boat. Eight more victims to small-pox were
admitted into the hospital-canoes, among them
being three young girls, the favourites of Tippu-
Tib’s harem. For the accommodation of the
raving and delirious sick, we constructed a shed
over the hospital-canoe. Before we moved from
Unya-N’singe, we had thrown eight corpses into
the Livingstone.
On the 14th, gliding down river without an
effort on our part, we reached Kisui-Kachiambi,
another large town about a mile in length, and
consisting of about three hundred long houses—•
situated on the left bank, in south latitude 20 35'.
Opposite Mutako the natives made a brilliant
and well-planned attack on us, by suddenly
dashing upon us from a creek; and had not the
ferocious nature of the people whom we daily
encountered taught us to be prepared at all times
against assault, we might have suffered considerable
injury. Fortunately, only one man was
slightly punctured with a poisoned arrow, and
an immediate and plentiful application of nitrate
of silver nullified all evil effects.
During our halt at Kisui-Kachiambi, two of the
favourite women of Tippu-Tib died of small-pox,
and three youths also fell victims; of the land
division only one perished.
On the 18th, after floating down a ‘.few. miles,
we came to a broad channel which ran between
the populous island ofMpika and the left bank,
fDec. 18, *676-1 HOSTAGES c a p t u r e d . 2 2 7
L Mpika. J
and arriving at a market-green, under the shade
of fine old trees, halted for breakfast. The aborigines
of Mpika at once gathered opposite,
blew war-horns, and mustered a large party,
preparing to attack us with canoes. To prevent
surprise from the forest while the porridge for
the sick was being cooked, I had placed scouts
on either side of each of the roads that penetrated
inland from the market-green, at about a couple
of hundred yards’ distance' from the camp. It
happened that, while drums were beating and
horns were blowing on the island, and everybody
seemed mustering for a grand attack on
us, a party of ten people (among whom were
three very fine-looking women), who, had been
on a trading excursion to a village inland, and
were returning to their island home, had been
waiting to be ferried across from the marketplace
when we occupied it. The scouts surrounded
them, and, seeing there was no escape, they;
came into the market-place. The interpreters
were called to calm their fears, and to tell them
that we were simply travellers going down river,
with no intention, of hurting anybody.
By means of these people we succeeded in
checking the warlike demonstrations of the islanders,
and in finally persuading them to make
blood-brotherhood, after which we invited canoesr
to come and receiye their friends. As they hesitated
to do so, we embarked them in pur;
Q*