I Then Wrote To Grant Another Letter To Be Delivered By These
Men.
Lumeresi no sooner heard of the presents I had given them, than
he flew into a passion, called them imposters, abused them for
not speaking to him before they came to me, and said he would not
allow them to go.
High words then ensued. I said the business
was mine, and not his; he had no right to interfere, and they
should go. Still Lumeresi was obstinate, and determined they
should not, for I was his guest; he would not allow any one to
defraud me. It was a great insult to himself, if true, that
Suwarora should attempt to snatch me out of his house; and he
could not bear to see me take these strangers by the hand, when,
as we have seen, it took him so long to entice me to his den, and
he could not prevail over me until he actually sent his copper
hatchet.
When this breeze blew over, by Lumeresi's walking away, I told
the Wasui not to mind him, but to do just as I bid them. They
said they had their orders to bring me, and if Lumeresi would not
allow them to go for Grant, they would stop where they were, for
they knew that if Suwarora found them delaying long, he would
send more men to look after them. There was no peace yet,
however; for Lumeresi, finding them quietly settled down eating
with my men, ordered them out of his district, threatening force
if they did not comply at once. I tried my best for them, but the
Wasui, fearing to stop any longer, said they would take leave to
see Suwarora, and in eight days more they would come back again,
bringing something with them, the sight of which would make
Lumeresi quake. Further words were now useless, so I gave them
more cloth to keep them up to the mark, and sent them off.
Baraka, who seemed to think this generosity a bit of insanity,
grumbled that if I had cloths to throw away it would have been
better had I disposed of them to my own men.
Next day (26th), as I was still unwell, I sent four men to Grant
with inquiries how he was getting on, and a request for
medicines. The messengers took four days to bring back the
information that Bombay had not returned from Kaze, but that
Grant, having got assistance, hoped to break ground about the 5th
of next month. They brought me at the same time information that
the Watuta had invested Ruhe's, after clearing off all the cattle
in the surrounding villages, and had proclaimed their intention
of serving out Lumeresi next. In consequence of this, Lumeresi
daily assembled his grey-beards and had councils of war in his
drum-house; but though his subjects sent to him constantly for
troops, he would not assist them.
Another caravan then arrived (31st) from Karague, in which I
found an old friend, of half Arab breed, called Saim, who whilst
I was residing with Sheikh Snay at Kaze on my former expedition,
taught me the way to make plantain-wine.
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