140 TAVETA AND MOUNTS KILIMANJARO AND MERIT 



representations seemed satisfactory to Count Teleki ; and he 

 was the more glad to avoid an open rupture as there was no 

 telling how things might have gone, and if we had been worsted 

 all further exploration of Mount Meru would have had to be 

 given up. 



The two envoys were dismissed with presents, and told to 

 bring the weapons back as soon as possible ; also to arrange 

 for a good market for our men. They went off perceptibly 

 relieved, and some fifty or sixty armed natives who had 

 watched the whole interview from the forest, ready for any 

 emergency, also withdrew. So all had ended amicably after all. 



In the afternoon a crowd of armed natives from Arusha- 

 wa-ju suddenly appeared in camp, bringing with them as 

 presents a little maize and pombe, with a few bananas. They 

 were full of protestations of their good intentions, but they 

 were all tipsy, and behaved in such a shameless manner that we 

 were glad enough when they took themselves off. It rained all 

 night and the next morning, so that our small camping-place 

 became a regular pool. Some natives, true Wameru this time, 

 appeared in the afternoon, bringing for sale maize, two kinds 

 of beans, ripe and unripe, fresh and dried bananas, eleusine 

 meal, tobacco, and honey. The first comers approached very 

 timidly and cautiously, looking back again and again to assure 

 themselves that their comrades in the forest had not slipped off, 

 leaving them in the lurch ; but as their numbers increased they 

 gained confidence, and before long we were nearly crowded out 

 of our own quarters. As some forty or fifty warriors remained 

 in the forest, evidently on their guard, we thought caution 

 was necessary in dealing with our guests, so, seizing our 

 own weapons, we quietly gave the men orders to have theirs 

 in readiness. When the natives saw us prepared to fire if 

 need were, they unwillingly withdrew. The warriors, who had 

 all the time remained quietly waiting, now asked to speak to 



