It seems that the
Wamanyuema are very fond of marketing, believing it to be the
summum bonum of human enjoyment. They find endless pleasure in
chaffering with might and main for the least mite of their currency -
the last bead; and when they gain the point to which their peculiar
talents are devoted, they feel intensely happy. The women are
excessively fond of this marketing, and, as they are very beautiful,
the market place must possess considerable attractions for the male
sex. It was on such a day amidst such a scene, that Tagamoyo, a
half-caste Arab, with his armed slave escort, commenced an
indiscriminate massacre by firing volley after volley into the dense
mass of human beings. It is supposed that there were about 2,000
present, and at the first sound of the firing these poor people all
made a rush for their canoes. In the fearful hurry to avoid being
shot, the canoes were paddled away by the first fortunate few who
got possession of them; those that were not so fortunate sprang
into the deep waters of the Lualaba, and though many of them became
an easy prey to the voracious crocodiles which swarmed to the scene,
the majority received their deaths from the bullets of the
merciless Tagamoyo and his villanous band. The Doctor believes,
as do the Arabs themselves, that about 400 people, mostly women
and children, lost their lives, while many more were made slaves.
This outrage is only one of many such he has unwillingly
witnessed, and he is utterly unable to describe the feelings
of loathing he feels for the inhuman perpetrators.
Slaves from Manyuema command a higher price than those of any
other country, because of their fine forms and general docility.
The women, the Doctor said repeatedly, are remarkably pretty
creatures, and have nothing, except the hair, in common with
the negroes of the West Coast. They are of very light colour,
have fine noses, well-cut and not over-full lips, while the
prognathous jaw is uncommon. These women are eagerly sought
after as wives by the half-castes of the East Coast, and even
the pure Omani Arabs do not disdain to take them in marriage.
To the north of Manyuema, Livingstone came to the light-
complexioned race, of the colour of Portuguese, or our own
Louisiana quadroons, who are very fine people, and singularly
remarkable for commercial "'cuteness" and sagacity. The women
are expert divers for oysters, which are found in great abundance
in the Lualaba.
Rua, at a place called Katanga, is rich in copper. The copper-mines
of this place have been worked for ages. In the bed of a stream,
gold has been found, washed down in pencil-shaped pieces or in
particles as large as split peas. Two Arabs have gone thither
to prospect for this metal; but, as they are ignorant of the art
of gulch-mining, it is scarcely possible that they will succeed.
From these highly important and interesting discoveries, Dr.
Livingstone was turned back, when almost on the threshold of
success, by the positive refusal of his men to accompany him further.
They were afraid to go on unless accompanied by a large force of
men; and, as these were not procurable in Manyuema, the Doctor
reluctantly turned his face towards Ujiji.
It was a long and weary road back. The journey had now no
interest for him. He had travelled the road before when going
westward, full of high hopes and aspirations, impatient to reach
the goal which promised him rest from his labors - now, returning
unsuccessful, baffled, and thwarted, when almost in sight of the
end, and having to travel the same path back on foot, with
disappointed expectations and defeated hopes preying on his mind,
no wonder that the old brave spirit almost succumbed, and the
strong constitution almost went to wreck.
Livingstone arrived at Ujiji, October 16th, almost at death's door.
On the way he had been trying to cheer himself up, since he had
found it impossible to contend against the obstinacy of his men,
with, "It won't take long; five or six months more; it matters
not since it cannot be helped. I have got my goods in Ujiji, and
can hire other people, and make a new start again." These are the
words and hopes by which he tried to delude himself into the idea
that all would be right yet; but imagine the shock he must have
suffered, when he found that the man to whom was entrusted his
goods for safe keeping had sold every bale for ivory.
The evening of the day Livingstone had returned to Ujiji, Susi
and Chuma, two of his most faithful men, were seen crying bitterly.
The Doctor asked of them what ailed them, and was then informed,
for the first time, of the evil tidings that awaited him.
Said they, "All our things are sold, sir; Sherif has sold
everything for ivory."
Later in the evening, Sherif came to see him, and shamelessly
offered his hand, but Livingstone repulsed him, saying he could not
shake hands with a thief. As an excuse, Sherif said he had divined
on the Koran, and that this had told him the Hakim (Arabic for
Doctor) was dead.
Livingstone was now destitute; he had just enough to keep him and
his men alive for about a month, when he would be forced to beg
from the Arabs.
The Doctor further stated, that when Speke gives the altitude of
the Tanganika at only 1,800 feet above the sea, Speke must have
fallen into that error by a frequent writing of the Anne Domini,
a mere slip of the pen; for the altitude, as he makes it out,
is 2,800 feet by boiling point, and a little over 3,000 feet by
barometer.
