March, 1888.] Return Journey. 
245 
that I sought nothing from him, he gave me from his side his rod 
of authority, or sceptre, assuring me that it would be, to all who 
knew him, an assurance of the friendship that exists between us. 
A STORY OF TWO SLAVE CHILDREN. 
I omitted to note down previously the story of two of my 
little ones, so add it here. The Luba country stretches north of 
the Garenganze as far as the Stanley Falls. The people are a 
noble and unsubdued race. Msidi has great difficulty in bringing 
those on the borders of his country into even partial subjection, 
as they live in stockaded towns. One year, when Msidi's warriors 
were ransacking the district around Katapena, they surprised and 
carried off a number of children who were playing and bathing 
in a pool near their town. * Among them were two girls, Mwepo 
and Delunga, who had been fast friends and constant playmates ; 
but the rough hands of Msidi's soldiers now separated them, and 
they were carried off in different directions. Three years after, I 
happened to be sitting in Msidi's yard talking with him, when a 
company of slaves were brought in. They were the belongings 
of someone who had recently died, and were brought to Msidi 
to distribute among the relatives of the deceased man. The 
youngest of the slaves was a little girl about nine years of age ; 
she was suffering from painful ulcers on the soles of her feet. 
After giving away the healthy ones of the number, Msidi turned 
and asked if I could do anything with this suffering child ; so I 
took her up to my cottage, dressed her sores, and after a little 
care and nursing she completely recovered. 
A few months later I happened again to be sitting beside 
Msidi early one morning, when he asked me to take breakfast 
with him. We had not sat long before a little girl entered the 
yard and threw herself down at some distance from the chief's feet, 
and did obeisance by rubbing dust on her forehead and arms. 
Msidi told her to look up, and asked where she came from, and 
what she wanted. She said that she had run away from her 
mistress because she had been beaten severely the day before. 
It seems that she had travelled all night from the Lunsala district, 
six or eight miles down the Unkeya. Some of Msidi's breakfast 
lay by me, which I handed in pity to the poor thing, and in a 
short time I rose up and left. Upon looking back, I saw the 
