sessed
white faces passed by, the straining of eyes and the narrow scrutiny
were amusing to witness, and afforded Selim more especially some
discomfort at first. The shepherds and villagers furthermore willingly
bartered whatever the Arabs wished for red beads and American domestic.
Milk, butter, and eggs were plentiful, which, to the Arab boys, were
rare treats after the dry heat and desolate aspect of Western Uhehe.
The arms which these shepherds carried were far more formidable than
anything they had hitherto seen in the hands of savages. Their bows
were longer and heavier, and their arrows longer and more cruelly
barbed, and besides a lengthy broad-bladed spear, which resembled a
broad Roman sword fastened to a staff, and half a dozen lighter spears--
assegais--and a battle-axe, they carried a knife which might be likened
to a broadsword for length and breadth.

On the sixth day after their entrance into Urori, the caravans came
within sight of a large palisaded village called Kwikuru, or the
capital. It contained about eight hundred huts, strongly protected by a
lofty fence of hard red wood. This Tillage was protected on one side by
a stream of considerable magnitude. On the other side of the village
was a grove of fine trees situated from it a distance of about 1000
yards. Into this grove the Arabs marched to encamp.

Kwikuru, or the capital, was a good distinction awarded to the village,
or town rather, for its size and importance; for, next to Simbamwenni,
it was the most populous place they had found in Africa. Cattle grazed
by the thousand a little distance off from the grove, attended by
watchful and well-armed herdsmen. The lowing of the cows, and the
bleating of the sheep and goats, and the braying of a few large donkeys,
were welcome sounds to travellers, to whom such sights in Africa were
rare. And the long extent of well-tilled ground, in which grew the
Indian corn, the manioc, the _holcus sorghum_, the sugar-cane, and
plantain, with abundance of vegetables and melons, enhanced the pleasure
the Arabs' people naturally felt, unaccustomed as they were, since
leaving Zanzibar, to feast their eyes upon such scenes.

Late in the afternoon, after the Arab chiefs had, with commendable
caution, constructed a dense hedge of bush and branches around their
camp, they called a meeting to discuss the measures they should take to
open friendly communication with the formidable citizens of Kwikuru.

When t