chap, xv.] KAMRASI ORDERS THE MURDER OF KALLOE. 435 
the victims being captured, led before the king, and 
butchered in his presence without a trial. 
Among others suspected as favourable to revolution 
was Kalloe, the chief of Foweera; next to Kamrasi 
and M'Gambi he was the principal man in the king¬ 
dom ; he was much beloved by the entire population 
of Chopi and Foweera, and I had always found him 
most intelligent and friendly. One night at about eight 
o'clock, Ibrahim came to my hut looking very myste¬ 
rious, and after assuring himself that no one was 
present, he confided to me that he had received orders 
from Kamrasi to attack Kalloe's village before daybreak 
on the following morning, to surround his dwelling, 
and to shoot him as he attempted to escape; Ibrahim 
was further instructed to capture the women and 
children of the village as his perquisites. At the very 
moment that this treacherous compact had been entered 
into with Ibrahim, Kamrasi had pretended to be upon 
the most friendly terms with Kalloe, who was then in 
his camp; but he did not lay violent hands upon him, 
as, many of the natives being in his favour, the conse¬ 
quences might have been disagreeable: thus he had 
secretly ordered his destruction. I at once desired 
Ibrahim at all hazards to renounce so horrible a design. 
Never did I feel so full of revolution as at that moment; 
my first impulse was to assist Kalloe to dethrone Kam¬ 
rasi, and to usurp the kingdom. Ibrahim had an eye 
to business; he knew that should he offend Kamrasi 
there would be an end to the ivory trade for the 
present. The country was so rich in ivory that it was 
a perfect Bank upon which he could draw without 
limit, provided that he remained an ally of the king; 
but no trade could be carried on with the natives, all 
business being prohibited by Kamrasi, who himself 
monopolised the profits. In the event of war, not a 
tusk would be obtained, as the ivory in possession of 
the natives was never stored in their huts, but was 
concealed in the earth. The Turks were now mer¬ 
cenaries employed by the king to do any bloody work 
F F 2 
