Chap. VI. DIFFICULTIES AND ANXIETIES. 121 



within a few feet of his head, and you could not see 

 a muscle move in his fearless countenance. Olenda 

 interposed afterwards as peace-maker, and Mpoto 

 was so terrified at the old man's threatening to curse 

 him, that he bent down, and, taking hold of the 

 patriarch's feet, implored his forgiveness. I threat- 

 ened and chastised my men, but all my endeavours 

 to put a lasting end to the evil were fruitless. 



There was next the long delay in the arrival of the 

 porters expected from Otando, and I was afraid some 

 hitch had occurred. At last a party of men arrived 

 from the chief of Otando, bringing an invitation for 

 me, accompanied by the present of a goat ; but, whilst 

 we were engaged in collecting a sufficient number of 

 Ashira porters to aid in transporting my baggage, a 

 third and most serious cause of anxiety arose, which 

 ultimately had well nigh put an end to my expedi- 

 tion. 



Elanga, one of Olenda's nephews, was taken ill with 

 a disease which the natives had never before seen. 

 It was described to me, and I thought I recognised 

 in the description the symptoms of small-pox. The 

 next day the news came from a neighbouring village 

 that Elanga had died. There was a great deal of 

 mourning and wailing among the people ; and all the 

 inhabitants of Olenda, with the exception of the old 

 king, went to join in the wild manifestations of grief. 

 Now, Elanga was one of the Ashira men who had 

 been to Obindji to fetch my baggage, and a suspicion 

 of foul play or witchcraft, as usual, arose in the 

 minds of the Ashira people, which, in addition to 



