Saleem; and the simple chief had commanded it to
be given up to him upon his mere word, in consequence of which
the sick man had died.
Upon Sarmean's arrival in Unyanyembe from Zanzibar, about fifty
days after the Expedition had departed for Ujiji the news he
received was that the white man (Shaw) was dead; and that a man
called Hamdallah, who had engaged himself as one of my guides,
but who had shortly after returned, was at Unyanyembe. He had
left him unmolested until the appearance of Ferajji and his
companion, when they at once, in a body, made a descent on his
hut and secured him. With the zeal which always distinguished
him in my service, Sarmean had procured a forked pole, between
the prongs of which the neck of the absconder was placed; and
a cross stick, firmly lashed, effectually prevented him from
relieving himself of the incumbrance attached to him so
deftly.
There were no less than seven packets of letters and newspapers
from Zanzibar, which had been collecting during my absence from
Unyanyembe. These had been intrusted at various times to the
chiefs of caravans, who had faithfully delivered them at my
tembe, according to their promise to the Consul. There was one
packet for me, which contained two or three letters for
Dr. Livingstone, to whom, of course, they were at once transferred,
with my congratulations. In the same packet there was also a
letter to me from the British Consul at Zanzibar requesting me
to take charge of Livingstone's goods and do the best I could
to forward them on to him, dated 25th September, 1871, five days
after I left Unyanyembe on my apparently hopeless task.
"Well, Doctor," said I to Livingstone, "the English Consul
requests me to do all I can to push forward your goods to you.
I am sorry that I did not get the authority sooner, for I should
have attempted it; but in the absence of these instructions I
have done the best I could by pushing you towards the goods.
The mountain has not been able to advance towards Mohammed,
but Mohammed has been compelled to advance towards the mountain."
But Dr. Livingstone was too deeply engrossed in his own letters
from home, which were just a year old.
I received good and bad news from New York, but the good news was
subsequent, and wiped out all feelings that might have been evoked
had I received the bad only. But the newspapers, nearly a hundred
of them, New York, Boston, and London journals, were full of most
wonderful news. The Paris Commune was in arms against the National
Assembly; the Tuileries, the Louvre, and the ancient city Lutetia
Parisiorum had been set in flames by the blackguards of
Saint-Antoine!
