Ill TRAVELS m EASTERN AFRICA 



103 



Throughout my parley with the warriors the old men 

 had shouted continuously to their younger brethren not 

 to make an attack, and that we were lashomba (traders). 

 After we had seized and bound the four warriors, the 

 former assured us of their willingness to lead the way 

 to their village. On the march hundreds of natives 

 appeared and threatened us at every turn ; but see- 

 ing their friends both in the front and rear of our 

 party, they did not dare let fly their poisoned arrows, 

 through fear of hitting one of them. 



After an hour's march we reached the edue of the 

 forest. Following our guides, we pressed westward 

 across a grassy valley dotted with small huts similar in 

 appearance to those built by the Pokomo, to a knoll 

 about three miles away. Upon reaching this I was 

 quite prostrated by fever, and was forced to lie down. 

 My fever was so strong that I had but dim conscious- 

 ness of what was going on around me. Lieutenant von 

 Hohnel thereupon took charge of affairs, and, having 

 had experience with the Kikuyu on his former journey, 

 endeavoured to induce the natives to bring a sheep and 

 make friends. 



Friendship among these tribes is always sealed by the 

 slaughter of a sheep or goat. Owing to the fact that 

 these people spoke a language similar, it is true, to the 

 Kikuyu, l^ut yet differing from it in many ways, my 

 interpreter had much difficulty in making himself under- 

 stood, and this difficulty was increased by the presence 

 of al)out 400 warriors, who surrounded us on all sides, 

 and continued to shoul defiance and shake their spears 

 in a threatening manm r. They were apparently en- 

 ck'ax'ouring to work tlu inseUes up to such a degree of 



