XVI.] FEAR OF OPPOSITION TRADERS. 219 



said to be in places " as wide as the Tanganyika," and full of May, 

 islands, some having five hundred or six hundred men living on ^^'^'^■ 

 them, together with their wives and families. 



They said they did not wish to give any information about 

 it here, and that which I had received was wrong, and intended 

 to mislead ; for, finding I had some defined ideas on the sub- 

 ject, they were anxious I should not know too much. They 

 promised to tell every thing when on the road, but they are 

 afraid of opposition traders making an appearance. Already 

 it is getting too crowded, and they know not where to make 

 fresh openings. The Egyptians to the north, or, as they call 

 them, Toorkis, are known to them, and they wish to avoid 

 clashing with them. 



Hassan ibn Gharib said he had offered to take Livingstone 

 from Nyangwe to the place where shijis come — as he was about 

 to make the journey — for one thousand dollars, but he had re- 

 fused. They also told me that a large canoe might be obtained 

 near Nyangwe to go the whole way from there by water. It 

 was enough to puzzle the clearest mind. 



As Bombay and my servant could never agree, the latter 

 now wanted to leave me on that account. Bombay was very 

 well in his peculiar way, but neither the "Angel " of Colonel 

 Grant nor the " Devil " of Mr. Stanley. I generally found, 

 after yielding to him, that I should have done far better to 

 have adhered to my first intention. He did not like any one 

 to have my ear but himself, and was as jealous as the green- 

 eyed monster itself. He slandered Issa, and made accusations 

 against Mohammed Malim, which I found to be false. How- 

 ever, I was compelled to put up with his failings, for I should 

 have lost a number of men if I had sent him away. 



In that part of the lake explored by me, I found ninety-six 

 rivers flowing in, besides torrents and springs, and one, the Lu- 

 kuga, going out. The more I inquired into the matter, the 

 more laborious and costly the work of cutting away the vege- 

 tation on the Lukuga was represented to be ; for in some parts 

 the floating sod is said to be six feet thick, and no sooner is the 

 surface cut away, than a further quantity floats up from under- 

 neath the adjoining grass. 



I was now only waiting for the men from Unyanyembe; 



