A TRIP TO TAVEITA. 
225 
than I might otherwise have felt at my uneventful 
night, for at any rate here was abundant meat for the 
men. 
At the end of the succeeding day my sporting picnic 
was interrupted by the arrival of messengers from 
Mandara, who bore a strongly worded communication 
in writing, to the effect that I was to return at once 
to Mosi, as Mandara had some important news to 
communicate. Wondering who among the chief’s 
followers had suddenly attained epistolary skill, and 
grumbling at the somewhat dictatorial tone of the 
command, I nevertheless deemed it advisable to comply, 
the more so as Kiongwe’s inexplicable absence made 
me averse to risking a loss of Mandara’s friendship. 
I left behind two trusted followers, Abdallah and Kadu 
Stanley, in my Taveita settlement, with the fullest 
instructions as to their procedure in case Kiongwe 
came during my absence, and then once more quitting 
my favourite place of sojourn, I turned my steps 
towards Mosi with an anxious heart. 
Arrived at Mandara’s court, however, an un¬ 
expectedly pleasant reception awaited me. It ap¬ 
peared that a large Swahili caravan had reached 
Mosi during my absence in Taveita, and its leader 
happened to be a trader of some position on the coast. 
He had seen me in Zanzibar the day I went to visit 
the Sultan with Sir John Kirk, and consequently 
conceived an exaggerated, but useful opinion as to my 
relative importance in the scale of humanity. He 
questioned Mandara as to my welfare and whereabouts 
with an empressement and evident interest which did 
much to endue that chieftain with a loftier opinion 
as to the social position of his guest. Finding his 
Swahili friend was a scholar, he resolved to set at 
Q 
