THE LOSS. 



249 



found by digging. Vainly Kidogo urged them for- 

 wards declaring that they would fail to reach the Ziwa 

 or Pond in a single march ; they preferred " crowing" and 

 scooping up sand till midnight to advancing a few 

 miles, and some gourdsfull of dirty liquid rewarded 

 their industry. 



On the morning of the 26th of September, I learned 

 that we had sustained an apparently irreparable loss. 

 When the caravan was dispersed by bees, a porter took 

 the opportunity of deserting. This man, who repre- 

 sented himself as desirous of rejoining at Unyamyembe, 

 his patron Abdullah bin Musa, the son of the well-known 

 Indian merchant, had been engaged for four cloths by Said 

 bin Salim at Ugogi. The Arab with his usual after- wit 

 found out, when the mishap was announced, that he had 

 from the first doubted and disliked the man so much 

 that he had paid down only half the hire. Yet to the 

 new porter had been committed the most valuable of 

 our packages, a portmanteau containing the Nautical 

 Almanac for 1858, the surveying books, and most of 

 our paper, pens and ink. Said bin Salim, however, was 

 hardly to be blamed, his continual quarrels with the Ba- 

 loch and the sons of Kamji absorbed all his thoughts. 

 Although the men were unanimous in declaring that 

 the box never could be recovered, I sent back Bombay 

 Mabruki and the slave Ambari with particular directions 

 to search the place where we had been attacked by bees; 

 it was within three miles, but, as the road was deemed 

 dangerous, the three worthies preferred passing a few 

 quiet hours in some snug neighbouring spot. 



At 1.30 p.m. much saddened by the disaster, we re- 

 sumed our road and after stretching over a monotonous 

 grassy plain variegated with dry thorny jungle, we 

 arrived about sunset at a waterless kraal where we deter- 



