210 LIVINGSTONE'S LAST JOURNALS. [Chap. YIIL 



and would fain take the place of Mullams or doctors of the 

 law, by giving authoritative dicta as to the times of prayer ; 

 positions to be observed ; lucky and unlucky days ; using* 

 cabalistic signs ; telling fortunes ; finding from the Koran 

 when an attack may be made on any enemy, &c. ; but this 

 is done only in the field with trading parties. At Zanzibar, 

 the regular Mullams supersede them. 



No objection would be made to teaching the natives of the 

 country to read their own languages in the Roman character. 

 No Arab has ever attempted to teach them the Arabic- 

 Koran, they are called guma, hard, or difficult as to religion. 

 This is not wonderful, since the Koran is never translated, 

 and a very extraordinary desire for knowledge would be 

 required to sustain a man in committing to memory pages 

 and chapters of, to him, unmeaning gibberish. One only of 

 all the native chiefs, Monyumgo, has sent his children to 

 Zanzibar to be taught to read and write the Koran ; and he 

 is said to possess an unusual admiration of such civilization 

 as he has seen among the Arabs. To the natives, the chief 

 attention of the Mission should be directed. It would not 

 be desirable, or advisable, to refuse explanation to others ; 

 but I have avoided giving offence to intelligent Arabs, who 

 have pressed me, asking if I believed in Mohamad by saying, 

 " No I do not : I am a child of Jesus bin Miriam," avoiding 

 anything offensive in my tone, and often adding that Mo- 

 hamad found their forefathers bowing down to trees and 

 stones, and did good to them by forbidding idolatry, and 

 teaching the worship of the only One God. This, they all 

 know, and it pleases them to have it recognised. 



It might be good policy to hire a respectable Arab to 

 engage free porters, and conduct the Mission to the country 

 chosen, and obtain permission from the chief to build tem- 

 porary houses. If this Arab were well paid, it might pave 

 the way for employing others to bring supplies of goods 

 and stores not produced in the country, as tea, coffee, sugar. 



