take the field, think more of plunder
and slavery than the object they started on--each man of the force
looking out for himself. The incentives, too, are so great;--a young
woman might be caught (the greatest treasure of earth), or a boy or
a girl, a cow or a goat--all of the fortunes, of themselves too
irresistible to be overlooked when the future is doubtful. Here Sheikh
Said broke down in health of a complaint which he formerly had suffered
from, and from which I at once saw he would never recover sufficiently
well to be ever effective again. It was a sad misfortune, as the men
had great confidence in him, being the representative of their Zanzibar
government: still it could not be helped; for, as a sick man is, after
all, the greatest possible impediment to a march, it was better to be
rid of him than have the trouble of dragging him; so I made up my mind,
as soon as we reached Kaze, I would drop him there with the Arabs. He
could not be moved on the 16th, so I marched across the plain and put
up in some villages on its western side. Whilst waiting for the sheikh's
arrival, some villagers at night stole several loads of beads, and ran
off with them; but my men, finding the theft out in time, hunted them
down, and recovered all but one load--for the thieves had thrown their
loads down as soon as they found they were hotly pursued.

Early this morning I called all the head men of the village together,
and demanded the beads to be restored to me; for, as I was living with
them, they were responsible, according to the laws of the country. They
acknowledged the truth and force of my demand, and said they would each
give me a cow as an earnest, until their chief, who was absent, arrived.
This, of course, was objected to, as the chief, in his absence, must
have deputed some one to govern for him, and I expected him to settle
at once, that I might proceed with the march. Then selecting five of
my head men to conduct the case, with five of their elders, it was
considered my losses were equivalent to thirty head of cattle. As I
remitted the penalty to fifteen head, these were made over to me, and
we went on with the march--all feeling delighted with the issue but the
Hottentots, who, not liking the loss of the second fifteen cows, said
that in Kafirland, where the laws of the country are the same as here,
the whole would have been taken, and, as it was, they thought I was
depriving them of their rights to beef.

By a doubl