Three Goats Were Missing This Evening,
Which The Goatherds Could Not Account For, Nor Any Of Their Men.
Suspecting that they were hidden for a private feast, I told
their chief to inquire farther, and report.
The upshot was, that
the man was thrashed for intermeddling, and came back only with
his scars. This was a nice sort of insubordination, which of
course could not be endured. The goatherd was pinioned and
brought to trial, for the double offence of losing the goats and
rough-handling his chief. The tricking scoundrel - on quietly
saying he could not be answerable for other men's actions if they
stole goats, and he could not recognise a man as his chief whom
the Sheikh, merely by a whim of his own, thought proper to
appoint - was condemned to be tied up for the night with the
prospect of a flogging in the morning. Seeing his fate, the
cunning vagabond said, "Now I do see it was by your orders the
chief was appointed, and not by a whim of Sheikh Said's; I will
obey him for the future;" and these words were hardly pronounced
than the three missing goats rushed like magic into camp, nobody
of course knowing where they came from.
Skirting along the margin of the rising ground overlooking the
river, through thick woods, cleared in places for cultivation, we
arrived at Thumba Lhere. The chief here took a hongo of three
yards merikani and two yards kiniki without much fuss, for he had
no power. The pagazis struck, and said they would not move from
this unless I gave them one fundo or ten necklaces of beads each
daily, in lieu of rations, as they were promised by Ladha on the
coast that I would do so as soon as they had made four marches.
This was an obvious invention, concocted to try my generosity,
for I had given the kirangozi a goat, which is customary, to
"make the journey prosperous" - had suspended a dollar to his neck
in recognition of his office, and given him four yards merikani,
that he might have a grand feast with his brothers; while neither
the Sheikh, myself, nor any one else in the camp, had heard of
such a compact. With high words the matter dropped, African
fashion.
The pagazis would not start at the appointed time, hoping to
enforce their demands of last night; so we took the lead and
started, followed by the Wanguana. Seeing this, the pagazis
cried out with one accord: "The master is gone, leaving the
responsibility of his property in our hands; let us follow, let
us follow, for verily he is our father;" and all came hurrying
after us. Here the river, again making a bend, is lost to sight,
and we marched through large woods and cultivated fields to
Muhugue, observing, as we passed long, the ochreish colour of the
earth, and numerous pits which the copal-diggers had made
searching for their much-valued gum.
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