With the aid. o f these two canoes we were
able to return to the islets with the thirty-two
men, women, and children, and the entire prop
e r ty safe. Our loss during this fearful night
was five canoes, five guns, one case o f ammunition,
and twelve hundred pounds o f grain.
T he next morning, leaving a third o f the party
and goods at Miandereh, we departed for Singo,
which we reached at 9 A.M. A few canoes were
then hastened back to Miandereh for the remainder.
It will be remembered that, while the boat
was returning from Uganda and passing b y Ito,
an island situated half a mile south-west o f Singo,
the natives' o f Ito drove us away b y slinging
stones at us. Such a force as we now numbered
could not be received with such rudeness: at
the same time th ey were secure from molestation
b y us. I despatched therefore Lukanjah and
Mikondo, the Wakerewe guides, to the island
o f Ito, to explain to the natives who we were,
and to remove all fears o f reprisal. Lukanjah
was extremely successful, and brought the chief
o f Ito, who, as some atonement for our previous
treatment, had furnished himself with peace-
offerings in the shape o f a couple o f fat kids,
and several bunches o f mellow plantains. The
large island o f Komeh also, on the next day,
sent its king to rejoice with us over numerous
jars o f potent beer and many slaughtered goats.
rjune 24-26,1875.1 AGAIN r e t u r n in g t o k a g e h y i . 29
[Refuge Island. J
The king o f Komeh sold us besides four good,
almost new, canoes o f sufficient capacity to render
us secure from further anxiety.
The Wangwana, after their terrible experiences
while crossing the entrance to Sp ek e Gulf, were
awakened to the necessity o f narrowly inspecting
and carefully repairing their canoes. A t Ka g eh y i
the repairs had been extremely superficial, but
the men were now fully alive to the importance
of good caulking and a thorough relacing o f the
planks together, while Frank, Lukanjah, and I
superintended their work.
Seven hours’ paddling on the 24th June brought
us to Refuge Island, and on its south side we
proceeded to establish a strong camp. T he 25th
was employed in constructing one large store
hut for the grain, and another for the property
o f the Expedition; and the huts o f the garrison
were built with due regard to the strict watch
o f the camp.
After selecting forty-four men as garrison, and
appointing Frank Pocock captain and Manwa
Sera his lieutenant, with the two guides, L u kanjah
and Mikondo, as interpreters in case o f
visitors, and leaving four canoes for the garrison
to communicate, if th ey wished, with the natives
of Itawagumba on the mainland, I began my
return to Usukuma on the 26th with the boat,
seventeen canoes, and 106 men.
Four days afterwards we reached Kagehyi,