TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



185 



they were. They said the ceremony would take place 

 the following day. 



We slept comfortably that night. Shortly after rising 

 the following morning some elders appeared, and told 

 us they were ready to arrange the preliminaries of' the 

 blood-brotherhood ; so I went with Motio to confer 

 with them. T found about 100 of them gathered in 

 a circle, at the edge of which I placed my chair. 

 Silence ensued. Presently an old man with a long 

 stick in his hands arose, and in loud and boisterous 

 tones harangued for about ten minutes. The bur- 

 den of his speech was : " Why have you, the La- 

 shomba (traders), taken cattle from our brothers the 

 Wamsara ? Why have you killed their young men " 



I told Motio to translate my reply into the most 

 vigorous language he could command : " We fought 

 the Wamsara because they fought us ; they fought us 

 because they are bad people. You, the Embe, know 

 they are bad. Who, two years ago, slew an entire 

 caravan of Lashomba and took all their goods and 

 ivory? Who, but the Wamsara? The punishment 

 we inflicted upon them in some measure avenged their 

 murder of the traders. I hoped they would profit by 

 the lesson, and in future meet all traders, whether 

 black or white, in a friendly manner. We, as are all 

 traders, are friends of the Embe ; but between us and 

 the Wamsara there could be no peace until they made 

 restitution for the Lashomba they slew, and the cattle 

 and ivory they stole from them." 



This reply seemed to make a great impression upon 

 them, and " True ! True ! " was heard on all sides. 

 After some further talk of a much more friendly and 



