camp, and there was a nice brook. Soon after our
arrival, old men came and asked our intentions; to
whom we gave assurance that we desired but three
things; namely, peace, food, and donkeys.
A small caravan of Zanjibari was encamped near
the villages of the Daitcho, buying donkeys. This
party was thirty in number, and composed entirely
of slaves. They had left Mombasa five months before,
N a t i v e H u t s o f t h e W a -d a i t c h o
whence they had been sent by their masters to trade
for ivory. The method adopted in fitting out one of
these caravans is generally as follows. Several Arabs
get together and agree to enter into a loose partnership
for a trading journey into the interior. Each
member of the partnership furnishes a number of
slaves, generally from six to eight. He then gives
his note to some Hindoo or Banyan merchant for
such trading-goods as he supplies to his slaves for
purposes of barter. This note generally bears interest
at the rate of twelve per cent per annum, or one
per cent per month, as the duration of such a journey
is very uncertain.
When the slaves who are to form the party are
gathered together, the slave possessing the greatest
experience in caravan work is made the leader. The
qualifications necessary for this position are, first, a
knowledge of the language and customs of the tribes
through which the caravan will pass; next, an inkling
of the route over which the journey is to be made;
last, but far from least, ability as a magician. No
caravan leaves the coast without a “ Mganga,” who is
supposed to be able not only to tell future events, but
also to ward off evil by his skill in the black arts.
On these expeditions there is always a copy of the
Koran taken along, and the leader must possess a
slight knowledge of the contents of this book. From
its pages he derives information of the future, and by
the repetition at given times of some of its phrases
he is supposed to ward off evil from his followers.
They also carry at the head *of the expedition a
white flag called “ kome,” which is covered with curiously
wrought figures, triangles and circles, and many
phrases from the Koran. This flag is supposed to be
possessed of occult power. The makers of these
kome are great medicine-men, who for the most part
have made long journeys into the interior during
their youth, and in their old age derive a fair income
from the manufacture of these flags. I have known
a caravan leader to pay $200 for one of them; but
this flag was so highly valued principally from the
fact that it had been carried by Tippoo Tib upon one
of his marauding expeditions into the interior.