LIVINGSTONE DECLINES TO LEAVE AFRICA. 455 



of the caravan causes them to decamp without delay. According to the 

 Arabs they are not inhospitable, and though rough in manner, they have 

 always received guests with honour. A fanciful trait is related concerning 

 them. Their first question to a stranger will be — ' Didst thou see me from 

 afar?' — which, being interpreted, means — 'Did you hear of my greatness 

 before coming here ?' — and they hold an answer in the negative to be a 

 causus belli. 



" The Wabuha form a small and insignificant tribe, bounded on the north 

 by Ubha, and on the south by the Malagarazi River ; the total breadth is 

 about three marches ; the length, from the Rusugi stream of the Wavinza to 

 the frontiers of Ujiji and Ukaranga, is a distance of four days. Their prin- 

 cipal settlement is Uyonwa, the district of Sultan Mariki ; it is a mere clearing 

 in the jungle, with a few wretched huts, dotting fields of sweet potatoes. This 

 harmless and oppressed people will sell provisions, but, though poor, they are 

 particular upon the subject of beads, preferring the coral and blue to the ex- 

 clusion of black and white. They are a dark, curly-headed, and hard-favoured 

 race : they wear the sbushah or top-knot of hair, dress in skin and tree-barks, 

 ornament themselves with brass and copper armlets, ivory disks, and beads, 

 and are never without their weapons, spears, daggers, and small battle-axes. 

 Honourable women wear tobes of red broad cloth, and fillets of grass or fibre 

 confining the hair. 



" Ubha was previously a large tract of land bounded on the north by the 

 mountains of Urundi, southwards and eastwards by the Malagarazi River, and 

 on the west by the northern parts of Ujiji. As has been recorded, the Wahha, 

 scattered by the Watuta, have dispersed themselves over the broad lands 

 between Unyanyembe and the Tanganyika, and their fertile country, well 

 stocked with the finest cattle, has become a waste of jungle. A remnant of 

 the tribe, under Kanoni, their present Sultan, son of the late T'hare, took 

 refuge in the highlands of Urundi, not far from the principal settlement of the 

 mountain king Mwezi : here they find water and pasture for their herds, and 

 the strength of the country enables them to beat off their enemies. The 

 Wahha are a comparatively fair and a not uncomely race ; they are, however, 

 universally held to be a vile and servile people ; according to the Arabs they 

 came originally from the southern regions, the most ancient seat of slavery in 

 Eastern Africa. Their Sultans or chiefs are of Wahinda or princely origin, 

 probably descendants from the royal race of Unyamwezi. Wahha slaves com- 

 mand the highest prices in the local slave markets." 



Dr. Livingstone, as we have previously stated, was to accompany Mr. Stan- 

 ley as far as Unyanyembe, there to await stores, etc., which he undertook to 

 see despatched from Zanzibar in safe and competent custody. Livingstone 

 declined to return. He said, "I would like very much to go home and see 

 my children once again j but I cannot bring my heart to abandon the task I 



