of the lake, that I did not go by the more direct route
across the Masai country and Usoga ; and then, finding I
Said. Migid, S u lta n of Z a n z ib a r
wished to see Karagud, as well as to settle many other
great points of interest, he offered to assist me with all the
means in his power.
The Hottentots, the mules, and the baggage having
been landed, our preparatory work began in earnest. It
consisted in proving the sextants; rating the watches;
examining the compasses and boiling thermometers;
making tents and packsaddles; ordering supplies of
beads, cloth, and brass wire; and collecting servants
and porters.
Sheikh Said bin Salem, our late Cafila Bashi, or caravan
captain, was appointed to that post again, as he wished to
¡prove his character for honour and honesty; and it now
transpired that he had been ordered not to go with me
: when I discovered the Victoria N’yanza. Bombay and his
brother Mabruki were bound to me of old, and the first
to greet me on my arrival here; while my old friends the
Beliichs begged me to take them again. The Hottentots,
however, had usurped their place. I was afterwards sorry
for this, though, if I ever travel again, I shall trust to
:none but natives, as the climate of Africa is too trying to
foreigners. Colonel Rigby, who had at heart as much as
anybody the success of the expedition, materially assisted
me in accomplishing my object—that men accustomed
[to discipline and a knowledge of English honour and
honesty should be enlisted, to give confidence to the rest
[of the men; and he allowed me to select from his boat’s
[crew any men I could find who had served in men-of-
; war, and had seen active service in India.
For this purpose my factotum, Bombay, prevailed on
[Baraka, Frij, and Rahan— all of them old sailors, who,
like himself, knew Hindustani—to go with me. With
¡this nucleus to start with, I gave orders that they should
look out for as many Wanguana (freed men—i. e., men
[emancipated from slavery) as they could enlist, to carry
[loads, or do any other work required of them, and to follow
me in Africa wherever I wished, until our arrival in
[Egypt, when I would send them back to Zanzibar. Each
|Was to receive one year’s pay in advance, and the remainder
when their work was completed.
While this enlistment was going on here, Ladha Damji,
phe customs master, was appointed to collect a hundred
pagazis (Wanyamttozi porters) to carry each a load of cloth,
(beads, or brass wire to Kazd, as they do for the ivory mer-
chants. Meanwhile, at the invitation of the Admiral, and
jto show him some sport in hippopotamus-shooting, I went
with him in a dhow over to Kusiki, near which there is
a tidal lagoon, which at high tide is filled with water, but