634 THE EXPLANATION. 



and a Wanyamwezi follower, who got into a deserted canoe to 

 plunder, fell into the water, went down, then came up again, 

 and down to rise no more. 



Dr. Livingstone's first impulse was to pistol the murderers, 

 but Dugumbe protested against his getting into a blood-feud, 

 and he was thankful afterwards that he took the advice. Two 

 wretched Moslems asserted " that the firing was done by the 

 people of the English ; " the doctor asked one of them why he 

 lied so, but he could utter no excuse : no other falsehood came 

 to his aid, he could only stand abashed, and so telling him not 

 to tell palpable falsehoods, Dr. Livingstone left him gaping. 



After the terrible affair in the water, the party of Tagamoio, 

 who was the chief perpetrator, continued to fire on the people 

 there and fire their villages. Loud wails could be heard on the 

 left bank, over those who were there slain, ignorant of their 

 many friends now in the depths of Lualaba. No one will ever 

 know the exact loss on this bright sultry summer morning; no 

 wonder it gave the sorrowful witness the impression of being in 

 hell. All the slaves in the camp rushed at the fugitives on 

 land, and plundered them : women were for hours collecting and 

 carrying loads of what had been thrown down in terror. 



Some escaped to Dr. Livingstone and were protected : 

 Dugumbe saved twenty-one, and of his own accord liberated 

 them ; they were brought to the doctor, and remained over night 

 near his house. One woman of the saved had a musket-ball 

 through the thigh, another in the arm. The doctor sent men 

 with his flag to save some, for without a flag they too might 

 have been victims, for Tagamoio's people were shooting right 

 and left like fiends. Twelve villages were burning the next 

 morning. The question was asked of Dugumbe and others, 

 " Now for what is all this murder ? " All blamed Manilla as 

 its cause, and in one sense he was the cause ; but the wish to 

 make an impression in the country as to the importance and 

 greatness of the new comers was the most potent motive. It 

 was terrible to contemplate the murdering of so many. It was 

 enough to make a man sick at heart. Who could accompany 

 the people of Dugumbe and Tagamoio to Lomame and be free 

 from blood-guiltiness ? 



It was proposed to Dugumbe to catch the murderers, and 



