22 THE LAND OF THE LION 



200, or $1,000. This speaks for itself.) Sefaris had, 

 therefore, to get food by the way, or perish. 



It is but fair to try to put ourselves in the place of the 

 stranger, travelling in those, not so far away days, before 

 we judge him too harshly. He was, in part at least, the 

 victim of circumstances, the reaper of other men's sowing. 

 He is in dire need, his two or three hundred men must be 

 fed. He offers barter, wants to buy. The owners still 

 refuse. Nothing is left to him, then, but to arm his men 

 and take the precious meal by force. So he goes on his 

 way, relieved for a time, but discontent and anger dog his 

 footsteps, and he leaves his bills unpaid behind him, to 

 be met by the unfortunate next comer. 



The result of such a state of things was misery unspeak- 

 able to the inhabitants, and danger and demoralization to 

 the traveller. Yes, demoralization, I say. Africa has 

 demoralized many a man, not a weakling either. She 

 seems to do so still. But in these days I speak of, less 

 than fifteen years ago, men fell under her evil spell of 

 prevalent lawlessness all too readily. If the truth were 

 known about the many expeditions undertaken for sport 

 or even for exploration (except certain world-famous ones 

 undertaken for rescue and relief), it would make gruesome 

 reading. All higher honour, then, to that small band of 

 truly great and brotherly men, who, like Livingston, and 

 Bishop Harrington, would sooner starve than take one 

 pound of food by force from ignorant savagery. 



Sefaris left Zanzibar several hundred strong, and 

 crawled back in one, two, three, years, less by one-third, 

 two-thirds, sometimes smaller still. What wonder! The 

 porters on whose perseverance every one's life depended 

 were poor beasts of burden merely. They had no shelter 

 from the cold rains of the higher plateaux so fatal to the 

 coast natives; no provision for the wounded, no medicine 

 for the sick. The koboko was their one counsellor and 



