"Hajji Abdullah! What Hajji Abdullah? Ah! Sheikh Burton we call
him. Oh, he is a great man now; a balyuz (a consul) at El Scham"
(Damascus.)
"Heh-heh; balyuz! Heh, at El Scham! Is not that near Betlem
el Kuds?" (Jerusalem.)
"Yes, about four days. Spiki is dead. He shot himself by
accident."
"Ah, ah, Wallah (by God), but this is bad news. Spiki dead?
Mash-Allah! Ough, he was a good man - a good man! Dead!"
"But where is this Kazeh, Sheikh Sayd?"
Kazeh? Kazeh? I never heard the name before."
"But you were with Burton, and Speke, at Kazeh; you lived
there several months, when you were all stopping in Unyanyembe;
it must be close here; somewhere. Where did Hajji Abdullah and
Spiki live when they were in Unyanyembe? Was it not in Musa
Mzuri's house?"
"That was in Tabora."
"Well, then, where is Kazeh? I have never seen the man yet who
could tell me where that place is, and yet the three white men
have that word down, as the name of the place they lived at when
you were with them. You must know where it is."
"Wallahi, bana, I never heard the name; but stop, Kazeh, in
Kinyamwezi, means 'kingdom.' Perhaps they gave that name to the
place they stopped at. But then, I used to call the first house
Sny bin Amer's house, and Speke lived at Musa Mzuri's house, but
both houses, as well as all the rest, are in Tabora."
"Thank you, sheikh. I should like to go and look after my
people; they must all be wanting food."
"I shall go with you to show you your house. The tembe is in
Kwihara, only an hour's walk from Tabora."
On leaving Kwikuru we crossed a low ridge, and soon saw Kwihara
lying between two low ranges of hills, the northernmost of which
was terminated westward by the round fortress-like hill of Zimbili.
There was a cold glare of intense sunshine over the valley,
probably the effect of an universal bleakness or an autumnal
ripeness of the grass, unrelieved by any depth of colour to vary
the universal sameness. The hills were bleached, or seemed to be,
under that dazzling sunshine, and clearest atmosphere. The corn
had long been cut, and there lay the stubble, and fields, - a browny-
white expanse; the houses were of mud, and their fiat roofs were of
mud, and the mud was of a browny-whiteness; the huts were thatched,
and the stockades around them of barked timber, and these were of
a browny whiteness. The cold, fierce, sickly wind from the mountains
of Usagara sent a deadly chill to our very marrows, yet the intense
sunshiny glare never changed, a black cow or two, or a tall tree
here and there, caught the eye for a moment, but they never made
one forget that the first impression of Kwihara was as of a picture
without colour, or of food without taste; and if one looked up,
there was a sky of a pale blue, spotless, and of an awful serenity.
As I approached the tembe of Sayd bin Salim, Sheikh bin Nasib and
other great Arabs joined us. Before the great door of the tembe
the men had stacked the bales, and piled the boxes, and were using
their tongues at a furious rate, relating to the chiefs and
soldiers of the first, second, and fourth caravans the many events
which had befallen them, and which seemed to them the only things
worth relating. Outside of their own limited circles they
evidently cared for nothing. Then the several chiefs of the other
caravans had in turn to relate their experiences of the road; and
the noise of tongues was loud and furious. But as we approached,
all this loud-sounding gabble ceased, and my caravan chiefs and
guides rushed to me to hail me as "master," and to salute me as
their friend. One fellow, faithful Baruti, threw himself at my
feet, the others fired their guns and acted like madmen suddenly
become frenzied, and a general cry of "welcome" was heard on all
sides.
"Walk in, master, this is your house, now; here are your men's
quarters; here you will receive the great Arabs, here is the
cook-house; here is the store-house; here is the prison for the
refractory; here are your white man's apartments; and these are
your own: see, here is the bedroom, here is the gun-room,
bath-room, &c.;" so Sheikh Sayd talked, as he showed me the
several places.
On my honour, it was a most comfortable place, this, in Central
Africa. One could almost wax poetic, but we will keep such
ambitious ideas for a future day. Just now, however, we must
have the goods stored, and the little army of carriers paid
off and disbanded.
Bombay was ordered to unlock the strong store-room, to pile the
bales in regular tiers, the beads in rows one above another, and
the wire in a separate place. The boats, canvas, &c., were to be
placed high above reach of white ants, and the boxes of ammunition
and powder kegs were to be stored in the gun-room, out of reach of
danger. Then a bale of cloth was opened, and each carrier was
rewarded according to his merits, that each of them might proceed
home to his friends and neighbours, and tell them how much better
the white man behaved than the Arabs.
The reports of the leaders of the first, second, and fourth
caravans were then received, their separate stores inspected, and
the details and events of their marches heard. The first caravan
had been engaged in a war at Kirurumo, and had come out of the
fight successful, and had reached Unyanyembe without loss of
anything.
