1871.] DISAPPOINTMENT AT UJIJI. 155 



now reduced to a skeleton, but the market being held 

 daily, aud all kiuds of native food brought to it, I hoped 

 that food and rest would soon restore me, but in the 

 evening my people came and told me that Shereef had sold 

 off all my goods, and Moenyeghere confirmed it by saying, 

 " We protested, but he did not leave a single yard of calico 

 out of 3000, nor a string of beads out of 700 lbs." This 

 was distressing. I had made up my mind, if I could not get 

 people at Ujiji, to wait till men should come from the coast, 

 but to wait in beggary was what I never contemplated, and 

 I now felt miserable. Shereef was evidently a moral idiot, 

 for he came without shame to shake hands with me, and 

 when I refused, assumed an air of displeasure, as having 

 been badly treated ; and afterwards came with his " Bal- 

 ghere," good-luck salutation, twice a day, and on leaving 

 said, " I am going to pray," till I told him that were I an 

 Arab, his hand and both ears would be cut off for thieving, 

 ■as he knew, and I wanted no salutations from him. In my 

 distress it was annoying to see Shereef's slaves passing from 

 the market with all the good things that my goods had 

 bought. 



'2-ith October. — My property had been sold to Shereef's 

 friends at merely nominal prices. Syed bin Majid, a good 

 man, proposed that they should be returned, and the ivory 

 be taken from Shereef; but they would not restore stolen 

 property, though they knew it to be stolen. Christians 

 would have acted differently, even those of the lowest classes. 

 I felt in my destitution as if I were the man who went down 

 from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves ; but I 

 could not hope for Priest, Levite, or good Samaritan to come 

 by on either side, but one morning Syed bin Majid said 

 to me, " Now this is the first time we have been alone toge- 

 ther ; I have no goods, but I have ivory ; let me, I pray 

 you, sell some ivory, and give the goods to you." This was 

 encouraging ; but I said, " Xot yet, but by-and-bye." I had 



