I Replied, If That Was The Case, The Sooner He Allowed Us To Go, The Better It Would Be For Him; And, Reminding Him Of His Original Promise To Give Me Assistance On To Usui, Said He Could Do So Now With A Very Good Grace.

Quite approving himself of this suggestion, Lumeresi then gave me one of his officers to be my guide - his name was Sangizo.

This man no sooner received his orders than, proud of his office as the guide of such a distinguished caravan, he set to work to find us porters. Meanwhile my Wasui friends, who left on the 25th of August, returned, bearing what might be called Suwarora's mace - a long rod of brass bound up in stick charms, and called Kaquenzingiriri, "the commander of all things." This they said was their chief's invitation to see us, and sent this Kaquenzingiriri, to command us respect wherever we went.

5th. - Without seeing us again, Lumeresi, evidently ashamed of the power held over him by this rod of Suwarora's, walked off in the night, leaving word that he was on his way to Ruhe's, to get back my gun and all the other things that had been taken from Grant. The same night a large herd of cattle was stolen from the boma without any one knowing it; so next morning, when the loss was discovered, all the Wahuma set off on the spoor to track them down; but with what effect I never knew.

As I had now men enough to remove half our property, I made a start of it, leaving Grant to bring up the rest. I believe I was a most miserable spectre in appearance, puffing and blowing at each step I took, with shoulder drooping, and left arm hanging like a dead leg, which I was unable ever to swing. Grant, remarking this, told me then, although fro a friendly delicacy he had abstained from saying so earlier, that my condition, when he first saw me on rejoining, gave him a sickening shock. Next day (7th) he came up with the rest of the property, carried by men who had taken service for that one march only.

Before us now lay a wilderness of five marches' duration, as the few villages that once lined it had all been depopulated by the Sorombo people and the Watuta. We therefore had to lay in rations for those days, and as no men could be found who would take service to Karague, we filled up our complement with men at exorbitant wages to carry our things on to Usui. At this place, to our intense joy, three of Sheikh Said's boys came to us with a letter from Rigby; but, on opening it, our spirits at once fell far below zero, for it only informed us that he had sent us all kinds of nice things, and letters from home, which were packed up in boxes, and despatched from the coast on the 30th October 1860.

The boys then told me that a merchant, nickname Msopora, had left the boxes in Ugogo, in charge of some of those Arabs who were detained there, whilst he went rapidly round by the south, following up the Ruaha river to Usanga and Usenga, whence he struck across to Kaze. Sheikh Said, they said, sent his particular respects to me; he had heard of Grant's disasters with great alarm. If he could be of service, he would readily come to me; but he had dreamed three times that he saw me marching into Cairo, which, as three times were lucky, he was sure would prove good, and he begged I would still keep my nose well to the front, and push boldly on. Manua Sera was still in the field, and all was uncertain. Bombay then told me - he had forgotten to do so before - that when he was last at Kaze, Sheikh said told him he was sure we would succeed if both he and myself pulled together, although it was well known no one else of my party wished to go northwards.

With at last a sufficiency of porters, we all set out together, walking over a new style of country. Instead of the constantly- recurring outcrops of granite, as in Unyamuezi, with valleys between, there were only two lines of little hills visible, one right and one left of us, a good way off; whilst the ground over which we were travelling, instead of being confined like a valley, rose in long high swells of sandstone formation, covered with small forest-trees, among which flowers like primroses, only very much larger, and mostly of a pink colour, were frequently met with. Indeed, we ought all to have been happy together, for all my men were paid and rationed trebly - far better than they would have been if they had been travelling with any one else; but I had not paid all, as they thought, proportionably, and therefore there were constant heartburnings, with strikes and rows every day. It was useless to tell them that they were all paid according to their own agreements - that all short-service men had a right to expect more in proportion to their work than long-service ones; they called it all love and partiality, and in their envy would think themselves ill-used.

At night the kirangozi would harangue the camp, cautioning all hands to keep together on the line of march, as the Watuta were constantly hovering about, and the men should not squabble and fight with their master, else no more white men would come this way again. On the 11th we were out of Bogue, in the district of Ugomba, and next march brought us into Ugombe (12th), where we crossed the Ukongo nullah, draining westwards to the Malagarai river. Here some of the porters, attempting to bolt, were intercepted by my coast-men and had a fight of it, for they fired arrows, and in return the coast-men cut their bows.

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