Chap. XIX. HOSTILITY OF THE BASHINJE. 363 



any kindly feelings he miglit have found stealing round his heart. 

 He asked leave to go, and when his party moved off a little way, 

 he sent for my spokesman, and told him that, " if we did not add 

 a red jacket and a man, to our gift of a few copper rings and a few 

 pounds of meat, we must return by the way we had come." I 

 said in reply, " that we should certainly go forward next day, and 

 if he commenced hostilities, the blame before God would be that 

 of Sansawe ; " and my man added of his own accord, " How many 

 white men have you killed in this path ? " which might be inter- 

 preted into, " You have never killed any white man, and you will 

 find ours more difficult to manage than you imagine." It ex- 

 pressed a determination, which we had often repeated to each other, 

 to die rather than yield one of our party to be a slave. 



Hunger has a powerful effect on the temper. When we had got 

 a good meal of meat, we could all bear the petty annoyances of 

 these borderers on the more civilized region in front, with equani- 

 mity ; but having suffered considerably of late, we were all rather 

 soured in our feelings, and not unfrequently I overheard my 

 companions remark in their own tongue, in answer to tin-eats 

 of attack, " That's what we want — only begin then ; " or with 

 clenched teeth they would exclaim to each other, " These tilings 

 have never travelled, and do not know what men are." The 

 worrying, of which I give only a slight sketch, had considerable 

 influence on my own mind, and more especially, as it was im- 

 possible to make any allowance for the Bashinje, such as I was 

 willing to award to the Chiboque. They saw that we had nothing 

 to give, nor would they be benefited in the least, by enforcing 

 the impudent order to return whence we had come. They were 

 adding insult to injury, and this put us all into a fighting spirit, 

 and, as nearly as we could judge, we expected to be obliged to 

 cut our way through the Bashinje next morning. 



Zrd April. — As soon as day dawned we were astir, and, set- 

 ting off in a drizzling rain, passed close to the village. This 

 ram probably damped the ardour of the robbers. We, how- 

 ever, expected to be fired upon from every clump of trees, or 

 from some of the rocky hillocks among which we were passing ; 

 and it was only after two hours' march that Ave began to breathe 

 freely, and my men remarked, in thankfulness, " We are children 

 of Jesus." We continued our course, notwithstanding the rain, 



