IV.] VISITORS. 61 



ing villages to buy the following day's provisions. Breakfast May, 

 came next, and then writing, saddle-making, and different small '^^'^^• 

 employments occupied the time until evening, when a meal — 

 dinner and supper combined — was served. I then took sights, 

 and smoked a pipe by the camp-fire until it w^as time for bed. 



Occasionally the day was diversified by the arrival of a visit- 

 or ; Ferhan, chief of a large village, and slave of Syd Suliman 

 — who was minister both to Syd Said and Syd Majid, and 

 is now one of the councilors of Syd Burghash — having thus 

 come to pay his respects and make us a present of a goat and 

 some fowls. And another day the son of an Oman Arab set- 

 tled at Mbumi, Syde ibn Omar, brought a present from his fa- 

 ther, and excuses for his not appearing in person on account of 

 illness. 



These two visits were very pleasant; but a third proved 

 rather the contrary, when a bumptious, overbearing half-caste 

 came sw^aggering into camp to demand that we should give up 

 to him one of our pagazi on the plea of a debt contracted two 

 or three years before. 



I investigated the case, and the pagazi declaring that he owed 

 nothing to the Arab, I refused to let him be taken away ; upon 

 which our friend bounced out of the camp without deigning to 

 respond to my " kwa-heri," or good-bye. 



"While remaining here, I succeeded in getting all the don- 

 keys' saddles into good working order, and designed a pad of a 

 most useful pattern, which w^ould have enabled us to w^ork with 

 donkeys the whole journey across Africa, had it been made of 

 more lasting materials than those at our disposal. The saddles 

 were fitted with two girths, breast-straps, breechings, and crup- 

 pers, and at the top there w^ere toggels and loops, so that the 

 loads could be put on or taken off almost instantaneously when 

 they had to be passed across any of the numerous obstructions 

 on the road. 



Seven donkeys carried panniers for ammunition and gun- 

 gear, which would have answered admirably had they been 

 stronger, but we put more weight into them than they were 

 intended to bear; and that, together with constant banging 

 against the trees, so shortened their natural span of life that 

 none of them reached farther than Ujiji. 



5 



