I Then Told Them, Finally That Their
Proposals Were Now Beyond My Power, For I Had A Duty To Perform
As Well As Themselves, And In A Day Or Two I Should Be Off.
14th to 17th.
- On the 14th thirty-nine porters were brought in
from Rungua by Musa's men, who said they had collected one
hundred and twenty, and brought them to within ten miles of this,
when some travellers frightened all but thirty-nine away, by
telling them, "Are you such fools as to venture into Kaze now?
all the Arabs have been killed, or were being cut up and pursued
by Manua Sera." This sad disappointment threw me on my "beam-
ends." For some reason or other none of Musa's slaves would take
service, and the Arabs prevented theirs from leaving the place,
as it was already too short of hands. To do the best under these
circumstances, I determined on going to Rungua with what kit
could be carried, leaving Bombay behind with Musa until such time
as I should arrive there, and, finding more men, could send them
back for the rest. I then gave Musa the last of the gold watches
the Indian Government had given me;[FN#9] and, bidding Sheikh
Said take all our letters and specimens back to the coast as soon
as the road was found practicable, set out on the march
northwards with Grant and Baraka, and all the rest of my men who
were well enough to carry loads, as well as some of Musa's head
men, who knew where to get porters.
After passing Masange and Zimbili, we put up a night in the
village of Iviri, on the northern border of Unyanyembe, and found
several officers there, sent by Mkisiwa, to enforce a levy of
soldiers to take the field with the Arabs at Kaze against Manua
Sera; to effect which, they walked about ringing bells, and
bawling out that if a certain percentage of all the inhabitants
did not muster, the village chief would be seized, and their
plantations confiscated. My men all mutinied here for increase of
ration allowances. To find themselves food with, I had given
them all one necklace of beads each per diem since leaving Kaze,
in lieu of cloth, which hitherto had been served out for that
purpose. It was a very liberal allowance, because the Arabs
never gave more than one necklace to every three men, and that,
too, of inferior quality to what I served. I brought them to at
last by starvation, and then we went on. Dipping down into a
valley between two clusters of granitic hills, beautifully
clothed with trees and grass, studded here and there with rich
plantations, we entered the district of Usagari, and on the
second day forded the Gombe nullah again - in its upper course,
called Kuale.
Rising again up to the main level of the plantation, we walked
into the boma of the chief of Unyambewa, Singinya, whose wife was
my old friend the late sultana Ungugu's lady's-maid.
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