GREATLY TROUBLED. 613 



satisfied to abandon his undertaking. He felt confident that 

 he held the key to the great mystery : how could he go back 

 before he had unlocked it? And yet he knew very well that 

 the longer he was delayed the more difficult it would be to ac- 

 complish his object. He had left Ujiji elated with the thought 

 of being beyond the range of the miserable slaves ; he had been 

 overtaken and passed by them, and grieved to feel that science 

 and civilization must be kicked about in their nobler mission 

 by such embodiments of meanest selfishness. But it had been 

 so, and will be so until science and civilization are championed 

 as they should be by their friends ; until the hand of power 

 sweeps the unhappy continent of the vicious representatives of 

 the slave-trade. As the days and weeks passed, he found less 

 and less satisfaction in recording the various bits of information 

 which floated to him. He had written to Dr. Kirk, and received 

 no reply. Sometimes he felt that he would be obliged to give 

 up, but it was like giving up life; he was willing to lay his life 

 down, if he could only secure success. At last there came news 

 of men and means being on the way to him. He became more 

 hopeful then. His interest revived in everything ; the customs of 

 the people were an entertainment again. With the hope of 

 being soon on the path again, he heard with great pleasure the 

 experience of Moenemokata, who had seen more of the Africans 

 than most of the Arabs. It was the testimony of this man, 

 "that if a man would only go with a good-natured civil tongue, 

 he could pass through the worst tribes unharmed," and the 

 Manyueman need not be an exception. He did not need to be 

 told this, but he was glad to hear it as the experience of others. 



At last, early in February, 1871, his men arrived. It was 

 cheering to his weary heart that there were those anxious to 

 aid him. He now found that one great difficulty which had 

 been in the way of sending him assistance had been the dread- 

 ful ravages of cholera along the coast and at Zanzibar. This 

 dreadful disease had followed the trading paths into the interior, 

 where it became a dreadful scourge and swept away thousands 

 of people. 



The hopes which had revived at the coming of men were sadly 

 disappointed in those who presented themselves. There were 

 only ten, all of them slaves of the Banians, who are subjects of 



