WE ARE ATTACKED. 
115 
walked there and back, 20 miles, by 3^ p.m., and 
found this much-dreaded tribe had left that morning. 
"16 th. — Having aroused my camp, a noisy con- 
versation soon began with some strange armed men, 
who had been sent by Sultan Myonga to insist on my 
visiting him with my caravan ; but as I saw yester- 
day that his residence was completely out of my route, 
and as Speke had laid down that no further present 
should be made to him, his 'soldiers' were told this ; but, 
at the turn to their master's village, they planted their 
spears in defiance, and dared us to proceed by any but 
their way. We laughed at them, and held on our road 
for seven miles, when out of some thick cover came a 
howling of voices. I was about the third from the head 
of my Indian file, when a troop of about two hundred, 
with assigais, bows and arrows, burst upon us, spring- 
ing over the ground like cats. Passing the van, 
apparently without any intention of molesting us, or 
' showing their colours/ no one stopped even to look at 
them ; but of a sudden they broke in upon the centre 
of our line, and, with uplifted assigais and shouts, 
frightened the porters to give up their loads and fly, 
if they could escape the hands of the ruffians who 
were pulling their clothes and beads from them. See- 
ing my goods carried off, I tried, without blood- 
shed, to prevent it ; for they were too numerous 
to attack, as I had but one of my gun-men and two 
natives. On searching for others, I found Eehan with 
rifle at full cock, defending two loads against five of 
the men. He had been told by Manua that he was ( a 
fool to think of the loads ; fly for your life ! ' but the 
property, he said, was his life. On making for the 
village of the Sultan Myonga to seek redress, I was 
