THE WAKOEI. 



271 



away by the torrent, and the porters lost a great part 

 of the ivory. A more dangerous place for encampment 

 can scarcely be imaginod, yet the East African every- 

 where prefers it because it is warm at night, and the 

 surface is soft. In the neighbourhood of the Rwaha 

 they entered the capital district of Mui' Gumbi, the 

 chief, after a rude reception on the frontier, where the 

 people, mistaking them for a plundering party of Wa- 

 bena, gathered in arms to the number of 4000. When 

 the error was perceived, the Warori warmly welcomed 

 the traders, calling them brothers, and led them to the 

 quarters of their Sultan. Mui' Gumbi was apparently 

 in his 70th year, a man of venerable look, tall, burly, 

 and light-coloured, with large ears, and a hooked nose 

 like a " moghrebi." His sons, about thirty in number, 

 all resembled him, their comeliness contrasting strongly 

 with the common clansmen, who are considered by their 

 chiefs as slaves. A tradition derives the origin of this 

 royal race from Madagascar or one of its adjoining 

 islets. Mui' Gumbi wore a profusion of beads, many 

 of them antiquated in form and colour, and now un- 

 known in the market of Zanzibar : above his left elbow 

 he had a lumpy bracelet of ivory, a decoration appro- 

 priated to chieftains. The Warori expressed their 

 surprise that the country had not been lately visited by 

 caravans, and, to encourage others, the Sultan offered 

 large gangs of porters without pay to his visitors. 

 These men never desert ; such disobedience would cost 

 them their lives. From the settlement of Mui' Gumbi 

 to the coast the caravan travelled without accident, but 

 under great hardships, living on roots and grasses for 

 want of means to buy provisions. 



The same caravan-traders showed me divers speci- 

 mens of the Warori, and gave me the following descrip- 



