AN ANXIOUS PERIOD. 
195 
dress, strutted into our settlement with an easy non¬ 
chalance of manner which made an evident impres¬ 
sion on the Zan¬ 
zibaris, for they 
did not attempt 
to oppose his pas¬ 
sage into my pri¬ 
vate compound, 
but allowed him 
to enter unchal¬ 
lenged, and plant 
his spear into the 
ground with an 
emphasis that 
made it quiver, 
and stand at ease 
in a conqueror’s 
pose. 
My temper had 
been already ruf¬ 
fled that morn-, 
ing. We had 
lost our favourite 
milch goat in the 
night, carried off 
by hyenas; and I had suddenly learned that the 
natives refused to sell milk, fowls, or other pro¬ 
visions, in obedience to secret orders from their 
chief. Also—for misfortunes never come singly—my 
servant had fallen sick, and my cook had cut off his 
finger chopping wood. So when I looked up from my 
work, skinning birds, that lent themselves badly to 
my taxidermist skill, and saw the swarthy figure 
planted in front of my house, I wrathfully cried out to 
o 2 
Fig, 44.—A Soldier of Mandara’s. 
