122 THROUGH UNKNOWN AFRICAN COUNTRIES. 
and that we could not go there; but I believe the report 
was started by some of my own boys telling the natives to 
lie to me about it, so as to keep me from going on. Haji 
Idris and many of my boys pretended to be very much 
excited over the report, but this made me suspect all the 
more that it was false; so I ordered my boys to prepare for 
a march as usual in-the morning. 
