it, and then do his best to prevent my seeing K’yengo.
As soon as this was settled, against my wish and opinion,
a special messenger arrived from Süwarora to inquire of
Müsa what truth there was in the story of the Arabs
having allied themselves to the Wattita. He had full
faith in Musa, and hoped, if the Arabs had no hostile intentions
towards him, he, Müsa, would send him two men
of his own, and prevail on the Arabs to send two of theirs ;
further, Süwarora wished Müsa would send him a cat. A
black cat was then given to the messenger for Süwarora,
and- Müsa sent an account of all that I had done towards
effecting a peace, saying that the Arabs had accepted my
views, and if he would have patience until I arrived in
Usüi, the four men required would be sent with me.
In the evening my men returned again with Cyclops,
who said, for his master, that Manüa Séra desired nothing
more than peace, and to make friends with the Arabs;
but as nothing was settled about deposing Mkisiwa, he
could not come over here. Could the Arabs, was Manüa
Sera’s rejoinder, suppose for a moment that he would vol-
' untarily divide his dominion with one whom he regarded as
his slave ! Death would be preferable ; and although he
would trust his life in the Mzungü’s hands if he called him
again, he must know it was his intention to hunt Mkisiwa
down like a wild animal, and would never rest satisfied
until he was dead. The treaty thus broke down ; for the
same night Cyclops decamped like a thief, after brandishing
an arrow which Manüa Séra had given him to throw
down as a gauntlet of defiance to fight Mkisiwa to death.
After this the Arabs were too much ashamed of themselves
to come near me, though invited by letter, and Müsa
became so ill he would not take my advice and ride in a
hammock, the best possible cure for his complaint; so,
after being humbugged so many times by his procrastinations,
I gave Sheikh Said more letters and specimens, with
orders to take the Tots down to the coast as soon as practicable,
and started once more for the north, expecting
very shortly to hear of Mtisa’s death, though he promised
to follow me the very next day or die in the attempt, and
he also said he would bring on the four men required by
Stiwarora; for I was fully satisfied in my mind that he
would have marched with me then had he had the resolution
to do so at all.
Before I had left the district I heard that Manua Sera
T o « . « . » M collected a mixed force of Waxori, Wa-
and nth. gogo, and Wasakiima, and had gone oft to
Kigue again, whilst the Arabs and Mkisiwa were feeding
their men on beef before.setting out to fight him. Manua
Sera, it was said, had vast resources. His father, Fiindi
Kira, was a very rich man, and had buried vast stores of
property, which no one knew of but Manila Sera, his
heir. The Wanyamiiezi all inwardly loved him for his
great generosity, and all alike thought him protected by a
halo of charm-power so effective against the arms of the
Arabs that he could play with them just as he liked.
On crossing Unyambewa (14th), when I a third time
put up with my old friend the sultana, her chief sent word
to say he hoped I would visit him at his fighting boma to
eat a cow which he had in store for me, as he could not go
home and enjoy the society of his wife whilst the war was
going on; since, by so doing, it was considered he “would
lose strength.”
On arriving at Mininga, I was rejoiced to see Grant
Mininga, \ 5(h to greatly recovered. Three villagers had been
19iA- attacked by two lions during my absence. Two
of the people escaped, but the third was seized as he was
plunging into his hut, and was dragged off and devoured
by the animals. A theft also had taken place, by which
both Grant and Sirboko lost property; and the thieves
had been traced over the borders of the next district. No
fear, however, was entertained about the things being