begged me to take
them again. The Hottentots, however, had usurped their place. I was
afterwards sorry for this, though, if I ever travel again, I shall
trust to none but natives, as the climate of Africa is too trying to
foreigners. Colonel Rigby, who had at heart as much as anybody the
success of the expedition, materially assisted me in accomplishing my
object--that men accustomed to discipline and a knowledge of English
honour and honesty should be enlisted, to give confidence to the rest
of the men; and he allowed me to select from his boat's crew any men I
could find who had served as men-of-war, and had seen active service in
India.

For this purpose my factotum, Bombay, prevailed on Baraka, Frij, and
Rahan--all of them old sailors, who, like himself, knew Hindustani--to
go with me. With this nucleus to start with, I gave orders that they
should look out for as many Wanguana (freed men--i.e., men emancipated
from slavery) as they could enlist, to carry loads, or do any other work
required of them, and to follow men in Africa wherever I wished, until
our arrival in Egypt, when I would send them back to Zanzibar. Each was
to receive one year's pay in advance, and the remainder when their work
was completed.

While this enlistment was going on here, Ladha Damji, the customs'
master, was appointed to collect a hundred pagazis (Wanyamuezi porters)
to carry each a load of cloth, beads, or brass wire to Kaze, as they do
for the ivory merchants. Meanwhile, at the invitation of the Admiral,
and to show him some sport in hippopotamus-shooting, I went with him in
a dhow over to Kusiki, near which there is a tidal lagoon, which at high
tide is filled with water, but at low water exposes sand islets covered
with mangrove shrub. In these islets we sought for the animals, knowing
they were keen to lie wallowing in the mire, and we bagged two. On my
return to Zanzibar, the Brisk sailed for the Mauritius, but fortune sent
Grant and myself on a different cruise. Sultan Majid, having heard that
a slaver was lying at Pangani, and being anxious to show his good faith
with the English, begged me to take command of one his vessels of war
and run it down. Accordingly, embarking at noon, as soon as the vessel
could be got ready, we lay-to that night at Tombat, with a view of
surprising the slaver next morning; but next day, on our arrival at
Pangani, we heard that she had merely put in to provision there three
days before, and had let