something in our hands the first
time we came before so great a man." Being tired from marching, I
replied, "Not till the evening," and sent notice at 5 P.M. of my
coming. We passed through the inner stockade, and then on to an
enormous hut, where sat Chitapangwa, with three drummers and ten or
more men, with two rattles in their hands. The drummers beat
furiously, and the rattlers kept time to the drums, two of them
advancing and receding in a stooping posture, with rattles near the
ground, as if doing the chief obeisance, but still keeping time with
the others. I declined to sit on the ground, and an enormous tusk was
brought for me. The chief saluted courteously. He has a fat jolly
face, and legs loaded with brass and copper leglets. I mentioned our
losses by the desertion of the Waiyau, but his power is merely
nominal, and he could do nothing. After talking awhile he came along
with us to a group of cows, and pointed out one. "That is yours," said
he. The tusk on which I sat was sent after me too as being mine,
because I had sat upon it. He put on my cloth as token of acceptance,
and sent two large baskets of sorghum to the hut afterwards, and then
sent for one of the boys to pump him after dark.

[Illustration: Chitapangwa's Wives.]

_1st February, 1867._--We found a small party of black Arab
slave-traders here from Bagamoio on the coast, and as the chief had
behaved handsomely as I thought, I went this morning and gave him one
of our best cloths; but when we were about to kill the cow, a man
interfered and pointed out a smaller one. I asked if this was by the
orders of the chief. The chief said that the man had lied, but I
declined to take any cow at all if he did not give it willingly.

The slavers, the headman of whom was Magaru Mafupi, came and said that
they were going off on the 2nd; (_2nd February, 1867_) but by payment
I got them to remain a day, and was all day employed in writing
despatches.

_3rd February, 1867._--Magaru Mafupi left this morning with a packet
of letters, for which he is to get Rs. 10 at Zanzibar.[48] They came
by a much shorter route than we followed, in fact, nearly due west or
south-west; but not a soul would tell us of this way of coming into
the country when we were at Zanzibar. Bagamoio is only six hours north
of Kurdary Harbour. It is possible that the people of Zanzibar did not
know of it themselves, as this is the first time they have come so
far. The route is full of villag