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How I found Livingstone

by Henry M. Stanley · English · Gutenberg #5157 · 945,906 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: How I found Livingstone
        Travels, adventures, and discoveres in Central Africa, including an account of four months' residence with Dr. Livingstone

Author: Henry M. Stanley


        
Release date: February 1, 2004 [eBook #5157]
                Most recently updated: August 18, 2012

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5157

Credits: Produced by Geoffrey Cowling and David Widger


*** START OF THE 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 £3,000 and
£5,000, and I fear it cannot be done under £2,500."

"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 ascendi

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