172 



THE LAKE REGIONS OF CENTRAL AFRICA. 



On the 30th June the subject was brought forward 

 in the presence of Said bin Salim and the Baloch. The 

 former happily lodged at Kazeh, felt loath to tear him- 

 self from the massive arms of his charmer Halimah. 

 He finessed as usual, giving an evasive answer, viz. 

 that he could not decide till the last day, and he 

 declined to influence the escort, who afterwards declared 

 that he had done all in his power to deter them from 

 the journey. In vain my companion threatened him 

 with forfeiture of his reward after he returned to Zanzi- 

 bar ; in vain my companion told him that it was forfeited.* 

 He held firm, and I was not over-anxious in influencing 

 him, well knowing that though the Baloch, a stolid 

 race, might prove manageable, the brain of the Machia- 

 vellian Arab, whose egregious selfishness never hesitated 

 at any measure calculated to ensure its gratification, 

 was of a somewhat too heavy metal for the article 

 opposed to it. That Said bin Salim attempted to thwart 

 the project I have no doubt. The Kirangozi, and the 

 fifteen porters hired from his village with the tempting 

 offer of five cloths per man, showed an amount of fear 

 and shirking hardly justified by the real risks of tread- 

 ing so well known a tract. The Jemadar and his men 

 at first positively refused their escort, but the mean- 

 ing word " Bakhshish " slipping in reassured me. After 

 informing them that in case of recusancy their rations 

 should be stopped, I inquired the amount of largesse 

 expected. The ten efficient men composing the guard 



* I transcribe the following words from my companion's paper (Black- 

 wood, October 1859) : "I urged that it was as much his (Said bin Salim's) 

 duty as mine to go there ; and said, unless he changed his present resolution, 

 I should certainly recommend the Government not to pay the gratuity which 

 the consul had promised him on condition that he worked entirely to our 

 satisfaction, in assisting the Expedition to carry out the Government's 

 plans." 



