He Told Us We
Might, He Thought, Be Able To Recruit All The Men That We Were In
Want Of,
As many Wanyanuezi who had been left there sick wished
to go to their homes; and I would only, in
Addition to their
wages, have to pay their "hotel bills" to the Wagogo. This, of
course, I was ready to do, though I knew the Wanyamuezi had paid
for themselves, as is usual, by their work in the fields of their
hosts. Still, as I should be depriving these of hands, I could
scarcely expect to get off for less than the value of a slave for
each, and told Sheikh said to look out for some men at once,
whilst at the same time he laid in provisions of grain to last us
eight days in the wilderness, and settle the hongo.
For this triple business, I allowed three days, during which
time, always eager to shoot something, either for science or the
pot, I killed a bicornis rhinoceros, at a distance of five paces
only, with my small 40-gauge Lancaster, as the beast stood
quietly feeding in the bush; and I also shot a bitch fox of the
genus Octocyon lalandii, whose ill-omened cry often alarms the
natives by forewarning them of danger. This was rather tame
sport; but next day I had better fun.
Starting in the early morning, accompanied by two of Sheikh
Said's boys, Suliman and Faraj, each carrying a rifle, while I
carried a shot-gun, we followed a footpath to the westward in the
wilderness of Mgunda Mkhali.
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