CHAP. VIII FOOD OBTAINED 



mouth, I ceased to struggle against the inevitable, and com- 

 pleted that meal on the principle of " Open your mouth and 

 shut your eyes, and see what fate will send you." My new 

 friends had not heard from the coast for fifteen months, so 

 I told them all the news that I thought would interest them ; 

 such as that Mr. Piggott was now " Bwana Mkubwa " at 

 Mombasa ; that the Sultan of Zanzibar was dead and another 

 was reigning in his stead ; that the British East Africa Com- 

 pany had withdrawn from Uganda, and that Sir Gerald Portal 

 had gone there to take it over in the name of the British 

 Government. They were delighted to receive news, and when 

 I asked about food for my men, a load was at once given me ; 

 I was told, moreover, that if I had cowries and " kiketi," I 

 could buy as much as I wanted in Kamasia. So, fully recovered 

 from my fright, I strolled down to the ford to meet the porters. 

 I saw at once that the men had heard the news of the famine ; 

 they had been told of it by some women whom they had met 

 on the road. Wadi Hamis marched first with a look of de- 

 spairing triumph on his surly, pock - marked face. " Jocula 

 hapana, bwana " (No food, master), he growled with an I-told- 

 you-so sort of air. The attitude of the three Wanyamwezi, 

 who followed him, was very different ; their sympathetic looks 

 showed that they felt rather sorrow for mc in my perplexities, 

 than regret at the prospect of suffering for themselves. So I 

 hastened to relieve their anxieties by telling them in as off- 

 hand a manner as I could, " Upaci fannya motu — Jocula tiari " 

 (Make fires quickly — the food is ready). The news ran back 

 along the line of men across the ford ; the shouts of joy cheered 

 on the stragglers, and camp was soon pitched under the shade 

 of some acacias on a sandy plain near the western gate of 

 the village. We bought firewood from some women, rations 

 were served out, and the men were soon merrily cooking their 

 food and fraternising with the porters of the trading caravan. 



Kizizi, the chief of Njemps, was now in Kamasia, but was 

 due back next day, and it was advisable to make friends with 

 him. The Arabs offered me the loan of 500 lbs. of flour, and 

 said if necessary I could pay for it in Mombasa ; so there was 

 no immediate necessity to go on, and I decided to rest next 

 day and see Kizizi. 



The traders visited my camp in the morning, and Philip 



