CROWD OF THREATENING NATIVES 
229 
If he but sacrifice himself, 
He’ll save both you and ma ; 
He’ll save his brothers, sisters, aunts. 
His cousins and his wives. 
Surely it is his duty 
To save so many lives. 
0 elephants, you are unkind. 
When I have so made up my mind ! 
Next day my men at last arrived from Gaboon, but without 
my pony. We made a long march to the wells of Kadea, and 
seeing a couple of ponies on the way, I looted one of them 
which belonged to a Marehan man. This caused a great 
influx of people to the well, and a great deal of talking was 
done by them to try to induce me to wait until they fetched 
my property. I said I would wait until ten o’clock next 
day, and then march. I sent out some men to try and buy 
some sheep, but at midnight they had not returned. 
During the night we all watched, expecting every moment 
to be attacked. Next morning, which I expected would 
prove the most exciting day of my life, and perhaps the 
last day of it, the men sent ou tfor sheep returned at 9 o’clock 
not having been able to purchase a single one. There was 
now an enormous crowd of natives round my zareba, and 
the headmen were running about in a great state of excite- 
ment. Four of my men guarded the ponies as they grazed 
outside, and a number of men looked after the camels. 
Several attempts were made to stalk and steal a camel, but 
my men flred repeatedly over the heads of the thieves, and 
kept the people off. 
At ten o’clock I gave orders to load up the camels, and 
my men ran off to drive them in. Then commenced a 
tremendous jabbering and commotion on the part of the 
crowd of natives. Young men danced and shouted, and I 
thought the moment had arrived to act, when an old man 
came up and claimed an audience. He said that the pony 
we had taken belonged to a young man who was poor, and 
he added that he would put us on to the big road to War- 
dare if we would wait half a day upon the road. He would 
send for his own ponies, and let me have the pick of them. 
