Effects to his camp, where we might, in a
personal interview, come to terms.
I told my vakeel to return to me with the fifty men, and to be sure to
bring from Kamrasi some token by which I should know that he had
actually seen him. The vakeel and Yaseen started.
After some days the absconded guide, Rabonga, appeared with a number of
men, but without either my vakeel or Yaseen. He carried with him a small
gourd bottle, carefully stopped; this he broke, and extracted from the
inside two pieces of printed paper that Kamrasi had sent to me in reply.
On examining the papers, I found them to be portions of the English
Church Service translated into (I think) the "Kisuabili" language, by Dr
Krapf! There were many notes in pencil on the margin, written in
English, as translations of words in the text. It quickly occurred to me
that Speke must have given this book to Kamrasi on his arrival from
Zanzibar, and that he now extracted the leaves and sent them to me as a
token I had demanded to show that my message had been delivered to him.
Rabonga made a lame excuse for his previous desertion. He delivered a
thin ox that Kamrasi had sent me, and he declared that his orders were
that he should take my whole party immediately to Kamrasi, as he was
anxious that we should attack Fowooka without loss of time.
