een attempting to decide," said Khamis, "is, shall we
take the road to Mbumi, in Usagara, and skirt the Mukondokwa mountains
to reach Uhehe, and strike a straight line to Urundi, thence to Marungu,
south of the Tanganika, for Rua, or shall we follow the old road through
Marenga M'Kali and Ugogo to Unyanyembe, thence to Ujiji, and across the
Lake Tanganika to Rua? I should like to have thy opinion, for thou art
a man of age and experience, though thou hast never been to this land
before."

"Allah knows," responded Amer bin Osman, "that I know very little of
this country. If thou dost not wish to decide thyself, as chief, which
is the best road, I should like to hear from thee, or others, about the
differences between the two roads, and the kind of countries which they
traverse."

"Well," said Khamis bin Abdullah, deliberately, "if I were by myself I
should prefer the old road, but there are some here of my friends who
know the country as well as I do, who think we are strong enough to be
able to march along the southern road.

"If we," continued he, "take the old road we shall have the Wagogo to
pay tribute to, or fight, as we like, between here and Rua; but if we
take the southern road, those thieves, the Wahehe, will have to be
looked after closely when going through their country; then we have the
Warori, a more powerful people than the Wagogo, to meet, whom we must
make friends or fight; then beyond Urori we have the Watuta, a tribe
related to the Warori, who speak their language and are more than the
Warori, whom we shall be obliged to pacify or make war against, just as
we feel, and beyond the Watuta is a straight road to the ivory country
of Rua. I will admit that the southern road is by three or four months
the shortest, but I cannot admit that it is the safest."

"And what do my friends think of the two roads? What does Sultan bin
Ali say?" asked Amer.

"I say," replied old Sultan, "that it would be far more prudent in us to
take the northern road. The Wagogo are far more mischievous and
insolent than any I know, but we need not fear them if we are wise, and
do not provoke war."

"Well, if Sultan bin Ali and Khamis bin Abdullah think that the northern
road is the best, I would prefer to be guided by their judgment; but
what do the majority of the chiefs think of it?" asked Amer, directing
his glance to the others who had not yet spoken of this matter to him.

Said Khamis: "There are ten chiefs of us