +election of General Grant, and many other topics' riveted my attention +for days together, and had an immediate and beneficial effect on my +health. I had been without news from home for years save what I could +glean from a few 'Saturday Reviews' and 'Punch' of 1868. The appetite +revived, and in a week I began to feel strong again. + +Mr. Stanley brought a most kind and encouraging despatch from Lord +Clarendon (whose loss I sincerely deplore), the first I have received +from the Foreign Office since 1866, and information that the British +Government had kindly sent a thousand pounds sterling to my aid. Up to +his arrival I was not aware of any pecuniary aid. I came unsalaried, but +this want is now happily repaired, and I am anxious that you and all my +friends should know that, though uncheered by letter, I have stuck +to the task which my friend Sir Roderick Murchison set me with "John +Bullish" tenacity, believing that all would come right at last. + +The watershed of South Central Africa is over seven hundred wiles in +length. The fountains thereon are almost innumerable--that is, it would +take a man's lifetime to count them. From the watershed they converge +into four large rivers, and these again into two mighty streams in the +great Nile valley, which begins in ten degrees to twelve degrees south +latitude. It was long ere light dawned on the ancient problem and gave +me a clear idea of the drainage. I had to feel my way, and every step +of the way, and was, generally, groping in the dark--for who cared where +the rivers ran? "We drank our fill and let the rest run by." + +The Portuguese who visited Cazembe asked for slaves and ivory, and +heard of nothing else. I asked about the waters, questioned and +cross-questioned, until I was almost afraid of being set down as +afflicted with hydrocephalus. + +My last work, in which I have been greatly hindered from want of +suitable attendants, was following the central line of drainage down +through the country of the cannibals, called Manyuema, or, shortly +Manyema. This line of drainage has four large lakes in it. The fourth I +was near when obliged to turn. It is from one to three miles broad, +and never can be reached at any point, or at any time of the year. Two +western drains, the Lufira, or Bartle Frere's River, flow into it at +Lake Kamolondo. Then the great River Lomame flows through Lake Lincoln +into it too, and seems to form the western arm of the Nile, on which +Petherick traded. + +Now, I knew about six hundred miles of the watershed, and unfortunately +the seventh hundred is the most interesting of the whole; for in it, if +I am not mistaken, four fountains arise from an earthen mound, and the +last of the four becomes, at no great distance off, a large river. + +Two of these run north to Egypt, Lufira and Lomame, and two run south +into inner Ethiopia, as the Leambaye, or Upper Zambezi, and the Kaful. + +Are not these the sources of the Nile mentioned by the Secretary of +Minerva, in the city of Sais, to Herodotus? + +I have heard of them so often, and at great distances off, that I cannot +doubt their existence, and in spite of the sore longing for home that +seizes me every time I think of my family, I wish to finish up by their +rediscovery. + +Five hundred pounds sterling worth of goods have again unaccountably +been entrusted to slaves, and have been over a year on the way, instead +of four months. I must go where they lie at your expense, ere I can put +the natural completion to my work. + +And if my disclosures regarding the terrible Ujijian slavery should lead +to the suppression of the East Coast slave trade, I shall regard that +as a greater matter by far than the discovery of all the Nile sources +together. Now that you have done with domestic slavery for ever, lend +us your powerful aid toward this great object. This fine country +is blighted, as with a curse from above, in order that the slavery +privileges of the petty Sultan of Zanzibar may not be infringed, and the +rights of the Crown of Portugal, which are mythical, should be kept in +abeyance till some future time when Africa will become another India to +Portuguese slave-traders. + +I conclude by again thanking you most cordially for your great +generosity, and am, + +Gratefully yours, + +David Livingstone. + + +To the above letter I have nothing to add--it speaks for itself; but I +then thought it was the best evidence of my success. For my own part, I +cared not one jot or tittle about his discoveries, except so far as it +concerned the newspaper which commissioned me for the "search." It +is true I felt curious as to the result of his travels; but, since +he confessed that he had not completed what he had begun, I felt +considerable delicacy to ask for more than he could afford to give. +His discoveries were the fruits of of his own labours--to him they +belonged--by their publication he hoped to obtain his reward, which +he desired to settle on his children. Yet Livingstone had a higher +and nobler ambition than the mere pecuniary sum he would receive: he +followed the dictates of duty. Never was such a willing slave to that +abstract virtue. His inclinations impelled him home, the fascinations +of which it required the sternest resolves to resist. With every foot of +new ground he travelled over he forged a chain of sympathy which should +hereafter bind the Christian nations in bonds of love and charity to the +Heathen of the African tropics. If he were able to complete this chain +of love--by actual discovery and description of them to embody such +peoples and nations as still live in darkness, so as to attract the good +and charitable of his own land to bestir themselves for their redemption +and salvation--this, Livingstone would consider an ample reward. + +"A delirious and fatuous enterprise, a Quixotic scheme!" some will say. +Not it, my friends; for as sure as the sun shines on both Christian and +Infidel, civilised and Pagan, the day of enlightenment will come; and, +though Livingstone, the Apostle of Africa, may not behold it himself, +nor we younger men, not yet our children, the Hereafter will see it, and +posterity will recognise the daring pioneer of its civilization. + +The following items are extracted in their entirety from my Diary: + +March 12th.--The Arabs have sent me as many as forty-five letters to +carry to the coast. I am turned courier in my latter days; but the +reason is that no regularly organized caravans are permitted to leave +Unyanyembe now, because of the war with Mirambo. What if I had stayed +all this time at Unyanyembe waiting for the war to end! It is my opinion +that, the Arabs will not be able to conquer Mirambo under nine months +yet. + +To-night the natives have gathered themselves together to give me a +farewell dance in front of my house. I find them to be the pagazis of +Singiri, chief of Mtesa's caravan. My men joined in, and, captivated +by the music despite myself, I also struck in, and performed the "light +fantastic," to the intense admiration of my braves, who were delighted +to see their master unbend a little from his usual stiffness. + +It is a wild dance altogether. The music is lively, and evoked from the +sonorous sound of four drums, which are arranged before the bodies of +four men, who stand in the centre of the weird circle. Bombay, as ever +comical, never so much at home as when in the dance of the Mrima, has my +water-bucket on his head; Chowpereh--the sturdy, the nimble, sure-footed +Chowpereh--has an axe in his hand, and wears a goatskin on his head; +Baraka has my bearskin, and handles a spear; Mabruki, the "Bull-headed," +has entered into the spirit of the thing, and steps up and down like a +solemn elephant; Ulimengo has a gun, and is a fierce Drawcansir, and +you would imagine he was about to do battle to a hundred thousand, +so ferocious is he in appearance; Khamisi and Kamna are before +the drummers, back to back, kicking up ambitiously at the stars; +Asmani,--the embodiment of giant strength,--a towering Titan,--has also +a gun, with which he is dealing blows in the air, as if he were Thor, +slaying myriads with his hammer. The scruples and passions of us all are +in abeyance; we are contending demons under the heavenly light of the +stars, enacting only the part of a weird drama, quickened into action +and movement by the appalling energy and thunder of the drums. + +The warlike music is ended, and another is started. The choragus +has fallen on his knees, and dips his head two or three times in an +excavation in the ground, and a choir, also on their knees, repeat in +dolorous tones the last words of a slow and solemn refrain. The words +are literally translated:-- + + Choragus. Oh-oh-oh! the white man is going home! + + Choir. Oh-oh-oh! going home! + Going home, oh-oh-oh! + + Choragus. To the happy island on the sea, + Where the beads are plenty, oh-oh-oh! + + Choir. Oh-oh-oh! where the beads are plenty, + Oh-oh-oh! + + Choragus. While Singiri has kept us, oh, very long + From our homes very long, oh-oh-oh.! + + Choir From our homes, oh-oh-oh! + Oh-oh-oh! + + Choragus. And we have had no food for very long-- + We are half-starved, oh, for so long! + Bana Singiri! + + Choir. For so very long, oh-oh-oh! + Bana Singiri-Singiri! + Singiri! oh, Singiri + + Choragus. Mirambo has gone to war + To fight against the Arabs; + The Arabs and Wangwana + Have gone to fight Mirambo! + + Choir Oh-oh-oh! to fight Mirambo! + + Oh, Mirambo! Mirambo + Oh, to fight Mirambo! + + Choragus. But the white man will make us glad, + He is going home! For he is going home, + And he will make us glad! Sh-sh-sh! + + Choir. The white man will make us glad! Sh-sh-sh + Sh-----sh-h-h-----sh-h-h-h-h-h! + Um-m--mu---um-m-m----sh! + +This is the singular farewell which I received from the Wanyamwezi of +Singiri, and for its remarkable epic beauty(?), rhythmic excellence(?), +and impassioned force(?), I have immortalised it in the pages of this +book, as one of the most wonderful productions of the chorus-loving +children of Unyamwezi. + +March 13th.--The last day of my stay with Livingstone has come and gone, +and the last night we shall be together is present, and I cannot evade +the morrow! I feel as though I would rebel against the fate which drives +me away from him. The minutes beat fast, and grow into hours. + +Our door is closed, and we are both of us busy with our own thoughts. +What his thoughts are I know not. Mine are sad. My days seem to have +been spent in an Elysian field; otherwise, why should I so keenly regret +the near approach of the parting hour? Have I not been battered by +successive fevers, prostrate with agony day after day lately? Have I not +raved and stormed in madness? Have I not clenched my fists in fury, and +fought with the wild strength of despair when in delirium? Yet, I regret +to surrender the pleasure I have felt in this man's society, though so +dearly purchased. + +I cannot resist the sure advance of time, which flies this night as if +it mocked me, and gloated on the misery it created! Be it so! + +How many times have I not suffered the pang of parting with friends! I +wished to linger longer, but the inevitable would come--Fate sundered +us. This is the same regretful feeling, only it is more poignant, +and the farewell may be forever! FOREVER? And "FOR EVER," echo the +reverberations of a woful whisper. + +I have noted down all he has said to-night; but the reader shall not +share it with me. It is mine! + +I am as jealous as he is himself of his Journal; and I have written in +German text, and in round hand, on either side of it, on the waterproof +canvas cover, "POSITTVELY NOT TO BE OPENED;" to which he has affixed his +signature. I have stenographed every word he has said to me respecting +the equable distribution of certain curiosities among his friends and +children, and his last wish about "his" dear old friend, Sir Roderick +Murchison, because he has been getting anxious about him ever since we +received the newspapers at Ugunda, when we read that the old man was +suffering from a paralytic stroke. I must be sure to send him the news, +as soon as I get to Aden; and I have promised that he will receive +the message from me quicker than anything was ever received in Central +Africa. + +"To-morrow night, Doctor, you will be alone!" + +"Yes; the house will look as though a death had taken place. You had +better stop until the rains, which are now near, are over." + +"I would to God I could, my dear Doctor; but every day I stop here, now +that there is no necessity for me to stay longer, keeps you from your +work and home." + +"I know; but consider your health--you are not fit to travel. What +is it? Only a few weeks longer. You will travel to the coast just as +quickly when the rains are over as you will by going now. The plains +will be inundated between here and the coast." + +"You think so; but I will reach the coast in forty days; if not in +forty, I will in fifty--certain. The thought that I am doing you an +important service will spur me on." + +March 14th.--At dawn we were up, the bales and baggage were taken +outside of the building, and the men prepared themselves for the first +march towards home. + +We had a sad breakfast together. I could not eat, my heart was too full; +neither did my companion seem to have an appetite. We found something to +do which kept us longer together. At 8 o'clock I was not gone, and I had +thought to have been off at 5 A.M. + +"Doctor," said I, "I will leave two men with you, who will stop to-day +and to-morrow with you, for it may be that you have forgotten something +in the hurry of my departure. I will halt a day at Tura, on the frontier +of Unyamwezi, for your last word, and your last wish; and now we must +part--there is no help for it. Good-bye." + +"Oh, I am coming with you a little way. I must see you off on the road." + +"Thank you. Now, my men, Home! Kirangozi, lift the flag, and MARCH!" + +The house looked desolate--it faded from our view. Old times, and the +memories of my aspirations and kindling hopes, came strong on me. The +old hills round about, that I once thought tame and uninteresting, had +become invested with histories and reminiscences for me. On that burzani +I have sat hour after hour, dreaming, and hoping, and sighing. On that +col I stood, watching the battle and the destruction of Tabora. Under +that roof I have sickened and been delirious, and cried out like a child +at the fate that threatened my mission. Under that banian tree lay my +dead comrade--poor Shaw; I would have given a fortune to have had him by +my side at this time. From that house I started on my journey to Ujiji; +to it I returned as to a friend, with a newer and dearer companion; and +now I leave all. Already it all appears like a strange dream. + +We walked side by side; the men lifted their voices into a song. I took +long looks at Livingstone, to impress his features thoroughly on my +memory. + +"The thing is, Doctor, so far as I can understand it, you do not intend +to return home until you have satisfied yourself about the 'Sources +of the Nile.' When you have satisfied yourself, you will come home and +satisfy others. Is it not so?" + +"That is it, exactly. When your men come back, I shall immediately start +for Ufipa; then, crossing the Rungwa River, I shall strike south, and +round the extremity of the Tanganika. Then, a south-east course will +take me to Chicumbi's, on the Luapula. On crossing the Luapula, I shall +go direct west to the copper-mines of Katanga. Eight days south of +Katanga, the natives declare the fountains to be. When I have found +them, I shall return by Katanga to the underground houses of Rua. From +the caverns, ten days north-east will take me to Lake Kamolondo. I shall +be able to travel from the lake, in your boat, up the River Lufira, +to Lake Lincoln. Then, coming down again, I can proceed north, by the +Lualaba, to the fourth lake--which, I think, will explain the whole +problem; and I will probably find that it is either Chowambe (Baker's +lake), or Piaggia's lake. + +"And how long do you think this little journey will take you?" + +"A year and a half, at the furthest, from the day I leave Unyanyembe." + +"Suppose you say two years; contingencies might arise, you know. It will +be well for me to hire these new men for two years; the day of their +engagement to begin from their arrival at Unyanyembe." + +"Yes, that will do excellently well." + +"Now, my dear Doctor, the best friends must part. You have come far +enough; let me beg of you to turn back." + +"Well, I will say this to you: you have done what few men could do--far +better than some great travellers I know. And I am grateful to you for +what you have done for me. God guide you safe home, and bless you, my +friend." + +"And may God bring you safe back to us all, my dear friend. Farewell!" + +"Farewell!" + +We wrung each other's hands, and I had to tear myself away before +I unmanned myself; but Susi, and Chumah, and Hamoydah--the Doctor's +faithful fellows--they must all shake and kiss my hands before I could +quite turn away. I betrayed myself! + +"Good-bye, Doctor--dear friend!" + +"Good-bye!" + +The FAREWELL between Livingstone and myself had been spoken. We were +parted, he to whatever fate Destiny had yet in store for him, to +battling against difficulties, to many, many days of marching through +wildernesses, with little or nothing much to sustain him save his own +high spirit, and enduring faith in God--"who would bring all things +right at last;" and I to that which Destiny may have in store for me. + +But though I may live half a century longer, I shall never forget that +parting scene in Central Africa. I shall never cease to think of the sad +tones of that sorrowful word Farewell, how they permeated through every +core of my heart, how they clouded my eyes, and made me wish unutterable +things which could never be. + +An audacious desire to steal one embrace from the dear old man came over +me, and almost unmanned me. I felt tempted to stop with him and assist +him, on his long return march to the fountain region, but these things +were not to be, any more than many other impulsive wishes, and despite +the intensified emotions which filled both of us, save by silent tears, +and a tremulous parting word, we did not betray our stoicism of manhood +and race. + +I assumed a gruff voice, and ordered the Expedition to march, and I +resolutely turned my face toward the eastern sky. But ever and anon my +eyes would seek that deserted figure of an old man in grey clothes, who +with bended head and slow steps was returning to his solitude, the very +picture of melancholy, and each time I saw him--as the plain was wide +and clear of obstructions--I felt my eyes stream, and my heart swell +with a vague, indefinable feeling of foreboding and sorrow. + +I thought of his lonely figure sitting day after day on the burzani of +his house, by which all caravans from the coast would have to pass, and +of the many, many times he would ask the new-comers whether they had +passed any men coming along the road for him, and I thought as each day +passed, and his stores and letters had not arrived how he would grieve +at the lengthening delay. I then felt strong again, as I felt that +so long as I should be doing service for Livingstone, I was not quite +parted from him, and by doing the work effectively and speedily the bond +of friendship between us would be strengthened. Such thoughts spurred me +to the resolution to march so quickly for the coast, that Arabs in +after time should marvel at the speed with which the white man's caravan +travelled from Unyanyembe to Zanzibar. + +I took one more look at him; he was standing near the gate of Kwikuru +with his servants near him. I waved a handkerchief to him, as a final +token of farewell, and he responded to it by lifting his cap. It was the +last opportunity, for we soon surmounted the crest of a land-wave, and +began the descent into the depression on the other side, and I NEVER saw +him more. + +God grant, dear reader, that if ever you take to travelling in Central +Africa, you find as good and true a man, for your companion, as I found +in noble David Livingstone. For four months and four days he and I +occupied the same house, or, the same tent, and I never had one feeling +of resentment against him, nor did he show any against me, and the +longer I lived with him the more did my admiration and reverence for him +increase. + +What were Livingstone's thoughts during the time which elapsed between +my departure for the coast, and the arrival of his supplies, may be +gathered from a letter which he wrote on the 2nd of July to Mr. John F. +Webb, American Consul at Zanzibar. + + I have been waiting up here like Simeon Stylites on his pillar, + and counting every day, and conjecturing each step taken by our + friend towards the coast, wishing and praying that no sickness + might lay him up, no accident befall him, and no unlooked-for + combinations of circumstances render his kind intentions vain + or fruitless. Mr. Stanley had got over the tendency to the + continued form of fever which is the most dangerous, and was + troubled only with the intermittent form, which is comparatively + safe, or I would not have allowed him, but would have accompanied + him to Zanzibar. I did not tell himself so; nor did I say what I + thought, that he really did a very plucky thing in going through + the Mirambo war in spite of the remonstrances of all the Arabs, + and from Ujiji guiding me back to Unyanyembe. The war, as it + is called, is still going on. The danger lay not so much in + the actual fighting as in the universal lawlessness the war + engendered. + +I am not going to inflict on the reader a repetition of our march back, +except to record certain incidents which occurred to us as we journeyed +to the coast. + +March 17th.--We came to the Kwalah River. The first rain of the Masika +season fell on this day; I shall be mildewed before I reach the coast. +Last year's Masika began at Bagamoyo, March 23rd, and ended 30th April. + +The next day I halted the Expedition at Western Tura, on the Unyamwezi +frontier, and on the 20th arrived at Eastern Tura; when, soon after, +we heard a loud report of a gun, and Susi and Hamoydah, the Doctor's +servants, with Uredi, and another of my men, appeared with a letter +for "Sir Thomas MacLear, Observatory, Cape of Good Hope," and one for +myself, which read as follows: + +Kwihara, March 15, 1872. + +Dear Stanley, + +If you can telegraph on your arrival in London, be particular, please, +to say how Sir Roderick is. You put the matter exactly yesterday, when +you said that I was "not yet satisfied about the Sources; but as soon as +I shall be satisfied, I shall return and give satisfactory reasons fit +for other people." This is just as it stands. + +I wish I could give you a better word than the Scotch one to "put a +stout heart to a stey brae"--(a steep ascent)--for you will do that; and +I am thankful that, before going away, the fever had changed into the +intermittent, or safe form. I would not have let you go, but with great +concern, had you still been troubled with the continued type. I feel +comfortable in commending you to the guardianship of the good Lord and +Father of all. + +I am gratefully yours, + +David Livingstone. + +I have worked as hard as I could copying observations made in one line +of march from Kabuire, back again to Cazembe, and on to Lake Baugweolo, +and am quite tired out. My large figures fill six sheets of foolscap, +and many a day will elapse ere I take to copying again. I did my duty +when ill at Ujiji in 1869, and am not to blame, though they grope a +little in the dark at home. Some Arab letters have come, and I forward +them to you. + +D. L. + +March 16, 1872. + +P.S.--I have written a note this morning to Mr. Murray, 50, Albemarle +Street, the publisher, to help you, if necessary, in sending the Journal +by book post, or otherwise, to Agnes. If you call on him you will find +him a frank gentleman. A pleasant journey to you. + + +David Livingstone. + +To Henry M. Stanley, Esq., Wherever he may be found. + + +Several Wangwana arrived at Tura to join our returning Expedition, +as they were afraid to pass through Ugogo by themselves; others were +reported coming; but as all were sufficiently warned at Unyanyembe that +the departure of the caravan would take place positively on the 14th, I +was not disposed to wait longer. + +As we were leaving Tura, on the 21st, Susi and Hamoydah were sent back +to the Doctor, with last words from me, while we continued our march to +Nghwhalah River. + +Two days afterwards we arrived before the village of Ngaraisa, into +which the head of the caravan attempted to enter but the angry Wakimbu +forcibly ejected them. + +On the 24th, we encamped in the jungle, in what is called the "tongoni," +or clearing. + +This region was at one period in a most flourishing state; the soil is +exceedingly fertile; the timber is large, and would be valuable near the +coast; and, what is highly appreciated in Africa, there is an abundance +of water. We camped near a smooth, broad hump of syenite, at one end +of which rose, upright and grand, a massive square rock, which towered +above several small trees in the vicinity; at the other end stood up +another singular rock, which was loosened at the base. + +The members of the Expedition made use of the great sheet of rock to +grind their grain; a common proceeding in these lands where villages are +not near, or when the people are hostile. + +On the 27th of March we entered Kiwyeh. At dawn, when leaving Mdaburu +River, the solemn warning had been given that we were about entering +Ugogo; and as we left Kaniyaga village, with trumpet-like blasts of the +guide's horn, we filed into the depths of an expanse of rustling Indian +corn. The ears were ripe enough for parching and roasting, and thus was +one anxiety dispelled by its appearance; for generally, in early March, +caravans suffer from famine, which overtakes both natives and strangers. + +We soon entered the gum-tree districts, and we knew we were in Ugogo. +The forests of this country are chiefly composed of the gum and thorn +species--mimosa and tamarisk, with often a variety of wild fruit trees. +The grapes were plentiful, though they were not quite ripe; and there +was also a round, reddish fruit with the sweetness of the Sultana grape, +with leaves like a gooseberry-bush. There was another about the size of +an apricot, which was excessively bitter. + +Emerging from the entangled thorn jungle, the extensive settlements of +Kiwyeh came into view; and to the east of the chief's village we found a +camping place under the shade of a group of colossal baobab. + +We had barely encamped when we heard the booming, bellowing war horns +sounding everywhere, and we espied messengers darting swiftly in every +direction giving the alarm of war. When first informed that the horns +were calling the people to arm themselves, and prepare for war, I half +suspected that an attack was about to be made on the Expedition; but +the words "Urugu, warugu" (thief! thieves!)--bandied about, declared +the cause. Mukondoku, the chief of the populous district two days to the +north-east, where we experienced some excitement when westward-bound, +was marching to attack the young Mtemi, Kiwyeh, and Kiwyeh's soldiers +were called to the fight. The men rushed to their villages, and in a +short time we saw them arrayed in full fighting costume. Feathers of the +ostrich and the eagle waved over their fronts, or the mane of the zebra +surrounded their heads; their knees and ankles were hung with little +bells; joho robes floated behind, from their necks; spears, assegais, +knob-sticks, and bows were flourished over their heads, or held in their +right hands, as if ready for hurling. On each flank of a large body +which issued from the principal village, and which came at a uniform +swinging double-quick, the ankle and knee bells all chiming in +admirable unison, were a cloud of skirmishers, consisting of the most +enthusiastic, who exercised themselves in mimic war as they sped along. +Column after column, companies, and groups from every village hurried +on past our camp until, probably, there were nearly a thousand soldiers +gone to the war. This scene gave me a better idea than anything else +of the weakness of even the largest caravans which travelled between +Zanzibar and Unyanyembe. + +At night the warriors returned from the forest; the alarm proved to be +without foundation. At first it was generally reported that the invaders +were Wahehe, or the Wadirigo, as that tribe are scornfully called from +their thieving propensities. The Wahehe frequently make a foray upon +the fat cattle of Ugogo. They travel from their own country in the +south-east, and advance through the jungle, and when about to approach +the herds, stoop down, covering their bodies with their shields of +bull-hide. Having arrived between the cattle and the herdsmen, they +suddenly rise up and begin to switch the cattle heartily, and, having +started them off into the jungle in the care of men already detailed for +the work, they turn about, and plant their shields before them, to fight +the aroused shepherds. + +On the 30th we arrived at Khonze, which is remarkable for the mighty +globes of foliage which the giant sycamores and baobabs put forth above +the plain. The chief of Khonze boasts of four tembes, out of which +he could muster in the aggregate fifty armed men; yet this fellow, +instigated by the Wanyamwezi residents, prepared to resist our advance, +because I only sent him three doti--twelve yards of cloth--as honga. + +We were halted, waiting the return of a few friendly Wagogo travellers +who had joined us, and who were asked to assist Bombay in the +negotiation of the tribute, when the Wagogo returned to us at breathless +speed, and shouted out to me, "Why do you halt here? Do you wish to die? +These pagans will not take the tribute, but they boast that they will +eat up all your cloth." + +The renegade Wanyamwezi who had married into Wagogo families were always +our bane in this country. As the chief of Khonze came up I ordered +the men to load their guns, and I loaded my own ostentatiously in his +presence, and then strode up to him, and asked if he had come to take +the cloth by force, or if he were going to accept quietly what I would +give him. As the Mnyamwezi who caused this show of hostilities was +beginning to speak, I caught him by the throat, and threatened to make +his nose flatter if he attempted to speak again in my presence, and to +shoot him first, if we should be forced to fight. The rascal was then +pushed away into the rear. The chief, who was highly amused with this +proceeding, laughed loudly at the discomfiture of the parasite, and in a +short time he and I had settled the tribute to our mutual satisfaction, +and we parted great friends. The Expedition arrived at Sanza that night. + +On the 31st we came to Kanyenyi, to the great Mtemi--Magomba's--whose +son and heir is Mtundu M'gondeh. As we passed by the tembe of the great +Sultan, the msagira, or chief counsellor, a pleasant grey-haired man, +was at work making a thorn fence around a patch of young corn. He +greeted the caravan with a sonorous "Yambo," and, putting himself at +its head, he led the way to our camp. When introduced to me he was very +cordial in his manner. He was offered a kiti-stool and began to talk +very affably. He remembered my predecessors, Burton, Speke, and Grant, +very well; declared me to be much younger than any of them; and, +recollecting that one of the white men used to drink asses' milk +(Burton?), offered to procure me some. The way I drank it seemed to give +him very great satisfaction. + +His son, Unamapokera, was a tall man of thirty or thereabouts, and +he conceived a great friendship for me, and promised that the tribute +should be very light, and that he would send a man to show me the way to +Myumi, which was a village on the frontier of Kanyenyi, by which I +would be enabled to avoid the rapacious Kisewah, who was in the habit of +enforcing large tribute from caravans. + +With the aid of Unamapokera and his father, we contrived to be mulcted +very lightly, for we only paid ten doti, while Burton was compelled to +pay sixty doti or two hundred and forty yards of cloth. + +On the 1st of April, rising early, we reached Myumi after a four hours' +march; then plunged into the jungle, and, about 2 P.M. arrived at a +large ziwa, or pond, situate in the middle of a jungle; and on the next +day, at 10 A.M., reached the fields of Mapanga. We were passing the +village of Mapanga to a resting-place beyond the village, where we might +breakfast and settle the honga, when a lad rushed forward to meet us, +and asked us where we were going. Having received a reply that we were +going to a camping-place, he hastened on ahead, and presently we heard +him talking to some men in a field on our right. + +In the meantime, we had found a comfortable shady place, and had come to +a halt; the men were reclining on the ground, or standing up near their +respective loads; Bombay was about opening a bale, when we heard a great +rush of men, and loud shouts, and, immediately after, out rushed from +the jungle near by a body of forty or fifty armed men, who held their +spears above their heads, or were about to draw their bows, with a chief +at their head, all uttering such howls of rage as only savages can, +which sounded like a long-drawn "Hhaat-uh--Hhaat-uhh-uhh," which +meant, unmistakably, "You will, will you? No, you will not!"--at once +determined, defiant, and menacing. + +I had suspected that the voices I heard boded no good to us, and I had +accordingly prepared my weapons and cartridges. Verily, what a fine +chance for adventure this was! One spear flung at us, or one shot fired +into this minatory mob of savages, and the opposing' bands had been +plunged into a fatal conflict! There would have been no order of +battle, no pomp of war, but a murderous strife, a quick firing of +breech-loaders, and volleys from flint-lock muskets, mixed with the +flying of spears and twanging of bows, the cowardly running away at +once, pursued by yelping savages; and who knows how it all would have +terminated? Forty spears against forty guns--but how many guns would +not have decamped? Perhaps all, and I should have been left with my +boy gunbearers to have my jugular deliberately severed, or to be +decapitated, leaving my head to adorn a tall pole in the centre of +a Kigogo village, like poor Monsieur Maizan's at Dege la Mhora, in +Uzaramo. Happy end of an Expedition! And the Doctor's Journal lost for +ever--the fruits of six years' labor! + +But in this land it will not do to fight unless driven to the very last +extremity. No belligerent Mungo Park can be successful in Ugogo unless +he has a sufficient force of men with him. With five hundred Europeans +one could traverse Africa from north to south, by tact, and the moral +effect that such a force would inspire. Very little fighting would be +required. + +Without rising from the bale on which I was seated, I requested +the kirangozi to demand an explanation of their furious hubbub and +threatening aspect; if they were come to rob us. + +"No," said the chief; "we do not want to stop the road, or to rob you; +but we want the tribute." + +"But don't you see us halted, and the bale opened to send it to you? We +have come so far from your village that after the tribute is settled we +can proceed on our way, as the day is yet young." + +The chief burst into a loud laugh, and was joined by ourselves. He +evidently felt ashamed of his conduct for he voluntarily offered the +explanation, that as he and his men were cutting wood to make a new +fence for his village, a lad came up to him, and said that a caravan +of Wangwana were about passing through the country without stopping to +explain who they were. We were soon very good friends. He begged of +me to make rain for him, as his crops were suffering, and no rain had +fallen for months. I told him that though white people were very great +and clever people, much superior to the Arabs, yet we could not make +rain. Though very much disappointed, he did not doubt my statement, and +after receiving his honga, which was very light, he permitted us to go +on our way, and even accompanied us some distance to show us the road. + +At 3 P.M. we entered a thorny jungle; and by 5 P.M. we had arrived at +Muhalata, a district lorded over by the chief Nyamzaga. A Mgogo, of whom +I made a friend, proved very staunch. He belonged to Mulowa, a country +to the S.S.E., and south of Kulabi; and was active in promoting my +interests by settling the tribute, with the assistance of Bombay, for +me. When, on the next day, we passed through Kulabi on our way to Mvumi, +and the Wagogo were about to stop us for the honga, he took upon himself +the task of relieving us from further toll, by stating we were from +Ugogo or Kanyenyi. The chief simply nodded his head, and we passed on. +It seems that the Wagogo do not exact blackmail of those caravans who +intend only to trade in their own country, or have no intention of +passing beyond their own frontier. + +Leaving Kulabi, we traversed a naked, red, loamy plain, over which the +wind from the heights of Usagara, now rising a bluish-black jumble +of mountains in our front, howled most fearfully. With clear, keen, +incisive force, the terrible blasts seemed to penetrate through an +through our bodies, as though we were but filmy gauze. Manfully battling +against this mighty "peppo"--storm--we passed through Mukamwa's, and +crossing a broad sandy bed of a stream, we entered the territory of +Mvumi, the last tribute-levying chief of Ugogo. + +The 4th of April, after sending Bombay and my friendly Mgogo with eight +doti, or thirty-two yards of cloth, as a farewell tribute to the Sultan, +we struck off through the jungle, and in five hours we were on the +borders of the wilderness of "Marenga Mkali"--the "hard," bitter or +brackish, water. + +From our camp I despatched three men to Zanzibar with letters to the +American Consul, and telegraphic despatches for the 'Herald,' with a +request to the Consul that he would send the men back with a small case +or two containing such luxuries as hungry, worn-out, and mildewed men +would appreciate. The three messengers were charged not to halt for +anything--rain or no rain, river or inundation--as if they did not hurry +up we should catch them before they reached the coast. With a fervent +"Inshallah, bana," they departed. + +On the 5th, with a loud, vigorous, cheery "Hurrah!" we plunged into the +depths of the wilderness, which, with its eternal silence and solitude, +was far preferable to the jarring, inharmonious discord of the villages +of the Wagogo. For nine hours we held on our way, starting with noisy +shouts the fierce rhinoceros, the timid quagga, and the herds of +antelopes which crowd the jungles of this broad salina. On the 7th, amid +a pelting rain, we entered Mpwapwa, where my Scotch assistant, Farquhar, +died. We had performed the extraordinary march of 338 English statute +miles from the 14th of March to the 7th of April, or within twenty-four +days, inclusive of halts, which was a little over fourteen miles a day. + +Leukole, the chief of Mpwapwa, with whom I left Farquhar, gave the +following account of the death of the latter:-- + +"The white man seemed to be improving after you left him, until the, +fifth day, when, while attempting to rise and walk out of his tent, he +fell back; from that minute he got worse and worse, and in the afternoon +he died, like one going to sleep. His legs and abdomen had swollen +considerably, and something, I think, broke within him when he fell, for +he cried out like a man who was very much hurt, and his servant said, +'The master says he is dying.' + +"We had him carried out under a large tree, and after covering him with +leaves, there left him. His servant took possession of his things, his +rifle, clothes, and blanket, and moved off to the tembe of a Mnyamwezi, +near Kisokweh, where he lived for three months, when he also died. +Before he died he sold his master's rifle to an Arab going to Unyanyembe +for ten doti (forty yards of cloth). That is all I know about it." + +He subsequently showed me the hollow into which the dead body of +Farquhar was thrown, but I could not find a vestige of his bones, though +we looked sharply about that we might make a decent grave for them. +Before we left Unyanyembe fifty men were employed two days carrying +rocks, with which I built up a solid enduring pile around Shaw's grave +eight feet long and five feet broad, which Dr. Livingstone said would +last hundreds of years, as the grave of the first white man who died +in Unyamwezi. But though we could not discover any remains of the +unfortunate Farquhar, we collected a large quantity of stones, and +managed to raise a mound near the banks of the stream to commemorate the +spot where his body was laid. + +It was not until we had entered the valley of the Mukondokwa River that +we experienced anything like privation or hardship from the Masika. Here +the torrents thundered and roared; the river was a mighty brown flood, +sweeping downward with, an almost resistless flow. The banks were +brimful, and broad nullahs were full of water, and the fields were +inundated, and still the rain came surging down in a shower, that warned +us of what we might expect during our transit of the sea-coast region. +Still we urged our steps onward like men to whom every moment was +precious--as if a deluge was overtaking us. Three times we crossed this +awful flood at the fords by means of ropes tied to trees from bank to +bank, and arrived at Kadetamare on the 11th, a most miserable, most +woe-begone set of human beings; and camped on a hill opposite Mount +Kibwe, which rose on the right of the river--one of the tallest peaks of +the range. + +On the 12th of April, after six hours of the weariest march I had ever +undergone, we arrived at the mouth of the Mukondokwa Pass, out of which +the river debouches into the Plain of Makata. We knew that it was an +unusual season, for the condition of the country, though bad enough the +year before, was as nothing compared to this year. Close to the edge +of the foaming, angry flood lay our route, dipping down frequently into +deep ditches, wherein we found ourselves sometimes up to the waist in +water, and sometimes up to the throat. Urgent necessity impelled us +onward, lest we might have to camp at one of these villages until the +end of the monsoon rains; so we kept on, over marshy bottoms, up to the +knees in mire, under jungly tunnels dripping with wet, then into sloughs +arm-pit deep. Every channel seemed filled to overflowing, yet down +the rain poured, beating the surface of the river into yellowish foam, +pelting us until we were almost breathless. Half a day's battling +against such difficulties brought us, after crossing the river, once +again to the dismal village of Mvumi. + +We passed the night fighting swarms of black and voracious mosquitoes, +and in heroic endeavours to win repose in sleep, in which we were partly +successful, owing to the utter weariness of our bodies. + +On the 13th we struck out of the village of Mvumi. It had rained the +whole night, and the morning brought no cessation. Mile after mile we +traversed, over fields covered by the inundation, until we came to a +branch river-side once again, where the river was narrow, and too deep +to ford in the middle. We proceeded to cut a tree down, and so contrived +that it should fall right across the stream. Over this fallen tree the +men, bestriding it, cautiously moved before them their bales and +boxes; but one young fellow, Rojab--through over-zeal, or in sheer +madness--took up the Doctor's box which contained his letters and +Journal of his discoveries on his head, and started into the river. +I had been the first to arrive on the opposite bank, in order to +superintend the crossing; when I caught sight of this man walking in the +river with the most precious box of all on his head. Suddenly he fell +into a deep hole, and the man and box went almost out of sight, while +I was in an agony at the fate which threatened the despatches. +Fortunately, he recovered himself and stood up, while I shouted to him, +with a loaded revolver pointed at his head, "Look out! Drop that bog, +and I'll shoot you." + +All the men halted in their work while they gazed at their comrade +who was thus imperilled by bullet and flood. The man himself seemed +to regard the pistol with the greatest awe, and after a few desperate +efforts succeeded in getting the box safely ashore. As the articles +within were not damaged, Rojab escaped punishment, with a caution not +to touch the bog again on any account, and it was transferred to the +keeping of the sure-footed and perfect pagazi, Maganga. + +From this stream, in about an hour, we came to the main river, but one +look at its wild waters was enough. We worked hard to construct a raft, +but after cutting down four trees and lashing the green logs together, +and pushing them into the whirling current, we saw them sink like lead. +We then tied together all the strong rope in our possession, and made a +line 180 feet long, with one end of which tied round his body, Chowpereh +was sent across to lash it to a tree. He was carried far down the +stream; but being an excellent swimmer, he succeeded in his attempt. The +bales were lashed around the middle, and, heaved into the stream, were +dragged through the river to the opposite bank, as well as the tent, and +such things as could not be injured much by the water. Several of the +men, as well as myself, were also dragged through the water; each of +the boys being attended by the best swimmers; but when we came to the +letter-boxes and valuables, we could suggest no means to take them over. +Two camps were accordingly made, one on each side of the stream; the one +on the bank which I had just left occupying an ant-hill of considerable +height; while my party had to content itself with a flat, miry marsh. An +embankment of soil, nearly a foot high, was thrown up in a circle thirty +feet in diameter, in the centre of which my tent was pitched, and around +it booths were erected. + +It was an extraordinary and novel position that we found ourselves in. +Within twenty feet of our camp was a rising river, with flat, low banks; +above us was a gloomy, weeping sky; surrounding us on three sides was an +immense forest, on whose branches we heard the constant, pattering rain; +beneath our feet was a great depth of mud, black and loathsome; add to +these the thought that the river might overflow, and sweep us to utter +destruction. + +In the morning the river was still rising, and an inevitable doom seemed +to hang over us. There was yet time to act--to bring over the people, +with the most valuable effects of the Expedition--as I considered Dr. +Livingstone's Journal and letters, and my own papers, of far greater +value than anything else. While looking at the awful river an idea +struck me that I might possibly carry the boxes across, one at a time, +by cutting two slender poles, and tying cross sticks to them, making a +kind of hand-barrow, on which a box might rest when lashed to it. Two +men swimming across, at the same time holding on to the rope, with the +ends of the poles resting on the men's shoulders, I thought, would be +enabled to convey over a 70 lb. box with ease. In a short time one of +these was made, and six couples of the strongest swimmers were prepared, +and stimulated with a rousing glass of stiff grog each man, with a +promise of cloth to each also if they succeeded in getting everything +ashore undamaged by the water. When I saw with what ease they dragged +themselves across, the barrow on their shoulders, I wondered that I had +not thought of the plan before. Within an hour of the first couple had +gone over, the entire Expedition was safe on the eastern bank; and at +once breaking camp, we marched north through the swampy forest, which in +some places was covered with four feet of water. Seven hours' constant +splashing brought us to Rehenneko, after experiencing several queer +accidents. We were now on the verge only of the inundated plain of the +Makata, which, even with the last year's rain, was too horrible to think +of undertaking again in cold blood. + +We were encamped ten days on a hill near Rehenneko, or until the 25th, +when, the rain having entirely ceased, we resolved to attempt the +crossing of the Makata. The bales of cloth had all been distributed +as presents to the men for their work, except a small quantity which I +retained for the food of my own mess. + +But we should have waited a month longer, for the inundation had not +abated four inches. However, after we once struggled up to our necks in +water it was use less to turn back. For two marches of eight hours each +we plunged through slush, mire, deep sloughs, water up to our necks, and +muddy cataclysms, swam across nullahs, waded across gullies, and near +sunset of the second day arrived on the banks of the Makata River. My +people are not likely to forget that night; not one of them was able +to sleep until it was long past midnight, because of the clouds of +mosquitoes, which threatened to eat us all up; and when the horn sounded +for the march of another day, there was not one dissentient amongst +them. + +It was 5 A.M. when we began the crossing of the Makata River, but beyond +it for six miles stretched one long lake, the waters of which flowed +gently towards the Wami. This was the confluence of the streams: four +rivers were here gathered into one. The natives of Kigongo warned us not +to attempt it, as the water was over our heads; but I had only to give a +hint to the men, and we set on our way. Even the water--we were getting +quite amphibious--was better than the horrible filth and piles of +decaying vegetation which were swept against the boma of the village. + +We were soon up to our armpits, then the water shallowed to the knee, +then we stepped up to the neck, and waded on tiptoe, supporting the +children above the water; and the same experiences occurred as those +which we suffered the day before, until we were halted on the edge of +the Little Makata, which raced along at the rate of eight knots an hour; +but it was only fifty yards wide, and beyond it rose a high bank, and +dry park-lands which extended as far as Simbo. We had no other option +than to swim it; but it was a slow operation, the current was so swift +and strong. Activity and zeal, high rewards, presents of money, backed +by the lively feeling that we were nearing home, worked wonders, and in +a couple of hours we were beyond the Makata. + +Cheery and hopeful, we sped along the dry, smooth path that now lay +before us, with the ardor and vivacity of heroes, and the ease and power +of veterans, We rolled three ordinary marches into one that day, and +long before night arrived at Simbo. + +On the 29th we crossed the Ungerengeri, and as we came to +Simbamwenni-the "Lion City" of Useguhha--lo! what a change! The flooded +river had swept the entire front wall of the strongly-walled city away, +and about fifty houses had been destroyed by the torrent. Villages of +Waruguru, on the slopes of the Uruguru Mountains--Mkambaku range--had +also suffered disastrously. If one-fourth of the reports we heard were +true, at least a hundred people must have perished. + +The Sultana had fled, and the stronghold of Kimbengo was no more! A deep +canal that he had caused to be excavated when alive, to bring a branch +of the Ungerengeri near his city--which was his glory and boast--proved +the ruin of Simbamwenni. After the destruction of the place the river +had formed a new bed, about 300 yards from the city. But what astonished +us most were the masses of debris which seemed to be piled everywhere, +and the great numbers of trees that were prostrate; and they all seemed +to lie in the same direction, as if a strong wind had come from +the south-west. The aspect of the Ungerengeri valley was completely +changed--from a Paradise it was converted into a howling waste. + +We continued our march until we reached Ulagalla, and it was evident, +as we advanced, that an unusual storm had passed over the land, for the +trees in some places seemed to lie in swathes. + +A most fatiguing and long march brought us to Mussoudi, on the eastern +bank of the Ungerengeri; but long before we reached it we realized that +a terrific destruction of human life and property had occurred. The +extent and nature of the calamity may be imagined, when I state that +nearly ONE HUNDRED VILLAGES, according to Mussoudi's report, were swept +away. + +Mussoudi, the Diwan, says that the inhabitants had gone to rest as +usual--as they had done ever since he had settled in the valley, +twenty-five years ago--when, in the middle of the night, they heard a +roar like many thunders, which woke them up to the fact that death was +at work in the shape of an enormous volume of water, that, like a wall, +came down, tearing the tallest trees with it, carrying away scores of +villages at one fell, sure swoop into utter destruction. The scene +six days after the event--when the river has subsided into its normal +breadth and depth during the monsoons--is simply awful. Wherever we +look, we find something very suggestive of the devastation that has +visited the country; fields of corn are covered with many feet of sand +and debris; the sandy bed the river has deserted is about a mile wide; +and there are but three villages standing of all that I noticed when en +route to Unyanyembe. When I asked Mussoudi where the people had gone to, +he replied, "God has taken most of them, but some have gone to Udoe." +The surest blow ever struck at the tribe of the Wakami was indeed given +by the hand of God; and, to use the words of the Diwan, "God's power is +wonderful, and who can resist Him!" + +I again resort to my Diary, and extract the following: + +April 30th.--Passing Msuwa, we travelled hurriedly through the jungle +which saw such hard work with us when going to Unyanyembe. What dreadful +odors and indescribable loathing this jungle produces! It is so dense +that a tiger could not crawl through it; it is so impenetrable that +an elephant could not force his way! Were a bottleful of concentrated +miasma, such as we inhale herein, collected, what a deadly poison, +instantaneous in its action, undiscoverable in its properties, would it +be! I think it would act quicker than chloroform, be as fatal as prussic +acid. + +Horrors upon horrors are in it. Boas above our heads, snakes and +scorpions under our feet. Land-crabs, terrapins, and iguanas move about +in our vicinity. Malaria is in the air we breathe; the road is infested +with "hotwater" ants, which bite our legs until we dance and squirm +about like madmen. Yet, somehow, we are fortunate enough to escape +annihilation, and many another traveller might also. Yet here, in +verity, are the ten plagues of Egypt, through which a traveller in these +regions must run the gauntlet: + +1. Plague of boas. | 7. Suffocation from the 2. Red ants, or +"hot-water." | density of the jungle. 3 Scorpions. | 8. Stench. +4. Thorns and spear cacti. | 9. Thorns in the road. 5. Numerous +impediments. | 10. Miasma. 6 Black mud knee-deep. | + +May 1st. Kingaru Hera.--We heard news of a great storm having raged at +Zanzibar, which has destroyed every house and every ship,--so the story +runs;--and the same destruction has visited Bagamoyo and Whinde, they +say. But I am by this time pretty well acquainted with the exaggerative +tendency of the African. It is possible that serious loss has been +sustained, from the evidences of the effects of the storm in the +interior. I hear, also, that there are white men at Bagamoyo, who are +about starting into the country to look after me (?). Who would look +after me, I cannot imagine. I think they must have some confused idea of +my Expedition; though, how they came to know that I was looking for +any man I cannot conceive, because I never told a soul until I reached +Unyanyembe. + +May 2nd. Rosako.--I had barely arrived at the village before the three +men I despatched from Mvumi, Ugogo, entered, bringing with them from the +generous American Consul a few bottles of champagne, a few pots of +jam, and two boxes of Boston crackers. These were most welcome after my +terrible experiences in the Makata Valley. Inside one of these boxes, +carefully put up by the Consul, were four numbers of the 'Herald'; one +of which contained my correspondence from Unyanyembe, wherein were some +curious typographical errors, especially in figures and African names. +I suppose my writing was wretched, owing to my weakness. In another are +several extracts from various newspapers, in which I learn that many +editors regard the Expedition into Africa as a myth. Alas! it has been +a terrible, earnest fact with me; nothing but hard, conscientious +work, privation, sickness, and almost death. Eighteen men have paid +the forfeit of their lives in the undertaking. It certainly is not a +myth--the death of my two white assistants; they, poor fellows, found +their fate in the inhospitable regions of the interior. + +One of my letters received from Zanzibar by my messengers states that +there is an expedition at Bagamoyo called the "Livingstone Search and +Relief Expedition." What will the leaders of it do now? Livingstone is +found and relieved already. Livingstone says he requires nothing more. +It is a misfortune that they did not start earlier; then they might with +propriety proceed, and be welcomed. + +May 4th.---Arrived at Kingwere's Ferry, but we were unable to attract +the attention of the canoe paddler. Between our camp and Bagamoyo we +have an inundated plain that is at least four miles broad. The +ferrying of our Expedition across this broad watery waste will occupy +considerable time. + +May 5th.--Kingwere, the canoe proprietor, came about 11 A.M. from his +village at Gongoni, beyond the watery plain. By his movements I am fain +to believe him to be a descendant of some dusky King Log, for I have +never seen in all this land the attributes and peculiarities of that +royal personage so faithfully illustrated as in Kingwere. He brought two +canoes with him, short, cranky things, in which only twelve of us could +embark at a time. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon before we arrived at +Gongoni village. + +May 6th.--After impressing Kingwere with the urgent necessity of quick +action on his part, with a promise of an extra five-dollar gold piece, I +had the satisfaction to behold the last man reach my camp at 3.30 p.m. + +An hour later, and we are en route, at a pace that I never saw equalled +at any time by my caravan. Every man's feelings are intensified, for +there is an animated, nay, headlong, impetuosity about their movements +that indicates but too well what is going on in their minds. Surely, my +own are a faithful index to their feelings; and I do not feel a whit too +proud to acknowledge the great joy that possesses me. I feel proud +to think that I have been successful; but, honestly, I do not feel so +elated at that as at the hope that to-morrow I shall sit before a table +bounteous with the good things of this life. How I will glory in the +hams, and potatoes, and good bread! What a deplorable state of mind, is +it not? Ah, my friend, wait till you are reduced to a skeleton by gaunt +famine and coarse, loathsome food--until you have waded a Makata swamp, +and marched 525 miles in thirty-five days through such weather as we +have had--then you will think such pabula, food fit for gods! + +Happy are we that,--after completing our mission, after the hurry +and worry of the march, after the anxiety and vexation suffered from +fractious tribes, after tramping for the last fifteen days through mire +and Stygian marsh,--we near Beulah's peace and rest! Can we do otherwise +than express our happiness by firing away gunpowder until our horns are +emptied--than shout our "hurrahs" until we are hoarse--than, with the +hearty, soul-inspiring "Yambos," greet every mother's son fresh from the +sea? Not so, think the Wangwana soldiers; and I so sympathize with them +that I permit them to act their maddest without censure. + +At sunset we enter the town of Bagamoyo. "More pilgrims come to town," +were the words heard in Beulah. "The white man has come to town," were +the words we heard in Bagamoyo. And we shall cross the water tomorrow to +Zanzibar, and shall enter the golden gate; we shall see nothing, smell +nothing, taste nothing that is offensive to the stomach any more! + +The kirangozi blows his horn, and gives forth blasts potential as +Astolpho's, as the natives and Arabs throng around us. And that bright +flag, whose stars have waved over the waters of the great lake in +Central Africa, which promised relief to the harassed Livingstone when +in distress at Ujiji, returns to the sea once again--torn, it is true, +but not dishonoured--tattered, but not disgraced. + +As we reached the middle of the town, I saw on the steps of a large +white house a white man, in flannels and helmet similar to that I wore. +I thought myself rather akin to white men in general, and I walked up +to him. He advanced towards me, and we shook hands--did everything but +embrace. + +"Won't you walk in?" said he. + +"Thanks." + +"What will you have to drink--beer, stout, brandy? Eh, by George! I +congratulate you on your splendid success," said he, impetuously. + +I knew him immediately. He was an Englishman. He was Lieut. William +Henn, R.N., chief of the Livingstone Search and Relief Expedition, about +to be despatched by the Royal Geographical Society to find and relieve +Livingstone. The former chief, as the Expedition was at first organized, +was Lieut. Llewellyn S. Dawson, who, as soon as he heard from my men +that I had found Livingstone, had crossed over to Zanzibar, and, after +consultation with Dr. John Kirk, had resigned. He had now nothing +further to do with it, the command having formally devolved on Lieut. +Henn. A Mr. Charles New, also, missionary from Mombasah, had joined the +expedition, but he had resigned too. So now there were left but Lieut. +Henn and Mr. Oswell Livingstone, second son of the Doctor. + +"Is Mr. Oswell Livingstone here?" I asked, with considerable surprise. + +"Yes; he will be here directly." + +"What are you going to do now?" I asked. + +"I don't think it worth my while to go now. You have taken the wind out +of our sails completely. If you have relieved him, I don't see the use +of my going. Do you?" + +"Well, it depends. You know your own orders best. If you have come only +to find and relieve him, I can tell you truly he is found and relieved, +and that he wants nothing more than a few canned meats, and some other +little things which I dare say you have not got. I have his list in his +own handwriting with me. But his son must go anyhow, and I can get men +easily enough for him." + +"Well, if he is relieved, it is of no use my going." + + +At this time in walked a slight, young, gentlemanly man, with light +complexion, light hair, dark, lustrous eyes, who was introduced to me +as Mr. Oswell Livingstone. The introduction was hardly necessary, for in +his features there was much of what were the specialities of his father. +There was an air of quiet resolution about him, and in the greeting +which he gave me he exhibited rather a reticent character; but I +attributed that to a receptive nature, which augured well for the +future. + +"I was telling Lieut. Henn that, whether he goes or not, you must go to +your father, Mr. Livingstone." + +"Oh, I mean to go." + +"Yes, that's right. I will furnish you with men and what stores your +father needs. My men will take you to Unyanyembe without any difficulty. +They know the road well, and that is a great advantage. They know how +to deal with the negro chiefs, and you will have no need to trouble your +head about them, but march. The great thing that is required is speed. +Your father will be waiting for the things." + +"I will march them fast enough, if that is all." + +"Oh, they will be going up light, and they can easily make long +marches." + +It was settled, then. Henn made up his mind that, as the Doctor had been +relieved, he was not wanted; but, before formally resigning, he intended +to consult with Dr. Kirk, and for that purpose he would cross over to +Zanzibar the next day with the 'Herald' Expedition. + +At 2 A.M. I retired to sleep on a comfortable bed. There was a great +smell of newness about certain articles in the bedroom, such as +haversacks, knapsacks, portmanteaus, leather gun-cases, &c. Evidently +the new Expedition had some crudities about it; but a journey into the +interior would soon have lessened the stock of superfluities, which all +new men at first load themselves with. + +Ah! what a sigh of relief was that I gave, as I threw myself on my bed, +at the thought that, "Thank God! my marching was ended." + + + +CHAPTER XVI. -- VALEDICTORY. + +At 5 P.M., on the 7th of May, 1872, the dhow which conveyed my +Expedition back to Zanzibar arrived in the harbor, and the men, +delighted to find themselves once more so near their homes, fired volley +after volley, the American flag was hoisted up, and we soon saw the +house-roofs and wharves lined with spectators, many of whom were +Europeans, with glasses levelled at us. + +We drew ashore slowly; but a boat putting off to take us to land, we +stepped into it, and I was soon in presence of my friend the Consul, who +heartily welcomed me back to Zanzibar; and soon after was introduced to +the Rev. Charles New, who was but a day or two previous to my arrival an +important member of the English Search Expedition--a small, slight man +in appearance, who, though he looked weakly, had a fund of energy or +nervousness in him which was almost too great for such a body. He also +heartily congratulated me. + +After a bounteous dinner, to which I did justice in a manner that +astonished my new friends, Lieut. Dawson called to see me, and said: + +"Mr. Stanley, let me congratulate you, sir." + +Lieut. Dawson then went on to state how he envied me my success; how I +had "taken the wind out of his sails" (a nautical phrase similar to +that used by Lieut. Henn); how, when he heard from my men that Dr. +Livingstone had been found, he at once crossed over from Bagamoyo to +Zanzibar, and, after a short talk with Dr. Kirk, at once resigned. + +"But do you not think, Mr. Dawson, you have been rather too hasty in +tendering your resignation, from the more verbal report of my men?" + +"Perhaps," said he; "but I heard that Mr. Webb had received a letter +from you, and that you and Livingstone had discovered that the Rusizi +ran into the lake--that you had the Doctor's letters and despatches with +you." + +"Yes; but you acquired all this information from my men; you have seen +nothing yourself. You have therefore resigned before you had personal +evidence of the fact." + +"Well, Dr. Livingstone is relieved and found, as Mr. Henn tells me, is +he not?" + +"Yes, that is true enough. He is well supplied; he only requires a few +little luxuries, which I am going to send him by an expedition of fifty +freemen. Dr. Livingstone is found and relieved, most certainly; and I +have all the letters and despatches which he could possibly send to his +friends." + +"But don't you think I did perfectly right?" + +"Hardly--though, perhaps, it would come to the same thing in the end. +Any more cloth and beads than he has already would be an incumbrance. +Still, you have your orders from the Royal Geographical Society. I have +not seen those yet, and I am not prepared to judge what your best course +would have been. But I think you did wrong in resigning before you +saw me; for then you would have had, probably, a legitimate excuse for +resigning. I should have held on to the Expedition until I had consulted +with those who sent me; though, in such an event as this, the order +would be, perhaps, to 'Come home.'" + +"As it has turned out, though, don't you think I did right?" + +"Most certainly it would be useless for you to go to search for and +relieve Livingstone now, because he has already been sought, found, and +relieved; but perhaps you had other orders." + +"Only, if I went into the country, I was then to direct my attention to +exploration; but the primary object having been forestalled by you, I am +compelled to return home. The Admiralty granted me leave of absence only +for the search, and never said anything about exploration." + +That evening I despatched a boy over to the English Consulate +with letters from the great traveller for Dr. Kirk and Mr. Oswell +Livingstone. + +I was greeted warmly by the American and German residents, who could not +have shown warmer feeling than if Dr. Livingstone had been a near and +dear relation of their own. Capt. H. A. Fraser and Dr. James Christie +were also loud in their praises. It seems that both of these gentlemen +had attempted to despatch a private expedition to the relief of their +countryman, but through some means it had failed. They had contributed +the sum of $500 to effect this laudable object; but the man to whom they +had entrusted its command had been engaged by another for a different +purpose, at a higher sum. But, instead of feeling annoyed that I +had performed what they had intended to do, they were among my most +enthusiastic admirers. + +The next day I received a call from Dr. Kirk, who warmly congratulated +me upon my success. Bishop Tozer also came, and thanked me for tie +service I had rendered to Dr. Livingstone. + +On this day I also discharged my men, and re-engaged twenty of them +to return to the "Great Master." Bombay, though in the interior he had +scorned the idea of money rewards, and though he had systematically, +in my greatest need, endeavoured to baffle me in every way, received, +besides his pay, a present of $50, and each man, according to his +merits, from $20 to $50. For this was a day to bury all animosities, +and condone all offences. They, poor people, had only acted according to +their nature, and I remembered that from Ujiji to the coast they had all +behaved admirably. + +I saw I was terribly emaciated and changed when I presented myself +before a full-length mirror. All confirmed my opinion that I was much +older in my appearance, and that my hair had become grey. Capt. Fraser +had said, when I hailed him, "You have the advantage of me, sir!" and +until I mentioned my name he did not know me. Even then he jocosely +remarked that he believed that it was another Tichborne affair. I was so +different that identity was almost lost, even during the short period of +thirteen months; that is, from March 23rd, 1871, to May 7th, 1872. + +Lieut. Henn the morning after my arrival formally resigned, and the +Expedition was from this time in the hands of Mr. Oswell Livingstone, +who made up his mind to sell the stores, retaining such as would be +useful to his father. + +After disbanding my Expedition, I set about preparing another, according +to Dr. Livingstone's request. What the English Expedition lacked I +purchased out of the money advanced by Mr. Oswell Livingstone. The guns, +fifty in number, were also furnished out of the stores of the English +Expedition by him; and so were the ammunition, the honga cloth, for the +tribute to the Wagogo, and the cloth for provisioning the force. Mr. +Livingstone worked hard in the interests of his father and assisted me +to the utmost of his ability. He delivered over to me, to be packed +up, 'Nautical Almanacs' for 1872, 1873, 1874; also a chronometer, +which formerly belonged to Dr. Livingstone. All these things, besides a +journal, envelopes, note-books, writing-paper, medicines, canned fruits +and fish, a little wine, some tea, cutlery and table ware, newspapers, +and private letters and despatches, were packed up in air-tight tin +boxes, as well as 100 lbs. of fine American flour, and some boxes of +soda biscuits. + +Until the 19th of May it was understood that Mr. Oswell Livingstone +would take charge of the caravan to his father; but about this date he +changed his mind, and surprised me with a note stating he had decided +not to go to Unyanyembe, for reasons he thought just and sufficient. + +Under these circumstances, my duty was to follow out the instructions of +Dr. Livingstone, in procuring a good and efficient leader to take charge +of the caravan as far as Unyanyembe. + +In a few hours I succeeded in obtaining an Arab highly recommended from +Sheikh Hashid, whom I engaged at an advance of $100. The young Arab, +though not remarkably bright, seemed honest and able, but I left his +further employment after reaching Unyanyembe to Dr. Livingstone, who +would be able to decide then whether he was quite trustworthy. + +The next day I collected the men of the new Livingstone Expedition +together, and as it was dangerous to allow them to wander about the +city, I locked them up in a courtyard, and fed them there, until every +soul, fifty seven in number, answered to their names. + +In the meantime, through the American Consul's assistance, I obtained +the services of Johari, the chief dragoman of the American Consulate, +who was charged with the conduct of the party across the inundated plain +of the Kingani, and who was enjoined on no account to return until the +Expedition had started on its march from the western bank of the Kingani +River. Mr. Oswell Livingstone generously paid him a douceur for the +promise of doing his work thoroughly. + +A dhow having been brought to anchor before the American Consulate, I +then addressed my old companions, saying, "You are now about to return +to Unyanyembe, to the 'Great Master'. You know him; you know he is a +good man, and has a kind heart. He is different from me; he will not +beat you, as I have done. But you know I have rewarded you all--how +I have made you all rich in cloth and money. You know how, when you +behaved yourselves well, I was your friend. I gave you plenty to eat and +plenty to wear. When you were sick I looked after you. If I was so +good to you, the 'Great Master' will be much more so. He has a pleasant +voice, and speaks kind. When did you ever see him lift his hand against +an offender? When you were wicked, he did not speak to you in anger--he +spoke to you in tones of sorrow. Now, will you promise me that you will +follow him--do what he tells you, obey him in all things, and not desert +him?" + +"We will, we will, my master!" they all cried, fervently. + +"Then there is one thing more. I want to shake hands with you all before +you go--and we part for ever;" and they all rushed up at once, and a +vigorous shake was interchanged with each man. + +"Now, let every man take up his load!" + +In a short time I marched them out into the street, and to the beach; +saw them all on board, and the canvas hoisted, and the dhow speeding +westward on her way to Bagamoyo. + +I felt strange and lonely, somehow. My dark friends, who had travelled +over so many hundreds of miles, and shared so many dangers with me, were +gone, and I--was left behind. How many of their friendly faces shall I +see again? + +On the 29th, the steamer 'Africa,' belonging to the German Consulate, +was chartered by a party of five of us, and we departed from Zanzibar to +Seychelles, with the good wishes of almost all the European residents on +the island. + +We arrived at Seychelles on the 9th of June, about twelve hours +after the French mail had departed for Aden. As there is only monthly +communication between Mahe (Seychelles) and Aden, we were compelled to +remain on the island of Mahe one month. + +My life in Mahe is among the most agreeable things connected with my +return from Africa. I found my companions estimable gentlemen, and true +Christians. Mr. Livingstone exhibited many amiable traits of character, +and proved himself to be a studious, thoughtful, earnest man. When at +last the French steamer came from Mauritius, there was not one of +our party who did not regret leaving the beautiful island, and the +hospitable British officers who were stationed there. The Civil +Commissioner, Mr. Hales Franklyn, and Dr. Brooks, did their utmost to +welcome the wanderer, and I take this opportunity to acknowledge the +many civilities I personally received from them. + +At Aden, the passengers from the south were transferred on board the +French mail steamer, the 'Mei-kong,' en route from China to Marseilles. +At the latter port I was received with open arms by Dr. Hosmer and +the representative of the 'Daily Telegraph,' and was then told how men +regarded the results of the Expedition; but it was not until I arrived +in England that I realised it. + +Mr. Bennett, who originated and sustained the enterprise, now crowned it +by one of the most generous acts that could be conceived. I had promised +Dr. Livingstone, that twenty-four hours after I saw his letters to Mr. +Bennett published in the London journals, I would post his letters to +his family and friends in England. In order to permit me to keep my +plighted word, and in order that there might be no delay in the delivery +of his family letters, Mr. Bennett's agent telegraphed to New York the +'Herald' letters I had received from Dr. Livingstone at an expense of +nearly L2,000. + +And now, dear reader, the time has come for you and I to part. Let us +hope that it is not final. A traveller finds himself compelled to repeat +the regretful parting word often. During the career recorded in the +foregoing book, I have bidden many farewells; to the Wagogo, with their +fierce effrontery; to Mionvu, whose blackmailing once so affected me; to +the Wavinza, whose noisy clatter promised to provoke dire hostilities; +to the inhospitable Warundi; to the Arab slave-traders and half-castes; +to all fevers, remittent, and intermittent; to the sloughs and swamps +of Makata; to the brackish waters and howling wastes; to my own +dusky friends and followers, and to the hero-traveller and Christian +gentleman, David Livingstone. It is with kindliest wishes to all +who have followed my footsteps on these pages that I repeat once +more--Farewell. + + + +CONCLUDING CHAPTER. + + +The following correspondence, and especially the last letter, which +was accompanied by a beautiful and valuable gold snuff-box set with +brilliants, will be treasured by me as among the pleasantest results of +my undertaking. + +H. M. S. + +Foreign Office, August 1. + +Sir, I am directed by Earl Granville to acknowledge the receipt of a +packet containing letters and despatches from Dr. Livingstone, which +you were good enough to deliver to her Majesty's ambassador at Paris +for transmission to this department; and I am to convey to you his +Lordship's thanks for taking charge of these interesting documents. + +I am, Sir, + +Your most obedient humble servant, ENFIELD. + +Henry M. Stanley, Esq., 'New York Herald Bureau,' 46, Fleet Street, +London, + +------ooo---- + + + +London, August 2. + +Henry M. Stanley, Esq., has handed to me to-day the diary of +Dr. Livingstone, my father, sealed and signed by my father, with +instructions written on the outside, signed by my father, for the care +of which, and for all his actions concerning and to my father, our very +best thanks are due. We have not the slightest reason to doubt that this +is my father's journal, and I certify that the letters he has brought +home are my father's letters, and no others. + +Tom S. Livingstone + +------------oooo------- + +August 2, 1872. + +Sir, I was not aware until you mentioned it that there was any doubt as +to the authenticity of Dr. Livingstone's despatches, which you delivered +to Lord Lyons on the 31st of July. But, in consequence of what you +said I have inquired into the matter, and I find that Mr. Hammond, the +Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office, and Mr. Wylde, the head of the +Consular and Slave Trade Department, have not the slightest doubt as to +the genuineness of the papers which have been received from Lord Lyons, +and which are being printed. + +I cannot omit this opportunity, of expressing to you my admiration +of the qualities which have enabled you to achieve the object of your +mission, and to attain a result which has been hailed with so much +enthusiasm both in the United States and in this country. + +I am, Sir, + +Your obedient, + +GRANVILLE. + +Henry Stanley, Esq. + + +-------------oooo------- + +Foreign Office, August 27. + +SIR, + +I have great satisfaction in conveying to you, by command of the Queen, +her Majesty's high appreciation of the prudence and zeal which you have +displayed in opening a communication with Dr. Livingstone, and relieving +her Majesty from the anxiety which, in common with her subjects, she had +felt in regard to the fate of that distinguished traveller. + +The Queen desires me to express her thanks for the service you have thus +rendered, together with her Majesty's congratulations on your having so +successfully carried on the mission which you fearlessly undertook. Her +Majesty also desires me to request your acceptance of the memorial which +accompanies this letter. + +I am, Sir, + +Your most obedient humble servant, + +GRANVILLE + + + + + + + + GLOSSARY. + + Boma....... enclosure. + + Bubu....... black beads. + + Diwan...... elder, chief, or magistrate. + + Doti...... four yards of cloth. + + Dowa...... medicine. + + Fundo...... ten necklaces, or ten khetes. + + Ghulabio..... a species of bead. + + Hafde ..... a species of bead. + + Hamal ..... carrier. + + Honga ..... tribute. + + Ismahili..... a native name for a particular kind of cloth. + + Kadunguru..... a brick-coloured species of bead. + + Kaif-Halek.... "How do you do?" + + Kaniki .... a blue cloth manufactured in India. + + Knambi .... camp. + + Khete .... one necklace, or a tenth of a fundo. + + Kichuma-chuma... "Little Irons," a disease of the liver. + + Kirangozi.... guide. + + Kitambi .... a cloth. + + Kiti..... stool. + + Lakhio..... a pink-coloured species of bead. + + Lunghio..... blue beads. + + Lunghio mbamba... small blue beads. + + Lunghio rega... large blue beads. + + M ..... a prefix to denote a person of any + country as M-jiji, a native of Jiji. + + Manyapara.... elder, or sub-chief. + + Matama..... Holcus sorghum, or the Arabic dourra. + + Mbembu..... forest peach + + Merikani..... unbleached domestics manufactured in + America. + + Mganga..... a medicine man, or magic doctor, + + Miezi-Mungu.... a Kisawahili term for "God." + + Mtemi .... a term synonymous with king + + Mtoni..... nullah. + + Muhongo..... tribute. + + Mulungu..... a native term for "God." + + Mukunguru.... intermittent fever. + + Mvuha..... thunder. + + Ngombe..... a cow. + + Pagazi..... a porter, or carrier. + + Posho..... food. + + Sami-Sami.... the name of red beads + + Shamba..... a field. + + Shasr..... a muslin cloth. + + Sheikh..... a title of courtesy given to an elderly + man. + + Shukka..... two yards of cloth. + + Sohari..... a kind of coloured cloth. + + Sungomazzi.... large glass or china beads of the size + of marbles. + + Toujiri..... the name for a particular kind of cloth. + + U ..... a prefix to denote the country: thus + U-jiji signifies the country of Jiji. + + Uganga..... medicine. + + Wa- ..... a prefix to denote persons: thus Wa-jiji + would signify people of Jiji. + + Washeni..... a term of contempt applied to the natives. + + Yambo..... "How are you?" + + Ziwa ..... a pool, or lake, + + Ziwari..... a pond. + + + + + APPENDIX. + + List of Camps from Bagamoyo to Ujiji and back to the Sea. + + + THROUGH UKWERE, UKAMI, AND UDOE TO USEGUHHA. + + From Bagamoyo to-- h. m. + Shamba Gonera... 1 30 + Kikoka..... 3 40 + Rosako..... 5 0 + Kingaru.... 6 0 + Imbiki..... 4 30 + Msuwa..... 4 30 + + From Msuwa to-- h. m. + Kisemo..... 4 30 + Mussoudi.... 4 20 + Mikeseh.... 7 0 + Muhalleh.... 6 45 + Simbamwenni... 3 0 + + TO UGOGO. + + USEGUHA, + Ungerengeri River to-- h. m + Simbo..... 2 0 + Camp in plain... 4 10 + Makata River... 2 30 + + USAGARA. + Camp west of Makata. 0 5 + Camp in plain... 4 30 + Camp " "... 2 0 + Rehenneko.... 3 15 + Rehenneko to-- h. m. + Camp on mountain.. 3 30 + Kiora..... 3 40 + Camp on river... 4 50 + Madete..... 2 30 + Lake Ugombo.... 3 0 + Matamombo.... 6 0 + Mpwapwa..... 7 0 + Kisokweh.... 2 0 + Chunyo..... 1 30 + + + FROM UGOGO TO UNYANYEMBE, + + From Marenga Mkali to--h. m. + Mvumi, Little Ugogo 12 30 + Mvumi, Great Ugogo 4 0 + Matamburu " ". 4 0 + Bihawana " ". 4 0 + Kididimo " ". 2 0 + Pembera Pereh ". 10 0 + Mizanza " ". 5 30 + Mukondoku " ". 6 30 + Munieka " ". 5 0 + Mabunguru Mtoni. + Uyanzi 8 0 + Kiti, Uyanzi... 6 30 + Msalalo.... 6 30 + + From Msalalo to-- h. m. + Welled Ngaraiso.. 3 30 + Kusuri..... 3 15 + Mgongo Tembo... 3 30 + " " Mtoni. 3 30 + Nghwhalah Mtoni.. 2 40 + Madedita ... 2 30 + Central Tura, Unyam- + wezi.... 3 0 + Kwala River... 7 0 + Rubuga.... 7 15 + Kigwa .... 5 0 + Shiza .... 7 0 + Kwihara.... 3 0 + + + UNYANYEMBE TO MRERA, UKONONG0. + + + UNYAMWEZI. + From Kwihara to-- h. m. + Mkwenkwe... 1 30 + Inesuka ... 2 0 + Kasegera... 3 0 + Kigandu ... 2 45 + Ugunda ... 7 0 + Benta ... 3 15 + Kikuru ... 5 0 + Ziwani ... 4 0 + Manyara ... 6 30 + + UKONONG0. + From Manyara to-- h. m + Gombe River... 4 15 + Ziwani.... 5 20 + Tongoni.... 1 30 + Camp .... 5 15 + Marefu.... 3 0 + Utende.... 7 15 + Mtoni.... 4 0 + Mwaru.... 5 15 + Mrera..... 5 13 + + + FROM MRERA, UKONONGO TO UJIJI. + + + + UKONONGO, h. m. + + From Mrera to Mtoni. 4 30 + Misonghi.... 4 30 + Mtoni..... 6 0 + Mpokwa in Utanda.. 4 45 + Mtoni .... 3 0 + + UKAWENDI. h. m + + Mtambu River... 4 30 + Imrera.... 4 20 + Rusawa Mts.... 2 30 + Mtoni .... 4 0 + Mtoni .... 5 0 + Camp in Forest... 6 0 + Camp in Forest... 5 30 + + UVINZA + Welled Nzogera... 2 30 + Camp in Forest... 4 15 + Siala [Kiala?] on the + Malagarazi... 2 45 + Ihata Island in the + Malagarazi... 1 30 + Katalambula... 1 45 + + UHHA + Kawanga in Uhha.. 5 30 + Lukomo.... 1 0 + Kahirigi.... 4 0 + Rusugi River... 5 0 + Lake Musunya... 4 0 + Rugufu River... 4 30 + Sunuzzi "... 3 0 + Niamtaga Ukaranga. 9 30 + + UJIJI. + Port of Ujiji.. 6 0 + + + + + + INDEX + + Abdul Kader, tailor of the Expedition; retirement of, + Abdullah bin Nasib, + Acacia Horrida, + African bridges, + Ali bin Salim, + Ambari, + Amer bin Sultan, type of an old Arab Sheikh, + Amram bin Mussood, + Ant-hills, remarkable, + Ants, white, destructiveness of, + Arabs, antipathy to, as slave-traders, in Africa, + Aranselar, chief butler of the Expedition, + Asmani, giant statue of; + his murderous deportment, + + Baba (Father), term of courtesy in addressing elderly persons, + Bagamoyo, French Mission Station at; life at; climate of, + Bambarre, ivory depot, + Bana Mikuba, the "Big Master,' + Bangwe Island, + Bangweolo Lake, + Banyans, keen trading of; + their influence on African trade, + Baobab, fruit of the, + Baruti, one of Speke's Faithfuls, + death of, + Beads as currency in the Interior, + Bees, attack of, on the caravan, + Bemba, wooded hills of, + Bennet, Mr. James Gordon; + generous act of, in respect + to Dr. Livingstone's letters, + Benta forest, + Bihawana, + Bikari, cluster of villages, + "Bombay," or Mombay, + Bomboma's village, + Borassus flabelliformis, or Palmyra palm, + Brooks, Dr., + Buffalo gnats, + ----herd, + Bunder Salaam, cook of the Expedition, + Burial ceremonies, + Burton, Capt., experience of Bunyans, + Bustard, + + Cazembe, King; his Queen and her Amazons, + Chamati Hill, + Chambezi, drainage of, + Chambezi, Livingstone's difficulty about the, + "Charley's" lodging-house at Zanzibar, kindly spirit of its + landlord, + Chowpereh, Mgwana soldier,, + Christie, Dr., physician to Seyd Burghash + Chufwa fly, + Chuma, Dr. Livingstone's servant, + Cloth as currency in the interior, + Comorines, + Corn-grinding women of Kisemo, + Crocodile, narrow escape of author from, + + 'Daily Telegraph,' representative of, at Aden, + Dawson, Lieut., visit from, conversation as to his resigning + command of the Search Expedition + Dhows, + Dilima Peaks, + Dogara, or whitebait, + Donkeys, equipment of; fine breed of, in Ubanarama, + "Dowa," medicine, + + Earwigs, plague of, at Mpwapwa, + Elephantiasis common in Zanzibar, + Elephants, herd of; difficulty of shooting, + Emancipation Proclamation of Ahraham Lincoln, + Esau, Jemadar, + + Farquhar, W. L.; + his death; account of, + Faulkner, Mr., incredible statements of, + Ferajji, + Fire-arms, what most suitable to the traveller + Fish-eagle, + Forest peach, + Forest scenery of Unyarnwezi, + Foreign Office, letters from, + Franklyn, Mr. Hales, + Fraser, Capt., + Freiligrath's description of the lion's habitat, + French Mlissionaries, practical character of; Mission Station + at Bagamoyo, + + Giraffes, difficulty of killing, + Glossina mortisans, or tsetse fly + Goma Pass; + Granville, Lord, letter from, conveying the thanks of Queen + Victoria and the announcement of the Royal present, + Goodhue, Mr., or "Bana Mkuba." + + Haematite, + Half-castes, contemptible character + Halimah, Dr. Livingstone's cook, + Hassan, the Mseguhha, + Henn Lieut, his meeting with the author; resigns the leadership + Herembe, Cape, + Herodotus, his account of the Nile sources, + Hindis, Mohammedan, cheating character of, + Hippopotami + Honey-bird; habits of, + Honga, or tribute, + Hosmer, Dr., + Hunters Paradise, the, + Hyaenas, + + Ibrahim bin Rashid slain, + Ihata Island, + Imbiki, + Itage village, + + Jako, employe of the Expedition, + Jesuit Mission at Pagamoyo, + Jiweh la Singa district, + Johari, dragoman, + Jumah, + Jungle of Msuwa, its horrors, + + Kabogi, Cape, + Kabogo Mountain, singular phenomenon of, + Kadetamare, or Misonghi, village,. + Kahirigi, boma of, + Kaif-Halek or "How-do-ye-do," the letter carrier, + Kalulu, the boy-slave, + Kamolondo Lake, + Kanengi River, + Kaniyaga village + Kanjee, + Kanyamabengu River, + Kanyenyi, + Kayeh, a myth, + Kasera ridge, + Katanga, copper mines of, + Katangara Islands, + Kavimba, + Khamis bin Abdullah; his death, + Khamisi, desertion of; his narrow escape; flogged for + desertion; precis of character, + Khonze, remarkable globes of foliage at + Kiala, chief, + Kigoma Bay, + Kigonda, chief, + Kigwena River, + Kikoka village, + Kikuma River, + Kingari River, + ---- Valley, + Kingaru village + Kingwere, the canoe paddler + Kiora village,; Peak + Kirindo, chief, + Kirurumo village, + Kisabengo, chief, a minor Theodore, + Kisemo village; belles of, + Kisuka village, + Kisunwe River, + Kitanda or bedstead, + Kitii defile, + Kitunda Cape, + Kiwyeh, Sultan of; village, + Kiwrima Valley, + Kolquall or candelabra tree, + Kudu, + Kukumba Point, + Kulabi, + Kusuri or Konsuli, + Kwala Mtoni, + Kwikuru, + + Lares and Penates of the Wazavira, + Leukole's account of Farquhar's death, + Liemba, Lake, + Lincoln, Abraham, lake named after, by Livingstone, + Lion and leopard, home of the; Freiligrath's description of, + Liuche, valley of the, + Livingstone, Dr., the author's first interview with, at Ujiji; + his anxiety for news; the low ebb of his resources; + his early rising; took the author for an emissary of the + French Government; his hard fare; his suffering and privations; + revival of his enthusiasm; his guileless character; + his physical appearance,; absurd report of his marriage, + his general character and careful observations; sensitiveness + of criticism; amiable traits of his character, and his Spartan + heroism; his high spirits, inexhaustible humour, and retentive + memory; sincerity of his religion; ability to withstand the + African climate, due to his temperate life; his determination + to complete his task, spite of all difficulties, completeness + of his discoveries; summary of his experiences; interview with + King Cazembe; difficulty as to the Chambezi; discovery of Lake + Liemba; investigation of the Luapula; intervention in behalf of + Mahomed bin Sali repaid by base ingratitude; exploration of Uguhha; + sufferings at Bambarre, discovery of the Lualaba, description of + the beauties of Moero scenery; admiration of Abraham Lincoln; + his belief that the Lualaba or Webb's River is the true Nile; + his admission that the Nile sources have not been found; + his opinion as to the account of Herodotus; thwarted by the + cowardice of his men; return to Ujiji; dishonesty of Sherif; + destitute condition of the Doctor, his complaint of the Zanzibar + people not sending him freemen; improvement of his health from + more generous diet, contemplated cruise on the Tanganika; start + from Ujiji; liability to dysentery; manner of dealing with demands + for honga; loss of stores, &c., from Bombay's intoxication + his unwillingness to retaliate on the hostile natives, his + tenderness in sickness, disturbed in bed by his servant Susi in + a state of intoxication; his opinion that the Tanganika must have + an outlet; names the Kavunvweh islands the "New York Herald + Islets,"; his coolness at the hostility of the Wasansi, calms + them down by his gentle bearing and conversation; his resolve + to finish his task,; complaint of Dr. Kirk's sending only slaves; + resolves to accompany the author to Unyanyembe; his sufferings on + the road; at Mpokwa's village,; his value as a travelling companion; + stung by wild bees; his qualifications as a traveller, + peaceful recollections of his wife's grave, his relation of + incidents of the life of his son Robert; arrival at Ugundo, + letters from Dr. Kirk and home; welcome to Unyanyembe; in + comfortable quarters and in possession of stores; wreck of the + stores detained by Sayd bin Salim; in possession of four years' + store of supplies; his letter to Mr. Bennett, jun.; probable + results of his perseverance in African discovery; his last day + with the author; his intentions as to the future; the parting + farewell, + Livingstone, Mr. Oswell, introduction to; equipment of his proposed + expedition; determines to resign, + Livingstone, Robert Moffatt, incidents of his life, + Lizard, large, + Loeki or Lomani River, + Lualaba or "Webb's River" of Livingstone; thought by him to be the + true Nile, + Luapula River, + Lubilash River, + Ludha Damji, + Lufira River, + Luhanga Peak, + Lukomo village, + Luvumba Cape, + + Mabruki, cruel treatment of; + Mabunguru Nullah, + Madedita, + Magala, Mutware of, + Maganga, + Magunda Mkali, + Mahommed bin Sali, his release by Livingstone and subsequent + ingratitude, + Maizun, Mons., + Makata Valley; River; Plain, + Makumbi, chief, + Malagash, Inlet, + Malagarazi River, + Manyuema country, people of; the El Dorado of the Arabs; sought + as slaves, + Maganga, + Marefu, + Marenga Mkali, + Masangi, + Masika, or rainy season, + Matamombo, + Mazitu, marauding propensities of, + Mbawala, species of antelope, + Mbembu, or forest peach, + Mdaburu River, + Medicine for daubing warriors, + Mfuto, Eastern, + Mgongo Tembo, or "Elephant's Back," + Mgwana, + Mikiseh, + Mionvu, Mutware of Kimenyi, + Mirambo; defeated at Mfuto, + Misonghi, deserted village, + Mizanza, + Mkuti River, + Mkuyu, gigantic sycamore, + Moero Lake; beauty of the scenery, + Mohammed bin Abdulla slain, + Mohammed bin Gharib, + Monkeys, troop of, + Morris, Hon. E. J., + Mpokwa River, + Mponda, chief, + Mpwapwh, its fruitfulness; + Mountains, + Mrera, chief, + ---, warriors of, + Msuwa, + Mtemi, chief, + Mud-fish, + Mugere River, + Mugeyo village, + Mugihewa territory, + Mukamba, chief, + Mukondoku, chief, + Mukondokwa Range; Pass; River, + Mukungu, + Mukunguru, African intermittent fever, + Munieka, + Muniyi Usagara, + Murembwe Cape; Point, + Musa, chief of the Johanna men, + Muscat Arabs of Zanzibar, + Mussoudi, the Diwan's account of an extraordinary flood, + Musunya Lake, + Muzimu Island, + Mvumi village, + Mwaru, + Myombo tree, + Mussoud bin Abdhullah, + Mussoudi; beautiful prospect at, + + "Nazi-Moya" at Zanzibar, + Negroes of Zanzibar; character of, + New, Rev. Charles, introduction to, + "New York Herald" Islets, + Ngaraiso village, + Nghwhalah River, + Nguru Peak, + Niamtaga, + Niasanga village, + Niongo, + Nondo, Spoke's runaway, + Nyabigma Island, + Nyambwa, + Nzoe, antelope of Speke, + + "Omar," Mr. Stanley's watchdog; death of, + + Pallah buck, + Pembera Pereh, Sultan, + Perpusilla, the, + Piaggia, the Italian traveller, + Pisolitic limestone, + Pottery, native, of the Wazavira, + Price, Simon, Dr. Livingstone's servant, + + Queen Victoria, letter conveying the thanks of Her Majesty and + the announcement of the Royal present, + + Rehenneko village, + Rosako village, + Rua country; people, + Rubeho Slopes; Peak, + Rubuga, + Rudewa River, + Rugufu Lake, + Ruhinga, chief, + Rusizi River; problem of; delta of, + + Said bin Majid, + Salim bin Rashid, + Sultana of Simbamwenni, + Sami-sami, red beads, + Sayf, son of Ali, slain, + Sayd bin Salim's house, + Selim, interpreter, + ----, the Arab boy, + Seyd Burghash, Sultan of Zanzibar, + Sitting on pombe, + Sentakeyi, Cape, + Shaw, J. W.; leaves the expedition, + Shamba Gonera, or, "Gonera's Field," good disposition of the + Indian widow towards the whites; appearance of the place, + trade, &c., + Sheikh Sayd bin Selim, + ----- Hamed, + ----- Hassid, + ----- Khamis bin Abdullah, + ----- bin Nasib, + ----- Sulton bin Ali, + ----- Thani, + Sherif, Dr. Livingstone's servant; dishonesty of, + Shiza, + Sigunga, + Simbamwenni; desolation of by flood, + ----------, Sultana of, + Simba, ruler of Kasera, + Simbo, + Simbo, Khambi, + Singwe, a plum-like fruit, + Slave-gang, chained, + Sofi beads, + Somalis; + Soor Hadji Palloo, + Soud, the Arab, + ----, son of Sayd bin Majid, + ----, bin Sayd, his attack on Wilyankura; his death, + Speke, Capt., his "Faithfuls"; treatment of "Bombay" by; + error of, as to altitude of Tanganika, + Stanley, Mr., start from Bombay; landing at Zanzibar; hospitable + reception by Capt. Webb; impressions of the city; + organization of the Expedition; visit to the Sultan; departure + from Zanzibar; landing at Bagamoyo; troublesome experiences; + visit to the "Livingstone caravan"; preparations for departure + into the interior, difficulties with employes; chase after a + thief, despatch of four caravans; departure of the fifth caravan, + led by himself; members composing it and outfit; the start, + first camp; Shamba Gonera; crossing the Kingani; hippopotami + shooting; Kikoka village; halt at Rosako; "Omar" watchdog, + missing; formidable number of insects, the tsetse-fly; game + hunting; difficulty of penetrating an African jungle; camp at + Kingaru; the grey Arab horse, and offence given by its interment; + interview with the king of Kingaru; loss of the re maiming horse + from cancer; desertion and sickness; appearance of Maganga's + caravan march to Imbiki; reach Msuwa, perils of the jungle, + astonishment of the chief; chained slave-gang; halt at + Kisemo; belle of; narrow escape of Khamisi; flogged for + desertion; reach Mussoudi; beautiful prospect; cross the + Ungerengeri start for Mikeseh; Ulagalla and Muhalleh; + overtake Maganga's caravan; meet with Selim bin Rashid, + news of Livingstone; pass town of Simbamwenni; its + fortifications; curiosity of the inhabitants; two + days' halt and overhaul of the luggage, attack of ague; + visit of ambassadors of the Sultana of Simbamwenni; + wretched encampment on the Ungerengeri; difficulty of + crossing the river; Makata Valley; loss of Bombay's + equipage,; difficulties of the Makata Valley; escape + and capture of Kingaru; emerge from the swamp Makata, + attack of dysentery, halt at Reheneko; ascent of the + Usagara Mountains; Mukondokwa Valley and River; Kiora; + camp at, illness of Farquhar; ford of the Mukondokwa + River; Madete, Lake of Ugombe; departure from Ugombo; + camp at Matamombo, death of of the dog "Omar"; Sheikh + Thani in clover at Mpwapwa, a good breakfast and + dinner, Farquhar left to be nursed; twelve pagazis + engaged, abundance of earwigs and white ants; Chunyo, + badness of the water; Marenga Mkali waterless district; + attack of fever; Ugogo; frantic conduct of the population; + West Mvumi; the Sultan's exorbitant demand of honda; + Matamburu, reasonableness of the Sultan of; Bihiwana; + attack of intermittent fever; Kididimo, bleak aspect + and bad water; Nyambwa, demonstrativeness of the people; + Mizanza; benefit from quinine; visit from the Sultan; + Little Mukondoku; Mukondoku Proper; commotion and + cowardice; uproar in the camp; debate as to route; + threatened mutiny; Munieka; Mabunguru Nullah; + Unyambogi; Kiti, Msalalo; Ngaraiso, Kirurumo, + greeting from the villagers; interview with Sultan + bin Mahommed; halt at Kusuri, and Mgongo Tembo; + Nghwhalah Mtoni, abundance of sweet, water; + Madedita, tsete-fly troublesome; reach Unyamwezi + territory at Eastern Tura, cultivated region; + Nondo, Speke's runaway; Central Tura, attempted night + robbery, a thief shot dead; pass Western Tura; Kwala + Mtoni, mud-fish; illness of the tailor, Abdul Kader, + he wishes to give up his post; Rubuga, desolation of, + since Burton's visit; meeting with Amer bin Sultan, + Kigwa, wasted condition of; Shiza, pastoral aspect of, + visit from the Sultan; rejoicings in camp on reaching + Unyanyembe territory; life in Unyanyembe; breakfast and + gossip with Sayd bin Salim; Kazeh, a myth; leave Kwikuru; + in comfortable quarters; visit from the Tabora Arab magnates; + Tabora, chief Arab settlement in central Africa; attend a + council of war, feast at the close of the council; return + to Kwihara; the Livingstone caravan's halt of 100 days; + attack of fever; preparations for the march; warlike + demonstration; Eastern Mfuto, illness of Shaw, + personnel of the army; Umanda, medicine daubing; + war harangue; Zimbizo, attack on the village; fate + of Soud bin Sayd and his Arabs; retreat and stormy + councils of war; further retreat of the Arabs to Tabora, + serious position of the Expedition; intelligence + of Livingstone; news of death of Farquhar; illness + of Shaw, attack of Mirambo on Tabora; Khamis bin + Abdullah, &c., slain; preparations for Mirambo's threatened + attack on Kwihara; visit to Sheikh bin Nassib; retreat + of Mirambo, determination to lead a flying caravan + to Ujiji; apathy of Shaw, visit to Thani bin Abdullah, + arrival of letters; death of Baruti, evil reports by + the Arabs; present of a boy-slave; defeat of Mirambo at + Mfuto; nursing experiences: farewell feast at Unyanyembe; + march to Ujiji commenced by southern route; list of "braves" + of the Expedition; Bombay's tender passion; the start; + Shaw shows the white feather; Kinyamwezi village, attack + of fever; arrest of runaways, threat of slave-chain; + Inesuka, further desertions, punishment, withdrawal of + Abdul Kader, the tailor; sickness in camp, adverse + appearances; Kasegara, rejoicings at; Kigandu, Shaw's + by-play; his withdrawal; beauty of Unyamwezi forest + scenery; Ugunda; Benta; Kikuru, the mukunguru or fever; + camp at Ziwani; gigantic sycamore; Manyara, cultivated + region; difficulty of buying provisions; visit of Mtemi; + his astonishment at the author's medicine-chest; Gombe + River, its beautiful neighbourhood; narrow escape from a + crocodile, suspicious-looking natives; a peaceful camp-scene; + symptoms of revolt at starting onwards; murderous aspect of + Asmani and Mabruki; the march- resumed; sketch of the principal + men of the Expedition; Ziwani (pool), waterless condition of; + Tongoni, abundance of honey-birds; Marefu, rumours of war in + our front; march through a forest abounding with peach-trees; + Utende village; Mwaru, supposed report of Livingstone, Mrera's + district, wild elephants; Selim falls ill, start from Mrera + north-westward; confidence restored in the camp, remarkable + ant-hills; camp in the jungle; embassy from Simba; Uzavira, + ruined neighbourhood of; Misonghi; Mpokwa River, deserted + village near; Mtambu stream, its beauty; attack by a leopard; + shot at a wild boar; proximity of lions; Itaga village, + beginning of troubles, shortness of provisions, "Welled + Nzogera's" village, abundant supplies; crossing a marsh; + reach the Malagarazi; heavy exaction of the chief Kiala; + island of Ihata, fresh demands for ferriage; donkey seized + by crocodile; Uvinza, news of Livingstone, departure from + the Malagarazi; country of Uhha; halt at Kawanga; halt on + the Pombwe stream, interview with Mionvu; exorbitant demand + of honga; cross the Kanengi River; more claims of honga; + departure by stealth; Kanengi River; cross the Rusugi; + Lake Musunya, Rugufu River, Kabogo Mountain, singular + phenomenon of; Sunuzzi River; enter Ukaranga; beauty + of the landscape; Mkute River, Niamtaga, alarm of the + people; first view of the Tanganika, Port of Ujiji in + view; salute announcing the approach of the caravan; meeting + with Susi, the servant of Dr. Livingstone; excitement of + the inhabitants; appearance of the Doctor; the introduction; + conversation; the over-due letter-bag, 365 days from Zanzibar; + budget of news; intercourse with Livingstone; suggestions + as to his future course; start with Livingstone for cruise + on the Tanganika; pass Bangwe Island; wooded hills of Bemba; + camp at Niasanga; Nyabigma Island; Mukungu; loss of valuables + from Bombay's intoxication; hostile demonstrations of the Bikari + people; bivouac on the shore disturbed by natives; round + Cape Sentakeyi, and sleep at Mugeyo; Magala, hospitality of + the people, visit of the Mutware of; rumours of wars; + Kisiku, native report as to the Rusizi River; Mugere, delta + of the; visit Mukamba, attacked by fever and experience + Livingstone's tenderness; Susi's drunken fit; Mugihewa + territory on the delta of the Rusizi; visit of the chief + Ruhinga, his geographical information; exploration + of the Rusizi debouchure: Kukubma Point, enchanting scenery + near; halt at Bemba, superstition of the Wajiji; 'New York + Herald Islets,' so named by Livingstone; Cape Luvumba + hostile aspect of the Wasansi, return to Ujiji, domestic + and foreign news; at home with Livingstone; preparations + for march to Unyanyembe; attack of fever; Christmas-day + at Ujiji; the departure; meet with Mohammed bin Gharib; + Sirgunga, beautiful aspect of; sport at Urimba; homeward bound; + an elephant herd; Ukawendi, luxuriance of its vegetation; + painful march to Imrera; a giraffe shot; severe attack of + fever, the Doctor's prescription; the caravan attacked by + bees; Mrera, meeting with caravan sent by Sayd bin Habid, + exchange of news, encounter a lion; Ugunda, the deserter + Hamdallah retaken; receipt of letters and newspapers; + welcome to Unyanyembe; stores found tampered with; + a second Christmas celebration, four years' stores of + supplies turned over to the Doctor, commission to enlist + at Zanzibar fifty freemen as his carriers; farewell dance + of natives; choragic adieu of the Wanyamwezi; last night + with Livingstone; the last walk in his company, the farewell; + a letter from the Doctor; Ngaraiso, hostility of the Wakimbu, + enter Ugogo; warlike demonstrations, march of warriors + arrayed for the fight; Khonze, its gigantic tree-foliage; + determined mode of dealing with the chief successfull; + Kanyenyi, cordial reception by the Msagira of; Mapanga, + hostile demonstration; asked to act as rain-maker; Kulabi, + suffer from a "peppo"; Marenga Mkali; Mpwapwa, death of + Farquhar; Mukondokwa valley, experience of the Masika; + Makata plain, battling with the floods; Mvumi village, + fighting with mosquitoes; the Doctor's despatches in danger; + a perilous ford; ten days' camp at Rehenneko, difficulties + of the march to the Makata River; arrive at Simbo, cross the + Unkerengere, and reach Simbamwenni, its desolated aspect; + Ulagalla, extraordinary devastation by flood; Msuwa, horrors + of its jungle; Kingaru Hera, news of the Zanzibar storm; + Rosako, welcome consignment from the American Consul; + ill-natured criticisms, information as to the "Livingstone + Search and Relief Expedition"; Ringweare's ferry, a watery waste, + four miles broad; welcome to Bagamoyo; meeting with Lieut. Henn; + introduction to Mr. Oswell Livingstone; the march ended; + welcome at Zanzibar, the American Consul and Rev. C. New; + congratulation of Lieut. Dawson; discussion as to his resignation; + visit from Dr. Kirk and Bishop Tozer, change in the author's + appearance on his return; preparations for Mr. O. Livingstone's + Expedition, his resignation, selection of an Arab leader, + farewell to old travelling companions; departure from + Zanzibar in the 'Africa'; reach Seychelles, a month's delay + at Mahe, agreeable intercourse; reach England via Aden and + Marseilles. + Sultan bin Mohammed, + Sultan of Zanzibar, Mr. Stanley's interview with, + Sunuzzi stream, + Susi, Dr. Livingstone's servant, + Swaruru, Sultan, + Sycamore, gigantic, + + Tabora, + Tagamoyo, massacre of the Wamanyuema by, + Tanganika Lake, first visit to; cruise on, with Dr. Livingstone, + Tarya Topan, integrity of + Thani bin Abdullah,, + Tongoni, deserted clearing, + Tozer, Bp., his residence at Zanzibar; his congratulations at + the author's success, + Trade, mode of conducting, in Africa, + Tsetse fly, + Tura, Eastern; Central,; + Western or Tura Perro; + + Udoe, cones of, + "Uganga," or charm, + Ugombo, Lake; Peak, Plain, + Ugunda village, + Uhha, king of, + Ujiji, port of, + Ukaranga territory, its beautiful aspect, + Ukawendi country, scenery of, + Ulagalla district, + Ulimengo, absconding slave, + Unamapokera, friendliness of, + Ungerengeri River; Valley, + Urundi Mountains, + Unyamwezi forest scenery, beauty of; territory, + Unyambogi, + Urimba, camp at, + Usagara Mountains, + Utende village, + Uwelasia River, + Uyanzi, Magunda Mkali; or "Hot Field," + Uyoweh, Mirambo of, + Uzavira, village in, + + Waganga, or medicine men; filthy war-potion, concocted by, + Wagogo tribe, villages of, + Wagtails regarded as birds of good omen, + Waguhha tribe, + Wagunda tribe, + Wahumba tribe, + Wajiji tribe, + Wakimbu of Tura, rascality of, + ------- tribe; villages of, + Wakonongo, + Wamanyuema, fondness of, for marketing, + Wangwana village, + ------- tribe, gormandizing of the, + Wanyamwezi tribe, their superstitious aversion to antelope meat, + War, council of, at Tabora, + Warfare, tame mode of conducting, + Wa-Ruga-Ruga, + Wasawahili tribe, + Wasansi tribe, + Waseguhha tribe, + Washenshi tribe, + Wasungu tribe, + Wavinza tribe, greed of + Wavira tribe, + Webb, Capt. F. R., U.S. Consul, his hospitality and courtesy, + ----, Mr. of Newstead Abbey, river named after him, + ----, Mrs., + Wagogo, cool impudence of the, + Wilderness, African, more favourable to the traveller than + the populated country, + Wild-boar shooting, + Wilyankuru, attack on, + Wire, high valve of, in the interior, + + Zanzibar city view of, from the bay, harbor + "Charley's" lodging house,; character of the street + and population, trade, "M'nazi Moya"; house of Bishop + Tozer, mart of the interior, mode of commerce unchanged + for ages; population; filth and unhealthiness of; + inertness induced by climate of; Palace of the Sultan, + ----- Island; its aspect from the sea, + Zassi River and village, + Zebra, + Zimbizo, attack on the village, + Zimmerman on the benefit of an unencumbered mind, + Ziwo, or pond, + Ziwani (pool), + Zogga, palm toddy, + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's How I Found Livingstone, by Henry M. 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