II 



TRAVELS m EASTERN AFRICA 



51 



threes ; I had the tomtom beaten, and guns fired at 

 intervals, to inform them of my whereabouts. At i a.m. 

 George reached me, and reported that the dogs had 

 died at a point far in the rear ; also, that Mohamadi, 

 the second headman, and eight of the men whom I 

 had sent back with him in search of the flannel and 

 blankets, were not far away. He also reported a rumour 

 that one of my men had been drowned in crossing the 

 river, and that shots had been fired at the Pokomo, re- 

 sulting in the death of one or two of them. This was 

 sufficient for one day, so I went to sleep, thoroughly worn 

 out. 



When I awoke in the morning, all the men had 

 arrived. I called Mohamadi, and questioned him as 

 to the rumours of trouble with the natives. He said 

 that he with his eight men had searched along the 

 road for the lost load, and, not finding it, had crossed 

 the river to the village of Sissini, to search there. 

 During the search his men had been attacked by 

 the natives ; and, as his force had but six cartridges 

 in all, they were soon driven out, and in crossing the 

 river one of my men and five rifles had been lost. 

 Upon cross-questioning him, it appeared to me that his 

 story was false. Knowing, as I did, the peaceful charac- 

 ter of .the Pokomo, and the lawlessness of the Zanzibari, 

 I had no doubt that, instead of searching for the cloth, 

 they had devoted their time to raiding, and had at 

 length forced the poor natives to resistance. I punished 

 Mohamadi sufficiently for his breach of discipline. 



Lieutenant von Hohnel was at Tuni, and I learned 

 that that point was but a short distance from our 

 stopping-place. Accordingly, as rain was expected, and 



