1869-71.] MANYUEMA. 407 



back, not to go with me, if the country were bad or dangerous. For- 

 ward they would not go. I read Dr. Kirk's words to them to follow 

 wheresoever I led. ' No, by the old liar Mohamed, they were to force 

 me back to Zanzibar.' After a superabundance of falsehood, it turned 

 out that it all meant only an advance of pay, though they had double 

 the Zanzibar wages. I gave it, but had to threaten on the word of an 

 Englishman to shoot the ringleaders before I got them to go. They 

 all speak of English as men who do not lie. ... I have travelled 

 more than most people, and with all sorts of followers. The Christians 

 of Kuruman and Kolobeng were out of sight the best I ever had. 

 The Makololo, who were very partially christianised, were next best — 

 honest, truthful, and brave. Heathen Africans are much superior 

 to the Mohamedans, who are the most worthless one can have." 



Towards the end of 1870, before the date of this 

 letter, he had so far recovered that, though feeling the 

 want of medicine as much as of men, he thought of 

 setting out, in order to reach and explore the Lualaba, 

 having made a bargain with Mohamad, for £270, to 

 bring him to his destination. But now he heard that 

 Syde bin Habib, Dugumbe, and others were on the way 

 from Ujiji, perhaps bringing letters and medicines for 

 him. He cannot move till they arrive ; another weary 

 time. " Sorely am I perplexed, and grieve and mourn/' 



The New Year 1871 passes while he is at Bambarre, 

 with its prayer that he might be permitted to finish his 

 task. At last, on 4th February, ten of the men de- 

 spatched to him from the coast arrive, but only to bring 

 a fresh disappointment. They were slaves, the property 

 of Banians, who were British subjects ! and they brought 

 only one letter ! Forty had been lost. There had been 

 cholera at Zanzibar, and many of the porters sent by 

 Dr. Kirk had died of it. The ten men came with a he 

 in their mouth ; they would not help him, swearing that 

 the Consul told them not to go forward, but to force 

 Livingstone back. On the 10th they mutinied, and had 

 to receive an advance of pay. It was apparent that they 

 had been instructed by their Banian masters to baffle 

 him in every way, so that their slave-trading should not 

 be injured by his disclosures. Their two headmen, Shereef 



