■would not live long if they were made to carry beef;
and this I believe was only a device to get the meat
themselves.
When detained for want of porters at Mineenga, we
taught our men the sword exercise for an hour every
afternoon. They were apt at learning, did remarkably
well, and enjoyed it very much, though kept strictly
to it for the time they were out. Not understanding
discipline, if a shower of rain fell, they thought themselves
at liberty to run off our parade-ground; and
when I brought a cane in my hand, they could not
resist a titter, thinking I had brought it to enforce
orders, and not merely to show the sword positions.
On the coast we had taught them the platoon exercise
and target practice, but they never would take
care of their ammunition, ramrods, or stoppers—always
firing them away. On the arrival of a detachment,
salutes of welcome must be fired, and always,
on new moon being visible, each one would try to be
the first to fire his gun. But with six months’ drill
and strict discipline, we saw that a negro could be
made into a good light-infantry soldier; and if he
only becomes attached to his officer, there is no more
devoted follower in the world.
On arrival outside a Wezee village, generally a set
of armed men would meet us, bounding on the grass,
running in circles, making feints at our caravan, either
in delight, or in attempts to frighten us. A shot in
the air would cool their courage, though our porters on
hearing it would sometimes drop their loads and fly
in fear, but speedily returning when reassured. Men
were in abundance in the country, and if a solitary
one ran away, he could always be replaced. For
instance, a father saw his son carrying a load in our
caravan; he led him angrily away, and we soon got
another. But to collect one or two hundred we found
a most difficult task: they are as fickle as the wind.
A wave of a flag will attract them, while one misplaced
expression will send them away discontented.
They higgle pertinaciously about their hire; and after
they have been induced to accept double wages, they
suddenly change their minds, think you’ve got the
best of it, and ask for more, or more commonly disappear.
One of the most pleasing sensations in going
through an immense forest is suddenly to come upon
the traces of man. The Wezee experience this, for,
in their forest south of Kazeh, they erect triumphal
arches with poles, over or by the side of the path. These
they ornament with antelope-skulls, having the horns,
or with elephant-dung, bones, bows, or broken gourds.
I t cheers the traveller, and gives fresh vigour to his
wearied limbs, for he knows, that camp and water are
never far distant, and that the trumpet of the caravan
leader must soon sound the welcome “ halt.” In
travelling through these forests, the Unyamuezi rarely
loses his way, as he is accustomed to range in woods,
and to mark his route either by breaking boughs or
noting the position of the sun.
During my fifty-five days’ detention at Mineenga,
Speke had been away for sixteen days at Kazeh trying
to procure porters by means of the Arabs. The
third day after his return, the 18th of May 1861, I
marched northward with a detachment of forty loads,
making for Ukuni. He picked me up on the 21st,
and I again went on alone, and reached it on the