182 
THE KILIMA-NJAB 0 EXPEDITION.\ 
as your friend may wander everywhere in peace .’ 5 
When I had finished, Mandara took me by both hands 
and said, 64 Indeed you are speaking truth; I know it. 
Why do you not always come to me and counsel me ? 
If I have only these Swahili people to advise me, 
how can I avoid doing wrong?” In this Mandara 
was right. I believe, as I wrote to Sir John Kirk at 
the time, that I might have acquired a very powerful 
and useful influence over Mandara 5 s mind had I made 
the endeavour. It was such an advantage being able 
to talk witli him direct, and dispense with the nullify¬ 
ing influence of an interpreter. But at the same time 
it was not my mission to meddle with the politics of 
Kilima-njaro ; I had been sent there to superintend 
the collecting of scientific information and the necessary 
material for investigating the fauna and flora of the 
snow-mountain, and not to redress the wrongs of the 
suffering inhabitants. Only so far as they hindered or 
otherwise affected my proper work could I exert any 
influence over local chieftains. My employers had not 
placed funds at my disposal to suppress slave-trading, 
or weld the states of Kilima-njaro into a confederation 
against the Swahili traffickers in human flesh. I had, 
as it was, quite sufficient difficulty in doing any 
natural history collecting at all, for I had found my 
two collectors very idle and inefficient, and the entire 
work, even in its most menial details, w^as soon to be 
thrown on my hands without any outside help; con¬ 
sequently I was disinclined to waste many hours of 
daylight in conversation with the chief of Mosi, 
interesting as he was to talk to. I therefore neglected 
to follow up the decided advantage I had gained over 
Mandara 5 s conscience, and employed the few peaceful 
days which followed the warlike movements I have 
