which evidently was the column around which the tribunals
of justice assembled ; for u n der'the same shelter sat
numbers of old men smoking and snuffing, who looked
upon us with odüilteinàndes- ëipressivéi'of inuch cufiosity
and gravity. ’ t o t hohrs We sät in/fcÎiis pösitiön gazed upoii
all the time by'‘the- surrounding! ibàssës ; - öertainly thé
dirtiest and most uncouth sfet 'of savâ'gha I had yet seen m
Africa.
On our right the two mountain tops broke the waving
line of distant* country,. :catllëd^ by -the natives the Zenza
mountains. , . T
My conjecture regarding thé decamping of the Landm
proved to be corrëct, for I remarked amidst the crowd the
unconcerned t i k a p ^ f ‘on© ©f t h o ^ t t ^ who le ft us on
the Mkondozi river. I immediately told 'Misin to collar
him and bring-him to med This ^done/ the- fellow coolly
squatted, and looked' as though he had névêr seen me m
his life. • " r •"*'
I had no intention of raking- up past delinquencies, or m
any way a n tic ip a tin g Ä m e ^ e d -judgment* day, but I wa§s
really anxioûs «te kmèW.whëthekwe I t o - remain seated
under the baobab tree for ' any protracted term of life:
More practically; I wanted, a h u t i* which to-place the
goods, also mem to go-hack -immediaiely with food and
bring along the things from th é 'Wange river;
This was a most -important matter. I could not-trust the
Maravi, and so long as I> could Secure my effects m a .hut i
might be able - to do 'something,- Withèut»the goods,
would be still more at the mercy of these suspicious-looking
P After much délibération, the ¡worthy ■ deserter answered
that the headman of the tbwn must be^-seén bis name was
Deuka. Determined: not to - disclose the contents of my
packages before the mob, I said that f l * of.all I must
have a hut, -and when that was givgn ;I would speak. ,
And so another hour passed &ilentlyraway. ^ f q t .a word
was spoken, not. a syllable ;ad^?ed , t q , a i w ^ ,ph the,
party, Misiri a t last broke the. , » Jftosfcvspmical
manner, as with a half-suppressed smile he said to me i
\ “ Well, you’re got here.’' f.yi •; ■
There was something exceedingly; funny about the
remark for.it meant so much. . True, I,had. “ girt hey,’! bpt
W h a t a struggle we had had to reach the place! . Now fhe
lituation seemed dittle better than when we were on the
^ A s we had of a surety been long enough seated to decide
to the people that, our , intentions were far from being warlike
I thep said that Misiri had better, go,on, a foraging
tour through: the town. He immediately went and tookr up
his position heside. a very fat and. ancient old. lady, whose
thick coating of g r iw d i r t : to lf that „her occupation lay iq
the agricultural,line.i / ; t , . wft * '■ ■• ■', .
Good Misiri had an, eyej to business,:,he .was trying tq
effect a purchase. The ,cqnyer§ation was slow, but ultimately
they both vanished together. , My foHower soon , returned
holding two,squalling hens,;,
was almost gone; only a very small portion remaining as q
sort of apology for an apron. | -
“ Where are your clothes, Misiri ? ” I inquired.,
“ Buying! ” was his laconic answer. ,
While he had thought of. me he had.not altogether. forgot j
ten his own half-famished eqnditipn, for behind him w # 9 §
a young girl carrying ala rg e gpurd.of native b e e r.,,,is in S
interview with the earth-encrusted old lady was. productive
of further good, as the lower portion of a hut was set aside