454 INCONVENIENCE OF BEING ENGLISH. 



of which was named Jurabe. He now desired to secure a pas- 

 sage across the lake, and knowing Jumbe to be in possession of 

 several dhows, despatched messengers to him bearing the letter 

 of Seyed Majid — received at Zanzibar — while he busied himself 

 with his journal and observations. 



All of his attempts, however, to secure transportation failed, 

 and he was under the necessity of making the circuit of the 

 southern end of the lake. And naturally enough he felt for 

 once that it was rather inconvenient to have the Arabs, even the 

 slaves, hold the English name in such dread. The fear which 

 the English opposition had inspired these traders with caused 

 them to run away from Livingstone on all occasions. This not 

 only deprived him of the relief which even the face of an Arab 

 might sometimes have contributed, but greatly increased the 

 difficulty of sending letters to the coast. Jumbe has made him- 

 self particularly notorious in connection with the slave-trade, 

 and Livingstone apprehended Mokalaose's fears of the Waiyau 

 would make him welcome Jumbe at his town, and then the Arab 

 would some day have an opportunity of scattering his people as 

 he has done those at Kotakota. He has made Losewa too hot 

 for himself. When the people there were carried off by Mataka's 

 people, Jumbe seized their stores of grain, and now has no post 

 to which he can go there. The Loaugwa Arabs give an awful 

 account of Jumbe's murders and selling the people, but one can- 

 not take it all in ; at the mildest it must have been bad. This 

 is all they ever do ; they cannot form a state or independent 

 kingdom : slavery and the slave-trade are insuperable obstacles 

 to any permanence inland ; slaves can escape so easily ; all there- 

 fore that the Arabs do is to collect as much money as they can 

 by hook and by crook, and then leave the country. 



And kind Mokalaose's troubles are not all in apprehension of 

 the Arabs ; he boasted a large family, numerous wives and ap- 

 pendages, and how could he escape trouble ? He loved to pour 

 these afflictions into the ear of the sympathizing white man ; 

 among these he was particularly distressed about one of his 

 wives who had taken French leave of him. It was no use to 

 criticise the too-many-wives custom of these chiefs : they invariably 

 fell back into the stronghold of African logic on that question, 

 which is summed up in a few words: "Who would cook for 



