AN ANXIOUS PERIOD. 
187 
he then turned his steps, not coastwards, but to 
Mandara’s court. Here the Swahilis at once led him 
to the chief and said “ Now, you wouldn’t believe ns 
when we told you this white man was bad; listen then 
to what his own servants say.” Accordingly Mabruki 
and Athmani sat down and told Mandara—not a string 
of falsehoods—but a number of inconvenient truths so 
coloured with malicious interpretation as to be in 
Mandara’s eyes the most damning of accusations. 
They revealed to him that I had a beautiful elepliant- 
gun (which had certainly been kept from Mandara’s 
covetous gaze), and detailed, in fact, the entire contents 
of my armoury—so many sporting guns, so many 
Sniders, cases of cartridges, kegs of powder, bags of 
shot. They did not explain that these were brought 
with a view to the slaughter of birds and beasts and 
for purposes of just defence, but hinted that these 
weapons were intended to overawe the chief of Mosi 
and take possession of his country. “ Well, but,” inter¬ 
posed Mandara, 2 “ how could he do that when I have 
1000 soldiers and he only ten ? ” “ Don’t you under¬ 
stand ? ” the traitors replied ; “ he has sent Kiongwe to 
Zanzibar to bring back many soldiers—” “ Forty,” 
interposed Mandara. 55 Ah, he says forty to you, but 
how do you know what he may not have written in the 
letters ? No, now is the time to crush him, before his 
reinforcements come.” “ But the Baloza, what will 
he say ?” “ How do you know whether the Baloza really 
sent him ? ” “ Why, he brought letters—■” “ Yes, and 
read them himself—none of your men can read.” 
Mandara here produced the two epistles, and remarked 
that the seal of the Consulate was on them. This 
2 It was from him that I afterwards heard an account of this 
conversation. 
