mbay
acknowledged he had tried to get the girl, for they had been
sentimentalising together for several days, and both alike wished to be
married. Baraka, he said, was allowed to keep a wife, and his position,
demanded that he should have one also; but the wires were his own
property, and not mine, for he was given them by the chiefs as a
perquisite when I paid their hongo through him. He thought it most
unjust and unfair of Baraka to call him to account in that way, but he
was not surprised at it, as Baraka, from the beginning of the journey to
the present moment, had always been backbiting him, to try and usurp his
position. Baraka, at this, somewhat taken aback, said there were no
such things as perquisites on a journey like this; for whatever could
be saved from the chiefs was for the common good of all, and all alike
ought to share in it--repeating words I had often expressed. Then Bombay
retorted trembling and foaming in his liquor: "I know I shall get the
worst of it, for whilst Baraka's tongue is a yard long, mine is only
an inch; but I would not have spent any wires of master's to purchase
slaves with (alluding to what Baraka had done at Mihambo); nor would I,
for any purpose of making myself richer; but when it comes to a wife,
that's a different thing."

In my heart I liked Bombay all the more for this confession, but thought
it necessary to extol Baraka for his quickness in finding him out, which
drove Bombay nearly wild. He wished me to degrade him, if I thought
him dishonest; threw himself on the ground, and kissed my feet. I might
thrash him, turn him into a porter, or do anything else that I liked
with him, as long as I did not bring a charge of dishonesty against him.
He could not explain himself with Baraka's long tongue opposed to him,
but there were many deficiencies in my wires before he took overcharge
at Bogue, which he must leave for settlement till the journey was over,
and then, the whole question having been sifted at Zanzibar, we would
see who was the most honest. I then counted all the wires over, at
Bombay's request, and found them complete in numbers, without those he
had set aside from the dowry money. Still there was a doubt, for
the wires might have been cut by him without detection, as from the
commencement they were of different lengths. However, I tried to make
them friends, claimed all the wires myself, and cautioned every man
in the camp again, that they were all losers when anythi