502 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



up to the time of their desertion. This I promptly 

 refused. 



Upon the arrival of the deserters they had been 

 taken in charge by General Matthews, and brought 

 into the presence of Mr. Allen, the acting United 

 States Consul, who took down at full length their 

 statements. These statements in many cases were 

 conflicting, but their general trend was, that through- 

 out the journey I had treated them with the grossest 

 cruelty; that I had shot down numbers of them while 

 upon the march, and that many (some said twenty, 

 others said thirty) had died from excessive flogging. 

 They also said that I had engaged them for a period 

 of eighteen months, and that upon the expiration of 

 this period, finding me still desirous of continuing my 

 journey, they had, after long and fruitless endeavours 

 to induce me to return to the coast, been forced to 

 leave me and return to their homes in Zanzibar. 



Upon arriving at Zanzibar, I had sent to our Con- 

 sul those men who had remained faithful to me. He 

 subjected them to a rigorous examination, and they 

 one and all offered testimony which absolutely refuted 

 in every particular the statements of the deserters 

 brought to Mr. Allen by General Matthews. General 

 Matthews was invited to be present upon this occa- 

 sion, but refused. 



The statement that I had engaged my porters for 

 eighteen months was absolutely untrue, as was soon 

 made manifest. Porters are engaged on different terms 

 at Zanzibar. Those who are enlisted for the purpose 

 of performing a fixed journey over a known road are 

 engaged for a certain number of months ; as, for ex- 



