238 



KIZUNGU. 



name, and suggested treachery to the Baloch. 

 My companion and I fired our revolvers into 

 tree-trunks, and ostentatiously reloaded them for 

 the public benefit. The sensation was such that 

 we seized the opportunity of offering money for rice 

 and ghi : no provision, however, was procurable. 

 Our escort went to bed supperless; Hamdan curs- 

 ing this Safar Khdis, Anglic^ rotten journey ; 

 pretty Rahmat weeping over his twisted mus- 

 tachios, and Sha'aban smoking like the chimney 

 of a Hammam. Murad Ali had remained at Msiki 

 Mguru to buy a slave without our knowledge. 

 No novice in such matters, he had yet neglected 

 to tie the chattel's thumbs together, and on the 

 evening after the sale he had the exquisite 

 misery to see his dollars bolting at a pace which 

 baffled pursuit. We should have fared meagerly 

 had not one of the elders brought furtively after 

 dark a handful of red rice and an elderly hen : 

 this pro vaunt was easily despatched by these 

 hungry men, of whom one was a Portuguese 

 ' cook-boy.' Then placing our weapons handy, 

 we were soon lulled to sleep, despite smoke, wet 

 beds, chirping crickets, and other plagues, by 

 the blustering wind, and by the continuous 

 pattering of rain. 



About sunrise on Priday, Eebruary 20, we 



