•286 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. XI. 



of beads, here it costs six : there fish may be bought, here 

 none. Three of Casembe's principal men are here, Kakwata, 

 Charley, and Kapitenga; they are anxious to go home, and 

 would be a gain to me, but Mohamad detains them, and 

 when I ask his reason he says " Muabo refuses," but they 

 point to Mohamad's house and say, " It is he who 

 refuses." 



[A very serious desertion took place at this time amongst 

 Dr. Livingstone's followers. Not to judge them too harshly 

 they had become to a great extent demoralised by camp 

 life with Mohamad and his horde of slaves and slavers. 

 The Arab tried all he could to dissuade the traveller from 

 proceeding south instead of homewards through Ujiji, and 

 the men seem to have found their own breaking-point where 

 this disappointment occurred.] 



13th April — On preparing to start this morning my 

 people refused to go: the fact is, they are all tired, and 

 Mohamad's opposition encourages them. Mohamad, who 

 was evidently eager to make capital out of their refusal, 

 asked me to remain over to-day, and then demanded what I 

 was going to do with those who had absconded. I said, 

 " Nothing : if a magistrate were on the spot, I would give 

 them over to him." " Oh," said he, " I am magistrate, shall 

 I apprehend them ? " To this I assented. He repeated this 

 question till it was tiresome : I saw his reason long after- 

 wards, when he asserted that I "came to him and asked 

 him to bind them, but he had refused:" he wanted to 

 appear to the people as much better than I am. 



14th April. — I start off with five attendants, leaving most 

 of the luggage with Mohamad, and reach the Luao to spend 

 the night. Headman Ndowa. 



15th April. — Amoda ran away early this morning. 

 ■" "Wishes to stop with his brothers." They think that, by 



