296 THE NATIVES ARE SUSPICIOUS. [chap. x. 
wine was offered, and immediately emptied ; it re¬ 
sembled extremely poor cider. We were now sur¬ 
rounded by a mass of natives, no longer the naked 
savages to whom we had been accustomed, but well- 
dressed men wearing robes of bark cloth arranged in 
various fashions, generally like the Arab “ tope/' or the 
Eoman toga. Several of the headmen now explained 
to us the atrocious treachery of Debono’s men, who had 
been welcomed as friends of Speke and Grant, but who 
had repaid the hospitality by plundering and massa- 
creing their hosts. I assured them that no one would 
be more wroth than Speke when I should make him 
aware of the manner in which his name had been used, 
and that I should make a point of reporting the cir¬ 
cumstance to the British Government. At the same 
time I advised them not to trust any but white people, 
should others arrive in my name, or in those of Speke 
and Grant. I upheld their character as that of English¬ 
men, and I begged them to state “ if ever they had 
deceived them ?” They replied, that “ there could not 
be better men/' I answered, “ You must trust me, as 
I trust entirely in you, and have placed myself in your 
hands; but if you have ever had cause to mistrust a 
white man, kill me at once !—either kill me, or trust 
in me, but let there be no suspicions/' 
They seemed much pleased with the conversation, 
and a man stepped forward and showed me a small 
string of blue beads that Speke had given him for fer¬ 
rying him across the river. This little souvenir of my 
old friend was most interesting; after a year s wander¬ 
ing and many difficulties, this was the first time that I 
had actually come upon his track. Many people told 
me that they had known Speke and Grant; the former 
bore the name of “ Mollegge ” (the bearded one), while 
Grant had been named “ Masanga” (the elephants 
tusk), owing to his height. The latter had been 
wounded at Lucknow during the Indian mutiny, and 
I spoke to the people of the loss of his finger; this 
crowned my success, as they knew without doubt that 
