74 
THIEVES. 
seen white men before. There was not the slightest 
privacy even inside our tent; they were certain to 
peer in. Sitting in the open air under a tree was tried, 
and succeeded best, for they saw you till they became 
tired of looking, or at your laughing at or mimicking 
them. Every one, except an old woman, was easy to 
manage. She would pester you with questions you 
didn't understand, didn't mind being laughed at, and 
would not leave till led away by some villager who took 
compassion on us. Another woman was most anxious 
to see my feet. " What had I under my shoes and 
socks? She had never seen such coverings." I told her 
she could not be gratified till the evening, when I would 
take them off. The men were generally fawning, very 
inquisitive, and fond of putting their arms round Bom- 
bay's neck to try and get him to give them some pre- 
sent. Little satisfied them ; and though we had all our 
kit without lock or key, we never suffered loss by theft 
in a Wezee village. At Sirboko's, thieves came one 
night, were caught, beaten, and dismissed. Exactly 
one month afterwards they again came, carrying away 
a tin case with clothes and writing materials, seven 
ivories of Sirboko's, &c. &c. Our Seedees were as 
active as policemen, flying about the whole night with 
torches, looking for the stolen goods, and at break of 
day they found the tin case, minus some things, in- 
cluding four tusks. To recover the rest a quack 
doctor or Mganga was sent for, an elderly-looking 
man, and he found the whole, except an ivory and a 
flannel shirt, in a couple of days. The thieves, in fear, 
had placed the articles at the doorway of the village. 
Our men were most excitable creatures. If a cow 
attempted to break out of the village by jumping fences 
