END OF THE FIGHT. 769 



together in the other remaining villages and renew the attack 

 at night, the men carried these quickly one by one and subse- 

 quently burnt six others which were built on the same side of 

 the river, then crossing over, they fired on the canoes which 

 were speeding towards the deep water of Bangweolo, through the 

 channel of the Liposhosi, with disastrous results to the fugitive 

 people. 



Returning to the town, all was made safe for the night. By 

 the fortunes of war, sheep, goats, fowls, and an immense quantity 

 of food fell into their hands ; and they remained for a week to 

 recruit. Once or twice they found men approaching at night 

 to throw fire on the roofs of the huts from outside, but with this 

 exception they were not interfered with. On the last day but 

 one a man approached and called to them at the top of his voice 

 not to set fire to the chief's town (it was his that they occupied); 

 for the bad son had brought all this upon them ; he added that 

 the old man had been overruled, and they were sorry enough 

 for his bad conduct. 



With the account given of this occurrence before us, we cannot 

 but lament the loss of life and the whole circumstances of the 

 fight. Whilst on the one hand we may imagine that the loss 

 of a cool, conciliatory, brave leader was here felt in a grave de- 

 gree, we must also see that it was known far and wide that this 

 very loss was now a great weakness to his followers. There is 

 no surer signs of mischief in Africa than these trumpery charges 

 of bewitching houses by placing things on them : some such 

 overstrained accusation is generally set in the front rank when 

 other difficulties are to come: drunkenness is pretty much the 

 same thing in all parts of the world, and gathers misery around 

 it as easily in an African village as in an English city. Had 

 the cortege submitted to extortion and insult, they felt that their 

 night by the river would have been a precarious one — even if 

 they had been in a humor to sleep in a swamp when a town was 

 at hand. These things gave occasion to them to resort to force. 

 The desperate nature of their whole enterprise in starting for 

 Zanzibar perhaps had accumulated its own stock of determina- 

 tion, and now it found vent under evil provocation. If there 

 is room for any other feeling than regret, it lies in the fact that, 

 on mature consideration and in sober moments, the people who 

 suffered cast the real blame on the right shoulders. 



