346 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOUENALS. [Chap. XIII. 



go to Lake Bangweolo with hini : they seem now to have 

 thought better of it, and on his return are anxious to 

 come back to their old master who, for his part, is evidently 

 willing to overlook a good deal.] 



I have taken all the runaways back again ; after trying 

 the independent life they will behave better. Much of 

 their ill conduct may be ascribed to seeing that after the 

 flight of the Johanna men I was entirely dependent on 

 them : more enlightened people often take advantage of 

 men in similar circumstances ; though I have seen pure 

 Africans come out generously to aid one abandoned to their 

 care. I have faults myself. 



15th November. — The Arabs have some tradition of the 

 Emir Musa coining as far south as the Jagga country. 

 Some say he lived N.E. of Sunna, now Mteza ; but it is so 

 mixed up with fable and tales of the Genii (Mageni), that 

 it cannot refer to the great Moses, concerning whose resi- 

 dence at Meroe and marriage of the king of Ethiopia's 

 daughter there is also some vague tradition further north : 

 the only thing of interest to me is the city of Meroe, which 

 is lost, and may, if built by ancient Egyptians, still be found. 



The Africans all beckon with the hand, to call a person, 

 in a different way from what Europeans do. The hand is 

 held, as surgeons say, prone, or palm down, while we beckon 

 with the hand held supine, or palm up : it is quite natural 

 in them, for the idea in their mind is to lay the hand on 

 the person and draw him towards them. If the person 

 wished for is near, say forty yards off, the beckoner puts out 

 his right hand on a level with his breast, and makes the 

 motion of catching the other by shutting the fingers and 

 drawing him to himself: if the person is further off, this 

 motion is exaggerated by lifting up the right hand as high 

 as he can; he brings it down with a sweep towards the 

 ground, the hand being still held prone as before. In 



