MANYANGA TO LEOPOLDVILLE (STANLEY POOL). 111 
I more than ever appreciated after this catastrophe the 
admirable qualities of the Zanzibaris, who are never ata 
loss, and who are often most unselfish servants. It quite: 
touched me to see, when I staggered into the hut where 
they were sleeping, how one man gave up his bed, another 
his mosquito-curtains, and a third his blankets, in order 
that the “ Little Master” might not catch cold while his 
things were being dried, and this not only from my own 
men, between whom and myself a real attachment sub- 
sisted, but from Zanzibaris I had only seen and known 
for three days. The Arab mixture in the Zanzibari men 
has not only given them finer features and more refined 
manners, but it has also implanted in them an unselfish- 
ness which is seldom found in the true negro. 
The succeeding day, a bright sun dried up the remaining 
dampness in the ground and atmosphere, and we trudged 
along merrily through beautiful scenery. We are here 
following the great trade route from Stanley Pool to the 
coast, and the sides of the way are strewn with the top 
leaves of pine-apples, which, when the fruit is eaten, are 
thrown away, and, taking root in the rich red soil at the 
side of the path, serve to spread this plant along the 
whole route between Lutete and Stanley Pool, in some 
places, especially in the dank, moist ravines, forming an 
almost impenetrable hedge on each side of the narrow 
path. The inhabitants come to these narrow valleys, and 
fill their long wicker-baskets with the beautiful golden 
fruit which forms now so large a part of their diet. In 
one village we came to, there was a perfect orgie of pine- 
apples going on. The people were too indolent and 
careless even to sell them, and one woman, with whom, 
from pure habit, I was disputing the price of her basketful, 
said in a languid way to Faraji, “ Here, take them; as he 
_ does not want to pay he can have them for nothing. 
The dogs, the cats, the pigs, the goats, the fowls, and the 
children, all lived on pine- apples. The very people had a 
golden tinge about them, as if from the absorption of such 
quantities “of mellow fruit, and the fowls I bought here 
had a flavour that was quite inexplicable save for this 
