302 Wanderings in Eastern Africa, 
whither we were bound. This being explained to 
them, a middle-aged man rose to his feet, with one 
hand grasping his bow and with the other a bundle of 
poisoned arrows, at first looking wild and excited, but 
after a while, cooling down, he commenced a speech, 
of which the following is a summary. He said : 
The event of to-day is an event of prophecy. It 
was foretold a long time ago by our great Waganga 
(prophets, sorcerers) that a white man would come to 
our country ; that he would not be a bad man by any 
means, though a most extraordinary phenomenon, on 
account of which it would be necessary to receive him 
with caution. It would be indispensable, at least, to 
sacrifice a Mana Gnonzi (a lamb), and to perform the 
rites connected therewith. Then the white man might 
go on his way. Now," continued the speaker, " the 
white man has come. Who ever saw the like of him 
before } I never did." Then pointing to my Wanika 
porters, he said, " These men, we know, belong to us ; 
we have nothing to be alarmed at on their account ; 
but the Mzungu ! he is a wonder. The advice of the 
Mganga must be attended to. The Mzungu (he cun- 
ningly put in) must pay the price of the lamb, but the 
slaughtering of it and the rest (viz., the eating of it!) 
we will do ourselves. The Mzungu need not trouble 
himself about this! " 
I refused having anything to do with Uganga, at 
which there was an awkward pause. But at length 
the head man of the village came to the rescue. He 
said : " The Mzungu belongs to me, and I like the 
look of him. He has come to my place, and I will 
not turn him adrift. You see he will have nothing 
to do with Uganga, and will not give you the 
