. Three goats were missing this
evening, which the goatherds could not account for, nor any of their
men. Suspecting that they were hidden for a private feast, I told their
chief to inquire farther, and report. The upshot was, that the man was
thrashed for intermeddling, and came back only with his scars. This was
a nice sort of insubordination, which of course could not be endured.
The goatherd was pinioned and brought to trial, for the double
offence of losing the goats and rough-handling his chief. The tricking
scoundrel--on quietly saying he could not be answerable for other men's
actions if they stole goats, and he could not recognise a man as his
chief whom the Sheikh, merely by a whim of his own, thought proper to
appoint--was condemned to be tied up for the night with the prospect of
a flogging in the morning. Seeing his fate, the cunning vagabond said,
"Now I do see it was by your orders the chief was appointed, and not
by a whim of Sheikh Said's; I will obey him for the future;" and these
words were hardly pronounced than the three missing goats rushed like
magic into camp, nobody of course knowing where they came from.

Skirting along the margin of the rising ground overlooking the river,
through thick woods, cleared in places for cultivation, we arrived at
Thumba Lhere. The chief here took a hongo of three yards merikani and
two yards kiniki without much fuss, for he had no power. The pagazis
struck, and said they would not move from this unless I gave them one
fundo or ten necklaces of beads each daily, in lieu of rations, as they
were promised by Ladha on the coast that I would do so as soon as they
had made four marches. This was an obvious invention, concocted to try
my generosity, for I had given the kirangozi a goat, which is customary,
to "make the journey prosperous"--had suspended a dollar to his neck in
recognition of his office, and given him four yards merikani, that he
might have a grand feast with his brothers; while neither the Sheikh,
myself, nor any one else in the camp, had heard of such a compact. With
high words the matter dropped, African fashion.

The pagazis would not start at the appointed time, hoping to enforce
their demands of last night; so we took the lead and started, followed
by the Wanguana. Seeing this, the pagazis cried out with one accord:
"The master is gone, leaving the responsibility of his property in our
hands; let us follow, let us follow, for verily he is our father;