se amount of
scientific material. He studied the manners and customs of the
inhabitants, and made careful observations on the political state. He
found the whole land distracted with incessant warfare, and broad tracts
of country, fertile and apt for the occupation of white men, given over
to desolation. It was then that he realised the curse of slave-raiding,
the abolition of which was to become the great object of his future
activity. His strength was small, and, anxious not to arouse at once the
enmity of the Arab slavers, he had to use much diplomacy in order to
establish himself in the country. He knew himself to be an object of
intense suspicion, and he could not trust even the petty rulers who were
bound to him by ties of gratitude and friendship. For some time the
sultan of the most powerful state kept him in a condition bordering on
captivity, and at one period his life was for a year in the greatest
danger. He never knew from day to day whether he would see the setting
of the sun. The Arab, though he treated him with honour, would not let
him go; and, at last, Alec, seizing an opportunity when the sultan was
engaged in battle with a brother who sought to usurp his sovereignty,
fled for his life, abandoning his property, and saving only his notes,
his specimens, and his guns.

When MacKenzie reached England, he laid before the Foreign Office the
result of his studies. He pointed out the state of anarchy to which the
constant slave-raiding had reduced this wealthy country, and implored
those in authority, not only for the sake of humanity, but for the
prestige of the country, to send an expedition which should stamp out
the murderous traffic. He offered to accompany this in any capacity;
and, so long as he had the chance of assisting in a righteous war,
agreed to serve under any leader they chose. His knowledge of the
country and his influence over its inhabitants were indispensable. He
guaranteed that, if they gave him a certain number of guns with three
British officers, the whole affair could be settled in a year.

But the government was crippled by the Boer War; and though,
appreciating the strength of his arguments, it realised the necessity of
intervention, was disinclined to enter upon fresh enterprises. These
little expeditions in Africa had a way of developing into much more
important affairs than first appeared. They had been taught bitter
lessons before now, and could not risk, in the present state o