Chaga. 
389 
cry, and rushed off towards his palace, presently- 
making his appearance with a plume of feathers upon 
his head, nodding like those of a hearse, armed with 
bow and arrows, leaping and shouting like a man 
demented, and away he hurried to the front. By this 
time all was commotion ; the whole country rang with 
the shouts of the men and the shrieks of the women ; 
and the hills echoed and re-echoed the sounds. Pre- 
sently all the paths along the mountain sides were 
streaming with men accoutred for war and armed to 
the teeth. Some carried bows and arrows, many bore 
the Masai spear and shield, but a large number were 
provided with muskets ; while clubs, short swords, 
daggers, knives, hatchets, billhooks, flourished every- 
where. The din, uproar, and excitement were 
tremendous. 
What was I to do } There was no time to lose — 
to consider pros and cons — there must be action. If 
Moche had been attacked with success, I and my 
party would not have been spared, we must have gone 
to the wall. It would have been dastardly to have 
remained inactive when all was tumult and peril ; 
so, missionary though I was, I prepared for defence. 
While loading our guns a native came to us in great 
excitement, begging for gunpowder. Mzungu ! 
Mzungu ! powder! powder!" he shouted. "Oh, give 
me powder ! quick ! quick ! " Unable to attend to him 
immediately, the poor fellow became frantic. The 
tears rolling from his eyes, he howled with rage and 
agony, Oh, what shall I do t My wife and my chil- 
dren ! my wife and my children ! they will all be mur- 
dered, or captured and sold as slaves ! Oh, give me 
powder! POWDER! POWDER!" Obtaining the powder, 
