How I Found Livingstone Travels, Adventures And Discoveries In Central Africa Including Four Months Residence With Dr. Livingstone By Sir Henry M. Stanley
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I Was Earnestly Requested To Convey To Unyanyembe "Mengi
Salaams" To Everybody, But Had I Done So, As He Evidently Desired
Me To Do, I Would Not Have Been Surprised At Being Regarded By All
As Hopelessly Imbecile.
We pushed off from the clayey bank at the foot of the market-place,
while the land party, unencumbered with luggage, under the
leadership of gigantic Asmani and Bombay, commenced their journey
southward along the shores of the lake.
We had arranged to meet them
at the mouth of every river to transport them across from bank to bank.
The Doctor being in Sayd bin Majid's boat, which was a third or so
shorter than the one under my command, took the lead, with the
British flag, held aloft by a bamboo, streaming behind like a
crimson meteor. My boat-manned by Wajiji sailors, whom we had
engaged to take the canoes back from Tongwe Cape to Ujiji Bunder -
came astern, and had a much taller flagstaff, on which was hoisted
the ever-beautiful Stars and Stripes. Its extreme height drew from
the Doctor - whose patriotism and loyalty had been excited - the remark
that he would cut down the tallest palmyra for his flagstaff, as it
was not fitting that the British flag should be so much lower than
that of the United States.
Our soldiers were not a whit behind us in lightheartedness at the
thought of going to Unyanyembe. They struck up the exhilarating
song of the Zanzibar boatmen, with the ecstatic chorus -
Kinan de re re Kitunga,
rowing away like madmen, until they were compelled to rest from
sheer exhaustion, while the perspiration exuded from the pores of
their bodies in streams. When refreshed, they bent back to their
oars, raising the song of the Mrima -
O mama, re de mi Ky,
which soon impelled them to an extravagant effort again, It was
by this series of ferocious spurts, racing, shouting, singing,
perspiring, laughing, groaning, and puffing, that our people vented
their joyous feelings, as the thought filled their minds that we
were homeward bound, and that by the route I had adopted between
us and Unyanyembe there was not the least danger.
We have given the Waha, the slip! ha, ha!
The Wavinza will trouble us no more! ho! ho!
Mionvu can get no more cloth from us! hy,by!
And Kiala will see us no more - -never more! he, he!
they shouted with wild bursts of laughter, seconded by tremendous
and rapid strokes with their oars, which caused the stiff old
canoes to quiver from stem to stern.
Our party ashore seemed to partake of our excitement, and joined
in the wild refrain of the mad African song. We watched them
urging their steps forward to keep pace with us, as we rounded
the capes and points, and rowed across the bays whose margins were
sedge, and rush, and reed; the tiny and agile Kalulu, little
Bilali, and Majwara were seen racing the herds of goats, sheep,
and donkeys which belonged to the caravan, and the animals even
seemed to share the general joy.
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