fact, I felt wrecked. My attempt to go and demand
redress from the sultan was resisted, and, in utter despair,
I seated myself among a mass of rascals jeering round me,
and insolent after the success of the day. Several were
dressed in the very cloths, &c., they had stolen from my
men.
“ In the afternoon, about fifteen men and loads were
brought me, with a message from the sultan, that the
attack had been a mistake of his subjects—that one man
had had a hand cut off for it, and that all the property
would be restored! Yours sincerely,
“ J. W. Grant.”
Now, judging from the message sent to Grant by
M’yonga, it appeared to me that his men had mistaken
their chief ’s orders, and had gone one step beyond his
intentions. It was obvious that the chief merely intended
to prevent Grant from passing through or evading his
district without paying a hongo, else he would not have
sent his men to invite him to his palace, doubtless with
instructions, if necessary, to use force. This appears the
more evident from the fact of his subsequent contrition,
and finding it necessary to send excuses when the property
was in his hands; for these chiefs, grasping as they are,
know they must conform to some kind of system, to save
themselves from a general war, or the avoidance of their
territories by all travellers in future. To assist Grant,
I begged Lumeresi to send him some aid in men at
once; but he refused, on the plea tha£ M’yonga was
at war with him, and would kill them if they went.
This was all the more provoking, as Grant, in a letter
next evening, told me he could not get all his men together
again, and wished to know what should be done.
He had recovered all the property except six loads of
beads, eighty yards of American sheeting, and many
minor articles, besides what had been rifled more or less
from every load. In the same letter he asked me to
deliver up a Mhüma woman to a man who came with
the bearers of his missive, as she had made love to Saim
at Uktilima’s, and had bolted with my men to escape
from her husband.
On inquiring into this matter, she told me her face had
been her misfortune, for the man who now claimed her stole
her from her parents at Ujiji, and forcibly made her his
wife, but ever since had ill-treated her, often thrashing her,
and never giving her proper food or clothing. It was on
this account she fell in love with Saim; for he, taking
compassion on her doleful stories, had promised to keep
her as long as he travelled with me, and in the end to
send her back to her parents at Ujiji. She was a beautiful
woman, with gazelle eyes, oval face, high thin nose,
and fine lips, and would have made a good match for
Saim, who had a good deal of Arab blood in him, and was
therefore, in my opinion, much of the same mixed Shem-
Hamitic breed. But as I did not want more women in
my camp, I gave her some beads, and sent her off with
the messenger who claimed her, much against my own
feelings. I now proposed to Grant that, as Lümérési’s
territories extended to within eight miles of M’yonga’s,
he should try to move over the Msalala border by relays,
when I would send some Bogué men to meet him; for
though Lümérési would not risk sending his men into the
clutches of M’yonga, he was most anxious to have another
white visitor.
20th and 21s£.—I again urged Lümérési to help on
Grant, saying it was incumbent on him to call M’yonga
to account for maltreating Grant’s porters, who were his
own subjects, else the road would be shut up—he would
lose all the hongos he laid on caravans—and he would
not be able to send his own ivory down to the coast. This
appeal had its effect: he called on his men to volunteer,
L