150 marenga's story. 



seemins: to take more effect on the muscles of his 

 jaws or the string of his tongue than on his brain ; for 

 though he knew perfectly well what he wanted to 

 say, he found great difficulty in expressing himself, 

 and when the power of articulation occasionally for- 

 sook him, he made the most extraordinary grimaces. 

 He said that Livingstone, whom he had seen some 

 years ago, when he had a boat on the lake, had 

 been here last year ; that he had come from Ma- 

 poonda, where he left one of his boys — he had seve- 

 ral men with him — and stayed one day. Marenga 

 had lent four canoes, in which Livingstone, some 

 of his boys, and the dog were ferried across the 

 marshy end of this bay into which the Lekue runs. 

 The other men, who said they were Arabs, with 

 one called Moosa as head man, had walked 

 round. 



The next day, or the day after that, Moosa and 

 five men came back to the chief; but Marenga did 

 not see them, they having remained in another part 

 of the village. Moosa told the chief that the Eng- 

 lishman had brought them from their country at the 

 sea to carry his things, but that as he was now tak- 

 ing them into a country where the Mavite would 

 kill them all, they had decided amongst themselves 

 to desert him. Marenga gave them a house for the 

 night, and next morning they left, but he could not 

 say whither they went. 



There can be no doubt that this was the place 

 where these cowardly rascals deserted their leader. 



Marenga said his men (one of whom he produced, 

 and this man corroborated the statement) went five 



