30 THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. fJu“=3o-July 4,1875.1
I Ka g ehy i.
at 3 P.M. But as the v o y a g e had been extremely
rough, only fourteen canoes were mustered in
the cove.
When five days had passed, and we received
no tidings o f the three canoes and their crews
o f thirteen men which were still absent, I despatched
a canoe with two Wangwana and eight
Wasukuma to Lukongeh, the king, requesting
him to hunt up the laggards, who no doubt had
either deserted or had been captured b y the
Wakerewe.
On this day also I purchased from Kipingiri,
for 40 yards o f cloth, a large canoe capable o f
carrying thirty men, which the Wangwana, on
account o f her uncouth shape, called the “ Hippopotamus.”
T he w ood o f which she was made
was sycamore, and she was so rotten at the
stern that one thrust o f my foot kicked a hole
in her 9 inches in diameter. Though she was
an ancient craft, and heavy with saturation, she
might, I thought, be still made serviceable for
the transport o f the riding asses.
Whilst Uledi and Salaam Allah, the carpenters,
and two or three chiefs were assisting me to
repair the venerable “ Hippo” in a hollow close
to the water’s edge, a man came rushing down,
crying, “ Quick! quick! Master, the Wangwana
are murdering one another! T h e y are all dead
men!”
Leaving one man to lo o k after our tools, we
rJuly 4,/87S I MURDEROUS OUTBREAK IN CAMP. 3T
L Kagehyu J
ran up the hill, and witnessed a most horrible
scene. Ab out thirty men armed with guns were
threatening one another in an excited manner;
others brandished clubs or knobsticks; some
held spears menacingly, while several flourished
knives. A frenzy seemed to have possessed the.
hitherto well-behaved people. One man was
already dead with a ghastly knife- wound in
his heart, another la y prostrate with a fractured
skull from a knobstick, and the author o f this deed
was even then striding with sweeping flourishes
of a long club through the ranks o f a turbulent
crowd, delivering sounding blows on their heads
and shoulders.
Snatching a stout stick, I rapped the ruffian
so vigorously over his knuckles that he dropped
his club and was secured b y my assistants, and
then, calling the chiefs to my aid, w e disarmed
the infuriates. This summary proceeding soon
quelled the disturbance, and then, perceiving that
pombe— beer— was at the bottom o f the mischief,
all who were sober were ordered to fall
into line, b y which we discovered that fifty-three
were quite intoxicated.
Upon examination it was found that the murderer
o f Membe, one o f the stoutest o f our
boat-bearers, was Fundi Rehani, and that he
who had fractured the other man’s skull was
Rehani, the brother o f Membe. Both were immediately
secured for trial before Prince Ka