Be satisfied with
presents; but Mirambo this time was obdurate, and sternly
determined on war unless the Arabs aided him in the warfare he
was about to wage against old Mkasiwa, sultan of the Wanyamwezi
of Unyanyembe.
"This is the status of affairs," said Khamis bin Abdullah.
"Mirambo says that for years he has been engaged in war against
the neighbouring Washensi and has come out of it victorious; he
says this is a great year with him; that he is going to fight
the Arabs, and the Wanyamwezi of Unyanyembe, and that he shall
not stop until every Arab is driven from Unyanyembe, and he rules
over this country in place of Mkasiwa. Children of Oman, shall
it be so? Speak, Salim, son of Sayf, shall we go to meet this
Mshensi (pagan) or shall we return to our island?"
A murmur of approbation followed the speech of Khamis bin Abdullah,
the majority of those present being young men eager to punish the
audacious Mirambo. Salim, the son of Sayf, an old patriarch, slow
of speech, tried to appease the passions of the young men, scions
of the aristocracy of Muscat and Muttrah, and Bedaweens of the
Desert, but Khamis's bold words had made too deep an impression on
their minds.
Soud, the handsome Arab whom I have noticed already as the son of
Sayd the son of Majid, spoke: "My father used to tell me that he
remembered the days when the Arabs could go through the country
from Bagamoyo to Ujiji, and from Kilwa to Lunda, and from Usenga
to Uganda armed with canes. Those days are gone by. We have stood
the insolence of the Wagogo long enough. Swaruru of Usui just
takes from us whatever he wants; and now, here is Mirambo, who
says, after taking more than five bales of cloth as tribute from
one man, that no Arab caravan shall go to Ujiji, but over his body.
Are we prepared to give up the ivory of Ujiji, of Urundi, of
Karagwah, of Uganda, because of this one man? I say war - war
until we have got his beard under our feet - war until the whole of
Uyoweh and Wilyankuru is destroyed - war until we can again travel
through any part of the country with only our walking canes in
our hands!"
The universal assent that followed Send's speech proved beyond
a doubt that we were about to have a war. I thought of
Livingstone. What if he were marching to Unyanyembe directly
into the war country?
Having found from the Arabs that they intended to finish the war
quickly - at most within fifteen days, as Uyoweh was only four
marches distant - I volunteered to accompany them, take my loaded
caravan with me as far as Mfuto, and there leave it in charge of
a few guards, and with the rest march on with the Arab army.
