VI 



TRAVELS IN EASTERN AFRICA 



215 



per cent per month, as the duration of such a jour- 

 ney is very uncertain. 



When the slaves who are to form the party are 

 gathered together, the slave possessing the greatest 

 experience in caravan work is made the leader. The 

 qualifications necessary for this position are, first, a 

 knowledge of the language and customs of the tribes 

 through which the caravan will pass ; next, an inkling 

 of the route over which the journey is to be made ; 

 last, but far from least, ability as a magician. No 

 caravan leaves the coast without a " Mganga," who is 

 supposed to be able not only to tell future events, but 

 also to ward off evil by his skill in the black arts. 



On these expeditions there is always a copy of the 

 Koran taken along, and the leader must possess a 

 slight knowledge of the contents of this book. From 

 its pages he derives information of the future, and by 

 the repetition at given times of some of its phrases 

 he is supposed to ward off evil from his followers. 

 They also carry at the head of the expedition a 

 white flag called "kome," which is covered with curi- 

 ously wrought figures, triangles and circles, and many 

 phrases from the Koran. This flag is supposed to be 

 possessed of occult power. The makers of these 

 kome are great medicine-men, who for the most part 

 have made long journeys into the interior during 

 their youth, and in their old age derive a fair income 

 from the manufacture of these flags. I have known 

 a caravan leader to pay $200 for one of them ; but 

 this flag was so highly valued principally from the 

 fact that it had been carried by Tippoo Tib upon one 

 of his marauding expeditions into the interior. 



