III.] AN AEAB CARAVAN. 47 



native warfare. Owing to these strong positions, tlie people April, 

 are able to liarrj their neighbors with a certainty of safety from ^^'^^- 

 reprisals, and make slaves, for whom they are always sure of 

 finding a ready market in the towns on the sea-board. 



Here we heard that the country to the front was " hungry," 

 and we should therefore be obliged to buy food for the road 

 before starting. And our civil and smiling friend, the chief, 

 assuring us that it would be dangerous for our men to go in 

 search of food, offered to send his own people to procure it — 

 provided we paid in advance. 



When he had received the cloth, he made numerous excuses 

 for not fullilling his promises ; and, after five days' halt, we 

 had to start with only two days' supplies. 



Some neighboring chiefs, hearing of our proximity, took ad- 

 vantage of this delay to personally demand mhongo. To one, 

 named Mtonga, I was foolish enough to pay thirty doti of meri- 

 kani and kaniki and seven colored cloths, upon Bombay per- 

 , «uading me that his village lay on our road, and there would 

 be trouble if we did not satisfy these claims. But I afterward 

 found that the scoundrel had been cheating us, as his village 

 was situated to the northward of us, and, if any thing, to our 

 rear. Another, called Kasuwa, demanded two whole bales ; but 

 as I happily discovered that we had already passed him, he got 

 nothing. 



On the fourth day of our halt we were visited by the leaders 

 of a large Arab caravan which had left the coast some time 

 before us, but had been detained by troubles along Stanley's 

 route. They mustered over seven hundred men, of whom 

 about a half were armed with muskets. 



The halt was not altogether wasted, as it enabled us to im- 

 j^rove our donkeys' saddles, and gave me a chance of shaking 

 off the fever; but during our stay we had the misfortune to 

 lose one of our pagazi, who died suddenly without any previous 

 illness, and some half a dozen others deserted. 



On the 14th of April we made another move, after a great 

 deal of trouble with the men, who, if allowed to halt a day or 

 two, always made more fuss about starting than if they had 

 been kept on the road altogether. 



We passed through the Arab camp, in which there were sev- 



