The little sheikh was warmly
congratulatory as he spoke of the numbers who had strayed away
and had been lost in that wilderness; whilst Bombay admitted he
thought we should turn up again if I did not listen to the advice
of the boys, which was his only fear.
Nothing as yet, I now
found, had been done to further our march. The hongo, the sheikh
said, had to precede everything; yet that had not been settled,
because the chief deferred it the day of our arrival, on the plea
that it was the anniversary of Short-legs's death; and he also
said that till then all the Wagogo had been in mourning by
ceasing to wear all their brass bracelets and other ornaments,
and they now wished to solemnise the occasion by feasting and
renewing their finery. This being granted, the next day another
pretext for delay was found, by the Wahumba having made a raid on
their cattle, which necessitated the chief and all his men
turning out to drive them away; and to-day nothing could be
attended to, as a party of fugitive Wanyamuezi had arrived and
put them all in a fright. These Wanyamuezi, it then transpired,
were soldiers of Manua Sera, the "Tippler," who was at war with
the Arabs. He had been defeated at Mguru, a district in
Unyamuezi, by the Arabs, and had sent these men to cut off the
caravan route, as the best way of retaliation that lay in his
power.
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