As I Was Beginning To Feel That Asmani Had Passed His Last Moment On Earth, As He Was Lifting His Gun To His Shoulder, A Form Came Up From Behind Him, And Swept His Gun Aside With An Impatient, Nervous Movement, And I Heard Mabruki Burton Say In Horror-Struck Accents:

"Man, how dare you point your gun, at the master?" Mabruki then threw himself at my feet, and endeavoured to kiss them and entreated me not to punish him.

"It was all over now," he said; "there would be no more quarreling, they would all go as far as the Tanganika, without any more noise; and Inshallah!" said he, "we shall find the old Musungu * at Ujiji."

*Livingstone

"Speak, men, freedmen, shall we not? - shall we not go to the Tanganika without any more trouble? tell the master with one voice."

"Ay Wallah! Ay Wallah! Bana yango! Hamuna manneno mgini!" which literally translated means, "Yes by God! Yes by God! my master! There are no other words," said each man loudly.

"Ask the master's pardon, man, or go thy way," said Mabruki peremptorily, to Asmani: which Asmani did, to the gratification of us all.

It remained for me only to extend a general pardon to all except to Bombay and Ambari, the instigators of the mutiny, which was now happily quelled. For Bombay could have by a word, as my captain, nipped all manifestation of bad temper at the outset, had he been so disposed. But no, Bombay was more averse to marching than the cowardliest of his fellows, not because he was cowardly, but because he loved indolence.

Again the word was given to march, and each man, with astonishing alacrity, seized his load, and filed off quickly out of sight.

While on this subject, I may as well give here a sketch of each of the principal men whose names must often appear in the following chapters. According to rank, they consist of Bombay, Mabruki Burton, Asmani the guide, Chowpereh, Ulimengo, Khamisi, Ambari, Jumah, Ferajji the cook, Maganga the Mnyamwezi, Selim the Arab boy, and youthful Kalulu a gunbearer.

Bombay has received an excellent character from Burton and Speke. "Incarnation of honesty" Burton grandly terms him. The truth is, Bombay was neither very honest nor very dishonest, i.e., he did not venture to steal much. He sometimes contrived cunningly, as he distributed the meat, to hide a very large share for his own use. This peccadillo of his did not disturb me much; he deserved as captain a larger share than the others. He required to be closely watched, and when aware that this was the case, he seldom ventured to appropriate more cloth than I would have freely given him, had he asked for it. As a personal servant, or valet, he would have been unexceptionable, but as a captain or jemadar over his fellows, he was out of his proper sphere. It was too much brain-work, and was too productive of anxiety to keep him in order.

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