CHAP. I THE SOMALI IN MISCHIEF 23 



Later in the same day an explanation of our men's action 

 was furnished by the arrival of the headman and some of the 

 elders of the village of Fungozambo. They complained that 

 they were being robbed and murdered by our men, over whom 

 they said the European in command had no control ; the 

 Somali had looted the village, stolen all the " kuku " (fowls) and 

 bed-cushions from the houses, and flogged the natives, who had 

 now fled to the woods. We found out afterwards that these 

 charges were substantially correct. For as soon as Benett- 

 Stanford had left Fungozambo, the men informed Count 

 Lovatelli that they were not going to obey him, as they had 

 been told by the chief at the coast they were to take orders 

 from no one but himself ; so they were doing what was right in 

 their own eyes. Thompson was very angry, and told us that 

 he had ordered his men to parade at four o'clock next morning ; 

 he was then going to serve out eighty rounds of ammunition 

 and march down to our camp. He was determined to put a 

 stop to these lawless proceedings by whatever means he found 

 necessary. He said, however, that if I could get to the camp 

 before him and restore peace, so much the better for everybody. 

 I had my dinner, mounted a donkey, and rode off for Fungo- 

 zambo. About ten o'clock my donkey suddenly pricked up its 

 ears and sprang from the path, and then, as I held it in, stood 

 trembling in every limb. My boy said " Libah " (lion), so I 

 fired several shots from my revolver into the air, the boy fired 

 the Snider, and we stood waiting for something to happen. 

 The donkey gradually recovered from its fright and we led it 

 along the path, but it was so terrified that I could not ride it 

 for some time. I heard afterwards from Thompson that the 

 natives say there are lions at this place, and they will never pass 

 it alone in the dark ; it is probable that the donkey detected a 

 lion, although neither I nor the boy heard anything. 



A little after midnight we reached the camp. Benett- 

 Stanford, Dr. Rae, and Gleave had arrived from the coast just 

 before us, and our headman, Wasama, came in a few minutes 

 later. They had been recalled to suppress the mutiny. We 

 slanged the Somali vigorously. Wasama's language was 

 moving. For some years he had been an interpreter on a man- 

 of-war ; his knowledge of our language was extensive and 

 peculiar ; his fo'castle English now rang through the camp 



