GOOD PICKING. 521 



the difficulty. There were various versions of the matter, but 

 one thing was certain : there had been a disturbance at the vil- 

 lage of Xsarna, between the people of that chief and the Arabs, 

 and several on each side had been killed, and all was now con- 

 fusion. Xsama had fled from his village, leaving the Arabs in 

 possession, and they had been plundering and burning all the sur- 

 rounding villages, while Chitimba had sent for the party quar- 

 tered here to come to him. An hour or two after Livingstone 

 and his party arrived at the village a body of men arrived from 

 Kasonso, with the intention of proceeding into the country of 

 Xsama, if possible to take that chief prisoner on the charge 

 that he " had broken the public law by attacking people who 

 brought merchandise into the country," a remark which hints 

 of something that seems like international law among these 

 barbarous tribes. 



It was clear that there could be nothing else but a long delay 

 now. Four weary months he lay here waiting on the tedious 

 negotiations between these two parties, which was a most 

 remarkable succession of delays, almost every day seeming to 

 promise an immediate settlement. But the great difficulty was 

 the want of faith in Xsama, who it was believed talked peace- 

 ably only to gain time and get advantage of his adversaries. 

 He had been the Xapoleon of the country, and had held his 

 neighbor chieftains in fear. They now seemed glad to take ad- 

 vantage of his overthrow, or discomfiture, to ravage his borders, 

 and the Arabs too were not over anxious to give up immedi- 

 ately such good picking as his land afforded. So it is not im- 

 probable that while Xsama's warlike propensities were in the 

 way of peace, the plundering propensities of his enemies aided 

 in keeping up the disturbance. Meantime Dr. Livingstone was 

 satisfied that it was decidedly best for him to wait, rather than 

 either give up seeing Lake Moero, or run such serious risk as it 

 must have been to attempt to go there under the circumstances. 



The village of Chitimba is one of a number of prominent 

 villages, whose chiefs divide the dominion of the district known 

 among the Arabs as Urungu, this being the name given to 

 the region surrounding Lake Liemba, or the foot of Lake 

 Tanganyika. The whole region is mountainous, and many 

 exceedingly tortuous rivers water its beautiful valley, most 



