pany, however, with Mfumbi, who now pretended to he
great friends; but what was the result ? On entering the
palace we were shown into a cowyard without a tree in
it, or any shade; and no one was allowed to sell us food
until a present of friendship was paid, after which the
hongo would be discussed.
The price of friendship was not settled that day, however,
and my men had to go supperless to bed. Baraka
offered him one common cloth, and then another—all of
which he rejected with such impetuosity that Baraka said
his head was all on a whirl. Makaka insisted he would
have a ddole, or nothing at all. I protested I had no
deoles I could give him; for all the expensive cloths
which I had brought from the coast had been stolen in
Mo-jlmla Mkhali. I had three, however, concealed at the
time—which I had bought from Musa, at forty dollars
each—intended for the kings of Karague and Uganda.
Incessant badgering went on for hours and hours, until
at last Baraka, clean done with the incessant worry of this
hot-headed young chief, told him, most unfortunately, he
would see again if he could find a d^ole, as he had one of
his own. Baraka then brought one to my tent, and told
me of his having bought it for eight dollars at the coast;
and as I now saw I was let in for it, I told him to give it.
It was given, but Makaka no sooner saw it than he said
he must have another one; for it was all nonsense saying
a white man had no rich cloths. Whenever he met
Arabs, they all said they were poor men, who obtained all
their merchandise from the white men on credit, which
they refunded afterwards, by levying a heavy percentage
on the sale of their ivory.
I would not give way that night; but next day, after
fearful battling, the present of friendship was
paid by Baraka’s giving first a dubtiani, then
one sahari, then one barsati, then one kistitfi, and then eight
yards of merikani — all of which were contested in the
most sickening manner—when Baraka, fairly done up,
was relieved by Makaka’s saying, “ That will do for friendship
; if you had given the deold quietly, all th'is trouble
would have been saved; for I am not a bad man, as you
will see.” My men then had their first dinner here, after
which the hongo had to be paid. This for the time was,
however, more easily settled; because Makaka at once
said he would never be satisfied until he had received, if
I had really not got a deole, exactly double in equivalents
of all I had given him. This was a fearful drain on my
store; but the Pig, seeing my concern, merely laughed at
it, and said, “ Oh, these savage chiefs are all alike here;
you will have one of these taxes to pay every stage to
Uyofu, and then the heavy work will begin ; for all these
men, although they assume the dignity of chief to themselves,
are mere officers, who have to pay tribute to Suwa-
rora, and he would be angry if they were shortcoming.”
The drums as yet had not beaten, for Makaka said he
would not be satisfied until we had exchanged presents,
to prove that we were the best of friends. To do this
last act properly, I was to get ready whatever I wished
to give him, whilst he would come and visit me with
a bullock; but I was to give him a royal salute, or the
drums would not beat. I never felt so degraded as when
i complied, and gave orders to my men to fire a volley as
he approached my te n t; but I ate the dirt with a good
grace, and met the young chief as if nothing had happened.
My men, however, could not fire the salute fast enough
for him; for he was one of those excitable impulsive
creatures who expect others to do everything in as great
a hurry as their minds wander. The moment the first
volley was fired, he said, “ Now, fire again, fire again; be
quick, be quick! What’s the use of those things V’
(meaning the guns.) ‘‘We could spear you all whilst you
are loading: be quick, be quick, I tell you.” But Baraka,