Next day I joined Grant once more, and found he had
collected a few Sorombo men, hoping to follow after me.
I then told him all my mishaps in Sorombo, as well as of
the “ blue-devil” frights that had seized all my men. I
felt greatly alarmed about the prospects of the expedition,
scarcely knowing what I should do. I resolved at last, if
everything else failed, to make up a raft at the southern
end of the N’yanza, and try to go up to the Nile in that
way. My cough daily grew worse. I could not lie or
sleep on either side. Still my mind was so excited and
anxious that, after remaining one day here to enjoy
Grant’s society, I pushed ahead again, taking Bombay
with me, and had breakfast at Mchimeka’s.
There I found the Pig, who now said he wished he had
taken my offer of beads, for he had spoken with his chief,
and saw that I was right. Baraka and the Wanguana
were humbugs, and had they not opposed his going, he
would have gone then; even now, he said, he wished I
would take him again with Bombay. Though half inclined
to accept his offer, which would have saved a long
trudge to Kaz6, yet as he had tricked me so often, I felt
there would be no security unless I could get some coast
interpreters, who would not side with the chiefs against
me as he had done. From this I went on to Sirboko s,
and spent the next day with him talking over my plans.
The rafting up the lake he thought a good scheme; but he
did not think I should ever get through Usiii until all the
Kaz^ merchants went north in a body, for it was no use
trying to force my men against their inclinations ; and if
I did not take care how I handled them, he thought they
would all desert.
My cough still grew worse, and became so bad that,
whilst mounting a hill on entering Ungugii’s the second
day after, I blew and grunted like a broken-winded horse,
and it became so distressing I had to halt a day. In two
more marches, however, I reached Kaze, and put up with
Musa’s eldest son, Abdalla, on the 2d July, who now was
transformed from a drunken slovenly boy into the appearance
of a grand swell, squatting all day as his old father
used to do. The house, however, did not feel the same—
no men respected him as they had done his father. Sheikh
Said was his clerk and constant companion, and the Tots
were well fed on his goats—at my expense, however. On
hearing my fix, Abdalla said I should have'men; and,
what’s more, he would go with me as his father had
promised to do ; but he had a large caravan detained in
Ugogo, and for that he must wait.
At that moment Manila Sera was in a boma at Kigue,
in alliance with the chief of that place; but there was no
hope for him now, as all the Arabs had allied themselves
with the surrounding chiefs, including Kitambi; and had
invested his position by forming a line, in concentric circles,
four deep, cutting off his supplies of water within it, so
that they daily expected to hear of his surrendering. The
last news that had reached them brought intelligence of
one man killed and two Arabs wounded; whilst, on the
other side, Manua Sera had lost many men, and was put
to such straits that he had called out if it was the Arabs’
determination to kill him he would bolt again : to which
the Arabs replied it was all the same; if he ran up to the
top of the highest mountain or down into hell, they would
follow after and put him to death.
3d.—After much bother and many disappointments, as
I was assured I could get no men to help me until after
the war was over, and the Arabs had been to Ugogo, and
had brought up their property, which was still lying there,
I accepted two men as guides—one named Bui, a very
small creature, with very high pretensions, who was given
me by Abdalla—the other, a steady old traveller, named
Nasib (or Fortune), who was given me by Fiindi Sangoro.
These two slaves, both of whom knew all the chiefs and
languages up to and including Uganda, promised me