KIUNGANI 
 
 STOR Y and HISTOR Y 
 from CENTRAL AFRICA 
 
 A, C. MAD AN 
 
mi 
 
 in 
 
 mm 
 
 ■i 
 
 ■ 
 
 mm 
 mWT 
 
fid 
 
A 
 
Digitized by 
 
 the Internet Archive 
 
 
 
 in 2014 
 
 
 
 https://archive.org/details/kiunganiorstoryhOOjohn 
 
f3 uJ >^A<A^v-v^^yvN 
 
 KIUNGANI; OR, STORY AND HISTORY 
 FROM CENTRAL AFRICA. 
 
LSC 
 
 KIUNGANI; 
 
 OR, 
 
 STORY AND HISTORY FROM CENTRAL 
 AFRICA. 
 
 WRITTEN BY BOYS IN THE SCHOOLS 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITIES' MISSION TO CENTRAL 
 AFRICA. 
 
 TRANSLATED AND EDITED 
 BY 
 
 A. C. MA DAN, M A, 
 
 STUDENT OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, 
 COVENT GARDEN. 
 1887. 
 
CHISWICK PRESS: — C. \VH ITT INGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, 
 CHANCERY LANE. 
 
LSC 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface ix 
 
 PART I. 
 HISTORIES. 
 
 Introduction 3 
 
 I. History of a Nyassa Boy (i) 14 
 
 II. History of a Nyassa Boy (2) 30 
 
 III. History of a Bemba Boy 33 
 
 IV. History of a Bisa Boy 36 
 
 V. History of a Makua Boy (1) 39 
 
 VI. History of a Makua Boy (2). With Introduction . . 46 
 
 VII. History of a Makua Boy (3) 5 1 
 
 VIII. History of a Vao Boy 54 
 
 IX. History of a Zaramo Boy, and Account of the Zaramo 
 
 Country. With Introduction .... 60 
 
 X. History of a Sagara Boy 64 
 
 XI. History of a Gindo Boy 73 
 
 XII. History of a Ganda Boy, and Account of the Founding 
 
 of the Kingdom of Ganda. With Introduction . Si 
 XIII. History of a Nyoro Boy. With Introduction . .104 
 
VI 
 
 Contents. 
 
 PART H. 
 
 STORIES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 117 
 
 I. -XIII. From Lake Victoria Nyanza. 
 
 I. Kawekwa and Teguaki . . . . . .121 
 
 II. Beasts and Men 127 
 
 III. The Rabbit and the Elephant (1 ) . . . .135 
 
 IV. The Beasts and the Rabbit . . . . .141 
 V. The Man and the Sheep. With Introduction . .148 
 
 VI. The King and Wabulekoko . . . . 155 
 
 VII. A Story of a Thief 160 
 
 VIII. The Leopard and the Rabbit . . . . .164 
 
 IX. The Dog and the Ape 165 
 
 X. The Lioness and the Cow . . . . . .166 
 
 XL The Lion, the Dove, and the Wild Ass . . .168 
 
 XII. The Lioness, the Rabbit, and the Dog . . .170 
 
 XIII. The Rabbit and the Elephant (2) . . . .172 
 
 XIV. -XXIII. From the Region of Lake Nyassa. 
 
 XIV. The Three Brothers . . . . - . .176 
 
 XV. The Bird and the King . . . . . 1 79 
 XVI. Man and Wife .181 
 
 XVII. The Hycena and the Rabbit 182 
 
 XVIII. The Women and the Stone 187 
 
 XIX. The Elephant and the Rabbit (3) 189 
 
 XX. The Rat and the Mole 194 
 
 XXI. The Elephant and God 198 
 
 XXII. The Impenetrable Island ...... 200 
 
 XXIII. The Cruel Step-mother 203 
 
Contents. vii 
 
 XXIV. -XXXI. From the East Coast. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 X X I V. The Beggar ( I ) 205 
 
 XXV. The Frog and the Chameleon. With Introduction . 214 
 
 XXVI. Kingobe . . . * . . . . . .224 
 
 XXVII. The Princess and the Tortoise 237 
 
 XXVIII. The Fisherman and the Rings 239 
 
 XXIX. The Poor Man and the Sultan 248 
 
 XXX. The Adventures of Sefu 254 
 
 XXXI. The Beggar (2) .260 
 
 Appendix I. On the Swahili Language ..... 265 
 Appendix II. Story I. in Part II., written in the Swahili and 
 Ganda languages, with literal English trans- 
 lation 275 
 
 Xotes 287 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 O many the following pages will appear to con- 
 tain little that is interesting or amusing, and 
 still less that is of value. Those who have the 
 eyes to recognize, and the patience to study, 
 what is at least a bona fide collection of literary specimens 
 of an uncommon kind from a little-worked source, will 
 perhaps arrive at a different conclusion. 
 
 It has been the lot of the Editor to spend the greater 
 part of the last five years in daily familiar intercourse with 
 some ninety or a hundred African boys of all ages between 
 nine and twenty-one, almost all of whom have been captured 
 from slave-ships by British cruisers on the east coast of 
 Central Africa. They represent at least fifteen tribes of the 
 great family of the human race classed as Bantu, which 
 stretches over the whole of the African continent, from the 
 sources of the Nile far within the borders of the Cape 
 Colony, and from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. All 
 these boys learn the language of the coast — that is Swahili, 
 and all are taught according to their capacity in the schools 
 of the Universities' Mission to Central Africa, which has its 
 head-quarters at Zanzibar. Towards the end of four years' 
 residence among them the Editor invited some of them to 
 
X 
 
 Preface. 
 
 write down recollections of their homes and wanderings, 
 and also any stories they remembered having heard in their 
 own lands or in the course of their travels. He purposely 
 abstained from suggesting topics or treatment, except so far 
 as was necessary to explain what he wanted. Just thirteen 
 boys complied with his request, and as it happened the 
 thirteen represented no less than ten different tribes. They 
 wrote in the Swahili language, and the Editor translated 
 their MSS. as simply and literally as appeared consistent 
 with plain and forcible English. This volume is the result. 
 
 A few words are perhaps necessary to enable a fair esti- 
 mate to be made of their worth, under the twofold division 
 of Histories and Stories. The two divisions illustrate each 
 other. 
 
 Conscious falsification, and even carelessness, the Editor 
 believes may be left out of account. His relation to the 
 boys, and knowledge of their characters, make his own mind 
 clear on this point. On the other hand, full allowance must 
 of course be made for indistinct recollection, childish 
 acceptance of hearsay as fact, simple mistakes as to places 
 or names, transference of ideas acquired on the coast to 
 scenes in the interior, as well as for lack of all literary skill 
 or sense of the requirements of a literary public. These 
 defects are inherent in the nature of the case, but when 
 fully allowed for, the naivete and simplicity of the narratives 
 is (even in a translation) unmistakable, and the amount 
 of positive information considerable, if not always new. 
 Pictures of life in distant African homes — life from which 
 the very foundations of social order and well-being are 
 absent, the various ways in which the boys were taken from 
 their homes, the stages (recurring with marked regularity) of 
 their subsequent careers — all this, interspersed with notices 
 of customs, localities, routes, and curious glimpses behind the 
 scenes in dark corners of human existence, may be found 
 
Preface. 
 
 xi 
 
 here. Geographer, anthropologist, philanthropist — all may 
 find material to their hand, not very abundant, perhaps, 
 or exact, but of its kind genuine, and, as here presented, 
 almost unique. 
 
 The stories, too, have an interest of their own. They 
 are fragments of the only literature — if what is wholly un- 
 written may be so called — known to the many races of 
 Central Africa. As such, story is the vehicle of all the 
 germs of history, philosophy, and even poetry, as exist 
 among them. It embodies records as well as speculations 
 on the past, facts as well as fancies. The accidents, police- 
 news, personal adventures and exploits, and local gossip of 
 a modern newspaper, all find their reflection in such tales 
 as, for instance, those from the Ganda country, hardly less 
 discernible because they are manipulated by the imagination 
 with a view to aiding the memory by symmetrical arrange- 
 ment and repetition, or to exciting the feelings of an audi- 
 ence by exaggeration and the introduction of the purely 
 fabulous. Some stories, again, seem designed to point a 
 moral or a maxim, though here, too, it appears as if actual 
 incident was drawn upon as material at least for the design. 
 Others are attempts to satisfy the craving for a " reason 
 why," for some fact of daily experience or custom of social 
 life. Others (and these may be distinguished by internal 
 evidence) are but adaptations of Arab tales, and the offspring 
 of imaginations highly excited by the wonders of coast life 
 and Zanzibar, which to the whole region in question is the 
 very door of the world and channel of all knowledge, en- 
 lightenment, and civilization. Occasionally touches occur 
 which the boy-author could only have got by hearsay from 
 his European teacher, and which work in readily with the 
 more marvellous elements of his story. 
 
 Perhaps as much interest attaches to the more purely 
 African type of story, that known as Beast-Fable, as to any. 
 
xii 
 
 Preface. 
 
 This interest has been of late revived by the collection 
 made in America by Mr. Chandler Harris, and published 
 under the titles, " Uncle Remus " and " Nights with Uncle 
 Remus." It is curious to find the counterparts of many of 
 the incidents in those collections reappearing in the present 
 volume ; in other words, to find the two streams rising 
 from a common source in the heart of Central Africa, one 
 reaching the western coast, crossing the Atlantic, and 
 finding a new home in the plantations of the Southern 
 States, a new language in the jargon of negro dialect, and 
 a new publicity, due to the gifted Editor j while the other 
 follows the caravan routes to the east coast, and through 
 Zanzibar meets its fellow once more from the press of an 
 English publisher. The rabbit is the characteristic hero of 
 Bantu Beast-Fable, and if not so supreme in this as in the 
 parallel collection, it may be remembered that there is 
 nothing to make it certain that these specimens are typical, 
 much less that the collection is complete. 
 
 Some further remarks will be found in the Introduction 
 to each Part of this volume. After all, the cardinal point 
 of interest to those to whom such stories have any true 
 interest at all, lies in the fact that they are, like the Homeric 
 (the contrast is as suggestive as the comparison), photo- 
 tographs — very fragmentary, and not very clear — but photo- 
 graphs of the human mind in a condition which, if not 
 truly primitive, is yet in all but time most remote from our 
 own — if not highly gifted, yet in all essentials truly human 
 — if undeveloped, undifferentiated, and unmoralized, yet 
 not wholly without the wayward charm, and even the vague 
 promise of childhood. Races have their childhood as well 
 as single souls, and if in both the simplicity and receptive- 
 ness of childhood is the truest title and earnest of entrance 
 to the Kingdom of the Father, these stories may suggest 
 something to arouse hope, something even to imitate. 
 
Preface. 
 
 The Editor's work has been confined to translation, 
 writing short introductions and explanatory notes, in a very 
 few cases disguising a mere vulgarity, and occasionally 
 modifying the boys' attempts at phonetic rendering of 
 proper names. The appendices contain a short popular 
 account of the Swahili language, in which these stories were 
 written, and a specimen of one of them (Story I. in Part II.) 
 as written by the boy-author himself, both in Swahili and 
 also in his own Ganda tongue. 
 
 A. C. M. 
 
 Zanzibar, Advent, 1885. 
 
 [F. M., Oxford, June, 1887.] 
 
Part I. 
 
 HISTORIES OF AFRICAN BOYS. 
 
 E 
 
Part I . 
 
 HISTORIES OF AFRICAN BOYS, 
 AS TOLD BY THEMSELVES. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 HERE are, perhaps, few better ways of arriving 
 at a clear conception of the conditions of human- 
 life in any period or locality, than by tracing 
 them in the career of an individual. For 
 such a purpose a perfect biography would go far towards 
 the production of a perfect history. The autobiographies 
 in this collection are far enough from perfection, yet an 
 African boy's memories of his own life are surely, at the 
 least, a curiosity. Each may contribute something, if not 
 of new fact, yet of evidence to known fact, which is not 
 without its value. Several such stories may form together 
 a general, but still vivid, picture of the world, as it unfolds 
 itself before the eyes of young Africa. Even their omissions 
 are sometimes significant — for instance, when a child finds 
 nothing to record in all the horrors of the march of a slave- 
 caravan from the far interior to the coast, except the number 
 
4 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 of days it seemed to occupy. What difference did a little 
 more or less of starvation or torture make, after all, but a 
 darker shade or so in the common tissue of human life ? 
 
 Some of the results which seem to emerge from a study 
 and comparison of the following narratives may be briefly 
 indicated in this Introduction. 
 
 The narratives are drawn from a locality with limits wide, 
 yet not difficult to define — the locality of which Zanzibar is 
 the natural capital, with Mozambique as her only competitor 
 for the title — broadly speaking, the whole country within a 
 radius of 800 miles (except a portion on the coast itself) 
 from Zanzibar. This region is but a part of the vast area 
 in Africa covered by so-called Bantu races, yet the number 
 of tribes in it speaking distinct, though often nearly allied, 
 dialects, might be counted by the dozen, and the ten which 
 furnish these narratives are sufficiently far apart to stand as 
 fair samples of the whole. The Makuas and Yaos (or Ajawa) 
 are two of the most numerous and important tribes between 
 Lake Nyassa and the East coast. The Nyassas (or Man- 
 ganja) border on the lake itself, east, west, and south. 
 Beyond them, westward, lie the Bembas and Bisas. 
 Turning to the coast, the Zaramos are found in a district 
 near Zanzibar, with the Kamis, Ziquas, and Sambaras. 
 Farther inland are the Gindos and Sagaras. Beyond them, 
 westward, lie the Nyanwezi, while far away, on the northern 
 margin of the Victoria Nyanza, stretches the powerful king- 
 dom of Ganda, and its yet more distant neighbour Nyoro, 
 on the sister lake, Albert Nyanza. This whole region is 
 bound closely to Zanzibar by commerce, which, till the last 
 decade, meant comparatively little except the slave trade. 
 From Zanzibar, year by year, indeed, month by month, start 
 the large and costly Mahommedan caravans,* which carry 
 
 * Mahommedanism gains much from this chance connection. 
 
Introduction. 
 
 5 
 
 calico, beads, brass wire, cutlery, guns, powder, and spirits 
 to an ever-increasing number of customers — and bring 
 back slaves and ivory to the coast. What else they 
 carry and bring away, is but too clearly to be gathered 
 from these stories. Their range extends beyond the wes- 
 tern shores of all the three great Equatorial Lakes, Nyassa, 
 Tanganyika, and Victoria Nyanza, and their operations in- 
 fluence the region of the Upper Congo, as well as the East 
 Soudan. 
 
 Such being the locality from which these narratives are 
 drawn, it may next be noticed that there are five distinct 
 stages, more or less clearly indicated, in the subject matter 
 of the majority of them. Nearly all the boys write (t) first 
 of their homes, (2) then of their separation from home and 
 sure gravitation into the hands of Arab slave-dealers, (3) the 
 march of the slave-caravan from the interior to the coast, 
 (4) the disposal of the slaves, either on the coast or by ex- 
 portation, (5) finally, their transfer to British hands and 
 consignment to the Universities' Mission. It may be con- 
 venient to call attention to a few particulars under each of 
 these heads. 
 
 1. An African home ! A hut of poles, mud, and grass is 
 its visible symbol, and by no means always in itself a symbol 
 of discomfort, poverty, or degradation. There is the father 
 and mother, though the bond between them may be frail 
 enough. There are children, too, in plenty, for at the worst 
 children have their marketable value, and slavery has not 
 yet condemned the woman to the barrenness which follows 
 in its train. And childhood in Africa is childhood still. It 
 fights its mimic battles with its playmates, it snares its 
 " small deer " in the enclosing forests, it rivals mature age 
 in endless story-telling, it bathes, it plays, it basks on smooth 
 sunny rocks, it thinks but lightly of parental warnings, it 
 weeps bitter tears when they come too true, it trusts the 
 
6 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 deceiver, who promises some little boon, it can imagine no 
 world beyond the ridge of the encompassing hills, no monarch 
 greater than the lord of twenty huts ; in ignorance of war it 
 runs a few steps out of its safe hiding-place, only to find 
 those steps the first of a journey of a thousand miles for its 
 weary feet, with homeless, hopeless slavery, if not a Mission, 
 at the end. 
 
 Shreds of affection cling yet about an African home. A 
 captive mother pines with longing for her last-born child, 
 and if she escape, cannot rest or eat till she has first em- 
 braced it. Parents sadly foresee and warn their children of 
 the dark future, so near, yet so hard to guard against ; a 
 father protests feebly against handing over his offspring to 
 pay his own father's debts. Once and again there is a half- 
 hearted promise that the ransom shall be soon forthcoming 
 to restore a helpless young brother to his tribe again, and 
 the boy himself holds fast to the last hope which binds him 
 to his distant home, and only when this is gone is driven with 
 tears to realize that now he has no resting-place, but must pass 
 henceforth like a chattel from hand to hand, and, to use his 
 own word, is " lost." In all supreme moments of doubt and 
 agony an African's instinctive cry is for his mother. 
 
 But the memories of childhood all tell one sad tale of the 
 scenes among which it wakes. War and Famine are the 
 two ruling factors in African life, and the Slave-trade is the 
 sure support when not the prime cause of both. The 
 details are not many, but the picture is clear. First, war is 
 from within, among those of the same tribe. A feud based 
 on a half-forgotten crime, refusal to submit to a decision of 
 the chiefs, insulting words at a tribal conclave, — these and 
 far smaller causes are sufficient to embroil village with 
 village, and bring the rush to arms and bloodshed, ever 
 ready to be renewed, when they bring advantage to either 
 side. War comes too from without. The Zulu intruders 
 
Introduction. 
 
 7 
 
 of fifty years ago are still a terror and scourge to all within 
 their reach. Under different names, and from centres both 
 north and south of Lake Nyassa, they assert their superiority 
 by regular and impartial raids upon their neighbours, forcing 
 some to pay them tribute, carrying off others and impressing 
 them into military service, even coaxing stubborn adver- 
 saries to incorporation with themselves, or by their success 
 inciting them to imitate the Zulu arms and tactics in their 
 own tribal wars. Their stories show how the mere glimpse 
 of the long striped shield and barbed assegai is enough to 
 weld a disunited tribe for a short time into one, and send 
 women and cattle many days' journey into the mountains, 
 while the men hasten to their strongest stockade (unless the 
 enemy is beforehand with them), and by sheer speed of move- 
 ment, if not by stratagem, crush all resistance almost before 
 it is ottered. Famine follows war. Droughts might be pro- 
 vided against by storing food, but war not only destroys food, 
 but makes all storing dangerous. Property is insecure exactly 
 in proportion to its value, for wealth invites war. Hence 
 some tribes keep no herds for the sake of peace, some 
 keep them at the cost of constant invasion. Fatal as war is, 
 famine is hardly less so. Both alike serve the ends of the 
 slave-hunter. It was but lately (1SS3-4) that people were 
 selling, not only their children, but themselves, on the East 
 coast, to escape death by slow starvation. No wonder that 
 the second stage in these autobiographies is the easy, but 
 irrevocable, step from home into slavery. 
 
 2. Slavery, of course, is of immemorial antiquity among 
 black races, but wherever the Arab appears, he is the con- 
 stant and efficient promoter of it. His mere presence in the 
 interior with superior arms and superior goods makes every 
 human being a marketable commodity, and a commodity 
 within the reach of all who have the Arab's aid. Only once 
 does he appear in a narrative openly engaged in a warfare — 
 
8 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 which brings some dangers, though greater gains. But 
 whether a child is carried off by a hostile tribe, or kidnapped 
 by a wily neighbour, or given in payment of a debt, or to 
 atone for a drunken brother's sin, no matter. It is but a 
 question of time. He drifts surely into the net, furnished 
 by the Arab, spread by his ubiquitous agents, who do his 
 work only too willingly. The Yaos are among the most 
 zealous, as the following pages clearly show. But the Arab 
 at their elbow, with his businesslike offer of " cash on de- 
 livery," and conscience-soothing appeal to God's sanction 
 of the system, is a barrier between human nature and better 
 things, which these lower types of humanity might well find 
 insuperable, even if they wished it away. Thus it happens 
 that the boys find themselves at last in a hut crowded with 
 victims like themselves, at the mercy of an Arab slave-dealer. 
 
 3. It is but fair, as it is certainly pleasant, to note in 
 several of the narratives the traces of actual kindness towards, 
 at least, the children, by their Arab masters. Small kind- 
 nesses would certainly go farther with children than older 
 people ; but a feeling of affection is undeniably present at 
 times, and is freely acknowledged by its objects. Few of 
 them, indeed, appear to notice on the march to the coast 
 anything which struck them as novel, much less as horrible 
 or barbarous. But here other sources of information supple- 
 ment the chance glimpses given by two, at least, of the 
 stories of some of what are, after all, the lesser evils of the 
 caravan-march. The simple destruction of the bodily life 
 of a child, or even an adult, is but little beside the degrada- 
 tion of the moral being and the enthralment of the living 
 spirit, of which these journeys are the sure beginning. 
 
 The main routes followed by the caravans are indicated 
 with considerable distinctness, and may be followed on any 
 good map, such as that of Eastern Equatorial Africa, issued 
 by the Royal Geographical Society, or even that appended 
 
Introduction. 
 
 9 
 
 to Mr. Stevenson's little book on the " Water-Ways of the 
 Interior of Africa.'' # Starting westward of Lake Nyassa, one 
 route crosses the lake, and making a fresh start from the 
 great Yao town Mwembe, the head-quarters of operations on 
 the eastern side, finds outlets on the coast at Kilwa and 
 Lindi, south of Zanzibar and within the dominions of the 
 Sultan. Other tracks work round the northern and southern 
 ends of the lake, and either unite with the first in the Yao 
 country, or, turn southward to Ibo, Mozambique, and 
 Quilimane. Another large district, westward of Lake Tan- 
 ganyika, and northward to the borders of the Soudan, is 
 drained towards the great trading centre Unyanyembe, in 
 the Nyamwezi country, and thence the caravans follow the 
 main track eastward to Saadani or Bagamoyo, on the coast 
 opposite the island of Zanzibar. These are the routes 
 mainly illustrated in these pages. 
 
 4. After arrival at the coast, a large number of slaves are 
 at once disposed of for labour on the plantations which in 
 increasing numbers fringe the coast towns. Some are em- 
 ployed in trade in the towns themselves, sometimes as 
 domestic servants, others are passed from hand to hand, till 
 they fall in the way of a dealer making up a gang for ex- 
 portation. Such unfortunates find themselves only at the 
 beginning of their troubles. Their destination may be only 
 one of the islands off the coast, the Comoros, Johannas, 
 Momfia, Pemba, or Zanzibar. Or they may be shipped for 
 much longer voyages, to meet the demands of the Persian 
 Gulf, Southern Arabia, or the coasts of the Red Sea. In 
 any case a few days' calm or an adverse wind may turn the 
 little slave ship of thirty to sixty tons into a den of horrors, 
 without space to move, or food beyond uncooked grain or 
 fruit, without water for days together, while a child's wailing 
 is sufficient reason for throwing it to the sharks, and a sick 
 
 * See the map issued with this book. 
 
IO 
 
 Introduction, 
 
 man's end is effectively hastened by one of the many bar- 
 barous devices familiar to an Arab master. Meanwhile the 
 victims are carefully informed that the one worse fate that 
 could befall them is to be captured by the white man, whose 
 only object is to fatten and eat them. 
 
 5. This happy disaster does, however, sometimes befall 
 them — less often perhaps than formerly, when H.M.S. 
 London, an old three-decker of Crimean days, lay at her 
 anchorage in the roadstead of Zanzibar, the rendezvous of a 
 small fleet of boats engaged in the search for slaves — when, 
 too, more men of war were available for cruising on the east 
 coast. Possibly the trade may have itself decreased. How- 
 ever this may be, the late extension of the British Consulate, 
 not only to Mombasa, Kilwa, and Lindi, but to Lake 
 Nyassa, may be trusted to have in the end a far surer and 
 more lasting effect, through the certain encouragement of 
 legitimate trade and substitution of moral for material 
 agencies, than an irritating and costly flotilla of armed boats 
 and cruisers. With the Arabs' warnings in their ears, it is 
 no wonder that in spite of their miseries the slaves should 
 often stoutly maintain to the British officer boarding a 
 dhow, that they were free passengers in an Arab liner on 
 pleasure or on business, and that the boys should clamber 
 or be tossed up the sides of the man-of-war in dire fear that 
 a hen-coop existence on board would be but the prelude to 
 their speedy consumption by the white-faced cannibals. 
 Once on board, however, child-nature soon recovers itself. 
 Though " Jack " must have his joke, and sea-biscuit lends 
 itself only too easily to his comforting assurance that " it is 
 made of bones, and fattening, very," childhood once more 
 gloats over huge dishes of rice and pudding, gets fat in 
 spite of its fears, takes with complacency its morning bath 
 under the ship's pumps, detects the secret of British energy 
 in the Arab's abomination, pork, and even gets over its first 
 
Introduction. 
 
 conviction that cutlass drill is carving drill, and soon to be 
 exercised upon themselves. 
 
 Some of the boys, however, arrive in the Consul's court 
 by a different process, taken from slave-depots on shore in 
 the coast towns under right of search conceded to the 
 English by treaty with the Sultan, or again by the registra- 
 tion which took place when Indian subjects of Great Britain 
 were forbidden to own slaves in the dominions of Zanzibar. 
 Once in the Consul's court and freed, their prospects, it 
 must be allowed, were not bright. The British Government 
 would not do more than give a few shillings for their im- 
 mediate necessities, or transport to British soil to become 
 so-called free labourers, bound to a term of service on a 
 white man's estate. The leaders of the Universities' Mission, 
 Bishops Tozer and Steere, determined to follow the example 
 of the Church Missionary Society and do their best to turn 
 to account the material thus brought ready to their hand, 
 for the immediate relief and welfare of the released but 
 homeless slaves, and if it might be for striking a blow 
 through them at the whole system, which had made them 
 what they were. Some have been restored to the mainland, 
 if not to their lost homes, some have been taught trades, or 
 drifted into one of the many employments of unskilled 
 labour in Zanzibar or on the coast. A few promise well for 
 higher usefulness, as the teachers and evangelizers of their 
 countrymen, the heralds in that Dark Continent of a new 
 service, which is the only perfect freedom. 
 
 The thirteen narratives fall naturally into four groups. 
 Histories I. — IV. are drawn from the borders of Lake Nyassa 
 and the region yet further to the west. Of these the first is 
 far the most complete, and gives incidentally a clear and 
 intelligent picture of inter-tribal warfare, the power, perse- 
 verance, and skill of the marauding Gwangwaras, and the 
 
Introduction. 
 
 brief, but organized and desperate resistance of the Nyassas. 
 The others supplement the first, adding notices of native 
 customs and details of the hap-hazard life of slave-children 
 on the coast. The second group also contains four stories 
 (Histories V. to VIII.) ; — three from the Makua land, lying 
 between Lake Nyassa and the Mozambique coast, our know- 
 ledge of which is largely due to the repeated journeys of 
 Mr. O'Neill, H.M. Consul at Mozambique, and the visit of 
 the Rev. Chauncy Maples to its capital, Meto, in 1880. 
 The last is from the neighbouring Yao country, in which 
 slave-dealers find a ready welcome and abundant market. 
 The third group (Histories IX. to XI.) relate to a district 
 lying westward of the island of Zanzibar, and at no great 
 distance from the coast. Histories XII. and XIII. are 
 drawn from the remote shores of Lakes Victoria and Albert 
 Nyanza, the upper waters of the Nile. 
 
 The story of a Ganda Boy (XII.) stands quite alone, and 
 indeed above the others. It is the narrative of a lad older 
 than the rest, who, after many hair-breadth escapes in earlier 
 days, of his own free will and (as it proved) at repeated risk 
 of his life, undertook a journey of a thousand miles with the 
 single-hearted resolve to follow up the glimpse of truth 
 which he felt he had been granted in his own land. The 
 view from the inside of the Ganda King Mtesa's govern- 
 ment and household is perhaps unique, and the whole story 
 at the expense of its perfect simplicity might easily be 
 worked up into one of the most thrilling tales of adventure 
 ever told. 
 
 In conclusion, it may be well to clear up a few allusions 
 recurring in these stories. The Mission referred to is the 
 Universities' Mission to Central Africa, proposed by Dr. 
 Livingstone when in England for the last time, and headed 
 successively by Bishops Mackenzie, Tozer, Steere, and 
 Smythies. The Mission has three establishments in the 
 
Introduction. 
 
 *3 
 
 island of Zanzibar, one at Mkunazini in the city itself, in- 
 cluding church, schools, and a group of houses; another a 
 mile distant, called Kiungani, or Kiinua Mguu, with a large 
 school for boys and a printing-press worked by them, and 
 finally an estate at Mbweni, three and a half miles from the 
 city, where there is a church, girl's school, and village of 
 adult released slaves. The Mission has also two chief 
 centres of work on the mainland; one between the coast 
 and Lake Nyassa, of which a number of released slaves 
 formed the nucleus, first at Masasi, now at Newala in the 
 Rovuma valley, — the other at Magila in the Shambara 
 country, some eighty miles north-west of Zanzibar. It has 
 also placed a steamer on Lake Nyassa, in order to reach the 
 tribes on its eastern border, and the region for which Dr. 
 Livingstone's original appeal to the Universities was made. 
 
 Other necessary explanations are given in notes. It 
 should be remembered in the spelling of proper names, 
 that " 1 " and " r " are convertible in Swahili writing and 
 pronunciation. 
 
I. 
 
 HISTORY OF A NYASSA BOY * 
 
 HAT I remember is this, but it is not much. I 
 do not think I lived long in the village where 
 I was born ; I know we presently removed, 
 and went to another town. There was myself 
 and my mother, and my father and my brother, and my 
 elder sister and a younger sister ; four children altogether, 
 with myself. I had other brothers and sisters, but they died 
 before my time. I was the last child of all, and my mother 
 was quite an old woman after I was born. I had an elder 
 sister who married, and had a child and died, and we had a 
 mourning, and so it ended. 
 
 After a time there was a very great battle at the village 
 where I lived, not a battle with the Maviti, but between the 
 people of the country, the Nyassas, as it might be one village 
 at the distance of Mkokotoni, and one here at Kiungani 
 (Note i). They fought hard with arrows, some about as far off 
 as the powder magazine, others here in the path by our pan- 
 danus tree, and our village as it were on the high road. Our 
 people suffered very much from the arrows, for the fighting 
 went on quite near our village. I remember that that 
 
 * This history has appeared in " Central Africa," the monthly publi- 
 cation of the Universities' Mission. 
 
L History of a Nyassa Boy. 1 5 
 
 battle came to an end by the elders of the village settling 
 the dispute. 
 
 Then I remember that we removed from that village, 
 which was very large, and had a stockade of timber, and 
 went to another village — the very village where I was born 
 and three of my brothers and sisters. And there came a fight 
 with the Maviti (see Introd.), and killed a great many 
 people, and my mother was carried away by the Maviti. So 
 I was left, and my father and my three brothers and sisters, 
 and as well as I remember I grew very thin from thinking 
 about my mother. When my mother reached the land of 
 the Maviti, she managed to run away, and got back safe to 
 us again, and she too had become quite weak from thinking 
 about her own people. Then I remember, when she arrived, 
 she did not think a bit about food first of all, but as soon as 
 ever she arrived she found me and clasped me in her arms, 
 and after that she had food brought to her, and ate and told 
 everyone the story of how she escaped from slavery among 
 the Maviti. 
 
 Well, we were living there in that small village, and before 
 long there was fighting again among the Nyassas. The 
 reason was this. A man went to our enemies, whom we had 
 fought with in time past, and they took vengeance on him, 
 and attacked him with arrows and knives, till the man was 
 very near dying. When he breathed, breath came out and 
 a great deal of blood too. The people of our village would 
 not put up with this, and they made a very great war. 
 There was a river between us, our village on one side and 
 our enemies on the other side. The name of the river is 
 Dyampwi, and it has a tributary, the Lintipe (Note 2.). So 
 the war began, and it was a time of very hot weather and of 
 great dearth. Our people used to cross the river and go to 
 fight with our enemies, and when they came back they 
 brought a great many pumpkins, for it was a time of great 
 
i6 
 
 /. History of 
 
 dearth. It was a great war, and they fought many battles. 
 The war did not come to an end till they heard that the 
 Maviti were coming. Then every village quieted down, so as 
 to be ready for the war with the Maviti, and to make 
 poisoned arrows, so as to fight with the Maviti, for they were 
 coming. 
 
 The war that followed was a war indeed. In the first 
 place, it took away my mother from me, and killed a great 
 many people. From our village the women and children, 
 and goats, and food, and fowls were removed to another 
 place, so as to leave only people to keep watch in the village 
 and to fight, and no more. The very next day we heard 
 that the war had really come. At that time we were in a 
 regularly stockaded town, and they said that many people 
 were dead, and a whole village had been set on fire and 
 burnt. Many people were dead, and many had worked 
 away at a rampart of earth and underwood, and they had 
 made a very good fight with the Maviti. The next day in 
 the morning the Maviti came in pursuit, and reached the 
 fortified town, and at once set to work building huts, so as 
 to be ready for an assault on the stockade, so eager did [the 
 sight of ] the cattle and goats inside the town make them. 
 They were outside grazing at first, but were at once driven 
 inside the stockade. They were two days making their 
 huts, and then the guards of the stockade could not sally 
 out any more, and the gates of the stockade were closed. 
 Near the stockade inside there was water in a kind of pond, 
 with grass growing along the banks, and food was placed 
 there ready for the men to eat while the fighting went on. 
 Well, the Maviti built their [line of] huts outside the town, 
 and because they had advanced with great speed, part of 
 our people had not time to get inside our stockade, and the 
 Maviti killed a great number of them outside. Their custom 
 was, when they killed a man, to cut him up into small pieces 
 
a Nyassa Boy. 1 7 
 
 and throw the pieces into the wells, so that people might not 
 be able to drink from them any more. 
 
 When they had finished doing as I said, on the third day 
 they made a pretence of parleying, and said, " Give us the 
 cattle and goats, and you shall be our friends, and we will 
 leave this town alone, and tell the rest of our people not to 
 break down this stockade," because it was a stockade with 
 a ditch and bank, and very thick bushes. The people of the 
 town said, " No, we utterly refuse to give them up." " Very 
 well," said the Maviti, "to-morrow be ready. War will 
 begin with a battle in the morning." So the guards of the 
 stockade were on the alert. They were on the watch all 
 that night, so as to be ready for war on the morrow, and to 
 keep guard over the town against a night attack. For it is a 
 favourite trick of the Maviti to steal upon you in the night. 
 
 In the morning, about seven o'clock, the Maviti had sur- 
 rounded the town, all in full fighting order. The guards of 
 the stockade were very brave in this battle. They made a 
 sally and fought outside. It was a very great battle. A 
 very large number of men were posted at the stockade, people 
 from other towns as well as our own, and all were trained 
 warriors, and supported each other splendidly in the fighting. 
 So the battle went on. First the men of the town sallied 
 out and fought till midday ; then they retired inside the 
 stockade to eat, and the men from the other towns went out 
 and fought hard, and came in again to rest while the men of 
 the town went out. At last the sun went in, and they fell 
 back on the stockade. A great many men were killed, and 
 a great many Maviti too were killed by the poisoned 
 arrows. For if one (of those arrows) only touches a man 
 and gives him a scratch, that man is done for. 
 
 Night followed that first day, and the fighting-men re- 
 turned, every one to his post again, to be ready for the 
 night. For there was war all round the town, and close 
 
 c 
 
i8 
 
 /. History of 
 
 watch kept at night for all going out at night to run away to 
 other towns, because (as they thought) the stockaded town 
 would be taken. So the Maviti, too, were on the alert out- 
 side to catch and kill the runaways. 
 
 The next day was just the same as the day before. There 
 was a very fierce battle. The fighting-men went out and 
 came back, and others went out while the first rested. Every 
 day they relieved each other three or four times, and more 
 poisoned arrows were made. There was a regular place for 
 storing arrows, like the Mission (Note 3), so that everyone 
 who comes may take some, and go out and fight. 
 
 On the third day the fighting was stuck to just as on the 
 first, and a great many men were killed, and a great many 
 of their enemies, too, the Maviti, were killed at the stockade. 
 For, whenever they plucked up courage to make a dash 
 through the stockade, ah ! down they fall into the ditch. 
 Surely there will be an end of them at last. And the chief 
 men in command of the stockade had lined the whole 
 stockade with fighting-men ; the whole town had a line of 
 the people from other towns round, all of them regular 
 warriors in their own towns. And the Mangone, too 
 (see Introd.) are famous for carrying a stockade by a rush. 
 Well, in those rushes upon the stockade a very great many 
 died on that third day. 
 
 On the fourth day, when the guards of the stockade saw 
 how many of the Mangone were killed, they said, "To- 
 morrow is the fifth day. Perhaps as they have lost so many 
 men, they will go and call others. We shall certainly be 
 beaten by them at last." On the night of the fourth day the 
 Maviti kept a close watch over the town, thinking that the 
 people of the town would come out and run away. And so 
 it actually happened, for the people of the town were very 
 much afraid. They had fought four days, and no one had 
 any strength left. So they thought they would be beaten on 
 
a Nyassa Boy. 19 
 
 the fifth day at the stockade. So a number of them were in 
 the act of going out and running away to another town 
 when what had the Maviti done but hide themselves in the 
 bushes in the night. So those silly people were some of 
 them going outside, thinking it was the only safety, when all 
 the time they were simply walking into the clutches of their 
 enemies outside. So some of them were taken prisoners, 
 and some killed, and some went back into the town again. 
 
 At last the fifth day comes. Early in the morning our 
 enemies said, " Have you repented, you people of the 
 town ?" " No, we don't repent till you get in and kill us all. 
 That will be repenting, not as things are now. If you want 
 to fight, come on." So that fifth day they fought hard again. 
 " Ah !" said the guards of the stockade " to-day we must 
 needs be beaten." Those were the men of the first division, 
 who went out to fight in the morning, for they came back to 
 be relieved by others taking their places. They were re- 
 lieved, and another division went out and came back, and 
 then the third division went. This division fought best of 
 all. It was the largest, and they had with them the chief 
 fighting-men of the other towns. They came back at last, 
 and then the men of the other towns went out by them- 
 selves, and they, too, fought well till night came, and then 
 they returned. Ah ! when they looked at the field of 
 battle, the dead all lay two and two, a Viti and a Nyassa 
 together. 
 
 Then the Maviti held a council, and said, " We are bound 
 to make an end of this, but we cannot get inside the 
 stockade ; these Nyassas are so fierce, and they put poison 
 on their arrows." So that night (the night of the fifth day) 
 they rose up, and set fire to their huts. That was their 
 stratagem. The plan they had made was : " Let us start 
 off and make pretence of going away, but really remain in 
 the country a good many days, till they return every man to 
 
20 
 
 /. History of 
 
 his own village. Then let us take them by surprise, before 
 they have time to get ready, kill the people, and get lots of 
 goats to take to our chief. As it is, we have thrown away 
 many lives for nothing, and have not taken the town." This 
 was their stratagem, and they carried it out. After two or 
 three days our people went outside the stockade, and then 
 everyone went to their own village. So they left the town 
 and its stockade, and went every man to his own place. 
 And we, too, returned to our own place, for it was near the 
 stockade, perhaps as far as Chukwani (Note i), and there 
 was the place where we lived. Everyone repaired his house, 
 which had been set on fire, and when we had done we rested 
 quietly j perhaps it was a fortnight or so. 
 
 But the Maviti were in the wilds, keeping a look-out till 
 everyone had left the stockade, and gone home. They used 
 to come to reconnoitre. They kept coming one by one, 
 coming and spying whether all had gone home, so that they 
 might burst on them suddenly, and kill the people, and 
 carry off the plunder. At last one day they came in the 
 afternoon, for they knew what they were about, and said, 
 " Let us come upon them when they have not time to run 
 away." So they surrounded all the villages of that district, 
 for all had returned, every one had gone to his own home, 
 and the Maviti were in great force. In our village the 
 people were sitting together and telling stories of the war 
 which had taken place just before, when suddenly they saw 
 another village all in a blaze. Their first thought was to go 
 to the houses to get their weapons. But, oh ! in a moment 
 they saw behind them the Maviti coming in pursuit. The 
 women wanted to hide themselves in the forest, but, with 
 their children, they had not nearly time to hide themselves. 
 I was with my mother in the house, and my two sisters. 
 The first thing we thought of was to get down to the valley, 
 and hide ourselves with a lot of other people, but we had 
 
a Nyassa Boy. 2 1 
 
 not nearly time to get to the river — in a moment the Maviti 
 were after us in pursuit. My grown-up sister, who worked 
 in the fields, went off her own way, and my mother and my 
 other sister, who was a little older than me, we all went on 
 running away together. 
 
 First a single Viti came pursuing us behind, and presently 
 my mother rushed into a thicket, and my sister went on 
 running towards the river with a great crowd of other people. 
 I was dreadfully frightened, because war was coming close 
 behind me. Now, just in the direction in which we were 
 running there were some beds of maize near the river. That 
 one Viti was in front of all the rest. He was running very 
 fast just then, and beating his shield against his knees and 
 hissing, for it is the custom of the Maviti to strike their 
 shields against their knees when they are pursuing people, 
 to frighten them and make them fall down quickly. Well, 
 down I fell in the maize beds. There were some people in 
 front of me, and I and my mother were behind in our 
 flight. I soon fell down, for I was quite a little child ; 
 
 perhaps at that time I was as big as C (about ten years 
 
 old). The Viti passed by me as I lay among the maize, but 
 he passed me on purpose, for he saw me. This foremost 
 man went on in pursuit of the people in front, and my 
 mother kept calling me, but I had no strength to get up ; 
 my strength had quite gone out of me. There I was till a 
 number of people came up, and the Viti came back from 
 the river with several people, and my sister had been caught 
 among others. Then another of the Maviti seized on me, 
 but when the first one came up he said, " This child is mine • 
 I left him on purpose, and went on to the river to catch 
 these grown-up people." So they had a quarrel. The name 
 of the Viti who came up last was Kifili. W T ell, the first one 
 was pacified, and left me to the second Viti. As for me, I 
 was half killed in their violent quarrel. At last he left off 
 
22 
 
 /. History of 
 
 quarrelling with the other, and he struck me with the club 
 he had at his waist, and carried me off. 
 
 Soon a great many people were collected together, for it 
 was quite late in the evening. There was some maize near 
 them on the bank of the river, and they ate it all up un- 
 cooked, till there was none left. Our village was close by, 
 but we moved off from that village because of the small- 
 pox, for a great many people had died of the small-pox. So 
 they made huts, and we slept where we were. 
 
 In the morning we set out on the journey back to their 
 own country, and we walked the whole day, and stopped for 
 the night. The next morning we did not start from the 
 place where we slept, because they went off to take a town. 
 They killed a number of people, and carried off a great deal 
 of plunder, for they went so as to take the town by surprise. 
 In the afternoon they came back with a great many prisoners, 
 and those who had been struck with clubs had blood running 
 from their heads. We slept where we were, and did not 
 start off again. Some of the prisoners escaped there. The 
 next day we travelled on again, and slept on the road. Then 
 it was that my sister was persuaded by another woman to 
 run away from their master, and they tried to run away that 
 night. In the morning some of the Maviti followed them 
 part of the way back, and they were found in hiding, and 
 were brought back to the hut again. My sister was beaten 
 for running away in that way, but the woman who ran away 
 with her had some of the necklaces of our country, and she 
 was killed, and her native ornaments taken from her, and 
 she was left lying in the hut where we had slept that day. 
 That was the second day we slept in the wilds. In the 
 morning we started again to begin our march, and I saw my 
 sister, for she was only beaten, and not put to death. When 
 it was about mid- day we saw a rather high hill. This was 
 the place where the Maviti lived, and they began to be merry 
 
a Nyassa Boy. 
 
 23 
 
 because near home, and to make their shields clash together. 
 We made a circuit, and then came in sight of their houses 
 and clearings, for the Maviti are great tillers of the soil. 
 They had maize and ground nuts of two kinds ; indeed, 
 there was abundance of food of all kinds at the home of 
 these Maviti. Well, when they came in sight of their home 
 (as I said) and clearings they halted and began to dance and 
 sing praises of their chief, Mpezeni, and of their general, 
 Kidyaonga. All the Maviti took off their caps of feathers, 
 and gave them to their male prisoners to put on, for they 
 knew that their wives would come out and carry off these 
 prisoners. When we arrived we heard shrieks of triumph 
 and chants in praise of the warriors returning home. As 
 for me, I went along a path by myself, and my captor left 
 me following the path, because their river (boundary) was 
 close by. Presently I saw his wife coming to carry me away, 
 and she took me to her home. 
 
 Their houses were very fine ones. There are no trees 
 among them, only clearings, and grass to feed their cattle 
 and goats. Well, my master, after five or six days, went 
 off to war again, and left me at home with his own 
 master. For he was himself only a slave, but his master 
 was an elder of the town ; so my captor had been sent to 
 fight, but he was Mmself a prisoner taken in war, like any- 
 one else, and then had learnt the ways of the Maviti, till at 
 last his master was too old to serve in war, except perhaps 
 a little in case of a very great war, and then he would simply 
 go as commander of his men. My captor had another 
 child, about my size, able to go on a journey with him, and 
 carry his things. Well, he went away, and left me in the 
 house with his wife and his own master, who had a great 
 many other slaves there. 
 
 After all this some Yaos came, and my captor's master 
 sold me, I really do not know why, and the Yaos took me 
 
24 
 
 /. History of 
 
 away. We travelled for three days among the villages of 
 the Maviti, and on the fourth day we got beyond them. 
 Then we travelled on for four days more, and came to the 
 home of the Yaos, and we rested about four hours, for 
 where they lived there was a hill, and their town was on the 
 hill, so we went up the hill and reached their town. In the 
 evening my owner sold me to some other Yaos, who had 
 come from a distance to get slaves, and he sold me to them. 
 The next day we went down the hill, and walked till sunset, 
 and reached Lake Nyassa, and there we slept. In the 
 morning we crossed Nyassa in canoes, and journeyed on 
 for perhaps four days, and came to a large town on a hill. 
 We climbed the hill, and near the top there was a large 
 hollow, and in the hollow the town (Note 5). When we 
 arrived I heard shrieks of welcome, because those Yaos 
 had reached home. This was the town, where their chief 
 and their great men lived, and a great deal of dancing 
 goes on. In this town my business was to drive the 
 monkeys away from the maize fields, for they had clear- 
 ings at the foot of the hill, in the valley, as it were. I think 
 I stayed in that town two years, for up the country seed-time 
 to harvest makes one year, and they gathered two harvests. 
 I did not stay quite so long as the second harvest, but the 
 maize was ripe. I learnt the Yao language there, and 
 forgot my own. 
 
 Then some Arabs from Kilwa (see Introd.) arrived. They 
 had come from a great distance, for they had come from 
 the same quarter as ourselves. They encamped at the 
 foot of the hill, for there was a village there as well as on 
 the hill itself. My master gave me to the Arabs in ex- 
 change for a woman whose feet were swollen. So he ex- 
 changed me for her, and I went down the hill, and we slept 
 at the foot. And they had a great dance. Close by that 
 village there is a large lake, and a river running into the 
 
a Ny asset Boy. 
 
 25 
 
 lake. In the river there are a great many mud-fish. The 
 Yaos catch quantities of them, and eat them as a relish with 
 their other food. 
 
 Well, in the morning, we set out and began the journey 
 to Kilwa. The Arabs had got a very large number of 
 slaves, and there was a large number of the Arabs them- 
 selves. We travelled on for very many days, more than a 
 month, and kept passing very many villages of the Yaos 
 and Gindos, and a great many of the people died on the 
 way. For, perhaps, they would go on walking for sixteen 
 days at a stretch, hardly able to get any water, and then the 
 slave-sticks and the chains on their necks. Only the little 
 children had no slave-sticks or chains, but the grown-up 
 people were all fastened to prevent their running away. At 
 last we got to Kilwa, but there were only a few people left. 
 We were at once scattered widely apart, for we arrived in 
 the night. 
 
 Kilwa is a large town, perhaps like Pangani. There is 
 a governor, and a number of dhows, and very large galleys, 
 which will carry seventy persons each. I, and my com- 
 panion, whose name was Chabwela, and two women, went 
 to a house outside the town, as it were, at Kiungani {i.e., in 
 the suburbs). We were chums, I and the boy Chabwela. 
 He was a big boy, perhaps B.'s size (/. e., about eighteen 
 years old). We stayed there a great many days till the 
 mangoes bore, and we were there till the end of the mango 
 season. I remember selling mangoes in Kilwa, and I re- 
 member trying to know the Swahili language. After some 
 time the Arab of Kilwa sold me to an Arab of Muscat, who 
 was a very hard master. And because we had lived a long 
 time at Kilwa my first master was very fond of me, and I 
 had got used to his ways from the time he bought me. So, 
 when he sold me I went to the town, but the next day I ran 
 away to go to my first master, who had been and brought 
 
26 
 
 /. History of 
 
 me from Yaoland. It was in the evening when I ran away 
 and I came to a place, where there was a well, and there I 
 hid myself. And when night came on, late in the evening, 
 I climbed up a mango tree, and it was the season for 
 mangoes, and I considered whether to go to my old master's 
 house or not. And I said, "No, it won't do." So I slept 
 in my master's grounds. In the morning I picked up some 
 mangoes, and went to another place, and lay down till 
 sunset. In the evening I went into my old master's house. 
 He was not much surprised, and gave me food, which I ate, 
 and when I had finished I lay down. In the morning my 
 master went to the place from which I had ran away, and 
 went to tell the other Arab, " Your slave has come back to 
 my house." That Arab was searching for me in the houses 
 of my master's friends. So my master said to the Arab of 
 Muscat, " Pay me, for you have been prying about in the 
 houses of my relations." And he paid him, and then he 
 went to fetch me, and tied me with a cord, where the chains 
 are (i. e. prison), at Kilwa. 
 
 Three days afterwards the Arabs started on their journey 
 to Muscat. First we travelled on foot, and came to a place 
 and slept. The next day we stayed in the the same place 
 till sunset, and in the evening we started to go on board a 
 dhow, but we did not go on board, but slept at another 
 place. And there we stayed again till the evening. Then 
 at last we went on board the same dhow, late at night. 
 There were a great many Arabs, seven in all, and a very great 
 many slaves in chains. We sailed for three days, and on 
 the fourth day they said that we should reach Muscat the 
 next day. In the night the mast of the galley broke. It 
 did not break off, but was sprung inside. Early in the 
 morning we saw two boats coming. The Arabs said they 
 were canoes, but very soon they saw them coming on fast, 
 one with steam and one with sails. On this the Arabs said : 
 
a Nyassa Boy. 27 
 
 " Everyone who has a slave had better kill him right off." 
 And they drew their swords, and were going to fight the 
 English, but they could not bring themselves to it. When 
 the English came near, they could not bring themselves to 
 fight with them, but were seized with fear, and began to put 
 up their swords, because they were close upon them. One 
 of the boats was coming up very fast indeed. It was the 
 sailing-boat, for the steam-boat was larger, and was coming 
 slowly, and the sailing-boat came up first. The English 
 gave a shout, and they answered from the dhow, and then 
 the order was given them — " Lower sail." It was lowered 
 at once. In a moment the boat was alongside, and a man 
 named John, who is still at Mkunazini {see Introd.), 
 came on board. All the Arabs were in a dreadful fright, 
 and John came inside and went searching about inside. 
 And he carried off all the belongings of the Arabs and took 
 them to the boat, and presently we were given food, and 
 ate. The Arabs were then removed from the vessel, and 
 got into the boat, but we were left there, with the sailors, in 
 the vessel. For there were a great many of us, and we 
 could not all get into those two boats. We began to 
 move on again with those two boats, the steam-boat towing 
 the dhow for three days, and going after the ship, which was 
 in the neighbourhood, but it was a very long way off. On 
 the fourth day we saw the ship, at noon. And we were very 
 much afraid, and said : " To-day we shall certainly be eaten. 
 What can that be ? " And they said : " It is a house in the 
 water." Well, we saw rigging going this way and that, and 
 three masts, and were afraid, for we did not yet see that 
 our lives were safe. Then the dhow cast anchor, and the 
 ship, too, cast anchor. Then three boats came to embark 
 us to go to the ship. When that was done we were put on 
 the deck of the ship, the children in front, the men next, 
 and the women behind. And the Arabs were shut up in a 
 
28 
 
 /. History of 
 
 room, as far as I know. Then the dhow was set on fire, 
 and there was an Arab very ill with sores, and he was 
 burnt with the dhow. Well, the ship sailed on for three 
 days, and we used to have grand feasts on board, rice 
 and biscuits, and bread and puddings. And every morn- 
 ing we had a bath of salt water, drawn up by a pump, 
 and were rubbed with sulphur. There were a great many 
 of us, and every time the sailors brought out their swords 
 and guns for drill, and pretended to attack us, ah ! we 
 were very much afraid, and said : " To-day we shall certainly 
 be eaten," but, after all, they were only in play. As for the 
 Arabs on board the ship, they were given very bad water, 
 and very little food. 
 
 On the fourth day we reached Zanzibar. It was a Satur- 
 day, but I do not know what month, or what day of the 
 month. We were landed at once, for it was the afternoon. 
 Then we went to the Consul, twelve children and the grown- 
 up men, but none of the females were landed, neither chil- 
 dren nor the older. At that time the Rev. Mr. Randolph 
 was here. He was in charge of Kiungani. And Mr. Ran- 
 dolph came himself to receive us from the Consul. He 
 was on horseback, for he was very fond of riding, and he 
 brought us here to Kiungani on that Saturday. The boys 
 were these : — Granville Kachipumo, Victor Mapundi, Gerard 
 Ngwamba, Albert Nsima, Welford Matamula, Andrew Kan- 
 tula, Richard Zituma, Philip Mpande, Richard Kanyema, 
 and another who has died, Katema, but he was baptized 
 before he died. These were the ten who came on the same 
 day in Mr. Randolph's time in the year 1876, and if you 
 look, you will see, sir, in what month we came, and on what 
 day we came, and which ship it was that caught us. You 
 will see, if you look in the register, showing how everyone 
 came here ; perhaps you will be able to tell us exactly that it 
 was in such a year and in such a month (Note 4). I 
 
a Nyassa Boy, 
 
 29 
 
 know we were baptized on St. Bartholomew's Day, the 24th, 
 but the month (in which we came) we do not know, nor 
 how long we remained unbaptized we do not know. 
 
 We were all ill with sores, and the boy who took us to 
 bathe in the mornings, and rubbed us with sulphur, was 
 named Mkerendi. I have forgotten his English name. 
 We were all laid up for a very long time. 
 
 This is the end of my story, but I have forgotten a great 
 deal, for I was quite a child when I left my home. 
 
II. 
 
 HISTORY OF A NYASSA BOY. 
 
 AM a Nyassa, and I come from a Nyassa town 
 on the river Lintipe (Note 2), which runs into 
 Lake Nyassa. The Nyassas themselves do 
 not call the Lake " Nyassa," it is only here in 
 Zanzibar that they call it Nyassa. The people themselves 
 call it " Nyanja," which means "Great Sea." The river 
 Lintipe is in flood every year, and the people fish in it a 
 great deal. The river rises till it floods the fields, and every 
 time the river rises, it eats into the banks little by little at 
 the bends. 
 
 Well, I used to go with a lot of Nyassa children playing 
 in the fields, but one day the children did not tell me, "We 
 are not going to play to-day," and I went by myself, and 
 two men seized me and passed me on from one place to 
 another, till we got to Yaoland. The Yao town we came 
 to was called Matakas (Note 5). I was the slave of a Yao, 
 but I do not know his name, I have forgotten it. 
 
 In my own country at the first we had never seen a single 
 European in my time. I had been told that there were 
 white men, who had four eyes (*.*. wore spectacles), and 
 that calico came from their country. They are called in 
 the Nyassa language " wan'tu oyela," meaning "white man/' 
 Nyassa is not just a single district. No. There are Nyassas 
 
II. History of a Xyassa Boy. 
 
 3i 
 
 living up in the hills, where they are called Kamtunda 
 (Note 6). They are much more warlike than the Xyassa 
 who live by the Great Lake, which they themselves call 
 Xyanja. But they are not fierce, unless they are wronged. 
 No. They are warlike, and put a very deadly poison on 
 their arrows. An arrow so poisoned is not at all a thing to 
 be played with. If you only touch it, you will die. More- 
 over they have no pit}'. If they capture one man or many 
 in war, they kill them, or roast them alive without killing 
 them first, or torture them in other ways. Again, suppose 
 two men have a quarrel over some important matter, people 
 collect together to hold a council and settle the matter in 
 dispute. People of the one side and people of the other 
 side collect together, each side with its chief. They gather 
 in very great numbers, and everyone brings his weapons. 
 If one side becomes insulting, in a moment there is a fight, 
 a regular battle in which they kill each other. Afterwards 
 they come to terms again. War they call M kondo," — the 
 word meaning war. Then there are houses built specially, 
 in which quantities of arrows are stored, each house being 
 regularly stocked with them. The poison which they put 
 on their arrows is called "ulembe. ;; 
 
 Leaving Yaoland, I was brought to Kilwa {see Introd.) 
 and sold from hand to hand, and put on board a dhow 
 to go to Pemba (Note 7) with a number of other people. 
 When we got near Pemba, we saw a white boat with sails 
 set coming towards us. The Arabs were very much 
 alarmed, and some threw themselves into the water and 
 swam away. And we who were slaves were very much 
 frightened, some of the grown-up people actually swimming 
 away, but the men on the shore stopped them and would 
 not let them pass. One Arab, too, was stopped in this way 1 , 
 and put in a boat with us, and our dhow was set on fire on 
 the spot at Pemba. 
 
32 II. History of a Ny asset Boy. 
 
 When we had been put in the boat, we sailed straight to 
 an island called Maziwi, near Pangani, and anchored near 
 it. There another dhow was sighted and caught, but there 
 were no slaves on board, so it was allowed to go. Then we 
 weighed anchor to go to Zanzibar. We were astonished at 
 the way the sails were set on board the ship, when we 
 reached her. I have heard since that the ship was called 
 the " Briton." We remained on board a few days, and pre- 
 sently were taken to the Consul and asked where we had 
 come from and where we were going. When that was over, 
 we were taken to the Consul's clerk, to be conveyed to 
 Kiungani, where we are now living. 
 
 In our journey on the land I was by myself, the only 
 child. On the " Briton," when we were brought biscuit we 
 were afraid to eat it, for we thought it was made of men's 
 bones and given us to fatten us up, till we were fit to be 
 eaten — when we were well fattened up. Now I know that 
 biscuit is very good food. I look out for it, but I don't get 
 it now. At first I was afraid of it, now I think it very good 
 food. 
 
 So we were brought to Kiungani, where I am now. Some 
 have gone to Masasi, some are at Mbweni. Here at Kiun- 
 gani I am gradually learning to read. 
 
III. 
 
 STORY OF A BEMBA BOY. 
 
 INCE I left my own land, and, indeed, since I 
 was born, I never saw or knew my mother. I 
 lived with one of my mother's relations. He 
 
 brought me up, till I was as big as M 
 
 (eight or nine years old), and after a time they said, " Now 
 we are going to travel and join our other people." So we 
 started. It was because there was a war very near us, but we 
 escaped, sir, and got safe to a country, where was a chief, 
 and this chiefs name was Mweenge. There we lived, in 
 the same place as others of our tribe. 
 
 One day, when it was time for us to go home again, we 
 started and travelled for three days, and then slept in a 
 very large hut. Here the Magwangwara (See Introd.) 
 came upon the hut. I had gone into the fields to play and 
 look for something to eat with a man whose name was 
 Kipofu, and our mothers (/. e. the older women of the 
 family) were left in the hut. Well, in the evening, the Mag- 
 wangwara came, and we were in the fields, and we heard 
 the cries of the people, and the houses burning with fire. 
 We ran away to get to the village, and found nothing but 
 men's heads. Then we cried till we were tired, and then 
 climbed up into a tree and slept. In the morning we woke 
 up, and considered, and said, " Well, where are we to go 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 III . History of 
 
 now? We have not got a morsel of food." All I had with 
 me was a little basket. Then we went back, and found 
 a garden which had been planted with ground nuts, but 
 they had been dug up. However, we went and picked 
 up a few nuts, about ten apiece. The house to which 
 the garden belonged was on a little hill, and the people 
 saw us, and came down to catch us. My companion heard 
 them coming running down, and he ran away as fast as 
 ever he could, and the people came and caught me. 
 And I thought, " This man will make me his slave." 
 I stayed there thirty-two days, and then he sold me for just 
 seven hoes. 
 
 My new master carried me off, and they took me to their 
 town called Malani, and there I stayed a month, and my 
 master got into trouble, because of a man who accused him 
 of witchcraft. They took the omens about him, but the 
 omens did not convict him. Next they carried me away to 
 Bisaland, and there I met Mpunga. (Note 8.) I remained 
 there with my mistress, whose nime was Namlia Isani. 
 Then some Arabs came there, bringing their cloth, and the 
 people sold me and Mpunga too. 
 
 The Arab was a very cruel man, and he had a great many 
 slaves. There were thirty-one. Then we came to Yao- 
 land, to the country of a chief called Makanjila. (Note 9.) 
 There we settled, and grew crops of millet and maize, and 
 ground nuts, and food of many kinds, remaining there a 
 great many months. When we had finished eating all our 
 crops, the Arabs made up a very large caravan, and we 
 came to a town called Akasunga. But we did not stay 
 there ; we started off and came to Kilwa {see Introd.), and 
 there we stayed. My master sold me to another Arab, me 
 and Mpunga and another, and we were sent by the Arab to 
 carry rice to the encampment. We carried the rice and 
 went off, and when we got there we found a great number 
 
a Bern da Boy. 
 
 35 
 
 of Arabs and others, among them Taisiri. (Note 8.) And 
 all the people we were with had a very heavy chain. 
 
 There were two dhows there, one smaller than the other, 
 but sailing faster than the one we got into. When we 
 got into the dhow, it was quite night time, perhaps the 
 time we go to evening service (8.30 p.m.), and when we 
 went into the water it came up to our necks. Then we got 
 into the dhow, and were arranged in order, and the Arabs 
 weighed the anchor, and we put out to sea, and lay down 
 for three or four days. It was a very large number of 
 people who went on board, with goats, and fowls, and a 
 large stock of food. But the Arabs were very cruel during 
 the voyage, and because we were in a dhow we were told 
 that the Europeans were bad people, but we thought, 
 " Never mind, they can't be worse than you. You torment 
 us for nothing." One night a child in the dhow cried very 
 much, and the Arabs were just going to kill it, but one Arab 
 said, " Never mind ; let it alone. We are nearly there." 
 So they let it alone, but when it was four o'clock in the 
 morning we heard a cannon-shot over the sail, and the 
 Arabs cried " Oh ! ah ! the English ! " When the English 
 boarded the dhow, everyone said, "I am a slave, sir.'' 
 For when we were caught by the English, we were glad. 
 But when I thought about my home, I cried. But still, 
 because slavery up the country is a very hard life, and 
 because we do not know about God (there) — yet we know 
 Him, but because we cannot worship Him, we do not know 
 how, but by name we know Him well — and perhaps because 
 the Europeans do not sell people, (for these reasons) we 
 were glad. (Note 10.) 
 
IV. 
 
 STORY OF A BISA BOY. 
 
 DO not know how I came to leave my mother 
 and father. Mpunga (Note 8.) knows, how- 
 ever, where I came from, and the village he 
 remembers very well. It was surrounded with 
 water, standing on an island in the middle. So he told 
 me. The occupations of the people were elephant-hunting 
 and fighting. 
 
 I have lived in Yaoland, and Bisaland, too, I have been 
 in, but in Yaoland I remained a long time. The work I 
 was given to do was taking care of my mistress, and watching 
 that the fowls did not stray. They built a hut for me to 
 sleep in, and the other boys who were with me. My master 
 was always very fond of me. 
 
 One year he said to me, " Let us go to the coast and see 
 the Arabs and Europeans and Hindis and Banyans." 
 (Note ii.) I said, " Yes, let us." So we travelled till we 
 came to Kilwa (see Introd.), where a friend of his 
 lived, one of the coast people. He took me and gave me 
 to his friend, and said, " I give you this slave, but do not 
 sell him. I will come and redeem him, but " (speaking to 
 me) " I happen to have nothing to give my friend this time. 
 Keep the boy till I return myself." Then my master went 
 away to Yaoland to fetch things with which to redeem me. 
 
IV. History of a Bisa Boy. 
 
 37 
 
 What did his friend do but carry me off and take me to 
 live with his own master ? And there I remained a very long 
 time. The Arab set me the task of watching another slave 
 of his selling oil, to prevent his stealing the money. This 
 was my business for a very long time, till one day a slave of 
 the Arab said to me, "Suppose we run away now?" I said, 
 " What shall we run away for?" " Never mind," replied he, 
 " come along !" So I said, " All right, come along." So 
 we ran away, and walked till sunset, and then my companion 
 made off. He went home again, and left me by myself. 
 I comforted myself, and slept in a tree in the plantations. 
 In the morning I woke up, and thought, " To stay here is 
 to be lost." So I started off, and began to go homewards. 
 But on the road I was kidnapped by some other Arabs, who 
 took me away to some plantations a long way off. There 
 was a great crowd of people there who had been kidnapped, 
 and they asked me, " Where do you come from ?" I told 
 them all about myself, and they replied, " And we, too, were 
 kidnapped in just the same way." We remained there a few 
 days, and presently a man came searching for me. He saw 
 me, and said, " How did you get here ? Your old master 
 has come back, and is going to ransom you." I was delighted 
 when I heard he had come back. The Arabs who had kid- 
 napped me said, " Come to-morrow morning, and we will 
 hand over your slave." But as soon as it was night they 
 packed up their things, all in the night, and woke us up, 
 " Come along, let us set off to-night." They were afraid 
 that if the owners came in the morning there would be a 
 fuss. So we travelled all night, and in the morning reached 
 another village, and waited a little. There was a very large 
 number of us. Well, then we started off, and travelled on, 
 following the coast-line till we came to another place near 
 the shore. There they saw a European boat, so they took 
 the grown-up people and fastened them up in a hpuse, but 
 
38 IV. History of a Bisa Boy. 
 
 me they let alone. I stayed with them, and they gave me a 
 sword to carry, and made me lead the others who were 
 shut up in the house to go and draw water. We remained 
 there a few days only, and then started and travelled on just 
 as before along the coast, till we came to Bagamoyo. {See 
 Introd.) We went down to the shore, and there we 
 sat down, but presently started again, and went to another 
 place, where they hired a small house, and there we stayed 
 a short time. 
 
 Presently some man in authority came and said, " Don't 
 go on to-day. There are Europeans about." He brought 
 us some water, two jars full, and said to us, " Wait a bit, 
 and I will take you to a place where there are no Europeans." 
 So we stayed where we were. But what had the man done, 
 but gone and called the Europeans? We were all in the 
 house, and in the night the Europeans came, while we were 
 asleep, with the man I mentioned. The Europeans fired 
 pistols several times, and wounded one Arab, and some ran 
 away, and some were taken prisoners. We (slaves) were very 
 near running away, but somehow we could not make up our 
 minds to, so we simply sat where we were. And the Euro- 
 peans took us away, and put us all in boats. However, 
 every one of the little girls made their escape. (Note 12.) 
 
 We were seized on the land, not on the sea. 
 
V. 
 
 STORY OF A MAKUA BOY (i). 
 
 T my home where I was born, I belonged to a 
 family of twelve, and there I lived with them 
 a long time. Then one of my brothers tres- 
 passed, and his trespass was this : he was 
 married, and his wife was a bad one, and a drunkard, too, 
 and so, indeed, was her husband. Well, one day my brother 
 went out at night and went to another person's house and 
 knocked at the door. Inside there was a woman, and he 
 went in and stayed with her. This woman had lost her 
 husband, so he said to her, " I will come and marry you." 
 And the woman consented. While it was still night my 
 brother rose up and went away. In the morning the woman 
 told her family, and said, " Kinsmen, I was asleep last night, 
 and so-and-so came and knocked at the door, and I opened 
 it, and he came in and said, ' I want to marry you.' " Her 
 kinsmen said to her, "We do not want to have you married. 
 We want to have compensation." So my brother was seized. 
 All my family were grown up except me; I was still a child. 
 Well, they went on keeping my brother in confinement, till 
 at last my family took me, and gave me in payment to his 
 captors. The payment was made and ended, before my 
 mother knew that I had been taken away. And my mother 
 cried bitterly, but the others made her be quiet. The 
 
4o 
 
 V. History of 
 
 people who carried me off sold me to some other people, 
 and then my brothers told my mother that I was really gone 
 for good. 
 
 They took me to a place a long way off and sold me. 
 The town was called Usilabani, and there I lived a long 
 time, several years. Then my master sold me to an Arab. 
 The village which I first came from was called Unamiheka, 
 that is my own native village, and the town where I was 
 sold was Usilabani. The chief of my own village was 
 named Mwarika, and the chief of the town where I was sold 
 was called Mwetiya by name. 
 
 The Arab who bought me was a very kind man. We 
 made a long journey, spending eight months on the road, 
 going to the Arab's town, called Umanga. On the road we 
 suffered a great many hardships. At last we arrived at the 
 Arab's town. This Arab used to trade with borrowed 
 money, and agents came, who were employed by those who 
 had lent him money. So they took me, and handed me 
 over to these agents, and they took me away to their em- 
 ployers, who had sent them. There were a great many 
 people at the place where we stopped, and they wanted to 
 redeem me, but the agents would not consent. So they 
 let me go, because the agents said, " If we let this boy go, 
 and take goods instead, when we go and tell our employers 
 ' We were given a boy, but he was redeemed,' we shall get 
 into trouble." So they would not consent. It took us quite 
 a journey to reach their town, and while we were on the 
 road they deceived me, and said, " You shall go back to the 
 place you came from," because the man who sold me had 
 been like a father to me, for I was at that time but a little 
 
 fellow, like M (eight or nine years old), and I did 
 
 not know I was really in slavery, till these people came. I 
 was very sad, because I had left all my companions whom I 
 had come with, and I thought over this, and was very 
 
a Makua Boy. 
 
 4> 
 
 sorrowful. I kept on thinking and thinking, and fancying, 
 " I shall never get to a quiet, settled place, where there is 
 no more going away and being sold over and over again." 
 I kept on brooding over this, and I could not get my 
 food down ; yet some of those people pitied me, but I re- 
 fused to eat. I used to say I had had enough, because I 
 was very, very sad indeed ; and, besides, I had no one to 
 play with. 
 
 Well, I became their servant, and had to go and get 
 water and firewood for them. At last we arrived at a place 
 where there were a very great many Arabs ; indeed, there 
 was a whole caravan there. When we had arrived, we stayed 
 a very long time, while a number of our fellow-slaves were 
 brought, and then sold and bought on the spot. Every 
 Arab who comes with a gang of slaves sells them at that 
 spot. When I came before the Arabs, they took me and 
 sent me to their house, and we went and got there, that is, 
 to the place where the Arabs lived. (As I said) Every Arab 
 who comes with a slave, sells him at this spot. Here I was 
 happy, because there were many of us, and not as at first, 
 when I was all alone by myself. When we left that place, 
 we came and lived in a town called Mwallaa. Here I was 
 sold to an Arab called Kalawia, but where my companions 
 were sold to I never knew. The meaning of Mwallaa is, a 
 very stony place. This Arab who bought me, when his 
 food was cooked and served up at meal-times, used to call 
 me and another boy, whom I found there, and a girl, and 
 I had to hold a bowl of water, and the other boy a tumbler 
 of water, and the girl a broom. And we stood in front of 
 him while he was eating ; and when he had finished eating, 
 I brought him the bowl and he washed his hands, and when 
 he had washed his hands the other boy presented the water 
 in the tumbler, and he drank, and got up, and then the girl 
 swept the floor. That is how we used to do at meals, every 
 
42 
 
 V. History of 
 
 day just the same. And I used to get well beaten, too, 
 because I did not at first know my work. 
 
 Well, I ran away, and went a long distance, till I came 
 to a place where there was a very large house, and in it a 
 white man, a sort of European, who wore trousers and coats, 
 just like what Europeans wear. I came to this house, and 
 there my business was to shampoo this man, who was like 
 a European. I was a great favourite in this place, but I 
 once heard people saying, " Let us sell him." u No, better 
 not. His master has Arabs under him/' This was what I 
 heard them saying. I don't know whether this European 
 kind of man had said anything to them, but, at any rate, 
 early that same day I left the place I had been living at and 
 ran away. I went on, and came to a house, and there I 
 stayed as I was for several days. One day two people 
 arrived, a man and his wife, friends of the people in whose 
 house I was living, and I was taken off by these strange 
 people, and they deceived me, and said, " Come along, and 
 get some tomatoes, and then you can go with them and 
 give them your master." I had no idea they were going to 
 sell me. When they were selling me, the Arab who bought 
 me asked me saying, " Has this man stolen you, or are you 
 his property? " And I said, " He has stolen me." But the 
 Arab did not believe me at all. Well, I stayed two days at 
 the place where I was sold, and then ran away, and went to 
 the place I had come from. 
 
 My master searched three days for me at the place where 
 I was sold. After a time, people came to where my first 
 master lived, and found me pounding grain. When I saw 
 them my heart gave a bound, and beat very fast. Well, I 
 finished my pounding, and left the food ready. Then my 
 first master said to me, " Let us go and buy fish." What do 
 you think ? Those people had gone on before to wait for 
 me, because they had been told, " If you lay hands on him, 
 
a Makua Boy. 
 
 43 
 
 he is sure to run away." So my first master said to them, 
 " Go and wait a little way in front, and I will play a trick 
 on him, so as to come with him, and hand over to you the 
 boy you want, and you can take him to his master." Well, 
 we came (I think) to a shop, and as we passed I put a 
 question to the owner of the shop we were passing, and he 
 said to me, " Oh ! there are plenty of shops for fish." So 
 we went a little further, and then I saw those people stand- 
 ing still. So the man who was with me said, " Take your 
 slave." And they took me. As we went on they frightened 
 me and said, " He will put his spear through you." And 
 then they taunted me and said, " You ran away, did you? 
 Well, what have you got by it? " So I was in a very dismal 
 state, without one bit of comfort. On we went, till we came 
 to the house of the man who had been taunting me all 
 along, and there I stayed a little, and then he took me to 
 another Arab, and said to him, " Take this boy to his 
 master." So he took me to my master. We arrived in the 
 night, and my master took me and put me in his house. 
 When morning dawned, my master sent people, and they 
 went to cut a slave-stick (Note 13), and when it was ready it 
 was put on me. And I had it on for a long time. At last 
 it was taken off. 
 
 After I had been there some time, three other boys now 
 in the Mission were brought there, N — M — , W — E — 
 K — , and H — M — , who is now at Mkunayini. It was 
 here that they found me. We were four altogether. After 
 we had remained there a long time, our master sold us all 
 together, and we were all bought together by two Arabs. 
 The Arabs were Arabs from the Comoro Islands. We tra- 
 velled on, and came to a place where we met several more 
 playmates. It was there we met C — P — . 
 
 Again we started, and all went on board a dhow, and on 
 the dhow we suffered a great deal. We were sailing in the 
 
44 
 
 V. History of 
 
 night and the dhow grounded on rocks, and the captain was 
 in great trouble and we were very much frightened. At last 
 the dhow got off the rocks, and then we were happier. We 
 went on and got to the Comoro Islands, landed, and re- 
 mained there some days. The village was called Mashuani. 
 It was quite full of Comoro people. They dance their 
 dances beautifully, and their fields were well stocked with 
 crops. We remained (as I said) some days, and there came 
 an official from an Englishman living in the district called 
 Umwali. He was sent with orders, " Go and see if there 
 are slaves, and if so, tell the slave-owners to bring them to 
 me." The man came and found us and our masters, and 
 said to our masters, " Come to-morrow; my master wants 
 you." They agreed, and we went to sleep. In the morning, 
 when our meal was over, we went to Umwali, and our 
 masters were summoned and went, and were asked, " Why 
 did you not bring the slaves before ? " To this question 
 they gave no answer, and were put in confinement three 
 days. On the fourth day they were set at liberty, and told 
 to go away. They went out sadly, and went away. 
 
 We (slaves) remained at Umwali ten days, and on the 
 eleventh we saw a steamship. The steamship stayed four 
 days. On the fifth we went on board the ship, and after a 
 few days we reached Zanzibar. We anchored, but remained 
 three days on the ship. On the fourth day we landed on 
 the shore and went to the consul, and were asked our tribes. 
 After waiting a little while, food was brought us. 
 
 In this ship by which we came we were not at all happy, 
 because some people said to us, " You are all going to be 
 eaten." This is why we were unhappy ; we did not know 
 they were deceiving us. We were A — A — , and C — P — , 
 and N — M — , and W — E — K — , and myself, and three 
 boys who went to Mkunayini, and there were two boys who 
 have died. Then we were taken to Mkunayini, and four 
 
a Maktia Boy. 
 
 45 
 
 boys remained at Mkunayini, and we were brought here 
 (i.e. to Kiungani) : I, and W — E — K — , and N — M — , 
 and C — P — , and (as I said) myself. Here we remained, 
 all of us boys, while two women went to live at Mbweni 
 village and one girl at Mbweni House, and three men went 
 to Mbweni village. This is the whole number of those who 
 came with me, and this is the end of my story. These 
 are my wanderings 
 
 It was by God's Providence that I have come here. 
 
 This is the end. 
 
VI. 
 
 STORY OF A MAKUA BOY (2). 
 
 [The writer of the following story was very young when 
 separated from his home. He describes it as the usual 
 African hut of sticks, mud, and grass, beside a small river 
 in a district where bamboos were plentiful, but the very 
 name of which he forgets. His companions were three 
 brothers and sisters and a troop of children, who met daily 
 to play, fight mimic battles, bathe in the river, and tell 
 stories to each other in turns. Bananas, cassava, millet, 
 and potatoes were abundant. One day, when his father 
 and mother were away in the fields, a band of Malomwe 
 attacked the few scattered houses near his home, killed 
 some of the groAvn-up people, and carried off the children, 
 who were the real object of the raid. Here the boy's 
 account of himself begins. After his first capture, his 
 father, aided by his friends, tried to ransom him with a new 
 gun, four hoes, some beads, and some iron, but the captors 
 required cloth.] 
 
 WAS caught and carried off from my home by 
 our enemies. When they caught me, they 
 took me away to their country, and there I 
 stayed perhaps twenty days. Then some 
 others of their tribe came and took me, and sold me for 
 
VI. History of a Makzca Boy. 47 
 
 some cloth and blue calico, and a spear. So they carried 
 me away, and we travelled till we came to their country, 
 and I lived there quietly for a whole month. Then we set 
 out again, and the same man was my master. He had not 
 sold me yet. We came to a town called Msheliwa (Note 14), 
 
 where I met Nt . My master put me in charge of a 
 
 friend of his, and went back just as he had come. I 
 remained at Msheliwa two months, and we became a party 
 
 of four — myself, and Mk , and' Nt , and Mt , 
 
 and we four were all sold together at Msheliwa to one 
 Arab, who bought us all four and was very fond of us. 
 
 At last we left Msheliwa, and then began our travels in a 
 dhow. From two o'clock to half-past four we were being 
 embarked, and at last all were finished. Then the dhow 
 hoisted its sail and we sailed all night and all day, and 
 we were two days at sea. The third day we reached 
 Madagascar (Note 15) in the daytime. First we stayed two 
 hours in the dhow, then we all got out on shore. There 
 was a great number of us now, and we had the same Arab 
 for our master, and he was very fond of us. We stayed in 
 Madagascar one month, and then some of us were collected 
 together again, and some were sold on the spot. All that 
 remained were put on board, and sail was set, and we sailed 
 till nearly morning, when the captain, after taking the 
 omens, said, " Let us even turn back ; I think there are 
 Europeans right ahead." The others said, " Very good ; 
 let us go back." So the captain put the dhow about with 
 all speed, the sail was shifted over, and away we went and 
 sailed all day long, and reached Madagascar at sunset. At 
 first we did not go ashore, but remained where we were in 
 the dhow, but in the night we got out and went to the first 
 dhow in which we had sailed and slept there. In the 
 morning people were asking one another, " What is this 
 for? Why do you come back?" The captain said, " We 
 
4 8 
 
 VI. History of 
 
 have fallen in with Europeans ; we were very near being 
 caught by them, but I took the omens, and that was why I 
 turned back/' We stayed in Madagascar about twenty 
 days, and then were collected together just as before, and 
 were all put on board; the dhow hoisted sail, and was at sea 
 three days. On the fourth day we came to a town called 
 Mashuani, and were put on shore and arrived at a large 
 house. We got there by daylight, but some of the Arabs 
 remained at Mashuani, while we and our Arab went else- 
 where. There were eleven of us there, and we went to this 
 other place and found a house belonging to our Arab, and 
 there we lived in his house ; and he separated two of us, 
 
 me and A , and we went by ourselves, and the other 
 
 nine went by themselves. We two had quite a comfortable 
 time of it there. 
 
 W T e stayed in Mashuani a month and a half. One day 
 we had gone to bed, and we heard our master coming and 
 calling us. We answered, and he said, u Come here." So 
 we went half-asleep as we were, and he said to us, " Come 
 along to the other boys." As we were going, I and my 
 
 companion A saw the mast of a ship standing up from 
 
 the sea, and we asked our master, " What is that in the sea 
 there, which we see, like three trees?" He said, "Come 
 along; to-morrow you will see it well." So we went on, 
 till we came to a large house, and there we slept. In the 
 morning we woke up and found that we were with the other 
 boys. Now, in Mashuani there is a European, who makes 
 treacle from sugar-cane. Well, we looked out to sea and 
 saw a ship lying at anchor in the sea, and we asked people, 
 " Shall we go in that ship, or what ?" And they said, "No." 
 But we did not believe them. Presently we saw a boat 
 coming ashore, a very white boat, and we wondered at it 
 greatly, because we had never seen a boat of that kind 
 before. Soon it reached the shore, and a European, 
 
a Makua Boy. 
 
 49 
 
 wearing high boots up to his knees, was carried over the 
 water to the beach, and went to the other European who 
 made treacle, and they talked together. Presently we 
 heard, " Get into the boat" So we got in, and the sailors 
 rowed, and very soon we reached the ship. We went on 
 board the ship and stayed there, while the boat went back 
 to the shore, going to fetch the European. 
 
 On board the ship we were put in a corner, and were 
 brought very dry biscuit. One sailor made fun of us and 
 said, " These are made of people's bones," and some left 
 off eating. But another sailor came up and said, "The 
 man is only making fun of you." " It's true," said the first 
 man ; " don't you listen to him. They have given you 
 these bones of your black brethren on purpose to get you 
 to eat them. Come, eat them up." " You listen to me," 
 said the other; "that fellow is a regular liar." And we 
 said, " We will believe you." Then we went to sleep, and 
 in the morning we woke up, and were brought water and 
 we washed ; and they brought us the same dry biscuits, and 
 we ate them, but some ate them with sore doubts, because 
 they heard they were made of human bones. When we 
 had done eating, we waited till midday, and then we were 
 brought rice and meat. By that time we were a long way 
 out at sea. The ship sailed away from Mashuani, and 
 reached Zanzibar one day at noon, but the sailors made fun 
 of us, " We have not got to our journey's end yet." And 
 we asked them, " Then why has the anchor been let down 
 into the water?" " Oh ! we are resting a little," said they. 
 So we said, "Very well." We were in that ship a whole 
 month and one week. When we were landed, we went 
 to the consul and waited, and we were brought food and 
 ate. Presently we heard, " Get up and come along." So 
 we left the consul's house, and came to Mkunazini and 
 waited, and some mangoes were brought to us and we ate 
 
 E 
 
50 VI. History of a Makua Boy. 
 
 them. Then four of the smallest boys were picked out, 
 and the rest of us left Mkunazini and came here to 
 Kiungani. We arrived at five o'clock, and waited in peace 
 and quietness. Then a European came and said, " Go 
 and bathe on the beach." So we went to bathe and came 
 back again, and were given some clothes to put on and a 
 mat. 
 
 That is all. 
 
VII. 
 
 HISTORY OF A MAKUA BOY (3). 
 
 WAS kidnapped from home in a time of 
 famine. My mother had gone out of the vil- 
 lage to try and get some food, and a man 
 came and said to me, " Come along to my 
 house." And I said, " Very well," and went, because his 
 house was near, and I thought I should go home again. 
 When I got to his house, I found women pounding millet. 
 The man gave me a little of the flour, and mixed it with 
 water, and I ate it. But really the man had deceived me ; 
 he had already stolen me. He had agreed with another 
 man, who said, " If you will get me a child, I'll pay you 
 well." So he came and deceived me, and so he got me. At 
 the time he took me away, he said to me, " Come along to 
 my house and have some potatoes." So I went, because 
 there was something to eat, and it was a time of famine. 
 Well, I loitered there a little while, and presently the man 
 appeared who had got him to do this, and the man who had 
 deceived me seized hold of me to prevent my running away, 
 for his house was quite close. His house was as it might be 
 here, and his as far as the magazine. That was the distance 
 [i.e. about 400 yards. — Ed.]. The new-comer brought a hoe 
 and some blue calico, and then a number of other hoes and 
 a gun. So the man who brought these goods carried me off, 
 
52 
 
 VII History of 
 
 and I became his slave. That was the way I first fell into 
 slavery. 
 
 Well, I remained with him a great many days, and after a 
 time he sold me for money to another man. This man was 
 a sort of Arab, but black. He had a great number of slaves, 
 a large house quite full of them inside, till there was no 
 room, it was so full. But me he was very fond of, as if I 
 was his own child, and there we lived. After a time we 
 made a journey of many days, and then stopped for a day. 
 Then all the others went away, and I was left with one 
 woman, who now is living in the village at Mbweni, and one 
 man too. We lived in a small house, and there we slept 
 and there we ate. There we remained many days, so that 
 they dug a piece of ground and crops grew, and they had 
 just begun to eat them, when we moved off again and went 
 to where the others were. We arrived in the evening, a 
 great number, and had our meal. When that was over, we 
 heard that war was coming near and slaves running away, and 
 then it was that Daudi [now dead] arrived. When he and 
 his party arrived, we packed our things and went on till we 
 came to a dhow on the shore. The head of the caravan had 
 died and left it to another man. We embarked, but first I 
 ran away, and they did not see me because it was quite in 
 the evening, and getting dark. Presently I stopped, and 
 thought in my mind, and felt it was best to go back. So I 
 went back, and they put me on board with all haste, for fear 
 I should run away again. 
 
 Then we sailed and went away. I was sick the whole 
 time. All we had to eat was millet and dry cassava. I 
 could eat nothing, and got very thin with continual sickness. 
 We were a great many days at sea, and I was too weak to 
 move for any purpose — I could not. At last, one night, the 
 Arabs saw a light, and said, "We shall reach the town 
 directly." But what was it but the light of a ship? We 
 
a Makua Boy. 
 
 53 
 
 went on till we got near, and then they shouted, " Lower 
 sail!" And they lowered it. So we were taken. In the 
 morning we saw that it was a black ship, and all of us went 
 on board. But the Arabs were put in confinement, and the 
 Europeans took part of the food in the dhow, and threw the 
 rest into the sea. The food which they took they used to 
 cook every day for the Arabs. The food was very good on 
 board the ship, and every day we had a bath in the morning. 
 We stayed a long time on the ship till we got quite fat, and 
 then we arrived at Zanzibar. We were put on shore, and 
 came to live here at Kiungani, in the time of a European, 
 who died, and has the tall cross over his grave. (Note 16.) 
 
VIII. 
 
 HISTORY OF A YAO BOY. 
 
 AM a true real Yao. In my home in Yao- 
 land I was not a slave ; no, I was born free. 
 There was my father and my mother, and a 
 brother, who was called Chekasanje. Yao- 
 land, as it appeared to me when I was a little boy, was a 
 beautiful land. There was abundance of food, and a great 
 deal grew quite wild. In case of a famine, what grows wild 
 is a very great help ; also when a famine comes on be- 
 cause a war has come upon a town, and the people of the 
 town have run away into the forests and hills. The enemy 
 destroys the food and burns all the houses, and presently 
 goes away. Those who have fled from the town return, and 
 then comes a famine, because all the food stores have been 
 burnt by the enemy. Very soon some leave the place, and 
 go in search of another home where war does not come, for 
 it is the smaller towns in which war makes havoc. And so 
 it was that we removed from our town, and went to find or 
 to build a home in another, near a town called Kumliule — 
 that is the name of the town, and its chief was called 
 Chekandulu. This town, where we built our house, was 
 not visited by any more wars, but the town which we had 
 left far away, the people of that town completely deserted it. 
 In this town of ours the chiefs were accustomed to 
 
VI I L History of a Yao Boy. 
 
 assemble, and settle their affairs. For instance, suppose the 
 people of another town were bound to pay (a fine), they 
 would pay, or if they refused to pay they would fight on the 
 spot. Most of the people were armed with bows. There 
 were only a few guns. Their chief occupation is tilling the 
 soil. But their tillage is very easily managed. If a man 
 has a large plot of ground to till, he brews a large quantity 
 of beer, perhaps eighty or ninety jars-full. First he will 
 give general notice that there is beer to be had at so-and- 
 so's house, as he wants his land hoed. Accordingly people 
 collect there, everyone with his hoe ready to go and work, 
 and at midday they come back and drink beer. After that 
 they go away, everyone to his house. 
 
 As to their mode of eating, they do not eat as people do 
 in Zanzibar, everyone at his own house. No, it is not so 
 there. In every village there is a great tree, and by it a 
 place for holding meetings. Each family goes out and 
 takes its meals together. This is the way they do in every 
 family. 
 
 A child is never allowed to see a dead body at all. At 
 the time of a funeral children are shut up indoors. While 
 I was in Yaoland, I never saw a body being taken away for 
 burial, and a dead man I never saw at all. Lads just 
 
 growing up like K do not sleep in their mother's 
 
 houses. Unmarried lads have a house built for them to 
 sleep in, perhaps fourteen in one house. Their occupation 
 is to go and set traps in the forest, and when they catch any 
 game they take it to their mothers, each to his own. 
 
 The grown-up people are very fond of playing at ball, and 
 so are the children too. The ball is a bounding ball. 
 
 Our town was quite close to a main road. Great 
 numbers of slaves passed along it. We were not in the way 
 of hearing much about Europeans, but we used to hear that 
 there were white men who wore spectacles, and that they 
 
56 
 
 VIII. History of 
 
 were the people who manufactured cloth. We knew that 
 cloth was made of cotton, but people said it was dyed (red) 
 with human blood. 
 
 Many a day my mother used to say to me, "Ah \ my 
 child ! you will get lost ! " or my father would say just the 
 same words as my mother, and I would reply, " Dear father 
 and mother, you say I shall get lost. Where shall I get lost ? 
 Where will you go, father, or you, mother, and I not follow 
 you ?" After a time we gave up talking thus, and several years 
 passed away. At last one day a man from another town said 
 to me, " Come along with me, and let us go for a walk." 
 And I said nothing to my father or my mother, but went with 
 him. That man was stealing me. I walked on for six 
 hours, simply walking on and on. At last he sold me to 
 some Arab traders. There I saw a great many other slaves ; 
 the older ones had slave-sticks on ; others, who were young 
 and not grown-up, were tied with ropes, and there were 
 children besides, who were not tied. My home was now far 
 away from me, and all I could do was cry and cry, till my 
 eyes were red with crying and grief, when I thought of what 
 my father and mother had said to me. In my country we 
 knew the name of God, but did not know how to worship 
 him. We call God Mlungu, which means God. 
 
 The journey of the caravan was a time of great trouble 
 and difficulties. The Arabs are indeed bad people. If a 
 woman had a little child, and the child kept on crying, an 
 Arab would say to her, " Give me the child, and let me 
 carry it for you." And the woman gives it to him, and 
 when she has given it him, he dashes the child against 
 a stone, and throws it aside dead. Or if he sees a grown-up 
 man or woman unable to walk, he just kills him, and 
 throws him aside. He feels it no loss to kill a man. We 
 were many days on the journey. I did not count all the 
 days. At last we got to Kilwa. There we lived in a house 
 
a Yao Boy. 
 
 57 
 
 till some got flesh again. I remember how astonished I was 
 when I saw porridge made of cassava — what kind of food it 
 could be ? For in our country we have no cassava porridge, 
 though there is plenty of cassava. Then I noticed that the 
 meat put in the dish smelt very strong. It was a piece of 
 fish (nguru), and in our country there are no fish of 
 that sort. So I thought, "This is human flesh minced up," 
 and I did not eat one bit that day. Then I saw a large 
 cooking-pot full of boiling water, and I thought, "Ah ! that's 
 what they use for cooking men in," and I utterly refused to 
 go near that pot. Other Arabs kept coming and buying 
 slaves, and presently I was bought by an Arab, and I lived 
 in Kilwa two years. 
 
 Then I went with that Arab to Kilwa Kisuani. Starting 
 in the morning you reach Kilwa Kisuani at five o'clock in 
 the evening if you go on foot. When you come near the 
 town you have to cross over by a dhow. In this place there 
 was not much rice, but a very great deal of millet. Kilwa 
 is a great place, too, for building baghalas (large dhows). 
 Cattle, goats, and sheep are abundant, and fish is very cheap. 
 The town stands on a rather small island. There are many 
 houses. I saw no ships at that time. I stayed there a year 
 and a half, and then went back to Kilwa Kivinje. Many 
 Yaos visit the town, and Gwangwaras and other wild tribes, 
 for it is all open, wild country. 
 
 Afterwards my master sold me to another Arab, who 
 was a regular dealer in slaves. With him we went to Baga- 
 moyo, near Kaolo. It is about half a day's journey from 
 Bagamoyo to Kaolo. In Bagamoyo I did not stay long, 
 perhaps two months and a half. Bagamoyo is a very large 
 town. A great many Nyamwezi visit it constantly. They 
 bring ivory, and exchange it for cloth. I saw the house 
 belonging to the French at Bagamoyo. It stands apart by 
 itself, and is not quite close to the town. It lies westward, 
 
58 
 
 VIII. History of 
 
 and Bagamoyo is to the east of it. Cattle were plentiful at 
 Bagamoyo at that time. After this we went on to a town 
 called Saadani, where a Banyan bought me. The governor 
 of this town was Bwana Heri, a Swahili, not an Arab — a 
 short, light-complexioned man. His house was plastered 
 and painted inside, with a roof of cocoa-nut leaves, and of 
 large size. There are a number of Hindis in the town and 
 some Banyans, but not many Arabs, except from Sheher. Here 
 I lived a long time with this Banyan, five years or more. 
 The Banyan's occupation was buying up ivory, he and his 
 employer. Numbers of Ziguas come to this town, Saadani, 
 to sell ghee, fowls, cattle, semsem, and Indian corn ; some 
 even cross over to Zanzibar. Many Nyamwezi come there, 
 too, with their ivory. 
 
 This Banyan used to leave me, and go away to Zanzibar, 
 leaving his keys and house and all his things in my charge. 
 Once, when he went to Zanzibar, ten dollars were stolen. 
 When he came back I told him that ten dollars had been 
 stolen, but he only said, " Never mind." After this we went 
 to live at Uvinje. The governor of the place I have quite 
 forgotten. In this town the Banyan built a hut of cocoa- 
 nut leaves, but did not get as far as plastering it, when he 
 left this house to me and wages for labourers, charging me 
 to collect earth and direct the work. He went to Zanzibar 
 to buy doors, lime, and other things. When he came back 
 he found large heaps of earth ready, and was much pleased. 
 It was but a short time that we lived here or at Saadani 
 either. The distance from Saadani to Uvinje is, I think, a 
 walk of two hours and a quarter. 
 
 Then came the time when all slaves were registered. (See 
 Introd.) The consul came to the district of Saadani 
 and other districts on the mainland. On the arrival of the 
 consul he registered all slaves belonging to Hindis as free. 
 He did not stay many days at Saadani, but returned quickly 
 
a Yao Boy. 
 
 59 
 
 to Zanzibar, telling the Banyan, my master, and a Hindi, 
 named Pira, to start by dhow on the next day but one. The 
 Hindi, too, was owner of two slaves — one a woman named 
 Fayida, the other a boy named Feruzi. When the day 
 named by the consul arrived we went on board a dhow 
 belonging to a Banyan, and came to Zanzibar. My com- 
 panions went off at once, but where they went I do not know 
 to this day. I was taken to the consul, and answered his 
 questions, and he sent me to a Parsee's house, where I stayed 
 five or six days, near the house containing the consul's lock- 
 up. At last I was brought here (Kiungani) in charge of a 
 man, and I sat down in the corridor where the names are 
 called. It was about half-past ten when I came here. When 
 the boys came out of school and saw me, everyone said, 
 " Where has he come from ?" Some said, " Perhaps he has 
 brought a letter." I understood them speaking in Swahiii, 
 and now I have forgotten my own language. 
 
 All this is the great love and goodness of God, surpassing 
 all things, it is so great. 
 
IX. 
 
 HISTORY OF A ZARAMO BOY. 
 
 [The Zaramo country lies near Zanzibar in a south-westerly 
 direction, and the dialect is closely allied to the Swahili. 
 The writer of this story was one of the most promising 
 scholars in the Mission School, and at the cost of much time 
 and labour translated the whole of St. Luke's Gospel into the 
 Zaramo language for the benefit, as he hoped, of his country- 
 men. Bishop Steere had taken steps for the establishment 
 of a station in that region, which is but little known to 
 Europeans, when his sudden death in 1882 (followed by the 
 yet more sudden death of this boy), brought the design to 
 an end. 
 
 The two stories next to this begin in the countries of 
 Sagara and Gindo, lying further inland to the westward.] 
 
 T first I was living with my father and my 
 mother. From the first my relations kept an 
 eye upon me, I think. After my mother's 
 death, I remained with my father perhaps four 
 or five years. Well, my mother's father had borrowed six 
 dollars from some people at Bagamoyo, who bargained that 
 in six years they should come and receive their money. 
 When the six years expired, they came. Now my mother, 
 when she was alive, warned me, saying, " When I die, your 
 
IX. History of a Zaramo Boy. 6 1 
 
 friends will make away with you." I was but a little child, 
 and I thought she was only talking nonsense, but she was 
 quite right. The men from Bagamoyo said to my grand- 
 father, "Give us our money. If you do not, we will seize 
 you, and take you to the governor to be put in prison.' 7 
 "Wait a bit," said he, "and give me time to get your 
 money together. As soon as I get it, I will give it to you.' 7 
 "No," they said, "we cannot wait.. Give it us at once. 77 
 Now I was living with my father after my mother's death, 
 My grandfather came to my father and said, " Give me this 
 child to give to my creditors, and let me ransom him when 
 I get their money." My father said, " I cannot give him to 
 you in that way. I will have nothing to do with it." After- 
 wards my father said, " Go and hide yourself, for your 
 grandfather is keeping a sharp look-out for you." Well, I 
 thought it was all nonsense, and said, " What ? Am I to 
 hide myself in the bushes ? 77 And I said, " I cannot stay 
 in the bushes. It's no matter. If I am caught, I am 
 caught." That very day my grandfather came and took me 
 in his arms and fondled me, till I consented and went. He 
 said to his creditors, " Do not get rid of him. I shall ran- 
 som him." They said, "Very good," and we started off the 
 same day. And then I thought how my mother had warned 
 me, and cried bitterly. They said to me, " Don't cry. We 
 will put you in a comfortable home and feed you, till your 
 family ransom you." So I stopped crying. 
 
 We travelled from sunrise to sunset and came to Baga- 
 moyo. Presently I fell ill with a kind of abscess, but they 
 nursed me kindly and I got well. I remained there two 
 years. One day I took my basket of mangoes to go and 
 buy some calico and silk in the town, and came suddenly 
 on a relation of my master there. When he saw me, he 
 said to me, " What are you after ? " "I want some calico," 
 I replied. "Come along," said he, "and I'll sell your 
 
62 
 
 IX. History of 
 
 mangoes for you and get your calico." I said "Very well," 
 and went with him. He took some mangoes, sold them, 
 and got some pice, which he took himself. And me he 
 sold, and I cried very bitterly over it. But when I got to 
 realize that I was really lost, then I stopped crying. Pre- 
 sently on that same day I was sold to another place, and 
 stayed a short time and was sold to an Arab of Pangani. 
 We travelled and came to Pangani, and as soon as we 
 arrived, that very day I was sold again, and there I stayed 
 about six months. Then I was going to be sold away to 
 Pemba, but Jesus carried me away to be His servant, and 
 now I am trying to serve Him. (Note 17.) 
 This is my story, and now I will write about 
 
 THE ZARAMO COUNTRY. 
 
 The Zaramo country is a very fine one, with plenty of 
 food and water. There is a very large river there called the 
 Ruvu. No one knows where it rises, and it swarms with 
 fish. It has a tributary called Mbiki, and another called 
 Mkombezi, and a great number of small streams. But the 
 only great river is the Ruvu. A very great many Zaramo 
 people are engaged in fishing, and catch large quantities of 
 fish. Even a child can go and catch a hundred or two. 
 But people are afraid to go into the Ruvu. There are many 
 alligators and hippopotamuses ; besides, it is very deep, and 
 if you go to the Ruvu and stand near the brink you will get 
 giddy and fall down. In the rainy season the Ruvu over- 
 flows, till it is like the sea at Zanzibar, that is, on the far 
 side, not on the near side, and (then) there is not a tree to 
 be seen. Four months are enough for the water to subside 
 in, and then, the small fry ! oh ! people cannot carry them 
 away for the great abundance of them. 
 
 I recollect myself, when I was old enough to notice 
 things, that some Europeans, I think Frenchmen, came in a 
 
a Zaramo Boy. 
 
 63 
 
 steamboat, and most of the Zaramo people were afraid, but 
 some gave them eggs, and they ate fish too. On the day 
 when they went away, they fired a great many guns, and I 
 ran away in a fright and fell down and hurt my stomach, 
 and I have the scar to this day. I think by this time my 
 relations have come to ransom me, but they have not found 
 me. No doubt they are searching everywhere for me ; no 
 doubt, too, my father has cried, when he finds that I, his 
 child, am not there. 
 
 The Zaramo country is very large. You may travel 
 for two months and find only Zaramo people. Cassava is 
 plentiful ; so are mangoes and peas (baazi) and rice. All 
 kinds of food common in Zanzibar are found in the Zaramo 
 country, but there are only a few oranges here and there. 
 But the evil of that country is, they do not know God very 
 well, and also in time of harvest they make merry and brew 
 a very great deal of beer. And I am sorry — rather sorry, 
 not very sorry. And then many of the people of that 
 country were murderers and robbers, but they are not so 
 now. If a man does a murder now, he is burnt. And if 
 you pass by one of their villages, you must pay toll (or you 
 cannot pass). But since the time when I was there, they 
 have become much more peaceable. There are a great 
 many thieves too. There are no cattle in Zaramoland, but 
 there are all kinds of wild beasts, many very large, especially 
 lions. As to the lions — if you build by yourself, lions will 
 give you trouble ; but if you build with other people, lions 
 are very much afraid of a place where there are a number of 
 people. Another thing about the Zaramo people. If you 
 find yourself in any danger, give a shout, and even if people 
 are asleep, be sure that that day you will be preserved. 
 But this is not from any power of their own, but of God 
 who gives it them. (Note 18.) 
 
X. 
 
 HISTORY OF A SAGARA BOY. 
 
 [This is one of the most unstudied, even childish, of these 
 stories, but perhaps for this very reason it may seem the 
 more worthy of study, even if it reflected a character less 
 humble, truthful, and faithful to its light, than may be traced 
 in it. For this reason the Editor has abstained from abridg- 
 ing or (except in one unimportant part) rearranging a narra- 
 tive which contains many tautologies and repetitions, even 
 some confusions, — the interest being largely moral.] 
 
 I. A LITTLE ABOUT SAGARALAND. 
 
 N my own home I was but a child, and under- 
 stood as a child, not as a man. I do not know 
 much about my home, because I have for- 
 gotten. But as to the way I became a slave — 
 there was a war, and it came upon our village, and I was 
 taken prisoner in it, and carried away to the Muhumba. 
 There is a tribe called Muhumba, a tribe (of marauders) 
 like the Maviti. I do just recollect my mother at the 
 beginning, and my father, too. As to food — food is plenti- 
 ful in Sagaraland ; there is abundance of maize and millet. 
 Wars are abundant, too. They never cease at all. In some 
 places the Sagara people fight among themselves, and this 
 
X. History of a Set gar a Boy. 
 
 65 
 
 means war after war. Sometimes it is the Masai, some- 
 times the Mkwavi, sometimes the Muhumba, fighting in my 
 country. 
 
 II. ABOUT MY VILLAGE. 
 
 There is war there every year ; nothing but fighting. As 
 I was saying, there is the Masai tribe, and the Muhumba, 
 and the Mkwavi. These are the most warlike tribes in our 
 country. But the Sagara people are brave warriors, too, in 
 their degree. Wars never cease. As to my own village, I 
 have forgotten; I do not remember well ; I think I do not 
 clearly recollect. I recollect abundance of sheep, and oxen, 
 and goats, and fowls, in our village. That was one reason 
 of the continual wars. 
 
 I recollect my father and my mother, but now I have 
 forgotten about our country — of Sagara — because I lived a 
 long time in Zigualand. I recollect my own country, but 
 now I have quite forgotten details about it. I only recollect 
 them dimly. There is a lake, and abundance of oxen at 
 our village, and plenty of food — maize, and millet, and 
 " uwele," and cucumbers, and pumpkins. Then there is a 
 season of cold. In the morning you would think it had 
 been raining, because of the cold ; as you tell us there is 
 cold in England, so, too, there is severe cold there. In the 
 morning people crowd round the fire, they sit over it, and 
 when the sun comes out they bask in it. Then there is a 
 season of want, when people go to other districts to gather 
 food. So it was in the time of which I know; I do not 
 know what happened after my time. 
 
 Then, again, there is a district called Lugululand, a very 
 warlike region, and that is my own tribe, for my mother was 
 a Lugulu, and my father a Sagara. That is why I called 
 myself a Lugulu. I cannot disown my tribe. Now I will 
 say something about Lugulu (as it was) when I was a child. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 X. History of 
 
 I am told Lugulu is a very fine country, but its customs are 
 not very good. There are people there who never bathe 
 till they kill a man, then they bathe. The people there are 
 very short; most of them are short, but some few are tall. 
 Moreover, it is a very fine country. Food is very plentiful. 
 Millet there is called " zebele," and this kind of grain is 
 very abundant in Zigualand also. The inhabitants are very 
 warlike. This is the tribe to which my mother belonged— 
 thus it is my tribe, too — my mother being a Lugulu, and 
 my father a Sagara. My brother I left behind in our own 
 country. There is a large river in Lugululand, called Lunge- 
 lengele. It passes through the country of Kami and Zaramo, 
 and so reaches the sea. Such is the river. And this is my 
 account of Lugulu, from which my mother came. She 
 wanted to take me to Lugululand, but I was still a child, 
 and not able to go a journey. 
 
 III. ABOUT THINGS IN OUR COUNTRY. 
 
 I was by tribe a Sagara, but also a Lugulu, just as some 
 Europeans are Frenchmen, but at Zanzibar all (white men) 
 are called Europeans. So it was with me. Strictly speaking, 
 I was a Lugulu. That was my tribe. My father took a 
 Lugulu wife, so my mother was a Lugulu and my father a 
 Sagara. That is how it was. When I was able to under- 
 stand a little, my father said to me, " Do you know where 
 you were born?" And he told me, "You were born in 
 Lugululand, where I went to marry your mother." For my 
 father remained many months in Lugululand, and there I 
 was born. I lived in Sagaraland till I began to understand 
 things. I used to tend sheep, and goats, and oxen, and to 
 help cultivate maize, and the kind of millet called " viage," 
 and bananas, and beans (" kundi "), and peas (" baazi "). 
 Food is plentiful there, and there is abundance of (the grain 
 called) " uwele," and potatoes. The people keep sheep and 
 
a Sagara Boy. 67 
 
 goats, and eat them, and pigs, too, they eat, and a great 
 deal of cassava. In fact, there is abundance of food there. 
 The sheep and goats and oxen are past counting, and the 
 chiefs are kept apart from other people's. I did not go 
 myself to Lugulu, but my parents told me that there are 
 mountains — indeed, a great many mountains — and a great 
 river, called Lungelengele, a very large river. 
 
 IV. MY WANDERINGS. 
 
 Afterwards I lived in Zigualand, and in Zigualand I stayed 
 a long time. One of my brothers took me out for a walk 
 every day. It was in Zigualand that I was captured, and I 
 was then a growing lad • but in Zigualand, too, I was old 
 enough to have my wits about me. I lived with this brother 
 of mine till war came upon the village in which we lived. I 
 ran away into the woods by myself, but, to my surprise, 
 there were people in the jungle, and they seized meat once. 
 This war was made by the Arabs, and the Arabs sold me at 
 Saadani, on the coast. 
 
 My master used always to be saying to me, "Go and 
 draw water," " Go and pound rice," " Go and cook," " Go 
 and wash my clothes." He was always at me in that way, 
 and at last I got out of temper and quarrelled with my 
 master, because he gave me so much work. But I always 
 had plenty of food, and as to eating, I used to eat off the 
 same dish as my master. But this Arab gave me a great 
 deal of work, and at last I said, " Ah ! I cannot stay in 
 your house. Sell me to someone else. I really cannot stay 
 here." While I lived there, one day, to my surprise, my 
 brother was in the town searching for me, and when he saw 
 me he said, " Are not you my brother ? " And I said, 
 " Yes, I am your brother." " How did you manage to come 
 here ? " And I told him all about what had happened to 
 me. My brother cried a great deal because he had not 
 
68 
 
 X. History of 
 
 money to redeem me with. Then I said to him, " Leave 
 off crying. Go home to your people. I am lost." (But 
 my tribe was near; I was not really quite lost.) Then he 
 questioned the Arab, and said, " Where did you get that 
 boy ? " The Arab replied, " I went to war, and took that 
 lad prisoner. Well, what do you want ? " He said, " It 
 is my brother," and added, " I'll take my brother away." 
 " You will not take him away," answered the Arab. " I 
 went to war and got him, and then you say, ' I'll take him 
 away.' If you want him, buy your brother back." " Very 
 well," said he, "wait till I go back to my relations in Zigua- 
 land, and when I can get the money I will buy back my 
 brother." The Arab said, "Very good. Go and get it. 
 I will not sell your brother." And my brother went away. 
 What had the Arab done but deceive my brother, and he 
 sold me without waiting for me to be redeemed ? He sold 
 me to another Arab, and people said, "You have got a 
 good master ; " and, indeed, I had got a good master. His 
 work was light and his words were very kind. He was as 
 fond of me as his own child, and I was very fond of this 
 master of mine. But one day I spoiled something of his, 
 the lock of his gun, and he was very angry, and sold me to 
 a black man. 
 
 This black man was very fond of me. I think he was 
 even more fond of me than the first one to whom the 
 Arab sold me, and I lived a long time in the house of this 
 black man. I remained with him till I was quite a lad, and 
 then the black man fell sick and died. His friends carried 
 me off, and one said, " Let us sell him and divide the 
 money." So they agreed together to "sell me, and sold me 
 to an Arab. Then I said, " Now, I am really lost ; I shall 
 never see my father, and I shall never see my mother 
 again." The brother who said he would come and redeem 
 me I never saw ; so I was lost. 
 
a S agar a Boy. 
 
 6 9 
 
 All the troubles of a slave's life I could not bear at all. 
 Yet my slavery was not so harsh as with other Arabs. I 
 had not (many) troubles. Food I used to get, clothes I 
 used to get, everything I used to get. While I lived with 
 this last Arab who bought me, my slavery was not so harsh 
 as with some of the Arabs whom I was with before. Well, 
 I lived in a town called Ndumi, where I was sold, and I 
 said, " I am lost for good." In Ndumi I lived a long 
 while, and in Ndumi, where the Arab sold me, there was 
 oddly enough a friend of my brother, and I was sold to the 
 house of this friend of my brother, and there I lived a long 
 time. This man was a captain in the service of the Sultan 
 of Zanzibar, who was very fond of this captain of his. His 
 name was Captain Mkomwa, and he was a splendid soldier 
 and a very brave man. I remained a long time, till one 
 day my brother came to the house of his friend. He had 
 come from up the country, and was taking rice to the coast 
 to sell. Every day he used to come to the house of his 
 friend. Presently he saw me, but did not ask me any 
 questions, but asked his friend, "Where did you get this 
 boy?" "Oh!" said he, "I bought him from a man." 
 "Well," said he, "he is my brother." The captain re- 
 joined, "You are my friend, so stay with him." So I 
 stayed there, till my brother and his friend had a quarrel, 
 and the captain said, " If your brother does not come to 
 redeem you, I shall sell you again." I was bitterly grieved, 
 thinking, " This man is my brother's friend, and now he says, 
 'I'll sell you.' What for?" So I stayed, but my brother 
 never came back to the town of Ndumi. At last my 
 master said, " Your brother does not come ; what shall I 
 do with you?" I said, "Do just as you like." So I 
 stayed on. My business was to carry my master's gun, and 
 he was an officer, a captain under Seyid Barghash, Sultan 
 of Zanzibar, where we are now living. He was a very stern 
 
X. History of 
 
 man, too. His own son was made to work like a slave, and 
 drill his (other) children in military exercises, for he was a 
 very great soldier himself. I believe on one occasion he 
 went out to fight his enemies with (nothing but) his sword, 
 this Captain Mkomwa. Well, I was set to carry his gun. 
 
 Such was my life at that town near Saadani. Ndumi 
 is the next town to Saadani, at some little distance, 
 about the distance from Zanzibar town to Dunga (/. e. 
 eight or ten miles), if you walk between Ndumi and 
 Saadani. It is not far. So I lived at Ndumi, and never 
 went a day's walk from it, no. The town is but a small 
 one, and there is a mountain near it. Zanzibar you would 
 reach by dhow in a day, or perhaps two. By steamboat 
 you could reach Saadani again very quickly, and once at 
 Saadani you have as good as reached Ndumi. 
 
 When my master saw that my brother did not come, he 
 sold me to an Arab of Pangani, and the Arab took me to 
 Pangani. At Pangani I remained a long time. This 
 master of mine was not very fond of me. He had a 
 mistress, and his mistress had two children, a boy and a 
 girl. The Arab was an old man himself, but his mistress 
 was quite young still, and not yet old. My work was rather 
 hard — drawing water, sweeping, and washing a number of 
 things. Washing things is hard work, and I got very cross 
 and irritated, because it was work, work, every day. What 
 was I to do ? Every day work, work. Then his mistress 
 said to me, " Let us — " do something that was utterly 
 bad and foolish, but I refused to be so bad, and so I 
 said, " I cannot, young woman ; I don't understand you." 
 Then she said, " I will tell your master to sell you if you 
 refuse." But I said, " I cannot." My master had gone into 
 the country. When he came back, she said to him, " This 
 young slave of yours has used bad language to me. I 
 ordered him to do his work, and he refused to do his work." 
 
a Saga r a Boy. 71 
 
 So my master beat me because I had refused to sin ; and I 
 said to him, "I did do my work, master." But he said, " It's 
 a lie ; this woman has told me you refused to work." So he 
 beat me, but I comforted myself. Then my master said, 
 "I shall sell you." And I said, " As you please; you are 
 my master ; I am a slave ; sell me." His mistress kept on 
 urging him, " Sell him ; this fellow is a regular idler," — just 
 because I refused to commit sin. So his mistress tried 
 more and more to get me into trouble, till my master said, 
 " Now, don't be idle, or I will sell you into hard bondage 
 in Pemba." And I said, "Sell me then. Why are you 
 always scolding me ? I cannot do more. If you want, sell 
 me. I don't want to be scolded." Then the Arab sought 
 an opportunity of selling me to Pemba. One day some 
 Arabs from Pemba arrived, and at once my master said to 
 me, " Leave your pounding to-day," for I was pounding 
 grain. So he said to me, " Stop pounding." " Very well," 
 I said. This Arab of Pangani was a kind man, but not 
 altogether, because his mistress kept making mischief, and 
 that was why he sold me, because of the trouble made by 
 his mistress because I refused to do what was wrong. I 
 said, " Sell me ; I am not afraid of being sold." So he 
 made a bargain with the Arabs of Pemba. I think he said, 
 " Go with these two Arabs, and fetch something of mine ; 
 you will come back presently." I knew myself the Arab 
 had sold me, but I comforted myself. I think I remember 
 the Arabs saying, " Don't go back to your master ; he has 
 sold you ; you are my slave now ■ to-morrow you will go to 
 Pemba." I thought, " Now I am lost, indeed ; " and then 
 I thought, " It does not matter though." 
 
 When the Arab had sold me to the Arab of Pemba, I 
 remained at Pangani two days. Then in the night we 
 started for Pemba by the upper road, not in a dhow, first 
 on dry land. On the road there were great hardships, as 
 
72 X. History of a S agar a Boy. 
 
 we went to Pemba. I suffered very many hardships. We 
 came unexpectedly on some friends of the Arabs in front of 
 us, and so formed one body all together. We travelled on 
 by land till we came to the Digo country. There we 
 encamped, and the Arabs went to get food from the Digo 
 people. After leaving Pangani by the land route, we passed 
 along the shore all the way to the Digo country. Then 
 the Arabs looked for a dhow, and we embarked. The 
 people I came with were as many as sixty in all, whom I 
 came with to Zanzibar. We stood out to sea, and the 
 Europeans captured us, and we came to Zanzibar, first to 
 the " London/' then to the consul, then we were brought 
 to Mkunazini, then to Kiungani. 
 
 This is my story of what- happened to me from the time 
 I left my home to my arrival in Zanzibar. This, I think, is 
 the end of the story of my wanderings. God has preserved 
 me on the mainland in all places to which I went, and has 
 preserved me from my birth to this hour. He has brought 
 me to His religion of truth and life eternal. I have heard 
 His commandments preached day by day, but I do not 
 keep them. The tempter is close at hand, and by my own 
 strength alone I cannot overcome the devil, but by faith 
 and the strength of Jesus Christ our righteous Lord. 
 
 These are my words, and this is the end of them. 
 
XI. 
 
 HISTORY OF A GINDO BOY. 
 
 WAS born in a region called Situka. My 
 father was a Yao. My father was a kind of 
 chief in the land of Situka. When he died 
 all the people of the town refused to have his 
 sons to rule over them. So they made a great war upon 
 those three sons. They fought for three days, and then all 
 the people who followed them were dispersed. We ran 
 away in the night, and slept among some bamboos, altogether 
 about forty, who still remained. Well, our enemies came 
 by night, and lay in wait for us, and (some of our) people 
 got wind of it, and followed on the tracks of our enemies 
 with guns, but they could not find them, as it was very dark. 
 Again we went on by night to stay in another place, and 
 there they did not follow us any more. Very early in the 
 morning we started off, and walked till we reached a certain 
 country, and there we stayed. Again we moved on, and 
 came near a river called Limangando. Here we settled for 
 a long time, waiting for crops to ripen, for everyone went 
 and tilled a piece of land near this river in the rainy season. 
 After that we went back and stayed at the place where we 
 had first taken refuge. There we remained, and to the east 
 of us there was living a younger member of the family, the 
 head of the family being with us. 
 
 A war with the Maviti then began, and the Maviti came 
 
74 
 
 XI. History of 
 
 and made a raid on all those lands. We ran away, and went 
 to Situka, but one of us was killed that very day there in 
 Situka. The day following we slept near a place where the 
 Maviti were encamped. There we slept. While it was still 
 night, but getting near morning, some of our party said to 
 us, " Let us go to Tongolo in Situka, and hide ourselves 
 there." But my father (Note 19) said, " No, I will not go to 
 Situka. Perhaps we shall not have time to get there. We 
 shall get killed on the way, and all for nothing — our children, 
 too, and friends. Besides, these women cannot walk." So 
 the others left us, and went away to Situka. We, too, started 
 off, and went our own way alone, a party of thirteen. The 
 cocks were crowing when we started, and we followed a road 
 taking us to another place where we could hide ourselves. 
 In the morning we heard a cry in front of us, " Hee ! hee !" 
 " That must be the Maviti," said my father, and then he 
 added, " We must make a cut through the forest, or the 
 Maviti will catch us." On we went, and came to a village, 
 and there were Maviti sitting at the corner of a house. And 
 my father said, " Those are real Maviti." And what do you 
 think ? The Maviti had seen us for a long time, and pre- 
 tended that they had not seen us. We ran away, and came 
 to a small wood, and hid ourselves there. My father took 
 me, and bent down some grass and put me inside it, and 
 said to me, " Don't come out even if the Maviti stick a 
 spear into you." Then he went and hid my mother and my 
 three brothers, and then went and hid himself. And my 
 two uncles and their wives and children and several others 
 hid themselves in the same place. Well, a child cried, 
 " Yow ! yow !" The Maviti heard the child's voice, and 
 came and searched about. They found my father first, and 
 then my mother and my brothers and my two uncles and 
 their wives and children. All of them except me were 
 caught, and I was not caught. All the Maviti went away 
 
a Gindo Boy. 
 
 except one, and he remained on the watch and kept perfectly 
 still, as if there was no one there. This man actually stood 
 upon me, yet he did not know himself that he was standing 
 upon me, and he kept poking and poking with his spear, 
 but I lay perfectly still. When he had waited some time 
 without seeing anyone he went away. 
 
 Well, I stayed where I was seven whole days. At the 
 end of the seventh day, late in the evening, I gave a loud 
 cry, and said, " Father." But no one answered. Then I 
 kept on calling, and I heard a voice answering me, " Eh ! " 
 Well, I thought it really was my father ; but, no ! it was not 
 he, it was someone else. The man came and said, " I'm 
 your father. Don't cry. my child.'"'' He took me and put 
 me on his back. And I said to him, " You are not my 
 father."' And he said to me, " He is in the house. Don't 
 cry." We came to the house, and I asked him again, and 
 he said, " Perhaps he will not come home to-day : perhaps 
 to-morrow you will see him." I remained silent. In the 
 morning I said to him again, " Where is my father?"' The 
 people said, " You have no father. He has been killed by 
 the Maviti. We saw him yonder yesterday, a child and 
 your father and mother, and your father is dead." Well, 
 they sold me to some Yaos and Nyassas, and I lived a very 
 long time with the Nyassas and Yaos. 
 
 Then there came war again in that region, and they ran 
 away for refuge to Tongolo in Situka — the very place where 
 I was at first. When the Maviti came we went into the 
 forest, which is Situka. There I was found by some older 
 relations in the forest of Situka, and the Maviti came, and 
 were going to attack us. However, they could not fight us, 
 for there in Situka there were a very great number of people. 
 So the Maviti said, " "Wait till next time. We will come 
 with axes, and cut down this forest." And they went away. 
 When the war was over an uncle of mine brought salt and 
 
7 6 
 
 XL History of 
 
 cloth, but (my masters) refused it, and they brought a slave 
 boy, but they utterly refused (to sell me). Then they made 
 me go away till we went and settled with the Maviti. For 
 the Maviti had made a proposal, saying, "Come to our 
 country ; come and build houses ; we will give you ground 
 and pasture-land for your cattle and goats.'' My masters 
 were frightened, and we removed to the country of the 
 Maviti, and were given a good piece of land, and settled 
 there. And they became Maviti, and made their shields 
 and spears like those of the Maviti, and went with the 
 Maviti to fight in the wars. 
 
 Then I was summoned by my masters to go to the coast, 
 that is, to Kilwa, and on the way I came to the Magingo, and 
 Nindi, and Nyassas, and Makuas, and Yaos, and Mandota. 
 Then my masters sold me to other owners. We came and 
 arrived in Ngindoland, which was where my uncles lived, 
 the name of the younger being Makele, and of the older 
 Andandika. Here they asked me, " Now then, are there 
 any relations of yours here?" " Yes," I replied. "Who 
 is he?" said they. "Tell us. We want to take you to him. 
 Perhaps we shall get a good price." And I said to them, 
 "He is called Andandika." "Oh!" said they, "he is 
 your uncle, is he ? " and I said, " Yes." They talked to each 
 other, and then said to me, " The fact is, if we had known 
 it some time ago, we could have taken you there at the time. 
 Now we cannot take you there, for we are on the point of 
 starting." The next day they said, " If he is your uncle we 
 cannot take you to him, for he is a powerful man ; and, 
 besides, we are going to make a start this very day, in the 
 evening." Well, in the evening we started, and began our 
 journey to Kilwa. We travelled many days — it may be a 
 month or a month and a half. We arrived at Miombo, and 
 at Miombo we stayed two days. Then we went on, and 
 came to a place and stayed one day, and this was very near 
 
a Gindo Boy. 
 
 77 
 
 Kilwa. The day following we started in the evening, and 
 slept all night in a wood, for we were afraid, on account of 
 the Maviti, to enter Kilwa by daylight. For the Maviti, 
 when they saw a great many slaves, used to attack the 
 caravan and steal them. That was the reason we could not 
 enter Kilwa by daylight. (See Introd.) So we entered 
 Kilwa by night ; everybody was asleep. When it was light, 
 we settled in a house where there. were camels working an 
 oil-mill. I was put outside, in the verandah, in order to 
 be sold. A European came and asked me, " Are you a 
 slave ? " I said nothing. Then his interpreter questioned 
 them, saying, " What do you say ? Is this boy a slave ? " 
 And they said, " He is not a slave. He is a child of ours." 
 So the European went away. The men spoke to me, say- 
 ing, " That white man wants to have you to eat. That's 
 what he always does — eats people." I was terribly scared. 
 The next day they put me inside, and the day after they 
 put me in the market; and a man from Bushireh (?), a 
 shopkeeper, bought me, and I stayed with him three days. 
 Then he sold me, and an Arab bought me. I lived with 
 this Arab just in the same way ten days. Then he put me on 
 board a dhow to go to Zanzibar. All the way from Kilwa 
 to Zanzibar I took no food, only water. I landed at the 
 Custom House, for at that time the Europeans had not 
 begun to seize slaves, except the Europeans in the coast' 
 towns. Well, I was taken to the market, and bought by a 
 Hindi silversmith, Chonala. At that time the slave-market 
 was at Mkunazini, and that is where I was sold. Well, I 
 did silversmith's work for a year or less; then the Hindi 
 wanted to go a journey, and sold me to Sherifu, also a 
 Hindi, and the other went on his journey. I lived with this 
 Hindi, Sherifu, till my master went on a journey to Pemba. 
 He left me with another Hindi, and gave him money for 
 my board. And my master went on his journey. 
 
78 
 
 XL History of 
 
 After this the English (consul) gave orders that all slaves 
 should be registered (as free). All the Hindis had their 
 slaves registered. I was not registered, because my master 
 was not at home. Four years passed, and my master returned 
 and took me to the consul, and was asked, " Why are you 
 late ? Where were you ? " And he said, " I went a journey, 
 and it took four years." So he registered me. When I had 
 been registered, 1 went to live in the country at a place called 
 Majura, and at other places called Mkadini and Bunji. Then 
 I came back and lived in the town again. Then a second 
 time I went and lived at Majura. The place belonged to 
 the consul's clerk, whose name was Ali bin Salehe. There 
 it was that Peter Jaha came and saw me there at that place, 
 and he and I were of the same tribe. He was a Gindo. 
 Then I went back to the town again, and there was this 
 fellow-tribesman of mine and others whom I had lived with 
 before as slaves of the Hindi. I lived in the town two 
 years. 
 
 Then I went on a journey (Note 20) to the Nyamwezi 
 country, I and two others of my tribe, Mabruki and Uledi. 
 During the journey my business was to carry calabashes and 
 an iron cooking-pot and a bag. I travelled till I came to the 
 Nyamwezi country and Unyanyembe. There I stayed several 
 days. Then we went to a place called Ugunda, and in 
 Ugunda we stayed two months. Then we left and went to 
 Simba, (which is) the name of the town and the name of its 
 chief. His town is a very large one. Then we turned back 
 and stayed again in Ugunda. 
 
 Well, when I was in Ugunda, a thing occurred to me, and 
 this thing occurred to me in this way, and it was a thing 
 such as no man in Zanzibar ever suggested to me. I said 
 thus. I asked my companions a question, so far as I recol- 
 lect, like this : " Take a man who has stolen something. If 
 he goes on a long journey, is his theft forgiven ? Or suppose 
 
a Gindo Boy. 
 
 79 
 
 a man commit a sin, does he get forgiveness, or what ? " 
 They answered me, " He certainly is not forgiven/' 
 
 After this I suffered a great deal in my eyes, but got well. 
 Then I suffered in my stomach and nearly died. So they 
 said to me, " You had better go back at once. There are 
 people ahead of us who are cannibals. Go to your relations. 
 Join these men travelling fast, and when you come to 
 your relations give them these three dollars, and stay there 
 till we come back." And they gave me food for the journey. 
 So I left, and we travelled and came to a town called Kwa 
 Kasui. Then we came to Turo, and then to Matomondo. 
 Matomondo is a very large lake. Then we came to Mwinyi 
 Mtwana. When I got there I was unable to go any farther, 
 for my feet hurt me. I was left there and also another boy, 
 for these express-messengers travel very hard. (Note 21) A 
 distance of six days' march they regularly do in a day and a 
 half. That was why I could not keep up with them. They 
 spoke to Mwinyi Mtwana as follows, saying, " Don't give this 
 boy to a man you cannot trust. Give him to someone who 
 can ensure his getting to the coast safely. Mind, he is a 
 boy who has good connections." They gave me food, and 
 left me and my companion there, and went away. Presently 
 a man passed by, and he was the slave of a Hindi. He had 
 women and children travelling in his charge. And Mwinyi 
 Mtwana said to him, " I think you will be able to take these 
 boys with you, too." And he said, " I don't go fast. I go 
 quite slowly, because I have women and children in my 
 caravan. Hand them over to me, and, God willing, I will 
 take them to the coast." Mwinyi Mtwana said, Mind you 
 don't lose them on the road." So they took us to go to the 
 coast. On we journeyed, and passed the Gogo country and 
 the forest of Chunyu and Mpwapwa and Mamboia, and so 
 came to Sagara and Zigualand. In Zigualand I fell in with 
 Peter Jaha. .Well, Peter Jaha took me to Saadani. The 
 
So XL History of a Gindo Boy. 
 
 man in whose charge I travelled from Mwinyi Mtwana's 
 said, " I cannot consent to let this boy go, because Mwinyi 
 Mtwana told me on no account to let him go." Peter said, 
 " Let us go to Bwana Heri and have the matter settled in 
 court." So they went. Bwana Heri said, " Let this boy be 
 given to the man who represents his relations." So Peter 
 took me, and we got into a dhow and came to Zanzibar and 
 landed. And Peter said, " Come with me, and do not go to 
 your relations." I went with him, and we came to Mkuna- 
 zini, and we saw the Bishop (Steere), and he said, " Go with 
 him to Mbweni, and bring him back to-morrow." We went 
 to Mbweni, and I stayed at Mbweni ten days. Then he took 
 me, and we came to Mkunazini. The Bishop came out and 
 said, " Whose slave is this boy ? Who is his master? " I said 
 to him, " I was Sherifu's slave. My master was a Hindi. 
 He registered me a long time ago." Then he said, " Take 
 him to live at Kiungani." Masundi the bailiff came and 
 took me to Kiungani. This is the way in which I got to 
 Kiungani. After a time my friend whom I left on the main- 
 land came and said to me, " How did you come to join the 
 Europeans?" And I said to him, "A friend of mine named 
 Peter, he brought me to the Europeans." 
 
XII. 
 
 HISTORY OF A GANDA BOY. 
 
 [This very striking story has already been characterized 
 in the Introduction. A few words may be added here. Apart 
 from its moral interest, three points appear in sufficient 
 detail to arrest attention : the working of a purely African 
 government, despotic and strong, in its relation to its neigh- 
 bours and its subjects ; the advance of Islam, both by the 
 Nile, and also overland from Zanzibar, into the heart of equa- 
 torial Africa, and the barrier English Christians are already 
 raising even against its remotest outposts ; and lastly, the perils 
 and difficulties still attending a journey by native or foreigner 
 even on the best known and most beaten track from the 
 capital of the East coast to the central regions of the Lakes. 
 
 Mtesa, king of Ganda (or, as it is more commonly written 
 Uganda, i.e., Gandaland), has figured largely in the pages 
 of explorers since the days of Speke, and died only recently, 
 about October, 1884. His reign is chronicled sufficiently to 
 mark it as a real beginning, not only of our knowledge of 
 the country, but of its history. Bloody and barbarous as it 
 was, Mtesa, with Mirambo, Ketch wayo, and the rulers of Da- 
 homey and Ashantee, marks a real and (it would seem) 
 natural first step upward in the scale of civilization. Even 
 a Zebehr was, in General Gordon's judgment, far better than 
 no king, or (which is the same thing) a multitude of petty 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 XII. History of 
 
 chiefs. Oriental history indicates the same course, at a like 
 cost, of moral progress among the Asiatic races, in its annals of 
 the vast monarchies of the ancient world. In such kingdoms 
 as Mtesa's, peace and a measure of freedom is the rule among 
 its subjects, though organized warfare and wholesale pillage 
 is equally the rule in respect of all its neighbours. Respect for, 
 or at least subjection to law, is secured and general, though 
 that law is little but the will of a fellow-man, and its sanction 
 promiscuous massacre. People are compelled to respect each 
 other's rights, act as members of a community, abstain from 
 petty feuds and robberies, though the compelling force is a 
 power which knows no rights as against its own caprice. In 
 such kingdoms, satisfactory relations with powers external 
 to it are not impossible. Instead of the wearing struggle 
 of endless bargaining with each successive petty chief, go- 
 vernments have someone with whom to deal. Missionary 
 and trader, if they obtain it at all, obtain a passport which 
 opens a field practically unlimited to be won for Christ or 
 turned into gold. Mr. Stanley's report of his interviews with 
 King Mtesa led the Church Missionary Society at once to 
 take steps for sending missionaries to his capital. If only as 
 a check to the active propaganda of Islam in Central Africa, 
 the labours of their agents have clearly not been thrown 
 away. The pages of the " Church Missionary Intelligencer " 
 and " Gleaner " yield a remarkable commentary on the 
 horrors of this simple story. The advice which it contains 
 to travellers will appear to many both shrewd and sound. 
 Though a well equipped and carefully organized caravan 
 has little to fear on a journey to the Lakes, there are moral 
 qualities which go farther towards success than either expe- 
 rience or superior force. Above all, it must be recognized 
 that in Africa no land is no man's land, and that the rights 
 of its occupants to tax and delay must be met and dealt 
 with, not ignored.] 
 
a Ganda Boy. 83 
 
 HIS is my story from my childhood until now. 
 
 My father lived in a town called Chetume, 
 and in Chetume I was born, and there I re- 
 mained many months. Then they took me 
 from the house where I first lived, and conveyed me to 
 another house, quite at the end of the town. There I re- 
 mained till one night they left me in the house at night and 
 went off to drink beer. Then a lion came and entered the 
 house, and I was sitting there inside, and a number of goats 
 were there inside, and a number of fowls were there inside 
 too. When the lion came inside the house, I did not know 
 that it was a lion, and I kept perfectly quiet and did not 
 make the least noise. Well, the lion seized two goats and 
 one fowl, but I kept more quiet than ever, and even held 
 my breath for fear he should hear me. But the fowl made 
 a very great noise, and the lion was frightened by it, and me 
 he did not see, but went out hastily because the fowl made 
 such a very great noise. But he did not let the fowl go ; it 
 was carried away by the lion in spite of all its noise. Two 
 goats he carried off too, with the fowl, and I was left. Well, 
 when my nurse came back, all the servants of the household 
 came back with her, and first they knocked at the door, but 
 I did not answer but remained quite quiet, and they thought 
 that perhaps I was asleep. But no ! I was not asleep at all. 
 I had moved from the place where I usually lay, and was 
 lying in another place. Then, as all the people came in, one 
 of them tripped over me and exclaimed, " Goodness ! Who's 
 this, I say? " She felt me and recognized who I was. But 
 first she started, and called out, " Look what a little fool this 
 child is ! What did you leave your own sleeping-place and 
 come here for ? You saw it was dark and I was coming, and 
 you never said, ' Here I am, don't step on me ? ' Why do you 
 not speak, my child ? " I never answered her a single word. 
 When they had settled down, I said to my own nurse, " A 
 
8 4 
 
 XII. History of 
 
 wild beast has been in here and seized a fowl and goats. I 
 heard the fowl crying. I don't know if it was carried away 
 too." When the nurse heard what I said, she spoke to the 
 •others and said, " I say, you just listen. A wild beast has 
 jeen in this house, and carried off fowls and goats." " Tell 
 ;he truth, can't you?" "This child told me so this very 
 minute. Go and look at the fowls' roost." So they went 
 and looked, and a fowl was gone, and goats too were gone. 
 Then they were all very sorry indeed for me, just as if I had 
 been carried off as well by the beast. And my nurse said, 
 " If this child was carried off by a lion, I should never come 
 back to this house again." And the others said, " Nor we 
 either." In the morning they told my father all about it, 
 and he was very angry, and my nurse and all the servants 
 were flogged, and the whole household was put in confine- 
 ment. 
 
 My father had a brother. They were sons of the same 
 father and mother. And this brother of my father was a very 
 great man. He was a chief and had a town called Balatila. 
 That same day they followed the lion, but found him in an 
 awkward place, and the lion ran away and they did not catch 
 him, but returned home. The next day the lion came back 
 and seized a goat in the town. Then people followed him, 
 and came on him in a convenient spot where there was a 
 large thicket, and there were two lions in the thicket. The 
 people quietly surrounded the thicket, every man with his 
 net in his hand ready. When all the men with nets were 
 quite ready, each at his station, two men went forward and 
 entered the thicket to drive out the lions from the thicket. 
 They drove them out, and the lions came out and found the 
 huntsmen ready with their nets. Well, the lions were bagged. 
 One fought fiercely, wounding a number of people, while 
 they kept wounding him with spears. He ran off, for they 
 could not hold him by sheer strength. One was captured, 
 
a Gcrnda Boy. 
 
 35 
 
 but the other ran off, and died the next day, for he was 
 wounded mortally. 
 
 Then my other father, my own father's brother, when they 
 told him all about it, how I had been left alone in the house, 
 and a lion was very near eating me (only I was saved by the 
 power of Almighty God), he spoke to my father and said, 
 " I should like this child for my own." So my other father, 
 Mabingo, chief of the town Balatila — the chief, Mabingo, I 
 say, carried me away and took me to his town. I remained 
 in this town, Balatila, for many months, and began to get my 
 strength a little, and I wanted to go on a journey with my 
 father. Moreover, I observed the different towns of the 
 country, and I heard people saying, " Now this year we shall 
 go with the chief and do the king's building." This surprised 
 me and I said to myself, " Then there must be another chief." 
 And I spoke to people about it. When they heard what I 
 said, they all laughed and answered me, saying, " We shall 
 all go on this journey. Come yourself, and see the king of 
 the country," because I asked them questions. I thought 
 perhaps there was no other king in the world, but only my 
 father, the chief Mabingo, and no other king at all. 
 
 " Now, then, we are going to start," said my father. " Let 
 us go on our travels, and see the towns of the country and 
 the chiefs of the towns." When I heard these words, I was 
 delighted, because I wanted to travel and see famous towns 
 myself, and the chiefs of them. So we started, and my father, 
 the chief Mabingo of the town Balatila, was going to do the 
 king's building. So we went, and first we came to the king's 
 mother. And I looked about and wondered greatly at the 
 (wonderful) way in which they had built the town of the 
 king's mother. Leaving this place, we came to where the 
 king lived, and I saw another wonder, how they had con- 
 structed this royal town, and I wondered more and more. 
 
 These kings have their customs. When a king dies and 
 
86 XII. History of 
 
 his son reigns in his stead, all the new king's brothers are 
 seized and burnt. Once on the throne, a king cannot bear 
 to set eyes on a brother — only a sister, her he can recognize, 
 but no other. Well, when we arrived at the town at the time 
 I am speaking of, the king of the town appeared and came 
 to his seat of state. First came six men, each held by the 
 hand by another man beside him, and in a moment those 
 six were executed, every one in the presence of the king. 
 The men who held the others by the hand were the execu- 
 tioners. When I saw them being executed, I was terribly 
 frightened. When those six were finished, they brought a 
 single man, and he was executed at the same spot. Then 
 the king spoke to my father — I mean Mabingo, my father's 
 brother. Said the king, "Mabingo, go and take charge of 
 my 1 children.' " And he gave him a number of soldiers to 
 go and keep guard over his " brothers." The king had said, 
 " Mabingo, do not give my ' children ' food, unless I give 
 you leave." So said the king. Why? Because he wished 
 them to perish by hunger. That was why he forbade Ma- 
 bingo to give them food. There were a great many of his 
 "children," old and young, all together as many as two 
 hundred and seventeen. 
 
 Well, Mabingo carried them all away and took them to 
 a town called Bajwe, and round it they built a very high 
 stockade, and outside they dug a deep trench surrounding 
 the stockade, and outside that there was a close line of 
 soldiers. When (the victims) wanted to escape, they were 
 able to climb the stockade, but fell into the trench, and in 
 the morning were taken out and put back inside the palisade. 
 And many of them cried for want of food, and Mabingo had 
 pity upon them, and gave them a little food. (As to these 
 people, there was not a man in our tribe who was able to 
 speak as they spoke, their voices were so beautiful. They 
 had a wonderful way of speaking. I used to go every day 
 
a Ganda Boy. 
 
 87 
 
 to. listen to the words they were saying, not their meaning, 
 but because the sound of them was so exceedingly beautiful. 
 Everyone used to delight in the sound of them.) Then 
 when Mabingo had given them food, the soldiers went and 
 told of him to the king. So the king summoned Mabingo 
 and I followed behind him, and we all went together and 
 came to the king. The king said to the soldiers, " Now then, 
 tie Mabingo." And he was tied with his hands behind him 
 and sent to prison. When I saw him tied with many cords 
 and then carried off to be put in prison, I thought he was 
 as good as dead. And I cried a little. Then soldiers were 
 sent to go and bring all his property and to destroy his 
 entire town, so that nothing whatever should remain of it. I 
 myself was saved by a brother of his at the king's court, who 
 knew me, and came and took me by the hand and conveyed 
 me to his house. But in the place from which he first took 
 me, I had not myself the sense to leave the place and go 
 somewhere else, because I was quite small and did not know 
 the place at all. That night in which Mabingo was arrested, 
 people could not cut themselves wood for fires nor go to 
 draw water. Everyone stopped at home. There was no 
 walking abroad, because numbers of people were being ar- 
 rested for two days. At last the king's ministers all gathered 
 together and went and fell down at the king's feet, begging 
 him to stop the arrests. On the third day, the executioners 
 were mustered and he asked them, " How many people have 
 you got?" They said, "Two hundred and nine." And the 
 king gave orders that these should be executed together with 
 Mabingo, and that no more arrests should be made. So 
 Mabingo was executed at a place called Namgongo. There 
 is an enormous frog there, very much larger than a tortoise. 
 The executioners are accustomed to go twice and kneel 
 down before the frog and talk a lot of utter rubbish and lies 
 to him, crowding closely round. If the frog utters a croak, 
 
88 
 
 XII History of 
 
 as if to say, " His Majesty (dubale) sanctions a general exe- 
 cution," then all are executed. If he does not utter the 
 croak, then the execution is adjourned until such date as he 
 shall choose to croak. 
 
 I lived with the relation who carried me off that day, and 
 stayed a long time with him. Then I passed into another 
 position. It is a custom of the king that each of his ministers 
 should bring him one of his young children and give him to 
 the king, and they become pages in the king's town. But 
 they come to no good end. They are continually being put 
 to death, and others are sent in their places. There is no 
 sending a slave. It must be your child, or at least a rela- 
 tion. One day I heard people saying, "All the children in 
 the (king's) town have been killed, and there are no more. 
 Send him others." Then I heard my uncle calling me, and 
 he said to me, " My child, you see there is no small child 
 in this house, but only you." So he carried me off, and took 
 me to the king's town, and they received me. I found some 
 other pages there who had not been put to death yet, and I 
 lived there and was taught my duties, and my companions 
 whom I came with all were taught their duties as pages. 
 Well, I was ordered to go and take a dish of bananas (to 
 the king), and I fell down .with the bananas in his presence, 
 and the king called me, but a great many people interceded 
 for me, and I (only) received twenty strokes with a rod. 
 Some time after, one of my fellow-pages got up and went 
 to shut the door. As he came back, he happened to make 
 a noise somehow. He was put to death the same day. 
 Then I did something wrong another day, and was pardoned. 
 [He failed to do an errand to a distant village, fearing lions 
 on the road, and received fifty-two strokes with a rod. — Ed.] 
 Everybody said to me, " If you do anything wrong again, 
 you will be put to death, because he has let you off twice." 
 We servants all had our headservants. The king only spoke 
 
a Gauda Boy. 
 
 8 9 
 
 to the headservants of the household, and when they made 
 their reports to him, there was never any demur made over 
 them. These headservants were very fond of me. And 
 they were very sorry indeed for me, because they were fond 
 of me. And they said, " This poor boy, let us get up a 
 scheme amongst us. He is very near his end now. Look, 
 there is not one left of the whole lot of pages. They have 
 all been put to death." It was a man named Bijugo who 
 started the idea, and he said, " What shall we say before our 
 master, so as to get this boy out of the house ? " And then 
 he said, " Let us deceive him and say to our master, ' Among 
 these young pages of the palace there is one boy, So-and-so, 
 who is beginning to be a little touched in the head. We 
 have heard him saying things which show he is mad. We 
 have even refused his service. We decline to let him come 
 again to sleep in the house,' — so fond were they of me. When 
 the king heard this report, I was promptly turned out of his 
 town, Duboga, and I went to the uncle who had sent me to 
 the king, and he sent another boy in my place. 
 
 After that I did not return again to that town, but stayed 
 with my uncle and was educated in the Arab fashion. And 
 my tutor went to the Europeans and was taught the Euro- 
 pean's religion. After a time he left off his Arab teaching 
 (his name was Sembela), and said, "I have heard the teach- 
 ing of the Europeans, and if it is true, it is far superior to 
 that of the Arabs. Listen ! We have heard them say that 
 Mohammed is dead and his grave is at Mecca, and he has 
 not come to life again to this day. Then we have heard that 
 Jesus Christ has come to life again and ascended into Heaven 
 and has not returned as yet, but is seated with His Father 
 in Heaven." Then Sembela said, " We had better follow 
 Him who is alive, and leave him who is dead," and he added, 
 " It is nonsense being educated in the Arab way, and taught 
 to follow Mohammed who is dead and done for. Let us go 
 
9o 
 
 XI L History of 
 
 and be taught by the Europeans." So he went to the Euro- 
 peans to be taught, and every day he used to come and 
 report to us what he had heard there. And he said, " Really, 
 I have decided that we will go with the Europeans." Ac- 
 cordingly we went a journey with a European, six of us 
 altogether. We travelled for eight days and arrived at a 
 place called Bululi, where there is a town occupied by 
 Egyptians. We stayed there four days. But our parents 
 followed us, and their soldiers forced us to go back, and the 
 European went back too. Mkasa and H. W. Duta were put 
 in confinement, because they were highest in rank, to pre- 
 vent their ruining us. We wanted to go another journey, 
 and they forbade us, because (they said) " The Europeans 
 will sell you on the road." That was the reason we were 
 forbidden. Then they saw we wanted not to stay with our 
 parents. When they saw we wanted not to stay with our 
 parents, they dispersed us and everyone was sent to his own 
 place, so as to prevent our going on a journey. 
 
 Well, the king ordered his soldiers to go and make a raid 
 on Shoga land, and my father told me to join in the war in 
 Shoga land. I was given bullets and gunpowder and started. 
 Other raids were made upon Nyovoland, and Sembela and 
 Mkasa also were told to join in the raid made upon Nyovo- 
 land. Then other raids were made upon the Sagara country, 
 and Kairingi, and they went to Sagara country, so that there 
 were three of the party left, Johari, and Duta, and Buketi. 
 When we had actually gone to the wars, then these three 
 started on a journey and were not able to wait for us. We 
 were detained a long time in the wars, remaining four months. 
 I was very nearly killed in the wars. I fired my gun, but it 
 did not go off. The enemy pressed on us very closely, and 
 two of my companions were killed. Then others came up 
 and reinforced us, and so I was rescued. At last the war 
 came to an end, and we went home. 
 
a Ganda Boy. 
 
 9i 
 
 I found that some of my companions had already started 
 on their journey with the Europeans, while others had not 
 yet come back from the wars. As for me, I noticed people 
 starting on journeys, following the same road as they had 
 followed, and I said, " I want to travel.'' I was asked, "Where 
 do you want to travel to? Zanzibar? Who will you travel 
 with? Are there any people starting? Very fine ! Off you go 
 on your travels ! You'll die, I daresay, and never be heard 
 of again. We have told you not to go, and you refuse to 
 stay at home. Well, if you won't stay at home, don't. There's 
 nobody to say you shall not travel." So I started off, and 
 began my journey by myself, following my companions who 
 had already gone with the European. After one day's walk- 
 ing I reached the Lake (Victoria) Xyanza, and there I found 
 some friends of mine in the caravan of an Arab named 
 Hasiri bin Sululu. Voyages on the Nyanza are made in 
 canoes, for dhows are scarce. These canoes are very large. 
 Some can hold fifty men, some forty, some sixty. My friends 
 asked me, " Where are you going ? " I said to them, " I am 
 going after the European who started the other day. But 
 I do not know if the Arab would consent to let me join his 
 caravan." "Oh \ yes, he will," said my friends; u go and 
 speak to him." It happened that Hasiri bin Sululu knew 
 me quite well. So I went to where Hasiri bin Sululu was 
 accustomed to sit, and when I got there I found him receiv- 
 ing people. He invited me to come near and welcomed me, 
 welcomed me warmly, and I sat down. He asked after my 
 welfare. " How are you ? Are you my guest, or are you sent 
 on the king's service ? Where are you going ? " At first I 
 was afraid to tell him that I was following a European. 
 Perhaps he would forbid me to follow his caravan. So I 
 said, " I want to travel with you, sir, and go and see my 
 brother at Uyui," mentioning Uyui because there were Euro- 
 peans living there. Well, Hasiri bin Sululu gave his consent 
 
92 
 
 XII History of 
 
 to my joining his caravan. We travelled on the lake for 
 twelve days, and reached the other side at a place called 
 Sukuma ; the chiefs name was Kaduma. A number of Arabs 
 lived there and Europeans too. The European I was follow- 
 ing had been building a house at Sukuma, but he was soon 
 seized with illness and left it unfinished, and continued his 
 journey. I found that he had set out about ten days before. 
 Then I tried to arrange a plan with people who knew the 
 road, because I saw that the Arab was thinking of making 
 a long stay at Sukuma. I waited one day, and on the next 
 Hasiri bin Sululu called me and said to me, " I want to send 
 you to Zanzibar to fetch me some barter goods. I have run 
 short of food now. For yourself, I will give you an order 
 for three dollars, and one roll of white and one of blue cloth." 
 I took his offer, and he gave me three of his slaves as escort, 
 and I had besides one of my own companions with me. So 
 we started, a party of five, provided with seven lengths of 
 cloth for the journey, which were furnished by Hasiri bin 
 Sululu. 
 
 We left Sukuma and began our overland journey, convey- 
 ing the Arab's orders to a Banyan merchant, and all our 
 expenses were to come from the Banyan — he was to provide 
 for the whole journey. First we came to a country called 
 Udui, the people being called Wadui. When the Wadui saw 
 us, they came to make us pay toll. We were only a party of 
 five, and we had nothing to give them, but they said, " If 
 you do not pay toll, you cannot pass here." So we took out 
 some beads and gave them some. And they said, " All right. 
 Pass on." And we passed on, but soon came upon another 
 band of the same tribe, and they said, " We require you to 
 pay toll here, and then you can pass on unmolested. If you 
 refuse to pay, you can neither go on nor go back." They 
 spoke very insolently, and were very much more insolent than 
 the first set. Well, I had a double-barrelled gun, and they 
 
a Ganda Boy. 
 
 93 
 
 kept pressing us closely, and we were only five. Then one 
 of the Wadui came forward and was going to stab me in the 
 thigh with his spear, because I had a turban on my head, and 
 the man tried first to knock it off with his spear. In a moment 
 I was seized with a fit of passion ; something seized upon my 
 heart with a paroxysm of fury. I held my gun ready and 
 was going to fire it and kill him dead on the spot, even if I 
 was killed myself in the fit of fury which had seized me. But 
 my companions said, " What does a boy like you want to take 
 away people's lives and property for ? " So I was quiet. Then 
 the savage came at me and was going to strip off my loin- 
 cloth, and a lot of others came crowding round us. Well, 
 I thought that my hour had come, and I said to myself, 
 " Shall I tell my party that I am going to kill this fellow? I 
 think they are going to rob me of my gun, because I am a 
 boy and not as strong as they, only strong enough just to 
 carry a gun." Then that something came back to me again 
 and seized upon my heart — a something which stirred up a 
 furious passion in me to make me kill that man. I felt as 
 if I had already killed him, and as if I was already dead 
 myself, killed for killing him. I felt them closing in upon 
 us and me in the middle of them all, and I held my gun 
 ready waiting for the man who wanted to come and strip off 
 my loin-cloth, ready to kill him outright. As to dying my- 
 self, I never thought of it; it seemed to me mere sport, 
 because of that something which drove all thought of death 
 out of my mind, so long as I took that man's life. But I 
 know now that it was really Satan who seized upon my soul, 
 and was persuading me to take his life and lose my own. 
 When my party saw it all, they looked at me and saw my 
 face had a dreadful look ; the veins stood out all over my 
 forehead as they had never done before, and my face was 
 as red as blood, and I could not speak, and they knew that 
 a devil had really entered into me. Then every man took 
 
94 
 
 XI L History of 
 
 his own loin-cloth, and the savages received three loin-cloths 
 in place of that one of mine. They accepted the three loin- 
 cloths and said, " All right. Pass on, friends. Good bye." 
 So we went on. And my companions said to me, " Why 
 were you going to take people's lives for nothing? We saw 
 you were going to shoot that fellow. What did you get in 
 a passion for ? And you a traveller on the march. Is that 
 the way to behave when you are travelling ? However, you 
 are only a boy ; you are just a beginner in travelling. But 
 remember, if a man takes to travelling, he must leave his 
 temper at home. When you come to a strange town, don't 
 be saucy to the people. Walk up quietly and make a plea- 
 sant remark to the people of the town. That is what great 
 travellers do. If you want to be a traveller, leave your temper 
 at home, have nothing whatever to do with it. Do as great 
 travellers do. If the people of the country say 1 Stop,' stop. 
 If they say ' Go back,' go back. If they ask, ' Where are 
 you going ? Where do you come from ? ' tell them your whole 
 story from beginning to end. This is what great travellers 
 do." And they said to me, " If you are going to take to 
 travelling, do as travellers do. Don't get angry in a strange 
 town. Keep your anger for the forests, for fighting your 
 enemies who lay wait for you in the forests." 
 
 So we went on and came to a place where there was a 
 forest called Manyonga. As soon as ever we reached this 
 forest we fell in with some of the people of the forest, 
 who forthwith fired a gun at us, but it did not hit. We put 
 down our loads and went at them with our guns like men, 
 and pursued them and they ran away. Then we went back 
 and took our loads again. Presently we came to another 
 forest, and there we found there were numbers of men lying 
 in wait — people who made their livelihood by murder and 
 wholesale robbery. When we saw them, we were afraid and 
 went into the bushes, and hid ourselves in the bushes till 
 
a Ganda Boy. 
 
 95 
 
 night. Then we came out and travelled by night only, till 
 we reached a safer country, called Unyanyembe. It is a place 
 where Arabs have settled, and there are French living there, 
 but no Englishman. I stopped two days, and then started 
 again and made a very long march till I came to a place 
 called Tura. At Tura I laid in a stock of food, because there 
 is a town there, but no towns afterwards, only forest. We 
 began our journey, and entered this great forest. It takes 
 six days to cross it, and there is not a single town on the 
 road. The forest is called Mgundamkali. We entered Mgun- 
 damkali and travelled night and day, till we were tired out, 
 and seeing a thicket we made our way into the thicket and 
 lay down. Suddenly, before we had been long lying down, 
 a herd of elephants appeared and surrounded the thicket 
 and began eating the grass in the thicket. We were all inside 
 the thicket, and not a man among us all was able to fire his 
 gun, because the bitter cold had seized our hands, and not 
 a man of us all was able to fire his gun. There we were 
 inside the thicket, and we became almost senseless from the 
 terrible fright we felt there inside the thicket. The elephants 
 went on grazing in the thicket, when one of them trumpeted, 
 and then all of them started off and went away. But we did 
 not get any sleep after it ; we only rested. Then we too 
 started off and travelled night and day, and presently our 
 earthenware cooking-pot got broken. At night we came on 
 a band of men lying in wait for travellers, but they were 
 asleep, and we passed by them softly so as not to wake them 
 up. We went on in darkness and very weary, and then we 
 saw a very large thicket, quite a wood in fact, and we made 
 our way into it and lay down. Well, when we had got well 
 into it, an old lion appeared and was going to spring on us. 
 We could not fire at him because we were afraid of the band 
 of robbers. If they heard the report of a gun, they would 
 come in pursuit of us ; so we forbade firing at the lion. The 
 
9 6 
 
 XII History of 
 
 lion kept prowling round time after time, and one of us said, 
 " What are we to do ? Suppose we separate, each man going 
 to a different post, with his gun ready, while one lights a fire? 
 If we see the lion going to spring on anyone, let us fire at 
 him, and as soon as we have fired, make off as fast as we 
 can." So we separated, every man going to a different post, 
 with his gun in his hand ready, and I lighted a fire, keeping 
 my gun in my hand. Well, the fire blazed up, and the lion 
 saw the blaze of the fire and made off. Then we had a short 
 rest, but there was no cooking-pot. We had to eat millet 
 uncooked, like donkeys. Again we started and travelled 
 night and day for three days, with nothing to eat but un- 
 cooked millet. Cooking there was none. Our faces, too, 
 changed. They became completely altered ; we had become 
 like wild beasts of the forest. So passed these three days, 
 and on the fourth we arrived at a town called Tongo ; the 
 chiefs name was Kilunda. When we reached Tongo I felt 
 as if we had reached Zanzibar, and there we had food to eat. 
 
 Then we came to another district, called Daboru, which 
 now belongs to a Swahili and a Frenchman. There is a town 
 there belonging to him, but the country had formerly had 
 different owners, who were exceedingly insolent in exacting 
 enormous tolls. This Swahili, however, subdued them ; his 
 name was Mwinyi Mtwana, and now- there are Frenchmen 
 living at Daboru too. Mwinyi Mtwana takes tolls from Arabs 
 and Europeans alike. Leaving this, I came to another 
 country called Ugogo. I went on and came to another chief 
 named Mnywanjaga (Mwenganzaga ?) We had first some 
 bhang, and that was all we had for our food, and some to- 
 bacco. When we came to a place we used to take out a 
 little bhang and buy what food we wanted, or a little tobacco 
 just to get food enough for a meal. When we came to Mny- 
 wanjaga's town, people very soon came out of the town and 
 ran to us and made us stop. We stopped, and they asked 
 
a Ganda Boy, 
 
 97 
 
 us where we came from, and where we were going, and we 
 explained it all from first to last. However, they robbed us 
 of our bhang and our tobacco, and then let us go, saying, 
 " Now then, be off with you." And we had no food, for 
 the bhang which I and my companions had carried was all 
 we had for food. We travelled on till three o'clock in the 
 afternoon, and then came on an Arab caravan. One of the 
 Arabs knew the other men of my party, and they went and 
 explained to him all about us. He was very sorry for us, 
 for he was a kind-hearted men, and he gave us three lengths 
 of cloth. Then we left him, and went on, and entered a 
 forest. Oh ! that forest ! It was indeed a terrible business, 
 that forest called Chunyu. I was quite well when I went into 
 Chunyu forest, but after I had walked nine hours in Chunyu, 
 I was suddenly taken ill, and could not walk at all. My 
 legs gave way ; and my arms and all my joints were weak 
 and loose, and all my strength left me, after that nine hours' 
 walking. My load was taken away from me, they wanted even 
 to rob me of my gun ; that is, the men who had joined on to 
 the slaves of Hasiri bin Sululu. For it was their master's 
 habit, if a man was taken ill, just to cast him off completely, 
 without giving him food or water, or medicine Accordingly 
 I was cast off in Chunyu, and they wanted my gun, but my 
 friend, who came froqa the same country as myself, he 
 ordered them not to take my gun, and he did his best to 
 nurse me. The other men saw him nursing me, and said 
 to him, " Leave the fellow alone. Don't nurse him. Come 
 along. If he dies, there is an end of him. If you nurse 
 him, his sickness will come back on you too, and you'll die 
 the pair of you, he and you." But he was quite ready to 
 die with me. When they said, " We will seize you, tie your 
 hands behind you, and carry you off, if you don't leave him 
 to die by himself. If you want to die together, very good," 
 then my friend drew back with his gun, and said, " Come 
 
 H 
 
9 8 
 
 XII. History of 
 
 on, lay hold of me, if we are all going to die together here 
 in the forest." Then they said, " You know nothing about 
 travelling. If a man is taken ill, just let him die. If you 
 wait for him, the whole lot of you will die together." But 
 he replied, " I had rather take care of him. You can go 
 on. If we must die, well, be it so. But to leave him alone, 
 and he alive and not dead at all, I won't do it till he is 
 actually dead ; then I don't mind leaving him, for that is 
 our custom at home. There's not a man of us who will 
 desert a friend of his if he is taken ill. Perhaps if he dies 
 then he might leave him." So there I was, left in the forest, 
 and that friend of mine took care of me, and would not 
 desert me. It was three o'clock when I was seized with 
 illness, but at five it left me, and I was able to go on. So I 
 and my companion went on together, following the rest of 
 our party. In the night we came upon them, halting for 
 rest at a place called Kisoko (Kisokwe ?) in Maringamkali. 
 And we too sat down and rested, for we were very much 
 tired. 
 
 In the morning we went on, and after a march of five 
 hours, reached Mpwapwa, where there is an English settle- 
 ment. And there I found the European I was following, at 
 Mpwapwa, and another European with him, and I told them 
 all about what had happened to me in the forest. And 
 they were very sorry for me. I did not want myself to go 
 to Zanzibar. I wanted to stay there with my other friends. 
 But H. W. Duta, and Johari, and Buketi, and Marijani 
 would not let me stay there. They said, " It is nonsense 
 staying here. Zanzibar is quite near now. You are as good 
 as there. Go on at once, and get your money. Don't 
 lose it for nothing. You have as good as got there now. 
 You had much better go and get it. Listen. We too are 
 going to Zanzibar directly. The Englishman has said, 
 ' We leave here in seven days.' And your Englishman will 
 
a Ganda Boy. 
 
 99 
 
 find you in Zanzibar. So I stayed at Mpwapwa two days. 
 Then I started, and, after a very long march of perhaps 
 seventeen days, reached Bagamoyo. I took my order to 
 the Banyan to get my money, and the Banyan took out two 
 dollars, and gave them me." I asked him, " Is that all I 
 am to have ? " And he said, " That is the whole sum 
 written in this order." I protested, and he said, " Take 
 these orders to Zanzibar. Perhaps these contain your order 
 for the larger sum." A dhow was provided for the voyage, 
 and after a voyage of seven hours I arrived there. When I 
 saw the ships I wondered greatly at the way they were con- 
 structed. Then I landed on the shore, and was astonished 
 at the way in which the houses were built, and wondered 
 very much at their being all of stone. I took the orders to 
 the Banyan, and received two rolls of cloth from the 
 Banyan. I asked him about my dollar, and he replied, 
 " No. It is not so written in this order." I was very angry 
 indeed, because the journey had been a very difficult and 
 dangerous one. I waited in order to rest and then go after 
 my companions, but very soon they appeared, and the 
 Englishman with them. Then I was indeed very very glad. 
 They landed and we stayed two days. Then the English- 
 man said, " I want to take you and H. W. Duta to Mom- 
 basa to be taught to read." We replied, " Then who will 
 come to take us back to our homes?" And he said, "I will 
 
 write a letter to Mr. C. S , and he will take you back to 
 
 your parents." But H. W. Duta refused, and so did I, to 
 go to Mombasa. So he took his own four children, one a 
 girl and three boys, who had been presented to him by the 
 king. These three boys he sent to Mombasa, and the girl 
 went with him to England. Then H. W. Duta was taken 
 to the Mission at Mkunazini, and I was left. After waiting 
 many months, at last I followed my friend to Kiinua Mguu. 
 And this, I think, is about the end of my story. 
 
IOO 
 
 XII. History of 
 
 I am living here now to pray to Almighty God, whose 
 providence has been over me in these dangers, which befell 
 me on the way. God knew that I should do His work a 
 little, and so He saved me in all these dangers which befell 
 me on the way, and never forgot me for a moment. And 
 so now I love to do my Saviour's work, trying not to forget 
 so to work, as to think of Him continually from day to 
 day. 
 
 First I was a lost wanderer. I lived like a poor miserable 
 man, like a blind man, not seeing even a glimpse of the 
 path in which people walk. While I so lived I saw one 
 going his way and asked him, " Can I go the same way as 
 you go, easily?" He answered me and said, " This way is 
 very easy, and a very good way too. It is not difficult, but 
 a way to follow with joy and laughter. Further, if you do 
 not go this way, there is no other way like it. You are 
 lost, lost, lost utterly." So I too followed the path which 
 he was following. And lo ! it was a way of delusion, and 
 not easy to follow, a way of many troubles too, and many 
 sorrows and tears. I went a little further, and began to see 
 the whole path full of pits. I saw that it was hard to pass, 
 and thorns closed it in on either side, till there seemed no 
 room between. And then there was darkness on that path and 
 no light, only journeying on in trouble, and sorrow, and tears. 
 But as I went along this path, I lifted my head high up, and 
 saw in another quarter a gleam of light. And I followed 
 that light, and left that path of pitfalls, and thorns, and dark- 
 ness, and followed the path of light. When I came to that 
 path, I found people walking along the path, walking in joy 
 and peace and calm, everyone. Troubles there were none. 
 Then I joined them on this path, this path of joy and 
 laughter, none forbidding me, and I was taught to know 
 how to walk as they walked along this path. This path is 
 the one I have followed to this day. I have been redeemed 
 
a Ganda Boy. 
 
 101 
 
 from the way which had no light. Those who followed it 
 were utterly deluded. 
 
 This is the end of my story. 
 
 Founding of the Kingdom of Ganda. 
 
 The Ganda country is now the largest of all the countries 
 on the mainland (of Africa). At first it was almost no 
 country at all, for then there was but a single town, and 
 that town a very small one, with less than a hundred in- 
 habitants. The chief's name was Buganda, and the name 
 of his town Mbale. It was hemmed in by many countries 
 — on the east by the countries of Kunga and Songa, on the 
 north by Kedi and Nyoro, on the south by Lama and Sese, 
 on the west by Buda and Sagara. The chiefs of all these 
 countries hemmed in the country of Ganda, but the town 
 of the chief of Ganda land contained people who were great 
 warriors, though few in number. 
 
 Now, there arose a certain man in Buganda's town, named 
 Kibuka, who was very great in war. This Kibuka began by 
 winning victories over the Nyoro land single-handed. His 
 method of fighting was this. He himself remained in- 
 visible ; when he went out to war, he passed through the 
 air above like a cloud. Those with whom he fought never 
 saw him, while he discharged arrows at them, and many were 
 killed and many carried off prisoners. Now, these prisoners 
 of war watched his proceedings, and saw him mount into 
 the air enveloped in a cloud. One of these prisoners 
 managed to escape, and went and told his fellow-country- 
 men, " The man who defeats us is not a creature of the 
 earth, but of the air. If you see a cloud lowering near you, 
 fire volleys of arrows at it, and you will hit him. And so 
 they did. One day Kibuka appeared, coming to fight them 
 
102 
 
 XII. History of 
 
 from above in a cloud, When his enemies saw the cloud 
 they fired heavy volleys of arrows at it. The arrows hit 
 Kibuka, but the people of Nyoro did not know that they 
 had hit him. On being struck by the arrows, he turned 
 back, and arrived near their town, Mbale, and lodged in a 
 tree. The name of this tree was Msambiya. He did not 
 go inside the town. Indeed, he was not able to get down 
 (from the tree), but died where he was, up in the tree. A 
 woman named Nagalemede saw him up in the tree dead. 
 So she went and called people from the town, and said to 
 them, " I have found a man up in a tree, covered with blood 
 and dead." They went and found that it was their own 
 man Kibuka, killed by the people of Nyoro. So they 
 carried him to their town, Mbale, and buried him. 
 
 But his death left the chief Buganda in possession of a 
 large country, and also with subjects all feeling the same 
 spirit when he was dead. They were filled with the same 
 spirit as the dead warrior, a warlike spirit, making them in- 
 vincible when they went forth to war. But there was one 
 thing in which they erred as to the deceased Kibuka. They 
 made his grave an object of worship. When Kibuka was 
 dead a succession of chiefs held sway in later years, and 
 conquered many countries — Kunga and Soga and Bukedi 
 and Nyoro and Badu and Kalagwe and Sagara. The land 
 of Sagara, however, they only subdued in part. The people 
 do not pay tribute, and a raid is made upon them every 
 year because they have refused to pay it. Then there is 
 Sese, and several other countries, and all these are called 
 Ganda, though they keep their own chiefs. But all these 
 countries have been seized by force, and therefore all are 
 now included in the term Ganda. 
 
 The late king of Ganda employed a man of great talents, 
 named Nende, possessing the same kind of talents as the 
 Kibuka, whose death has been related, viz., talents for war. 
 
a Ganda Boy. 
 
 The king sent him eastward to guard the road to Soga. If 
 the people of Ganda want to make a raid on a country to 
 the eastward it is the famous chief Nende who heads the 
 expedition. The people themselves call him Dubale. 
 Again the king employed Kawaga as guard of the northern 
 road. Kibuka was on the western side, and Namkasa on 
 the south. These are the chiefs who guard the frontiers, 
 all men of like talents, and the king treats them with great 
 affection, because they are the guardians of his country. 
 If men like these are wanting in that country the country is 
 helpless. They guard it effectually. If the people want to 
 go and make a raid on a country — east, north, south, or 
 west — the indispensable first step is to take counsel with 
 one of them. Unless a man takes counsel with them it is 
 impossible for him to go. He must gather them together 
 first, and ask them, saying, M I want to make a raid on such 
 a country." 
 
XIII. 
 
 HISTORY OF A NYORO BOY. 
 
 [This story represents a journey of at least 1,000 miles. 
 It starts in the Nyoro country, on the eastern border of the 
 Albert Nyanza, which was employed by General Gordon's 
 Italian lieutenant Gessi, and marks the frontier of the true 
 negro races of the Soudan and the Bantus. Captured by 
 the Gandas in one of their annual raids, and sold to slave- 
 dealers, the child seems to have walked the whole distance 
 from his own home down the western side of the Victoria 
 Nyanza, the accuracy of his memory and observation being 
 attested by the names which appear in the Royal Geogra- 
 phical Society's map of the region, to the great meeting- 
 point of roads and rendezvous of traders, Unyanyembe. 
 Here he marks clearly the character of the place in relation 
 to districts far beyond, and then follows the same track 
 substantially as History XII. to Zanzibar.] 
 
 HEN I was in my own country I was about 
 two years old, and there I lived, and that is 
 all I did. The Nyoro country is a country of 
 many mountains and many rivers running 
 from the mountains. One mountain is higher than the rest. 
 It is called Magongaha, and to the top is (I think) the dis- 
 tance of Chukwani from Kiungani (*>., a walk of about four 
 
XIII History of a Nyoro Boy. 105 
 
 miles). One large river is the Kakindu, and another the 
 Mtogo, and the rest are smaller. I was living in a village 
 called Ukonda, and afterwards I lived at Mnuka. The food 
 used in Nyoro is as follows : — millet and potatoes in great 
 abundance, also bananas are very plentiful, and from 
 bananas is made a liquor like wine. Then there are ground 
 nuts and many other kinds of food. 
 
 There is one very remarkable thing, which is this. There 
 are some very large rocks, and these rocks stand by them- 
 selves in open country, not in grass or brushwood, but in 
 bare open country, and moreover in the mountains there 
 are very spacious caverns. The people are accustomed to 
 fly for refuge to the top of these rocks. I myself once took 
 refuge on them during the time I was living there. Twice 
 there were wars. In the first one I was saved in a cave, 
 and in the second on a rock. The caverns were not large 
 enough for cattle, only for people, and goats, and sheep. 
 The cattle were driven off to a great distance. When the 
 people heard a rumour of distant war. they began at once 
 to drive off their cattle to a great distance, several days' 
 journey. Nyoro is a very mountainous country, and the 
 people till the soil diligently. Among their clearings are 
 many trees, which have no names in Swahili (not being 
 found on the coast), one being called " mtubba." Some of 
 the people keep large herds of cattle, others have sheep, and 
 others goats. It was in the third war that I was captured 
 (Note 22.) I was in a cavern, with my father and mother 
 and two brothers — one big, one little, and myself the 
 smallest of the three. Well, I knew nothing about the 
 meaning of war, so I went out of the cavern, just for fun as 
 it were, and while I was outside I was seized and carried 
 off. I do not remember anything more, for I was but a 
 little boy when I left my home. After my capture I was 
 taken along the road, leading to the Ganda country, and I 
 
io6 
 
 XIII. History of 
 
 noticed things on the road. I noticed many beautiful trees, 
 and a number of very small lakes, and a very stony place 
 like a wilderness, and many herds of animals grazing on 
 the mountains at a distance. I saw, too, great troops of 
 elephants. These elephants come from the region of the 
 Albert Nyanza, and they have a way of following up the 
 Ganda raiders. 
 
 Thus I was carried away to Ganda. I came to Ganda 
 when I was about three years old, and I lived on the border 
 of the Ganda country. On the border of Ganda there are 
 great tracts of country laid waste, and towns laid waste. 
 These wasted towns were laid waste by the elephants, which 
 come from the Lake Albert Nyanza, following the tracks of 
 the raiding parties, which go out from time to time to 
 fight. The border of Ganda is a fine country too, with hills 
 and mountains, and a great many streams. There is one 
 large river called Mtagana, which elephants are fond of 
 bathing in. I lived there till I grew up a little, though 
 only three years old (at first). Well, I was taken away from 
 that place at a general muster of people, whose services 
 were required by the king. I proceeded to a place, where 
 there was a high hill called Gambalagala. Leaving that 
 place I was conveyed to the town of the king of Ganda 
 (Note 23.) There I was demanded to be offered up as a 
 sacrifice, but I left the place, and a debt was paid with me, 
 and so I lived in the country between. 
 
 Food in Ganda consists of bananas, potatoes, maize, 
 ground nuts, beans, and many kinds of fruit, beside other 
 things. While in that country I went a journey with my 
 master, and came to a large river called Katonga, and then 
 to a second large river called Namajuzi. This last river 
 was the largest river of all, its width being the distance from 
 Mbweni to the Sultan's palace in Zanzibar about three 
 miles). 
 
a Nyoro Boy. 
 
 107 
 
 The names of the chief towns of the king of Ganda are 
 as follows : — first Ulaura, the second Kaoka, the third 
 Msamsala, the fourth Mguju, the fifth Kiyamja, the sixth 
 Mnyendo, the seventh Ugonzi, the eighth Kasaka, the ninth 
 Mtemla, the tenth Kiyumba, the eleventh Ugwela, the 
 twelfth Ukayata, and there are many more whose names I 
 do not know, and a very great number of villages besides. 
 The towns are all built in groves of bananas. You see no 
 houses, only bananas. This is how you recognize a town ; 
 when you see a grove of bananas you know that there lies a 
 town in the midst of them. 
 
 The names of the countries ruled over by the king of 
 Ganda are these : — Wera, Changabbo, Uziba, and Kium- 
 bilo, also Sese, an island in the Victoria Nyanza, and also 
 Bwela. Those are the countries. Then the names of the 
 towns in which I lived as a slave are : — first, the town (or 
 "challo," which means town, in the Ganda language) of a 
 chief called Msoga, but the name of the town I do not know. 
 It was a very beautiful spot, but the villages near it were 
 all laid waste by elephants. Next I lived in the capital of 
 the king of Ganda, then thirdly in the town of Yaura. 
 Thence it was that I started on a journey with my masters 
 to the river Namajuzi. My fourth home was Kasaka, my 
 fifth Ulaura, the sixth Mnyendo, the seventh Mpugwe, the 
 eighth Kalamna. Then I came to Kiumbilo. After we had 
 arrived at Kiumbilo my masters heard that there was an 
 Arab in Kiswele, so they took me there and sold me for 
 some cloth. 
 
 There is one more thing about Ganda. There is a forest 
 very remarkable for its size and length, containing animals 
 of every kind. The length of this forest from end to end is 
 a journey of two months. This is the end of my account of 
 Ganda. 
 
 I remained in Kiswele as the slave of the Arab, and then 
 
io8 
 
 XIII. History of 
 
 went to the country of Nyambo with the Arab. This, too, 
 is a fine country. The people keep cattle and till the soil, 
 and the chief is Rumanyika. His territory is a very fine 
 one. It is very hilly, and bananas are as plentiful as in 
 Ganda. The people generally resemble the Gandas, but 
 they are still more closely like the Nyoros, both their 
 language and character, and their women are very hand- 
 some on the whole. After leaving Nyambo we came to 
 (the land of) another chief, a land containing a large river, 
 and the people fish a great deal in the river. The name of 
 the chief I did not learn. His country is a very fine one, 
 with a great abundance of white millet. The people occupy 
 themselves with fishing and tilling the ground. This 
 country too is very hilly. 
 
 Proceeding from this place, we came to the Sumbua 
 country, which also is a beautiful land, with mountains and 
 a few rivers and many large and tall trees, the height from 
 root to top of a single tree being over forty cubits. This 
 tree is called the " myombo." The people till the ground 
 by their villages, and are fond of living in villages strongly 
 stockaded. They are brave, and have many villages with 
 stockades and many chiefs. But the land was very peaceful ; 
 there was no war. Leaving this place we came to Mirambo 
 (Note 24), but I can tell nothing about him, for we passed 
 as quickly as ever we could, and arrived at Unyanyembe. 
 Unyanyembe is a country of small hills of no great size, 
 with many tracts of forest to the northward. But it is a fine 
 country. The people cultivate diligently, and the land is 
 productive. There are a large number of Arabs, forming a 
 very prosperous settlement. The chief Arab was Kisesa. 
 The Arabs travel in all directions, some reaching Ujiji, and 
 crossing over (Lake Tanganyika), and penetrating to the 
 countries of Nyema, Bemba, and Ryamalungu, and also 
 Ruba, in quest of slaves and ivory, which they collect 
 
a Nyoro Boy. 
 
 109 
 
 together at Unyanyembe. I left this place with a party of 
 Arabs travelling to Zanzibar, and we passed through the 
 forest of Mgundamali, a five days' journey, and arrived in 
 the Gogo country. This, too, is a fine country, with some 
 mountains, but still a fine country, producing abundance of 
 millet, maize, ground nuts, and much besides. The people 
 keep cattle, sheep, goats, &c. There are wastes, too, in the 
 country, very large trees, too, called Buyu (baobab) in great 
 abundance. The people are fond of the fruit, both mixed 
 with porridge and in other forms. Of mountains there are 
 but very few. 
 
 After leaving Gogo we passed the forest of Chunyu. 
 This forest is full of hills, some high, some low. When we 
 left Chunyu we reached Mpwapwa, where there is an English 
 Mission, in a beautiful place, with many hills and very fine 
 trees. The soil, too, produces all kinds of food, and the 
 people cultivate, and some keep sheep and cattle and goats. 
 After leaving Mpwapwa there is the Sagara country, and 
 near it a large river called Mkondogo, watering the whole 
 of the Sagara country, and passing beyond it. The whole 
 country is a fine one, and the people till the soil, beside 
 other occupations. Moreover, it is very mountainous. 
 
 I do not clearly recollect much more. We left Sagara, 
 and came to the Kame country. After Kame the Zigua 
 country, of which also I know nothing except that where 
 the chief lives there is a very high mountain, whose top is 
 the clouds. After Zigua came the Zaramo country, of which 
 I know nothing, and after Zaramo Bagamoyo. This is a 
 fine country, with many fertile plantations and a large popu- 
 lation of Arabs, Hindis, and Swahilis. The French, too, 
 are very flourishing. There they cut channels for water. 
 
I IO 
 
 XIII. History of 
 
 This, too, happened to me. 
 
 When I was a slave in the Ganda country I was very well 
 treated, but under my last master in Ganda I was treated 
 badly. My business was to tend my master's goats, and this 
 went on till one day I went to tend the goats, and a leopard 
 came and carried off a large goat. I did not know that the 
 goat had been seized, and when it was evening I drove all 
 the rest of the goats home, and then went searching for the 
 missing one among the fields, but did not find it. Then I 
 went back to the village, but I did not go back to my 
 master's house — I went to another house. My master was 
 out in the country, but when he heard of it he came, but 
 did not find me, and searched for me in anger because of 
 the goat, because I had not told him that the goat was lost. 
 He found me in the other house, and took me and gave me 
 a great beating, till blood flowed from my nose and mouth. I 
 remained for the night in that other house. In the morning 
 they went to the forest and found the remains of the goat, 
 and brought them to the village, and some of them took the 
 flesh that was left and ate it. And I was going to ask about 
 it, but my master had a spear in his hand, and threw the 
 spear, intending to kill me, but I avoided it, and it went 
 into a banana tree just behind me. 
 
 Again, I was on a journey, and my master made me carry 
 a heavy load, which was too much for me. Well, one day 
 as we were going I felt my load very heavy, and I fell down 
 with my load in the mud. When he saw the load all muddy 
 he got in a passion, and gave me a great beating. He even 
 took his spear to kill me, but his companions said, " Oh, 
 nonsense ! " so he let me off. And a third time I was 
 keeping goats as before, and one day I took some goats 
 belonging to his kinsman as well as his own, because their 
 owner had no one to tend them. My master saw these 
 other goats, and gave me a great beating, till I became in- 
 
a Nyoro Boy. 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 sensible. He beat me on my leg, cutting the flesh till the 
 bone was laid bare, and there was a great wound. But I 
 was nursed, and got well. 
 
 After I got well I was sold to some Arabs in Kiswele. 
 The man who bought me was not a real Arab, but a Swahili. 
 There I lived in slavery, but was well treated at first. When 
 we left Kiswele, and went to the country of Nyambo, I was 
 badly treated, and made to carry a great many things. I 
 carried my master's mats from Kiswele to Nyambo, an eight 
 days' march. We stayed for a time, and then left, and I 
 was very well treated then, and many others were treated 
 well too, but some badly. From the time we left Nyambo 
 to Sumbua I was sometimes treated well and sometimes 
 badly, and it was the same with the others. But master 
 and slave all fared alike as to food. 
 
 After this we were travelling one day, and that day we 
 made a longer march than on any other day in our journey. 
 That day a great many people's strength gave way, and 
 mine too, for I had a heavy load on my head, and then it 
 was that he gave me a worse beating than on any other day 
 in our travels. He beat me because I could not keep up, 
 and was going to kill me, but his companions said it was no 
 good, so he let me off. That day we walked from two 
 o'clock in the morning till five o'clock in the evening, 
 through a forest which is near the chief of the Maviti, and 
 in the morning we got into another country. From that 
 time I was treated pretty well, but some of the slaves were 
 near dying from sickness and small-pox, and three did die, 
 one man and two women, and a little baby, too, because its 
 mother was dead. We went on to Unyanyembe, and I was 
 sold by my master to another man, and there I was treated 
 ten times as well as before, and was set to take care of my 
 master's child. I lived in great comfort, but soon I was sold 
 to an Arab, and then, too, I was treated well till I got to 
 
I 12 
 
 XIII. History of 
 
 Bagamoyo. After reaching Bagamoyo I was sold again, and 
 there I was set to keep shop and sell my master's wares. 
 There, too, I found a friend, Salimu, and two girls, (so we 
 were) four altogether. We were sold, and came to Winde, 
 and there our numbers increased, and we were six. And we 
 went to Saadani, and then to Buyuni and Kipumbi, and 
 then Kikwajuni. On arriving at Pangani we again increased 
 in numbers, and were eleven. We stayed a long time at 
 Pangani. After leaving Pangani we came to a place called 
 Gulio, where a great market is held, and after Gulio we 
 came to Tanga, and we slaves were largely added to, till 
 there were fifty-two — many more women than men, perhaps 
 thirty grown women, many young, and only a few with 
 children, about six. Then there were about four boys, and 
 seven Arabs. 
 
 That very night we embarked in a dhow with five Arabs, 
 two remaining on shore. We embarked in a dhow with five 
 Arabs and sailed. The first day we had bananas to eat, the 
 second day unripe mangoes, and the third day the same as 
 the second, both the third and the fourth. Those three 
 days there was rain with bursts of sunshine on the sea, but 
 water to drink there was not a drop. On the fourth of 
 these days the sea was very rough, but we went on till four 
 o'clock, and then we came near Pemba. Then the Arabs 
 began to consult together, whether to land the slaves in the 
 country or at the custom-house. Some said, " Let us land 
 them at the custom-house." So they put about, and we 
 made for the custom-house. Night fell, but we went on. 
 It was a pitch-dark night, and as we went we saw a light 
 belonging to one of the boats of H.M.S. " London." The 
 Arabs thought it was a fire on the shore, for the boat was 
 close to the shore. We were passing as it were to the left, 
 and leaving the boat on the right. Presently we heard, 
 " Lower sail," and the sailors on the dhow replied, and the 
 
a Nyoro Boy. 
 
 "3 
 
 captain said to the Arabs, " We had better lower." They 
 answered and said "Nonsense!" The Europeans got 
 angry, and repeated four times, "Lower sail." After that 
 they fired a gun, and when they fired the gun the Arabs 
 began to get into a fright, and bustled about in the dhow, 
 cutting the ropes of the dhow, so as to shift the sail to catch 
 the wind. But wind there was none. There had been 
 wind at first, but when they ordered us to lower sails there 
 was a complete calm, and after that not a breath of wind. 
 One Arab when he saw the boat close by threw himself into 
 the sea, and made for the shore, for the shore was quite 
 near. Then the boat came up very fast, and one European 
 officer, who was their leader, boarded the dhow, cut the sail 
 down, and took the anchor and threw it into the water. 
 After this others came onboard, and an interpreter came on 
 board too. We lay down till morning, and then were 
 changed about until we came to the " London." In the 
 morning, at nine o'clock, we were landed on the shore at 
 the consulate, and were asked every one his name and 
 tribe. After the consul (we went to) Mkunazini, and from 
 Mkunazini to Kiungani. That is the end of me. 
 
 1 
 
Part II. 
 AFRICAN TALES. 
 
Part II. 
 
 AFRICAN TALES. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 HE personal narratives in Part I. are the best 
 introduction to the miscellaneous stories, 
 chronicles, and fables of Part II. of this 
 volume. They supply or suggest everything 
 necessary for a just estimate of their origin and value, and 
 explain difficulties arising from the mixed character of their 
 contents. No one will expect from a haphazard aggregation 
 of young African waifs and strays a complete or harmonious 
 or representative collection of the stories current in the 
 Dark Continent. No one will expect them to be free from 
 admixture from other sources — elements contributed by 
 each new turn in the varied experiences of the narrator, as 
 he passed from tribe to tribe of his own countrymen, then 
 to Arabs, and finally to Europeans. But, on the other hand, 
 no one need expect disguise or mere fabrication. The 
 stories are told simply and without art to the best of each 
 boy"s recollection, served by a sympathetic fancy. Traces 
 
u8 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 of Arab and European influence exist in many — of Semite 
 and Aryan, of the " Tents of Shem " and the " God of 
 Japheth " in the Semitic camp — but are clear enough to be 
 distinguishable, while the bulk remains plainly African, both 
 in substance and form. 
 
 As to African folk-lore in general, it may be sufficient to 
 refer to the collections made by the late Dr. Bleek of Cape 
 Town, of " Hottentot Fables and Tales " by Bishop Calla- 
 way of Zulu, and by Bishop Steere of Swahili stories, and 
 (to turn to a very different, but hardly less valuable source 
 of information on the subject) Mr. Chandler Harris's " Uncle 
 Remus " and companion volumes, already referred to in the 
 Preface. 
 
 The thirty-one here edited are arranged in three main divi- 
 sions, according to the locality from which they are drawn, 
 viz., Stories I. -XIII. from the country of Ganda to the north 
 of Lake Victoria Nyanza ; Stories XIV.-XXIII. from the 
 region of Lake Nyassa, the country of the Bisas, Bembas, 
 Makuas, and Yaos, and finally, Stories XXIV.-XXXI. from 
 the coast itself, and the tribes in constant contact with its 
 capital, Zanzibar. Such are the Gindos, Zaramos, Ziguas, 
 Shambaras, and others. Any classification by contents would 
 be artificial, and perhaps misleading. The first division con- 
 tains two groups, viz., Stories L-VIL, written by a Ganda 
 lad (see Part I., History XII.), and VIII.-XIII. by a Nyoro 
 boy, taken captive, when quite a child, by the people of 
 Ganda (see Part I., History XIII.) In the first group two 
 stories (Nos. III. and IV.) belong entirely to the class of 
 so-called Beast-Fable. No. II. seems half chronicle, half 
 romance. The rest range from the purely historical, so 
 far as such are possible under the conditions, to narrative 
 founded on fact, or merely possible. The narrator is often 
 definite as to persons and places, and assured the Editor 
 that in several cases they were within his personal knowledge. 
 
Introduction. 
 
 119 
 
 Thus Singo (Story I.) he describes as two days' journey, 
 perhaps thirty or forty miles, from the capital, in a north- 
 westerly direction, Bulemenzi as about the same distance to 
 the north. He had seen the grave of Kawekwa's son at 
 Jinga, heard the story of Msamya and his sheep (No. V.), 
 from his son Magala, and was acquainted with the sons of 
 the burglar Dubowa (No. VII.). Of course imagination plays 
 its part in all, but this is very different from conscious dis- 
 tortion of fact. " Dry light " is a modern refinement, not 
 to say fiction. The second group is all Beast-Fable, 
 mostly of a childish kind. One story at least, No. XIII., 
 " The Rabbit and the Elephant (3) " is a mere variant of 
 the first story with that title (No. III.). 
 
 The ten succeeding stories, Nos. XIV. -XXIII., pro- 
 fess to be drawn from the Bisa and Makua countries, lying 
 west and east of Lake Nyassa, — countries less remote 
 from the coast than Ganda, and accordingly one or two 
 stories contain incidents and colouring implying at least a 
 second-hand acquaintance with coast-life and the influence 
 of the ubiquitous Arab caravan. But there seems no reason 
 why most of them should not be regarded as fair specimens 
 of stories current in those districts. 
 
 The last group of eight stories, Nos. XXIV.-XXXL, was 
 furnished exclusively from districts closely connected by 
 locality or trade with Zanzibar. They illustrate not only 
 the characteristic mixture of native and Arab elements 
 which makes the typical Swahili, but also the marked effect 
 of Zanzibar scenes and sounds on the imagination of those 
 to whom the great city comes as a very revelation, the em- 
 bodiment of the highest flight of human advancement. Its 
 ships, its cannon, its stone warehouses and palaces, its 
 clock-tower, its Sultan as the ideal of Arab luxury and 
 refinement, — all these, magnified and multiplied beyond all 
 bounds, figure in these stories, and not less significant is 
 
1 20 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 the ever-recurring contrast of riches and poverty, the gulf 
 between them, and their rapid interchange. 
 
 A few explanatory remarks are prefixed to some of the 
 stories. 
 
I. 
 
 KAWEKWA AND TEGUAKI. 
 
 (HOW) KAWEKWA AND TEGUAKI WENT TO CONSULT A 
 MEDICINE-MAN, NAMED NAMGANGA, LIVING AT A PLACE 
 CALLED MASABA. 
 
 CERTAIN man went from the king to a 
 medicine-man, and asked him to give him 
 war-medicine. The medicine-man said to 
 him, " Are you a man of valour?" The man 
 answered, " Yes, I am a man of valour." The medicine- 
 man said to him, " If you are a man of valour, come along 
 with me." And they went along the road. When they 
 were alone and no one near, the medicine-man said, " I 
 will give you two spears and a shield. Go into the forest in 
 front of you, and if you meet another man, do not be afraid 
 of him. If you are afraid of him you will be killed." 
 When he had given him these directions the man went into 
 the forest with his spears and shield. He went into the 
 forest with his shield and spears, and met a man like him- 
 self, and threw a spear at him, but did not strike him full, 
 and the man from the forest struck the man who had asked 
 for war-medicine and killed him. So everyone was afraid of 
 (asking for) Namganga's war-medicine. 
 
 Presently another man set out. He lived at a place called 
 Singo, and was one of the king's men, but he was not sent 
 
122 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 by the king. His name was Kawekwa. He came to Nam- 
 ganga, and said, " I want war-medicine." " Are you sure," 
 replied Namganga, " that my medicine is not too strong for 
 you ?" " Yes," answered Kawekwa, " I am sure your medi- 
 cine is not too strong for me." Namganga said to him, " If 
 it is not too strong for you, come here, and let me tell you 
 all about it." So he went, and he explained it all to him, 
 and gave him the spears and shield, and said to him, " Now, 
 then, go into that forest in front of you, and if you come 
 across a man like yourself do not run away from him. If 
 you are afraid of him he will kill you." The man replied, 
 "Very good." Namganga said to him, "Go." And Kawekwa 
 went, and arrived at the place he had told him of, and found 
 the man of whom he had told him. Kawekwa at once 
 seized his spear, and he threw it at the other man and killed 
 him. When he had killed him he went back to Namganga 
 in great triumph, and said to him, " I have killed the man." 
 " Very good," replied Namganga ; " I want my fee, and I 
 will give you the medicine you want. I want a goat and a 
 white fowl and a shawl and ninety cowries." When he had 
 paid Namganga his fee, then Namganga gave him his medi- 
 cine, and he made him a bag for it, and gave it Kawekwa. 
 And he said to him, " Go. If a spear hit you, it shall not 
 pierce you. If a bullet hit you, it shall not hurt you." 
 And so it was. He went to war and fought most valiantly, 
 and afterwards he went by himself and conquered a number 
 of towns single-handed. 
 
 Then another man appeared. The place he came from 
 was called Bulemenzi. He, too, was one of the king's men, 
 but he was not sent by the king. His name was Teguaki. 
 He, too, went to Namganga to ask for war-medicine. Nam- 
 ganga said to him, "Do you want medicine from me?" 
 " Yes," he replied, " I want medicine from you." " You 
 want medicine from me. Well, what is your name?" 
 
/. Kawekwa and Teguaki. 123 
 
 " Teguaki." " Is not my medicine too strong for you ?" 
 " It is not too strong for me." " Speak the truth." " I 
 do." So they went to the place, and he told him all about 
 it, just as he had told the first man, Kawekwa, and gave 
 him the spears and shield, and off he went. And he did 
 just exactly the same as Kawekwa had done, and when he 
 had killed his man he returned to Namganga's house. 
 Namganga said to him, " I want my fee." He replied, 
 "What do you receive for your fee?" Namganga said to 
 him just what he had said to the first man, and he brought 
 him his fee. And Namganga gave him his medicine, and 
 made him a bag for it, and gave it to Teguaki, and said to 
 him exactly what he had said to the first man, Kawekwa. 
 And he went to war, and fought and conquered his enemies 
 most valiantly. Then he went by himself and conquered a 
 number of towns single-handed, and a very valiant man he 
 was. Every man was loud in his praises, and his fame 
 reached the first man, Kawekwa. His neighbours said to 
 him, " There is a man in our country here who is as great a 
 hero as yourself." Kawekwa answered, "Where is this 
 fellow?" They said, "He lives at Bulemenzi." Kawekwa 
 stoutly contradicted them. 11 There is no one so valiant as 
 I." They replied, "There is a man as good as you." He 
 was very angry, and went after his rival. 
 
 He went to the place they told him of, and arrived at 
 Bulemenzi, and asked, " Where is Teguaki's house?" 
 They showed him the house. "Yonder, a very high one; 
 that is his house." Well, he went to it, and found Teguaki's 
 wife, but did not find her husband — he was gone to the 
 wars. Teguaki's goats, Kawekwa slaughtered them all. 
 And Teguaki came back from the wars, and found his com- 
 fortable home quite quiet, but all his goats gone and his 
 bananas cut down. And he called his wife, and his wife 
 said to him, " I cannot speak about what has happened. 
 
I2 4 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 Ask your neighbours." (The neighbours said) "A man set 
 out to come in search of you, to fight you, because you are 
 so very much praised. That is why he cut down your 
 bananas and killed your goats — just to make you very 
 angry and come after him. He said his name was Kawekwa, 
 and that he lived at Singo. There is a very high hill called 
 Kishozi ; when you come to this hill you will see his house 
 plainly, for it is a very high one." Teguaki had not yet 
 gone inside his house, and when he heard this account he 
 did not go into his house at all, and he did not eat, and he 
 was very full of wrath. " Moreover Kawekwa said, if you 
 do not come after him, he will come and carry you off to go 
 and draw water for his wife." 
 
 Well, Teguaki went after his rival Kawekwa, and came to 
 the hill and saw Kawekwa's house, and went down the hill 
 and reached the house, and found his wife there, and asked 
 her, "Whose house is this?" She replied, " Kawekwa's." 
 "Where is he?" His wife answered, "He is gone to the 
 wars." He said to her, " Come here." The woman came 
 to him, and Teguaki cut off both her ears, and said to her, 
 " When your husband comes tell him, ' It was Teguaki who 
 cut off my ears like this, and if you do not go after him he 
 will come again and cut off yours.' " 
 
 Afterwards Kawekwa came back from the wars, and be- 
 fore he reached his house they told him, " Your wife has 
 had her ears cut off by Teguaki." When he heard that, he 
 did not go to his house, because his wife had had her ears 
 cut off. He said, "How can I look at my wife?" Then 
 he went after Teguaki, and came to a small hill near his 
 destination, and blew his war-pipe. Teguaki's wife said to 
 him, " That is the war-pipe of your friend, the man whose 
 wife's ears you cut off." So he took out his own pipe, and 
 blew it in answer to him. When Kawekwa heard him 
 answer he was delighted because of finding his rival. He 
 
/. Kawekwa and Teguaki, 125 
 
 drew near, and Teguaki brought out ashes and cinders and 
 sent them to him, for such is the custom when they are 
 going to fight — they first rub themselves over with ashes 
 and cinders, so as not to be recognizable. Then Kawekwa 
 said to Teguaki, " Make haste, and come on. Don't think 
 that I have come a long way, and fancy that I am fatigued 
 as yet." He replied, " Wait for me. I am having a meal 
 first." He took out his spears and shield, and sent them 
 outside. When he had done eating, he went out of his 
 house and blew his war-pipe, and the other answered him. 
 Then he went at him, and there they met. First Kawekwa 
 threw a spear, but his enemy avoided it, and it broke in 
 two. Then Teguaki threw a spear, and Kawekwa avoided 
 it, and it broke in two. Then both threw at the same 
 moment, and each man tried to parry with his shield, but 
 they fell down both of them and died. 
 
 Their brethren came to mourn for them, and some dug a 
 grave. Kawekwa had one son, named Wakiuguru, and he 
 came to mourn for him. But before he arrived, or the 
 grave was finished, they both came to life again. When 
 they had made friends, they called the child Wakiuguru, 
 and he came. And (Kawekwa) said to him, " This is my 
 son, Wakiuguru. When I die, he is master of my house." 
 When he had uttered these words, they both died. When 
 they were dead, the boy was master of the house of his 
 father, Kawekwa. 
 
 And Wakiuguru turned out exactly like his father for 
 bravery, and was greatly beloved by the king for his bravery. 
 And the king said, u I want you to go and subdue Busoga. 
 Do you need any soldiers?" He said, " I do not want your 
 soldiers ; I will go all by myself." The king said, " Go, 
 then," and he went. He went and subdued the country 
 called Soga. He subdued it all by himself. When he had 
 subdued it he came back. When he had come back the 
 
1 26 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 king loved him very much for his bravery, and gave him a 
 number of slaves, and gave him also a place called Jinga. 
 And they went and built him his town, and he went and 
 lived in his town. Then he started from his town, and de- 
 feated the people of Soga — every month he used to make a 
 raid of this kind. Well, one day when he had come back 
 from a war he was attacked by a sickness, and after two 
 days he died. They went and told the king, " Wakiuguru 
 is dead." And the king was very sorry, for he had loved 
 him very much, and he sent a number of slaves to go and 
 sweep his grave at Jinga. 
 
II. 
 
 BEASTS AND MEN. 
 
 N old times people were very valiant. A single 
 man went out from a town and into a forest 
 to catch a buffalo, and brought back the 
 buffalo alive to the town. Again, when people 
 here [in Gandaland] heard that there were other towns near, 
 a single man went out with his club, and went to conquer a 
 whole town with just one club and nothing more. Well, 
 one day, when people knew nothing about it, a fierce beast 
 called Nabinene, of huge size, came and went into all the 
 towns, and devoured all the people. Now, there was a 
 certain woman living in the town She (ran away into the 
 high grass and) fell down, and the grass bent down over the 
 woman (her name was Nakhimu) and covered her over, so 
 that the beast did not see her at all. When it had done 
 devouring people, cattle, and every thing, all together — not 
 a single thing was left — when the woman saw that the beast 
 had gone quite away, she rose up again from where she lay 
 in the grass, and opened her eyes and looked all round, and 
 there was nothing. She stayed where she was in all her 
 wretchedness for a month, and bore a child, a boy, and 
 called him Mlekwa, which means bereft of father and 
 brothers and sisters. 
 
 After a time the child grew up, and his mother said to 
 him, " My child, you see here you have no father or brothers 
 
128 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 or sisters or relations, but only me, your mother." Then 
 Mlekwa said to his mother, " Why have I no father or 
 brothers or sisters?" His mother said to him, "Your 
 father and brothers and sisters were eaten by a beast. It 
 was a beast, yet not a beast but a man, yet not a man." 
 Then her son replied, "Where does that beast live?" 
 Nakhimu answered, " I do not know where it lives." The 
 boy said to her, " Mother, dear !" " Yes, my child." " I 
 want arrows. I want a sword. I want spears." His mother 
 did as he wished, and gave her son his weapons, and he 
 went away into the forest to search for the beast which had 
 devoured his father. 
 
 As he went he fell in with an old buffalo, and shot it dead 
 with a single arrow, and dragged it home, singing, " Chimazi 
 chamala banake nake lelo kilesi kinalaba runaku ruwalelo," 
 which means, "The beast which ate my father and my 
 brethren, to-day I have got it." When he arrived at home 
 his mother said to him, " That is not the beast." Again the 
 boy went into the forest, and fell in with a great many wild 
 beasts, and chose out an elephant because of its great size, 
 and struck it with a spear. The elephant lifted up his 
 trunk to seize him, and he struck at it with his sword, and 
 cut off its trunk and killed it. Now, the boy had the 
 strength of a hundred men, and he dragged the elephant a 
 distance of three hours' march, singing the same song as 
 before. He arrived at his home, and his mother said, " Ah ! 
 my child, this beast is not the beast. Only do not name 
 that beast. If you do but smell it you will faint away." 
 The boy knew the name, but said, "Very good. Make me 
 nine cakes and parch me some ground nuts, and put them 
 in a bag. Make me a pouch, too, to hold water." She 
 made them, and gave them to her son. When she had 
 given them to her son she said to him, " Mlekwa, my child, 
 where do you intend to go ?" Her son replied, "I do not 
 
II. Beasts and Men. 129 
 
 know where I shall go." His mother said, " Good-bye, my 
 child." " Good-bye, mother." And the lad went off into 
 the forest. 
 
 For two months he travelled on and on, and at last fell in 
 with a woman with only one breast in the forest. The lad 
 was very much afraid, and pondered, and horrible thoughts 
 came across him, and he said to himself, " What shall I do 
 to her ? She it is who ate my father and brothers and 
 sisters." As he was pondering thus the woman turned round 
 and saw the youth, and bade him welcome to her house. 
 The lad went with her and sat down, and she prepared him 
 food and gave it him, and he ate it and liked it very much, 
 and stayed there a long time. At last the woman with one 
 breast said to him, " Young man, where do you come 
 from, and where are you going ? " The young man answered 
 and said, " I do not know where I come from or where I 
 am going." Then the woman said to him, " Tell me what 
 you are thinking of in your heart." " What I am thinking 
 about," said the youth, "is this. I have no father or 
 brothers or sisters." The woman replied and said to him, 
 " Why have you no father or brothers or sisters ? What are 
 you in search of?" The lad answered, " I don't know what I 
 am in search of." " Come here," she said to him. The 
 lad went to her. " Move to this side," said she. The lad 
 moved to the spot she indicated. Then the woman said to 
 him, "Mount on my shoulder." When he had mounted 
 the woman with one breast grew and grew till she was like a 
 ship's mast, and she showed him all the country round. 
 " Look for a road to follow. The lad replied, " I don't 
 know where to go." Then the woman said to him, " Look 
 yonder on the right hand. What do you see?" "I see 
 nothing," he answered; "only the forest waving." Then 
 she said, " Where you see the forest waving, there lies the 
 path you must follow." The lad answered, " I understand." 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 She said to him, " Go to the spot where the forest is waving, 
 and first, if you find flies feeding on maize and they greet 
 you, make no answer. Next, if you find dogs drinking 
 water and they greet you, make no answer. Then if you 
 find cattle and they greet you, make no answer." The lad 
 answered, " I understand." The woman said to him, " If 
 you follow these directions which I have given you you will 
 accomplish whatever you may desire." " Indeed ! " an- 
 swered the lad. " Now then, go," said she. " But remem- 
 ber, do not be afraid at a great noise." " Very good," the 
 lad replied, and started off. First he found some flies 
 feeding on maize, and they greeted him. He made no 
 answer. Then he went on, and found dogs drinking water, 
 and they greeted him. He made no answer. They bid him 
 welcome. Not a word did he reply. They asked him, 
 " Where do you come from ?" and finally laughed at him — 
 " What a fool ! He has not got a word to say." Then he 
 went on and found oxen ploughing, and they gave him 
 great shouts of welcome — " Good morning, brother !" He 
 was dumb. Then they all thronged about him, and bade 
 him welcome. Not a single word did he reply. Some said, 
 " Let the fool alone." And they said one to another, 
 " Where has he come from ?" Then he went on, and found 
 people with lots of honey and beer, and they bade him 
 welcome. He went to them, and they greeted him and he 
 them, and he sat down, and was given beer and honey, and 
 liked the good cheer. Presently he asked them, " Where 
 is Nabinene?" When he uttered that name they all rose to 
 their feet, and some of them asked each other, " Where has 
 this fellow come from ? " The older men said to the 
 younger, " Go and lay hold of him." So they went. When 
 they came to the spot where he was he burnt them every- 
 one up, and the older men to boot. There was there one 
 son of Nabinene. The young man knew him. When he had 
 
II. Beasts and Men. 
 
 done burning up all his first assailants he laid hold of Nabi- 
 nene's son and held him fast, and he cried out lustily. His 
 father, the monster, Nabinene, heard his son's cry, and sent 
 his slave-women. " Go and see what he is crying about." 
 They went, and he burnt them up too. Then Nabinene 
 heard him crying yet louder, and he sent his chief officers. 
 They went, and the son of Nakhimu burnt them all up, too. 
 Then Nabinene heard him crying louder and louder still, 
 and Nabinene noticed that his messengers had brought him 
 no answer, and grew very angry because the people whom 
 he had sent brought him no answer. So he, too, got up 
 and went out because of his son, to see what he was crying 
 about. When the son of Nakhimu saw the father of the young 
 man he had seized coming he made himself ready, and as 
 soon as he got near he cut his son in two, and as he rushed 
 upon him he saw he had already killed his son. Then the 
 monster raised his head, and the breath streamed out of his 
 mouth, and drew the man who had killed his son, and drew 
 him right into his mouth. When he had got him into his 
 mouth the man's sword cut his mouth, and he spat him out. 
 And then he saw it was nothing, and got him again into his 
 mouth, and this time his dagger scratched his tongue, and 
 he spat him out again. And then in a terrible fury he got 
 him a third time into his mouth, and he cut him with his 
 sword, and he spat him out again. When he had spat him 
 out this last time he had not the strength to get him in 
 again, and the lad lifted up his hand and gave him a sword- 
 cut on the ear, and he fell to the earth and died. Just at 
 this moment the woman with one breast, who had given 
 him all this strength, appeared, and said to him, "Young 
 man, out with your sword here, and cut off his little toe — 
 this one — and your father and brothers and sisters and your 
 relations will come out from this toe." The young man did 
 so. He cut off the monster's little toe, and out came a 
 
132 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 very great many things — his brothers and sisters and his 
 father and his relations and his chief — all of them came out 
 of that toe. When they had come out they rejoiced greatly, 
 and all went joyfully back to their own land. The lad's 
 mother heard many drums beating, and wondered greatly, 
 for she was all alone. And they went and arrived in their 
 own land, and they did not recognise that it was their land, 
 because it was all overgrown with bushes. It was the lad 
 who told them " This is your country." His mother, too, 
 did not recognise her son, but the young man knew his 
 mother. 
 
 They lived happily in the country, and tilled the land, 
 and all agreed to have the young man for their chief. But 
 he said, " No." When he had said that they gave him a 
 very large present, and he took the present, and all lived 
 peaceably in their own country. 
 
 The youth had several brothers. After a time their chief 
 died, and another chief succeeded him, who did not know 
 much about the youth and his brothers. In the time of 
 the former chief his brothers were freed from all work, but 
 when this new chief was in power he called the young 
 man's brothers, " Come and build for me." So they went. 
 When they came back from the chief they told him, " We 
 have come from the chief. He has summoned us to build 
 for him." The young man said to them, " If you are sum- 
 moned a second time do not go. Say, 'No.'" And they 
 did as he told them. Then the chief sent his soldiers. 
 " Go and bring those men ; make them come and build for 
 me." Again they refused. The chief sent a second time 
 "Bring them at once." They told the soldiers, "No, we 
 are not going to work to-day." The chief got very angry, 
 and said to his soldiers, " Go and take them to prison." 
 The young man, their brother, went to the chief, and said 
 " Chief, what is the reason for which you have put those 
 
II. Beasts and Men. 
 
 133 
 
 young men in prison?" The chief replied, "Why do these 
 young men refuse to build for me ? " When he had uttered 
 these words he made the youth very angry, and the youth 
 rose up and went away. There were a number of the older 
 men present, and they found great fault with the chief. 
 The youth rose up and went to the prison, and there he 
 found the gaolers, and said to them, " I want my brothers. 
 Are they in this prison ? " And they tried to deceive him. 
 " No, your brothers are not in here." But he went into the 
 prison, and released his brothers, and went away. The 
 gaolers went to the chief, and said, " That young man has 
 been to the prison to carry off his brothers." The chief 
 said to his soldiers, " You go and seize him. If he resists 
 kill him." There were a number of the older men present, 
 and they said to the chief, " Let that young man alone." 
 But the chief paid no attention to their words. Then some 
 of the older men went to tell the young man, " The chief 
 is going to kill you." He got ready, and burnt up all the 
 soldiers. Then the older men saw that the chief was getting 
 ready for war, to go and fight that young man, and all the 
 older men took the side of the youth, and the chief was 
 left alone with his soldiers. He went against the young 
 man, and came on him at a beautiful spot called Msike. 
 That is the name of the place at which they fought. The 
 youth killed all the soldiers of the chief. There was not 
 one left. The chief himself was seized, and his hands tied 
 behind him. All the older men collected together and de- 
 rided him, and said, " Why did you treat this young man so 
 badly, when it was he who saved both us and you ? Why, 
 if this young man had not saved your own father's life, how 
 would you have ever got all your power? Even you see 
 now that this young man is our second father, ours and 
 yours. He is our God." Then all the people, when they 
 saw what the chief had done — all the people gathered 
 
134 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 together, and all the older men appeared before that youth, 
 and they said to him, " Do what you like with that chief. 
 We have all agreed to have you for our chief. We will have 
 no other chief but you, and only you." The young man 
 said to his brothers, " Take this chief and let him be put in 
 prison for the rest of his life." His brothers did as he 
 directed them. The youth refused to be chief, but all the 
 older men and all his brothers also refused. " We will have 
 no other chief but you." Then he chose out one of the 
 older men, and said to them, " This is your chief." They 
 all said, " No ! " Then his mother came and said to her 
 son, " The office of chief is yours. Keep it." The young 
 man paid heed to his mother's words, and ruled over his 
 kingdom. All the people rejoiced greatly, and he was a 
 good guardian of his people. 
 
III. 
 
 THE RABBIT AND THE ELEPHANT (i). 
 
 RABBIT stepped out of his house, and went 
 to rob an elephant's millet-field. Some chil- 
 dren saw him, and went and told of him to the 
 elephant. " We caught a rabbit robbing your 
 millet-field." The elephant said nothing, except, " Let him 
 alone." One day the rabbit stepped out of his house and 
 went for a stroll, and fell in with some elephants drinking 
 beer, and they invited him to join them. One of them 
 came forward, and said to the rabbit, "I have a couple of 
 pitchers full of beer, and I want you to do a bit of a job for 
 me, only half a day's work." "Half a day's work!" an- 
 swered the rabbit. " That's nothing. Come along and 
 show it me." " Just now," replied the elephant, " I have 
 something to do. Never mind. Come at eight o'clock to- 
 morrow morning." " All right," said the rabbit. " My beer 
 is all ready, remember," added the elephant; "so do not 
 fail on any account to come to-morrow and do my little 
 job." When the bargain had been fairly struck the elephant 
 went to his field, and took some birdlime and made a snare 
 there in the millet, surrounding the whole plot, and leaving 
 only one way in. The next morning at eight o'clock the 
 rabbit set out from his house, and went to the elephant and 
 said, "Here I am. I want my job." "Wait a minute," 
 said the elephant, and went into his plot of millet, and 
 
i 3 6 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 spread a piece of matting in the millet. Then he came 
 back, and said, "Now then you go first, and I follow. 
 There is only this one path, and I am coming too." And 
 he took his sword, and followed behind the rabbit. When 
 the rabbit came to where the matting was spread, he sat 
 down, because the elephant directed him, "When you come 
 to a piece of matting stop, and I will tell you which part I 
 am going to reap." So the elephant came up behind him, 
 and found him on the matting, rolling and stretching him- 
 self, and he turned upon him and began shouting, and 
 saying, " There's that thief of a rabbit ! there's that thief of 
 a rabbit ! there he goes ! " " It's all up with me," said the 
 rabbit, and tried to run away, but the birdlime held him 
 fast, — he could not run a yard. Up came the elephant, 
 and stamped and stamped upon him, and chopped him into 
 mincemeat, and scattered his remains in all directions. 
 When the elephant had done killing him, he went back to 
 his house and said to his friends, " I have got that thief of 
 a rabbit to-day." " Well done," said they. " Now we shall 
 dine in some comfort." At eight o'clock that night there 
 came a wind, and the bones of the rabbit and the flesh all 
 met and joined together, and there was the rabbit all alive 
 and well again. The rabbit got up and went home to his 
 house. His wife asked him, " Where have you been to-day, 
 — morning to evening, and all night too ? " The rabbit con- 
 cealed from his wife what had happened to him, and said 
 to her, " I stayed rather late at a friend's house over there. 
 He was spinning a long yarn to me about his adventures in 
 the Further Sea." (Note 25.) 
 
 Well, after a time he got up, and went out for a ramble, and 
 fell in with the elephants. They quite failed to recognise 
 him, thinking, "That rabbit we have killed beyond a doubt. 
 This is probably another." He found them occupied with 
 music and dancing. At first he stopped where he was, till 
 
III. The Rabbit and the Elephant ( i ). 137 
 
 they invited him to join their dance. He said, " I do not 
 know the figures." " Oh ! come and try," they replied. So 
 the rabbit got up, and struck into the ring, and danced. 
 They saw the rabbit's style of dancing, and left off dancing 
 themselves, and watched the rabbit's dance, for he danced 
 uncommonly well. They applauded the rabbit loudly for 
 his dancing, the fact being that the rabbit's bones were 
 somewhat loose at the joints. So the rabbit went on 
 dancing, and his bones jingled inside him, and the elephants 
 were in raptures, and thought he had bells inside. Presently 
 the chief elephant came forward, and said to him, " Mr. 
 Rabbit, I should like you to teach me that dance." " Oh," 
 said the rabbit, " if you want to know this dance of mine, 
 you can learn it in no time." The company then dispersed. 
 Presently the old elephant called the rabbit, and said to 
 him, " Should you mind coming to my house ? " "I should 
 like to," said the rabbit. " Come along then," said the 
 elephant. So they went and arrived at the house of the old 
 elephant. And the elephant said to the rabbit, " I want to 
 know this dance of yours. Only teach me this dance of 
 yours, and I will give you whatever you like." " Oh," said 
 the rabbit, "if you want to know this dance of mine, you 
 can get to know it better than I do myself?" "Really," 
 said the elephant, "really, Mr. Rabbit?" "Yes, really and 
 truly," answered the rabbit. Then the elephant said, 
 " Come, teach me then." " Bring me your sword," said 
 the rabbit. He brought him his sword, and gave it to the 
 rabbit. The rabbit examined it, and saw that it was not 
 particularly sharp, and said, " This sword is not very sharp. 
 Wait and let me take it home, and sharpen it up nicely, so 
 that it may not hurt you. Then early in the morning I will 
 come back, and give you a lesson." " Very well," replied 
 the elephant, and the rabbit went to his house, and spent 
 the whole night long, sharpening the sword. He never 
 
1 38 African Tales. 
 
 slept a wink. In the morning off he went, and came to the 
 elephant, and said to him, " Now then, get ready. Here I 
 am." " Very good," answered the elephant. " I am ready 
 too." The rabbit said to the elephant, " Come and look 
 for a suitable spot. I don't want a crowd, — just our two 
 selves and no more." The elephant went into his inner 
 room, and called the rabbit, " Come here, this is a nice 
 place." So the rabbit went in and said to him, " Now then, 
 lie down. As you are so uncommonly big, no doubt you 
 can bear a good deal. But don't be afraid. If you are 
 afraid, you have no chance of learning an elegant style of 
 dancing." When the elephant had lain down, the rabbit 
 slashed away parts of his legs, slashed them clean away, and 
 said to him, " Now you will get well, and after that you will 
 have learnt an uncommonly elegant style of dancing." Then 
 the rabbit carried away the flesh he had cut off, and said to 
 the elephant, " I am just going to put this flesh in the 
 larder, so that it may keep free from maggots. I'll put it 
 in a nice cool place, and will come back again. Only wait 
 for me to bring you my medicine too." So the rabbit went 
 off with the meat, and came to his house, and said to his 
 wife, " Make haste, and cook me a bit of my meat." And 
 his wife made haste, and did so. 
 
 After a time the elephant saw that the rabbit did not 
 come back, and he sent the rat, " Go and tell him that his 
 friend lies in danger of his life." The rabbit answered, 
 " Oh, that is all nonsense. He will get well directly. 
 Besides, I'm hungry. I have eaten nothing since the 
 morning. I will tell them to bring us some food, and then 
 we shall feel better, and able to go and save our friend." 
 " Very well," said the rat, " only make haste." So the 
 rabbit said to his wife, "Now then, look sharp and dish up." 
 And his wife brought food with all speed. The rat noticed 
 that there was a great deal of meat in their food, and asked 
 
III. The Rabbit and the Elephant (i). 139 
 
 him, " Where did you get all this meat? " " Oh ! " said the 
 rabbit, " my stock of meat, — there's no telling the quantity 
 I have got of it. If you like I will make you a present of 
 some." " Thank you," said the rat, and when they had 
 done eating, the rabbit remarked, " Come, let us first to my 
 larder. It is quite easy to get there, and you can take your 
 meat." So they went off, and came to a place, where there 
 was a small passage like a pipe running right through a 
 small dense thicket, and then the rabbit said to the rat, 
 " Here, just put your head into this passage." The rat 
 put his head into the passage. The rabbit went round to 
 the other end, and with his sling he sent a stone along the 
 passage, and killed the rat, carried him off, went and flayed 
 him at once, and said to his wife, " Make haste and cook 
 it. : ' And his wife did as her husband told her. 
 
 Next, the elephant sent the deer, because his first mes- 
 senger brought him no answer. And the deer went off to 
 the rabbit's house, and found him at home, and asked him, 
 " Well, how are you ? " And then the deer said exactly 
 what the rat had said to him. And the rabbit, he did to 
 the deer exactly as he had done to the rat. They went to 
 the passage, and the rabbit said to the deer just what he 
 had said to the rat, and the deer was killed, and he carried 
 him off, and did with him just what he had done with the 
 rat, and gave his wife the same directions as he had given 
 her before. 
 
 Meanwhile the elephant was near dying, and the third 
 messenger he sent was the leopard, because his first 
 messengers brought him no answers. Now the leopard was 
 a very sagacious beast. So the leopard went to the rabbit's 
 house, and found him at home, and asked him, " Well, how 
 are you ? " And the leopard said just the same as the others 
 had said, just the same words. And the rabbit replied to him, 
 just as he had replied to the others, and they went and came 
 
140 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 to the place where the passage was, and he gave him just 
 the same directions as he had given the others before him. 
 Well, when he had finished his directions, he went about his 
 own part of the business, but when the leopard saw that the 
 rabbit had gone round to the other end, he moved from 
 the end of the passage where the rabbit told him to stay, 
 because the leopard is not accustomed to seize his prey 
 with his teeth, but with his claws. So the rabbit slung a 
 stone down the passage to kill the leopard, and the leopard 
 saw that it was not meat. But he pretended he was dead, 
 and the rabbit came and carried him off. When he was 
 carrying him off, the leopard struck his claw into the 
 rabbit's head, and the rabbit threw him down and ran away, 
 and the leopard after him. The rabbit ran on and on, and 
 came to a river, and took mud, and smeared it all over his 
 body, and stood in the road. Soon the leopard appeared, 
 and found him in the road, and thought perhaps this was 
 another, and not the one he was after, so he asked him, 
 " You have not seen another rabbit, have you, a' rabbit not 
 all over mud?" "No," he answered, "I have not seen 
 him. I came here in search of a leopard. I have bagged 
 nine, and I still want one to make up ten. Some of my 
 party are over yonder, and others — did you not see just 
 where you are coming from? However, I will have pity 
 on you. If it had been anyone else, he would not have 
 told you. When the leopard heard these words, that leopard 
 took to his heels. When the rabbit saw the leopard in full 
 flight, he shouted after him, "There's a leopard ! There he 
 goes ! Tally-ho ! Come along there ! " The leopard ran 
 faster and faster, thinking perhaps there were lots of them, 
 while there was only one really. So he went and came to 
 the elephant, and found him already dead. 
 
 The rabbit, who put the leopard to flight, was the same 
 rabbit, who killed the elephant on account of the millet. 
 
IV. 
 
 THE BEASTS AND THE RABBIT. 
 
 VERY great number of animals collected 
 together. But drinking water failed them, and 
 some died of thirst — only a portion remained 
 alive. One night they heard a sound of 
 water, and all took counsel together, and tracked the sound 
 of the water to the place it came out of. They arrived at 
 a great valley, which was the place from which the sound 
 proceeded, and they searched for the water, but could not 
 find it. So they went home again, and waited there. 
 Again the sound of water struck on their ears in their 
 abode, and again they tracked the sound, and went to the 
 place it came from. They went on and on, and came to 
 the precise spot from which the sound came, and searched 
 for the water, and searched and searched, but never found a 
 single drop. So again they went back home, and waited 
 there. At last all the older animals met together, and said, 
 " Come, let us go to the spot from which the sound of the 
 water comes, and dig there; perhaps we shall get water." 
 They all responded, " By all means. Come, let us go." So 
 they all collected together, and went on and on, till they 
 arrived at the place from which the sound of the water 
 came. Then they dug and dug — some dying of thirst, some 
 digging on. At last all were weary, and laid down their 
 
142 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 spades, everyone of them. Well, when they had all laid 
 down their spades, then the rabbit had his opportunity, and 
 got up to work, and he, too, began digging. When they 
 saw him take hold of his spade to go and try his luck, to 
 see if he could manage it by digging, the other animals got 
 up and came and thrust the rabbit away, and some of them 
 slapped him. There was a great uproar, and the overlooker 
 heard it, and came and stopped the quarrelling, saying, 
 " Now then, all of you, sit down quietly." So they sat 
 down, and he asked everyone the cause of the uproar. The 
 rabbit rose up, and came forward to the overlooker, and 
 said, " I have done nothing wrong, and I have not abused 
 a single one of them. All my fault is, I see all my fellow- 
 animals hate me. Well, I got up to come here, just to have 
 my try, too, and see if I could manage ; and just for this 
 the poor rabbit gets thrashed, sir." Then the other animals 
 replied, "All very well, but this rabbit here — well, it's true 
 we shoved him away, and it's true we slapped him, but as 
 to his not abusing us, that was because we let him off so 
 easily. The fact is, he wants to come, too, and dig. Well, 
 we said, ' You shan't/ and told him we were all friends 
 together, we were, and had serious business in hand. And 
 you see, rabbit, how dreadfully we are all put about, and 
 then there is no equality between you and us — we are all 
 twenty times as strong as you are. Why is it we are beaten 
 by the job ? And if so, what in the world is the use of 
 you?" " If you had just left me alone," replied the rabbit, 
 " I would have dug as well as a poor rabbit can." Then 
 the overlooker answered them, and said, "You have done 
 wrong in refusing the rabbit's assistance. Let him alone, 
 and he shall dig as well as he can." So they attended to 
 the overlooker's words, and let the rabbit alone, and he 
 dug, while they said to him, " Now then, rabbit, go along 
 and dig." Accordingly the rabbit got up to go and dig, and 
 
IV. The Beasts and the Rabbit. 
 
 143 
 
 when they saw him getting up to go and dig, they all 
 laughed at him to a man. Even the overlooker laughed at 
 him, too, because he was very, very small, like a baby. He 
 went to the place and dug, and in a twinkling by his magic 
 water appeared, and a lot of it ran to waste. Then all those 
 animals who were despising him before, now all believed in 
 him, and accepted him as king over them all, because of his 
 water. And the rabbit became king over them all. 
 
 And King Rabbit said to his subjects, "This water of 
 ours, it has given us much trouble to get it, and it requires 
 someone to watch it, or it may be stolen." The hyaena 
 came forward, and said, " Here am I, the hyaena, ready to 
 be watchman." " Very well," said they, " be watchman." 
 So he watched while all the rest went off in search of food, 
 and the hyaena was left alone. When they had all gone 
 away, a bird very much larger than an elephant appeared, 
 and came upon the hyaena. When the hyaena saw the bird 
 he was afraid, for it was of enormous size. The bird saw 
 the hyaena, and asked him, " You hyaena there, what are you 
 about there?" The hyaena answered, " I am keeping watch 
 over my water here." Then the bird answered the hyaena, 
 " Tell me which you like best. Am I to drink the water 
 and leave you alone, or swallow you and leave your water 
 alone ? " The hyaena replied, " Drink the water, sir — only 
 leave me alone." So the bird drank up all the water, leaving 
 the pit empty, and the bird went off and did nothing to the 
 hyaena. When the other animals came back, and their king, 
 the rabbit, they found the water all gone, not a drop left. 
 They questioned the hyaena, and he replied, " I really have 
 not the face to mention before you all that I have felt to- 
 day." They said to the hyaena, " Coward, hyaena ! coward !" 
 And some boxed his ears, so disappointed were they about 
 their water. 
 
 Then the elephant came forward, and said, "Here am J, 
 
144 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 the elephant. I should like to keep watch over your water." 
 " Very well," said they, " do so." So the elephant kept 
 watch while all the rest went in search of food, leaving the 
 elephant alone. When they had gone the bird appeared 
 again, and when the elephant saw the bird he was afraid, 
 because of its enormous size. It came to the well, and 
 found the elephant there, and the bird said to the elephant, 
 " What are you about there ? " The elephant answered, " I 
 am keeping watch over this water of mine." Then the bird 
 said to the elephant just what it had said to the hyaena, and 
 the elephant answered the bird, and said, " Pray drink the 
 water, sir — only let me go." " Good," replied the bird, 
 and drank up all the water, leaving the pit empty, and went 
 off, and the elephant was left crying, because he had been 
 a very great braggart — that was the reason he cried. Pre- 
 sently the other animals all came back, and their king, the 
 rabbit, and went to the well to drink. When they came to 
 the well they found no water. They said to the elephant, 
 " Where is the water?" The elephant replied, " I am your 
 humble servant. Whatever you like to do to me, come and 
 do it. But that bird — I confess I cannot refuse it water." 
 "Why," replied they, "cannot you refuse him water?" He 
 only answered, " I am quite incapable of refusing it." They 
 said to him, " What in the world did you go to do ? Do 
 you mean you are no match for a bird?" 
 
 The lion came forward, and said, " Here am I, the lion. 
 I should like to keep watch over our water, and see that it 
 is not lost. All these fellows let it get lost, but if / keep 
 watch over it, what can this — what dye call it? — bird do? 
 Let him just catch a glimpse of me there at the well, and he 
 won't dare to come near. If he do but get scent of me, 
 he will be off before I can set eyes on him, and you will find 
 all the water there, and not a drop gone." " By all means/' 
 said they, "go and keep watch." So he went and kept 
 
IV. The Beasts and the Rabbit. 145 
 
 watch. Then all the animals went off in search of food, 
 and left the lion by himself. And the lion took up his 
 position at the well without making any delay. The very 
 same bird appeared. The lion saw the bird coming, and 
 the lion was afraid, because of the very terrible sound 
 it made. The bird came to the well and found the lion, 
 and said to him just what it had said to the others, but 
 the lion was far more terrified than all the rest, and saw 
 it drinking the water, and took to his heels and went 
 after the other animals, where they had gone in search of 
 food. They saw him coming at full speed, and said to him, 
 "Well? What news?" The answer he made was the 
 coward's lie, pure and simple — " I have killed the bird." 
 "Tell us the truth," said they. He answered, "It is true. 
 I have killed him." " How have you managed to kill 
 him?" they rejoined. "He struck me with his wings," 
 said he, " and I struck my claws into him several times, and 
 threw him down, and he died. There he lies by the well, 
 dead. And I came with all speed to call you to come and 
 see him." When they had heard the lion's story, all said, 
 " The lion is the plucky one. He never says, ' Die.' Look 
 now, this bird beat them all, but he got him." Off they all 
 went joyfully to see the bird, and came to the well, and 
 there they find neither water nor bird. And they said to 
 the lion, " Where is the bird you told us you had killed ? 
 And where is the water?" "Possibly," replied the lion, 
 " he has come to life again, and having come to life again, 
 has drunk the water, and made off." They answered the 
 lion, and said to him, "You are a liar, and no mistake. 
 You ran away, and he drank the water, and you came and 
 deceived us, and said, ' I have killed him outright.' If you 
 killed him, where is he now?" 
 
 King Rabbit was angry, and made himself nine shields, 
 one of them a mass of bird-lime. Then he said to his 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 Africaii Tales. 
 
 subjects, " Go in search of food. I myself will keep watch 
 over my water." His subjects went in search of food, and 
 the rabbit was left by himself. As they went, they said to 
 each other, " To-day we shall find the rabbit dead." The 
 rabbit remained at his station by the well with his nine 
 shields and his sword. The same bird appeared again, and 
 found the rabbit there. The bird treated the rabbit with 
 contempt at first, and asked him, " Where are my friends 
 who own this water?" "This water is mine," replied 
 the rabbit : " it has no other owner." Then the bird 
 answered, " It is not you. I know the owners." " If it has 
 other owners," replied the rabbit, "just come and drink, 
 will you ? Should you not like to drink ? " The bird bent 
 down to drink at the well. The rabbit rushed on him and 
 struck him with his sword. Then the bird tried to peck 
 him. The rabbit put up his shield to guard himself, and 
 the bird tore the shield in two. Then he put up another, 
 and the bird tore that in two, and so on with all eight, he 
 tore them all in two, and the rabbit took out his ninth 
 shield, the shield of bird-lime. The bird tried to cleave it 
 too, and his beak stuck fast in it. The rabbit dealt him 
 blow after blow with his sword, till at least he killed him. 
 When he had killed him, he set him upright by a tree, just 
 as if he was alive, and the rabbit lay down at his feet, — his 
 object being thoroughly to break in his new subjects. When 
 his subjects returned and saw the bird erect, and the rabbit 
 at his feet, they said, " The rabbit has met his end to-day." 
 Some ran away, others cried in terror at the bird, and not 
 one of them had the courage to take the bird to task. When 
 the rabbit saw them running away he came out from 
 between the bird's feet, he said, " Stop there. Do not run 
 away." On hearing his voice, they all turned round and 
 saw the rabbit on his feet. Some said, " Perhaps the rabbit 
 has come to life again. Perhaps he is calling us, that the 
 
IV. The Beasts ajtd the Rabbit. 147 
 
 bird may catch us all." He saw them all standing still, and 
 said to them, " Do not be afraid of the bird. I have killed 
 him." He touched the bird, and they saw it falling down 
 to the ground. Then they all shouted again and again 
 for joy, and all put complete trust in the rabbit, saying, 
 "The rabbit is king of this world. If it were not for the 
 rabbit, and because he killed him, that bird would have 
 been master of everyone." 
 
V. 
 
 THE MAN AND THE SHEEP. 
 
 [Some African stories are vulgar, and in its chief incident 
 this is so. Its omission might imply that there were 
 none such to be found. Horace could describe his 
 witch-frightening expedient to a Roman audience, and 
 raise a laugh (Sat. i. 8). A similar process applied to 
 sheep-slaughtering in Gandaland has to be slightly dis- 
 guised for English ears. After all, its vulgarity may seem 
 more than half atoned for by the exquisitely comic pathos 
 of the sheep's appeal, first to good manners, and then to its 
 master's self-interest, culminating in martyrdom to a refine- 
 ment of sensibility which might have done credit to a 
 nobler and more gifted animal. Moreover, the narrator 
 assured me that he received the account direct from the 
 lips of the son of its hero. The story may therefore illus- 
 trate Ganda fertility of actual resource, not of fanciful in- 
 vention. Certainly the voice of conscience was clear enough 
 to a Ganda lad to have some very practical consequences.] 
 
 HERE was a man named Msamya, and he was 
 a rich man, and he went to the market, and 
 saw a sheep for sale, bought it, and went home 
 with it to his house. This man, Msamya, who 
 bought the sheep was by trade a tailor, and he had a son 
 
V. The Man and the Sheep. 1 49 
 
 named Magala. Early in the morning he said to his son 
 Magala, "I am going to my work. At eight o'clock take 
 out this sheep to graze in the pasture." When the hour 
 came the lad was late, — he did not know that it had struck 
 eight o'clock. (Note 26.) The sheep spoke and called to 
 him, ' 'Magala, Magala, Magala." " Here I am,'' he replied. 
 The sheep spoke and said to him, " When Msamya went to 
 his work, what did he say to you ? " Magala answered and 
 said, " He told me, ' When it strikes eight o'clock, take the 
 sheep to graze in the pasture.' " " Why did you not take 
 me ? " said the sheep. The boy took it to the pasture. 
 When he had done taking it there, the boy ran off and went 
 after his father to the place where he worked, and said to 
 his father, " That sheep can speak." Msamya caught up 
 a bit of wood which he used in his work, and struck him 
 with it, and said, " Oh ! oh ! my boy, where have you 
 found a sheep that can speak ? " The boy ran away. The 
 next day he said to his son, " When you see it is ten o'clock, 
 take this sheep here to yonder baobab-tree." The hour 
 came, but the boy did not know it. So the sheep called 
 him, " Magala, Magala, Magala." " Here I am," he replied. 
 The sheep spoke and said to him, " When Msamya went to 
 work, what did he say to you ? " The boy answered and 
 said, "He said to me, 'When you hear the clock strike ten, 
 take this sheep and lead it to the baobab-tree.' " So the 
 boy took the sheep and led it to where the baobab-tree 
 stood. When he had done taking it, the boy ran off, and 
 went after his father to the place where he was working, and 
 said to him, " Father, you will not believe when I tell you, 
 but the sheep speaks, really and truly." " Very well, my 
 boy, if it speaks I will come myself and see if it does speak, 
 really and truly." The day following he gave his son the 
 same directions, but he came himself and kept watch at the 
 door to hear if the sheep would speak. And he said to his 
 
African Tales. 
 
 son, " Be late on purpose, that I may hear if it speaks.'* 
 And so it all happened. Msamya stood outside the door, 
 and Magala played about outside. Presently the sheep called 
 " Magala/' And Magala said to his father, " Do you hear, 
 father? You thought I was telling a lie." His father 
 replied, " I have heard, my child. It is a marvellous thing. 
 Come, set off and take it to the pasture yonder." 
 
 Well, Msamya went off to consult the medicine-men, 
 and the medicine-men said to him, " Take your son, and 
 go and cut two heavy logs, one for you and one for 
 your son. When you find the sheep asleep, first do you 
 throw your log down on it, and then let your son come 
 and do the same. You will kill it in a moment." He 
 followed this advice. They went together, the man and 
 his son, and cut two very large logs, one for each of them. 
 They came and found the sheep asleep out of doors, the 
 sun being hot. Msamya threw down his log upon it, but 
 the sheep slipped aside and said, " Msamya, look, you 
 nearly killed me. But of course you did not see me, and 
 it's very hot, and you must be tired." As the sheep was 
 saying this, Magala came up and threw down his log upon 
 him, but the sheep avoided this too, and said, " Ah ! Do 
 you want to kill me ? Look ! your father threw down his 
 log, and almost killed me. And you, look! you have thrown 
 down yours and almost killed me." Magala answered and 
 said, " It was not on purpose. Why, you see yourself how 
 hot it is, and we have come a very long way with these logs, 
 and in all this heat. That's why we threw them down on 
 you. We did not see you clearly, because we were so tired." 
 The sheep answered and said, " It is of no consequence, 
 and I saw myself that you were tired." 
 
 Then Msamya went to another medicine-man, and this 
 medicine-man said to him, " Go and dig a large pit. In it 
 put spears and all kinds of dangerous things ; put them in- 
 
V. The Man and the Sheep. 1 5 1 
 
 side it, and at the top cover it over with grass. When it is 
 finished, go and say to your sheep, ' Come, let us go for a 
 stroll' Go in front yourself, and let the sheep follow 
 behind you. When you arrive at the pit, cross over the 
 corner of it, and stand on the further side, straight in front, 
 and call your sheep, ' Come, make haste and come along.' 
 Then, if it comes, it will fall into the pit. When it has 
 fallen in, fill in the earth as fast as you can, and it will die in 
 a moment." So Msamya went and dug the pit, and put all 
 kinds of dangerous things in it, and at the top he finished 
 it off cleverly with grass. When the pit was ready, he 
 went and called his sheep and said to it, " Let us go a 
 walk together to-day, I and my sheep." Msamya went in 
 front, his sheep followed behind, and he arrived at the 
 pit. Msamya himself crossed over the corner, and stood 
 on the further side just opposite, and said to his sheep, 
 " Come, make haste and come along." When the sheep 
 came to the pit, it saw that there was danger, and took 
 a jump across to the other side, where Msamya was standing. 
 And the sheep said to Msamya, " Oh ! Msamya, come 
 and look. Some villain has laid a trap for us." "Who 
 can it be," said Msamya, "who laid the trap for us? And 
 we are not people of wealth ; we are only poor people." 
 "I do not know either," answered the sheep; "possibly, 
 people are envious because you have got possession of me, 
 and want to kill us both at one blow." "Very likely," 
 replied Msamya. And then he said to the sheep, " Let us 
 even go home again, or we may have some more adven- 
 tures." So Msamya returned home to his house, utterly 
 speechless with grief at having been outdone by the sheep. 
 
 Next he went to a third medicine-man. This man said 
 to Msamya, "Go and build a hut of cocoa-nut leaves, and 
 sleep in it four days. The fifth day remove all your things ; 
 do not forget a single thing inside, but do not bar the door. 
 
52 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 Then take your sheep, and fasten it inside, and set fire to 
 the hut, only not forgetting to leave nothing in it. Then 
 the sheep will die." Msamya went and built the hut, and 
 when that was done, slept in it four nights. On the fifth he 
 removed all his things from the hut, and fastened the sheep 
 inside, but Magala forgot his spear, and left it and a piece 
 of cloth in the hut. Then they set fire to the hut. When 
 the sheep saw the hut was burning, it cut the cord with 
 which it was tied, took the spear and piece of cloth, and 
 brought them to Msamya, " Look ! your son has forgotten 
 his spear and cloth. If it were not for me they would have 
 been burnt." But when Msamya saw the sheep coming out 
 from inside, he got very angry. The sheep said, " Why are 
 you angry. Tell me." " Why I am angry," said Msamya, 
 " is that somebody has burnt my hut for me." "Who has 
 burnt your hut for you ? " said the sheep. " I don't know," 
 answered Msamya, " who it is that burnt it." But really 
 Msamya was very angry, because of his hut, and because he 
 was outdone by the sheep. 
 
 Then Msamya went to a fourth medicine-man. This 
 medicine-man gave him straightforward advice, and said, 
 " Go and kill a goat ; take the flesh and put it somewhere to 
 get a little putrid, say for three days. Then take and cook 
 it, and make a very full meal on it, and drink the gravy at 
 the same time. When you wake up in the morning, call 
 your sheep and take it for a ramble along a cliff. Go in 
 front yourself, and let the sheep follow behind you. When 
 you come to the cliff, see that the sheep is following close 
 behind you. Then give a hiccough. It will die in a moment." 
 Msamya went home, killed his goat, and did as he was told, 
 made a full meal on it, and drank the gravy till he was 
 ready to burst, and then went to sleep. In the morning he 
 woke up and said, " To-day, I will go a ramble with my 
 sheep." So he called out, "Come, my sheep, let us go for a 
 
V. The Man and the Sheep. 1 5 3 
 
 ramble." The sheep came and followed him. Msamya went 
 before, and the sheep followed behind him, and they went 
 till they arrived at a very high cliff. Msamya gave a hiccough. 
 The sheep listened and thought, " No ! It's nothing ! " 
 Then it spoke and said, " Oh ! Msamya, why did you do 
 that ? " " It is just a sort of relief," replied Msamya, " to us 
 men, — just a relief to me." "Well," replied the sheep, "now, 
 don't you do it again. I cannot stand it a second time." 
 " Very well," said Msamya. They went a little farther, and 
 Msamya did the same again. " Msamya ! Msamya ! " said 
 the sheep, " what did I say to you just now?" "Just a 
 relief to me," answered Msamya, " but I forgot." Then the 
 sheep said, " Msamya ! Msamya ! If you do that a third 
 time, you lose a sheep for good. True, the mutton may 
 just be worth eating." " I am penitent now," said Msamya. 
 Again they went on a little farther, and Msamya did the 
 same again. Well, this was too much for the sheep. It 
 tried to stop its ears, but in a moment was seized with 
 giddiness, and fell over the cliff, and died then and there. 
 When Msamya turned round he saw its legs twitching, and 
 Msamya took to his heels, and did not stop till he got to 
 his house. He was in a terrible fright. When he reached 
 his house his wife asked him, "Well? What news?" but 
 he was quite speechless. Then all the people came and 
 questioned him, but not a word did he say. They brought 
 him food, but he could not eat, but went to his house, and 
 sat there all by himself, for he was dreadfully afraid, 
 thinking, " Perhaps that sheep wilj come to life again, and 
 come after me." However, early next morning, he woke up 
 and went to the cliff, and looked over the rock, and saw 
 that the sheep was dead beyond a doubt, — one side had 
 been eaten by hyaenas. Every hyaena which ate a piece of 
 that sheep was sick on the spot. Well, when Msamya saw 
 that the sheep was really and truly dead, he went home in 
 
'54 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 a transport of delight, and sounded his horn and his drum, 
 and all his relations assembled together, and he made them 
 a feast, which it took four happy days to eat. 
 
 Neither he nor his relations to a man ever let a sheep 
 enter their house again to this hour. That day was enough 
 to convert them all. 
 
VI. 
 
 THE KING AND WABULEKOKO. 
 
 HE king was in his town, and Wabulekoko was 
 in the country. There in the country he did 
 very many marvellous feats, and all the people 
 were loud in their admiration of Wabulekoko. 
 For every day he used to mount up high into the clouds till 
 he passed completely out of sight. This he did every day. 
 People wondered greatly, and said, " Who is able to do as 
 this man does? No one." So they went and told King 
 Bin Suna about him, and said before the king, " Sir, we 
 have come to make a report to you. There is a man living 
 out in the country, named Wabulekoko, and besides doing 
 all kinds of things which we do not comprehend, when he 
 walks abroad he mounts up high into the air till he passes 
 completely out of sight." When they had finished saying 
 this, the king said to those sitting near him, " No mortal 
 man is able to mount up in the air. I should like to see this 
 man myself." He did not believe their words in the least. 
 So he called one of his guards privately, and sent him 
 privately with orders, " Go at once and inspect this man 
 whom they are talking about here now, and see whether he 
 really flies up into the air, and perhaps I shall believe it, 
 too. But do not say, ' I have been sent,' and if anyone 
 asks you, 1 Where are you going ? Let me come with you,' 
 do not allow him. Go by yourself." So the soldier went, 
 
156 African Tales. 
 
 and arrived at the place where Wabulekoko was. On the 
 day the soldier arrived he found that he had not yet come 
 down, and he waited for him. Wabulekoko returned, but as 
 he returned it was impossible to see where he returned 
 from. The soldier was incredulous, and waited to see him 
 fly up in the air. Again Wabulekoko mounted up in the 
 air, and when the soldier saw how he went up he, too, 
 became a thorough believer. Then he waited for his return. 
 When he returned the soldier did not see where he passed 
 in returning — he saw him already on the ground. The 
 soldier went back to the king and made his report. The 
 king remarked, u This is a thoroughly bad sort of man. 
 That I am quite sure of." And the king was afraid, and 
 said, " He will kill my subjects, and his own parents into 
 the bargain. He is a villain of the worst kind." So the 
 king summoned his guards, and despatched them with 
 orders, " Go and bring Wabulekoko." The soldiers went 
 off to take Wabulekoko. 
 
 Now, the king has a very large house, in which he holds 
 his court. And the king talked with the visitors with whom 
 he was sitting, and said to them, " Come and dig a pit here 
 inside my state-room. When you have finished digging it, 
 inside put spears and all kinds of dangerous weapons, and 
 cover it all over very carefully." The king had said further, 
 " When this fellow, Wabulekoko, comes, let us invite him 
 in here, just where the pit is, so that when he is just going to 
 sit down he may fall in. It will kill him, for the pit is a 
 very dangerous one." In time the soldiers brought Wabu- 
 lekoko. All the people stood up ; some went forward to 
 greet him, making a guest of him in order to put an end to 
 him. Now, he was a very quick-witted man. He walked 
 up to the state-room. They invited him to go inside. He 
 went in, and was asked to sit down at the fatal spot. But 
 he stood still, and said, " You invite me to go on, but this 
 
VI. The King and Wabulekoko. 1 5 7 
 
 is a very nice place outside ; there are great perils under- 
 neath. I am quite unable to sit down there. If I am not 
 speaking the truth, do one of yourselves come forward and 
 go and sit there. If he is not killed — at any rate, I think I 
 should be killed." Then the king said, "Very well. If 
 you decline to sit there no more need be said. But there is 
 one question we want to ask you. We have heard that you 
 perform a wonderful feat in the place you come from." 
 Wabulekoko answered and said, "What is the wonderful 
 feat I perform? I do not understand." "We want you to 
 perform it for us," said the king, "as we wash to see it." 
 Wabulekoko refused to show it them. Then the king called 
 his soldiers secretly, and despatched them with orders, " Go 
 at once to the road by which he passes, and dig a pit like 
 this one here. In it put spears, and cover it over carefully." 
 They went secretly, and dug and did exactly as the king 
 had ordered them, and also prepared raw ox-hides, to cover 
 up the hole quickly when he fell in. 
 
 When the king's reception was over Wabulekoko departed 
 to go home, knowing nothing of what would befall him on the 
 way, and, passing quickly on, he fell into the pit. In another 
 moment Wabulekoko was out of that fatal pit again. No 
 one saw him when Wabulekoko came out of the pit, yet the 
 place where the pit was, was a place where there were very 
 many people. There was no room to get a glimpse of the pit 
 because of the number of people, and they covered it up 
 as fast as possible, and thought Wabulekoko was inside. 
 Some went and reported to the king, and said, "Wabule- 
 koko is really dead now r ." Wabulekoko heard them saying 
 this, "Wabulekoko is dead," and he appeared before them on 
 the spot and said, " Here I am. I am not dead." When they 
 saw him they saw that it was he, and some ran away for fear 
 of him, and then remained the officers only. Wabulekoko 
 asked them, "What is there in that hole which you are 
 
158 African Tales, 
 
 covering up?" An officer said, "There is nothing in it. 
 The fact is, I saw that when you returned from the reception 
 you were almost sure to have fallen in. Well, the king 
 heard of this, and he sent me, saying, 1 Go and fill up that 
 dangerous hole, and arrest all who are concerned in that 
 hole. They shall all be put to death,' because of your being 
 the king's guest." The officer was simply telling lies in 
 order to deceive him. Then Wabulekoko said, tl You want 
 to kill me, but you cannot kill me." They reported to the 
 king, saying, " We have no power against that man." The 
 king replied to his people, "Well? Are you beaten?" 
 They answered, and said, " It is simply impossible to master 
 that man." The king answered and said, " By no means. 
 I will be his master." 
 
 Then the king called a guard, and ordered him to go and 
 summon Wabulekoko a second time. The guard brought 
 Wabulekoko, and he came to the king. The king was very 
 stern, and said to Wabulekoko, " I wish you to exhibit your 
 performance to me. Mount up in the air, and let us see it. 
 If you refuse, you will be put to death at once." Wabule- 
 koko answered the king, " You have spoken well to-day. 
 If that is my destiny, well, it is accomplished. You are 
 king ; by all means put me to death. As for myself, I do 
 not know how to mount up in the air. Put me to death if 
 you like." When he had said these words, the king became 
 very furious because of these words. In his fury the king 
 was actually going to cut down Wabulekoko with the sword 
 he had in his hand, and lay him dead on the spot. But his 
 councillors forbade him to kill him. The king said, " Ho ! 
 guards, tie up Wabulekoko." Wabulekoko had his hands 
 tied behind him, and was marched off to prison. In the 
 night a cloud of sand appeared above the prison. The 
 prison had a roof of cocoa-nut leaves built over it. Then 
 stones began to fall on the prison, and the warders of the 
 
VI. The King and Wabulekoko. 159 
 
 prison all ran away, and left Wabulekoko all alone. In the 
 morning they went to the king, and reported what had 
 happened, saying, " Wabulekoko was in prison, where we 
 had confined him, and in the night stones came and beat 
 upon the prison, and we ran away. Moreover, the prisoner's 
 fetters were loosed, and in the morning there were no 
 fetters to be found in the place." " Put other fetters on 
 him," said the king. The guards went and put other fetters 
 on him. When the new fetters had been put on him, that 
 same day there appeared a very terrible storm-cloud, and 
 the rain was a rain of stones, and fire fell on all the king's 
 houses, and burnt them everyone. And the king him- 
 self had a very narrow escape of being burnt to death. 
 
 That same day all the medicine-men assembled together 
 before the king, and prepared their medicines, but all the 
 whole crowd of medicine-men were quite powerless. Wabu- 
 lekoko was proof against them all. And they said to the 
 king, "We are beaten. But we perceive that this man will 
 never cause such a disaster again. Let us release Wabu- 
 lekoko, and allow him to depart." The king refused, and 
 said, " I myself will kill Wabulekoko." The councillors 
 and medicine-men refused to let him kill him, because if 
 he was allowed to kill him, men would be sure to die 
 on account of it. The king went to bed, and dreamed 
 a dream. He dreamed that he had killed W T abulekoko, 
 and that all the king's children had died because Wabu- 
 lekoko was killed. That w r as the reason why the king's 
 children died. He woke up in the morning, and ordered 
 a guard to go to the prison, and bring Wabulekoko. He 
 went and brought him. The king said to him, " You are 
 a wizard." "I am not a wizard," he replied. "Get you 
 gone, wizard, from my presence," said the king. " Why did 
 you summon me here?" answered he. He said, "I have 
 done with you now." 
 
VII. 
 
 A STORY OF A THIEF. 
 
 HE name of the thief was Dubowa. He had 
 seven children, and three friends. All alike 
 were habitual thieves. The names of his seven 
 children were Nam wan j a, Zilale, Zinatakila, 
 Makwabi, Kishaka, Kiugu, and Changwe. These are the 
 names of Dubowa's children. And his three friends were, 
 the first Balilete, the second Kabuga, and the third 
 Walusasa. 
 
 One day Dubowa set out from his house, he and his 
 children, and went to steal from the house of a medicine- 
 man who had a great deal of property. Now no single 
 thing whatever, great or small, is ever stolen from the house 
 of that medicine-man, not a single farthing is stolen from 
 that house, because he is a medicine-man of great talent. 
 When Dubowa arrived at the house of this medicine-man, 
 he found the door open, for the owner does not fasten his 
 door at nights, because he is a very great medicine-man. 
 When Dubowa saw that the door was open, he spoke to his 
 children, " This door is open, but it is not our method to 
 go in at the door, — our method is to break through the wall, 
 and so get inside." And so they did. They let the door 
 alone, and went and broke through at another place, and so 
 got inside the house. These thieves possess a medicine 
 
VII. A Story of a Thief. 161 
 
 which produces sleep. So, when they had got inside, the 
 people of the house were sound asleep, and they carried away 
 everything there was inside. Meanwhile their father's part 
 was to walk up and down inside the house. As he was walking 
 up and down he came upon a calabash full of beer, and took 
 it to the fireside, and sat down by the fire and drank his beer, 
 while his children were engaged in carrying away the things 
 in the house. At last he got drunk, their father Dubowa. 
 When they had finished carrying away the things in the 
 house they called their father Dubowa, " Dubowa, come 
 along; let us be off. The things are all gone." " Just wait 
 a bit for me," said Dubowa. They came again and 
 called him, " Dubowa, come ; let us go. We shall be late." 
 "Fires are nice," said Dubowa; "wait a bit for me." 
 Then Namwanja came, he was the eldest son, and said to 
 him, "Father, come along; let us be off. You see it is 
 nearly dawn already. We shall be late." His father 
 replied and said, " My son, I have told you fires are nice. 
 Did you not hear ? If you really want your father, just wait 
 and let me warm myself, and get up my strength for a good 
 walk." Presently there came another of his sons and called 
 his father, " Father, come along; let us be off." When the son 
 said this, his father shouted at him, and said, "You brat, I 
 have known you from a child. You have no manners now, 
 you young villain. I have told you fires are nice. Did you 
 not hear?" And then their father went on talking nonsense, 
 because the beer he had drunk was really a medicine made by 
 the man to whom the house belonged. Then his eldest son, 
 Namwanja, appeared again, and talked to his brothers, and 
 said to them, "Perhaps the beer which our father has drunk 
 is really medicine made by the man to whom the house 
 belongs. Suppose we, too, try to make him take some 
 medicine. It may be he will get sober enough to come out of 
 the house." So they concocted the medicine, and brought it 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 to their father to get him to drink their medicine. When 
 their father saw the medicine, he poured it all away, and 
 beat some of his children, and then their father kept 
 shouting at them, and his sons wanted to lay hold of him 
 and carry him away, and he shouted at them again and 
 again, and actually fought with his sons. At last the people 
 of the house woke up, because of all the shouting. When 
 the people of the house woke up, they found the house 
 empty, and not a single thing inside, not a single gun, nor 
 sword, nor spear. Some went up on the roof, and shouted 
 a great many times, till their neighbours heard and came to 
 help them. They found the thieves not yet gone off, but 
 wrangling with their father. They fought with them, and 
 the thieves were beaten, and one of the brothers named 
 Kishaka was killed, and the father was taken prisoner. The 
 rest ran away. 
 
 W T hen they got home, they moved to a fresh place every 
 day, because their father had been taken prisoner. They 
 were afraid. " Perhaps he will bring the people who took 
 him prisoner. Perhaps we too shall be killed." So they 
 went to another place. The father was put to death at the 
 place where he was seized, and the six remaining sons were 
 scattered in different places. Those who were not too bad 
 became better men. 
 
 Now there were two of the sons and one of their friends. 
 The two sons were, the first Zinatakila, and the second 
 Changwe, and their friend was Walusasa. At the place to 
 which they removed there was a chief who had a sheep of 
 which he was very fond, and the sheep was an uncommonly 
 large one. The young men saw this sheep, and when the 
 shepherds went to take the sheep to pasture, they followed 
 behind them and stole the sheep. When they had stolen the 
 sheep, they said, "This is the chiefs sheep, of which he is very 
 fond. What are we to do with it now? If we take it home 
 
VII. A Story of a Thief. 163 
 
 alive, someone will see us. Better take it right into the forest, 
 kill it and carry off the flesh. If people see the blood in the 
 forest, they will think that perhaps a wild beast has eaten it." 
 Xhe shepherds searched for the sheep, but could find no trace 
 of it, and they reported the fact to the chief who owned it, and 
 the chief was very angry, because he was fond of his sheep. 
 And the chief summoned the huntsmen, and said to them, 
 " Go and search for my sheep. If a wild beast has eaten it, a 
 lion, or a bear, or a leopard, search for the place where he 
 ate it." The huntsmen went to search for the sheep. They 
 searched for it, and found the place where it had been 
 slaughtered, and their dogs scented the path which the thieves 
 had followed till they came to the thieves' house. Then 
 the huntsmen returned, and reported to the chief, and said, 
 "We have found the persons who stole your sheep." The 
 chief despatched soldiers to go and arrest the thieves, and 
 they went and arrived at the place, and found the thieves 
 there. Two soldiers went into the house of the thieves to 
 arrest them, and both were killed. Then there was a 
 terrible fight, and one of the thieves, Changwe, killed two 
 more soldiers, and then was killed himself. Then his 
 brother Zinatakila came out and killed one man, and ran 
 away. After him, Walusasa killed two soldiers, and ran 
 away, and his wife with him. 
 
 The reason why Changwe was killed is that when his 
 father was put to death he did not reform, and so he was 
 killed. 
 
VIII. 
 
 THE LEOPARD AND THE RABBIT. 
 
 SSp HERE was once a leopard, and he was hungry, 
 and went in quest of food, but could not find 
 any. At last he came to a clump of bushes, 
 and found a rabbit lying asleep. But the 
 rabbit was not really asleep, only the leopard thought he 
 was asleep, and crept up to him softly, wanting to seize 
 him. He made a spring, and pounced upon — nothing. 
 The rabbit was gone. Off went the leopard in close pur- 
 suit, and the rabbit came to a patch of thick grass, popped 
 into it, and disappeared inside. The leopard came up, 
 thinking he was in the grass, and searched and searched 
 about without finding any trace of him. Then he lifted up 
 his eyes to look in front, and saw him, and again went in 
 pursuit. The rabbit ran very fast, and doubled back again, 
 while the leopard went straight on, thinking the rabbit was 
 before him. Then he turned round as the rabbit did, and 
 went back, and caught sight of him, and went in pursuit 
 again. The rabbit bolted into a thicket, and the leopard 
 searched about in the thicket. Then the leopard turned 
 the matter over in his mind, and said, " I might do a deal 
 better than go on hunting this rascal about." So he gave 
 it up. 
 
 That is the reason why to this day a leopard never 
 manages to catch a rabbit — because he is so stupid. 
 
IX. 
 
 THE DOG AND THE APE. 
 
 HERE was once a dog which used to go every- 
 day into the forest to search for food. One day 
 he went as usual into the forest. When he 
 had got into the forest he saw a narrow path, 
 and there he found a young ape, and seized it. The young 
 ape cried out, and its mother heard her young one crying, 
 and came up at full speed, leaping wildly from side to side. 
 When she got to the spot she saw her young one had been 
 seized, and gathering up her strength for the battle, she 
 seized the dog's tail and tugged it, and dashed the dog first 
 to one side, then to the other, till at last she conquered, 
 and the dog died, but the young ape was dead too. Only 
 the mother herself was left lamenting, and there she stayed 
 and grieved. 
 
X. 
 
 THE LIONESS AND THE COW. 
 
 HERE was a lioness and a cow, and each 
 had a young one. During the daytime the 
 cow used to go one way and the lioness 
 another to search for food, and the two young 
 ones were left at home. In the house there was a hole 
 scooped for water, and those two young ones used to play 
 together in the hole. 
 
 One day they went to play, and the calf kicked the cub, 
 and it died. When it was dead the cow came home and 
 found it dead, and asked the calf, " Who killed the cub?" 
 "I did," said the calf. "Come along," said the cow; "let 
 us run away." Off they went, and went to all kinds of 
 animals, but none could undertake to save them. At last 
 they came to a coney (? : in the Ganda language, " kasanke"), 
 and the coney asked them, " Where are you going ? " And 
 the cow said, " We are running away from the lioness. We 
 have killed her cub." " Come in here," said the coney, 
 " and I will save you." So she went, the cow and her calf. 
 The coney asked the cow, " Have you any milk ? " " Yes," 
 said she. " Come here," said the coney, and it milked the 
 cow, and put the milk in a saucepan. Then it said, " Have 
 you any blood ? " " Yes," she replied. The coney took an 
 arrow, and pricked her a little, and blood flowed, and that, 
 
X. The Lioness and the Cozcj. 167 
 
 too, it put in a saucepan. Then it put in a banana flower 
 (Note 2 7) too, and placed it ready. When the lioness came, 
 she asked the coney, " Have you seen slaves of mine 
 about ? " It answered and said, " I don't know. Who are 
 you speaking to?" "You," replied the lioness, and added, 
 " That's the fourth time I have asked you. Are you deaf, 
 or what? Hand over my slaves." "I have your slaves," 
 said the coney ; " I won't hand them over. Just wait a 
 minute." The coney took the saucepan of blood, and 
 struck the lioness on the breast with it, and said, " Look ! I 
 have broken your heart." The lioness looked, and saw the 
 blood and the banana flower, and said to herself, " Not a 
 doubt of it." Then the coney stooped down, and took the 
 saucepan of milk, and struck the lioness on the head with 
 it, and said, " Look ! I have smashed your skull." The 
 lioness took her paw and scratched her head, and saw the 
 milk, and said, " Not a doubt of it. He has smashed my 
 skull. Look at my brains." And the lioness took to her 
 heels. 
 
XL 
 
 THE LION, THE DOVE, AND THE WILD ASS. 
 
 HERE was a very large tree, and under the 
 tree some large bushes, and in the bushes a 
 wild ass used to rest himself, and up in the 
 tree there was a dove. One day a lion came 
 under the tree. When he came he found the dove on the 
 ground by the tree. When the lion came up, the dove 
 asked him, "Well? How do you do?" " Quite well," 
 answered the lion, "but I am hungry." "What say you?" 
 replied the dove; "should you like a dinner?" "Yes, I 
 should," said the lion. " Go away," said the dove, " and 
 when you hear me calling, you come and you'll find a 
 dinner." The lion went away. The ass happened not to 
 be there, but when he came, the dove said to him, "You 
 have heard the news, I suppose?" " No," answered the 
 ass. "Well," said the dove, "the lion is on the look-out 
 for you, and wants to make a meal of you." The ass 
 bethought him of running away, and making a home else- 
 where. The dove said to him, " I will protect you. When 
 you hear me call, run. The lion is coming." So the 
 dove called the lion, and said, " Come and have dinner." 
 When the lion arrived, the dove showed him where the ass 
 was, and when the lion got near the place the dove cried 
 out, " Look out ! Friend Flat-face is coming." When the 
 ass heard that, he took to his heels, and the lion came back. 
 
XI. The Lion, the Dove, and the Wild Ass. 1 69 
 
 When the lion came back the dove came and said to him, 
 " Well, how do you feel ? Did I get you a dinner? " "Yes," 
 said the lion, "you did, but it has bolted." And the lion 
 went off. Presently the ass appeared, and the dove said, 
 " Well, how do you feel ? Did I protect you ?" " Yes," said 
 the ass, " you certainly did save me from the jaws of the lion." 
 
 The next day the ass lay down to sleep. The dove saw 
 him, and called the lion to come and have dinner. When 
 he came, the dove showed him the place where the ass was 
 lying. The moment the lion got near the ass, the dove 
 called to the ass, " Look out ! Look out ! See ! Flat-face 
 is coming ! " Up jumped the ass, and made off. The lion 
 went back to the dove in a rage, and came and said to him, 
 "You are a double-faced rogue." And they abused each 
 other. Thus the lion called the dove a rogue, but the ass 
 called him a good fellow. 
 
XII. 
 
 THE LIONESS, THE RABBIT, AND THE DOG. 
 
 HERE was once a lioness, which had four 
 cubs. A rabbit and a dog acted as nurses. 
 Now the rabbit was far more fond of eating 
 than the dog was. The nursing arrangement 
 was, each to have the care of two of the cubs. 
 
 One day the rabbit took a bone, and was going outside 
 the house to eat it, and said to the dog before going^ out, 
 " If you hear a crunching of bones, shut the door." "Very 
 well," said the dog. So the rabbit went off to eat, and put 
 the bone in his mouth, and crunched it so vigorously, that 
 a bit of it flew against the house. The rabbit dropped the 
 bone he was eating, and shouted and said to the dog, 
 " Shut the door." And he shut the door. And the rabbit 
 left off eating, and went back to the house. The next day 
 he went outside to eat, and it happened just as on the 
 first day. And the day following also he went out to eat, 
 and a splinter flew right inside the house, and the rabbit 
 shouted out to tell the dog, " Shut the door," but the dog 
 never heard, for he had gone to sleep. Now that splinter 
 of bone struck one of the lioness's cubs, one of the two 
 cubs which were under the charge of the rabbit. When 
 the rabbit went to look, he found one cub dead. The 
 rabbit said to himself, "What shall I do?" But he did 
 not speak a word. 
 
XII. The Lioness, the Rabbit, and the Dog. 1 7 1 
 
 When the lioness came home she said to the nurses, 
 " Bring my children to be suckled." The dog brought his, 
 but the rabbit brought one only. The lioness asked him 
 "Where is the other?" The rabbit said to himself, "What 
 shall I do to escape being killed by the lioness ? I'll 
 ask if I may open the door for a minute. Perhaps if I 
 can do that, I shall get a chance of running away." So 
 he said to her, " Alight I open the door a moment?" "Cer- 
 tainly," said the lioness. So the rabbit opened it, and 
 stepped out. As soon as he had gone out, the dog told 
 everything about him. The lioness was very angry, and 
 went out to look for the rabbit, and saw him, and went 
 in pursuit. The rabbit went off at full speed, and came 
 to a river, and poured water all over himself, and sat 
 down on a hillock. Up came the lioness, and said to 
 the wet rabbit, "Have you seen a dry rabbit?" "No," 
 replied the rabbit, " I am just sitting here. I had some 
 friends with me. We were ordered by the king this morning 
 to kill him some of his game. We have killed six buffaloes, 
 and four giraffes, and two elephants, and three lions, and if 
 you want me to kill you, just walk up." When the lioness 
 heard this she was dreadfully frightened, and bolted as fast 
 as she could, and the old rabbit, he went his own way too. 
 
XIII. 
 
 THE RABBIT AND THE ELEPHANT (2). 
 
 NCE upon a time there was a rabbit and an 
 elephant, and they struck up a friendship. 
 The rabbit loved the elephant, and the elephant 
 loved the rabbit. One day they were rambling 
 along a narrow lane, and they heard a noise of people 
 dancing, and the rabbit said to his friend, "Suppose we go 
 and join the dance?" "Agreed," said the elephant. So 
 off they went. On arriving they found people dancing, and 
 joined in and danced too. The way they danced was this 
 — the rabbit turned somersaults, while the elephant danced 
 hornpipes. Presently the rabbit, rogue as he was, said to the 
 people who gave the dance, " My friends, look at me and 
 my companion, and say which dances most elegantly." 
 "You, rabbit," said they; "you are the one which dances 
 best." On this the rabbit said to the elephant, " My dear 
 fellow, the reason you do not dance with grace is simply 
 this. You are quite too fat. Come and let me cut some 
 of the fat off." The elephant agreed, and the rabbit took 
 his knife, and made use of it, and then said to him, " When 
 we have done dancing, I'll give you back your fat." While 
 the dance still went on, the rabbit slipped away, and went off 
 to his house. Now, his house stood at the foot of a very 
 high hill, and on the hill were a great number of huge stones. 
 
XIII. The Rabbit and the Elephant (2). 173 
 
 At last the dance came to an end, and the elephant looked 
 about everywhere for his friend, but could not see a trace 
 of him, so he went away. 
 
 He waited one day, and on the next he called a buffalo, 
 and said to him, " I want to send you to the rabbit to fetch 
 the fat." " Certainly," replied he ; "I am at your service." 
 "Very well then, go," said the elephant. And he went. 
 On coming near the house, he put on an exceedingly fierce 
 aspect. Soon the rabbit came out, and said to him, " Why 
 these black looks, my guest? However, pray step in." 
 The buffalo took a seat, while the rabbit cooked him some 
 food, with part of the elephant's fat as a relish. " I say," 
 said the buffalo. "Well," replied the rabbit. " This meat 
 is uncommonly toothsome. Where did you get it?" "Let 
 us finish eating," said the rabbit, " and then come and let me 
 show you my larder close by at the back of the house. You 
 would not believe how easy it is to get it. And then you 
 have those horns of yours. Why, the game will come and 
 impale themselves on your horns. You will bag dozens." 
 When they had ended their meal, the buffalo said to him, 
 " I want to start back this moment. Give me, please, the 
 elephant's fat, and I will go." "Certainly," said he; "let 
 us be off." So they went, and came to a place where there 
 was a hole. The rabbit said to the buffalo, " Put your head 
 in this hole." The buffalo did so, and the rabbit climbed 
 the hill, chose a huge boulder, and threw it down. Mean- 
 while the buffalo lay quieter than ever, with his head in the 
 hole, thinking, " The game is coming with a tremendous 
 rush." But it was the boulder coming. On and on it 
 came, till it struck the buffalo on the head, and crushed it 
 to atoms. The rabbit saw he was dead, and came and took 
 the stone, and threw it far away. Then he took the buffalo 
 and flayed him, and threw away the hide, and took the 
 flesh, and carried it home to his house. 
 
174 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 Meanwhile the elephant waited and waited, and thought 
 that the buffalo was a very long time on his errand, so he 
 sent another messenger, and he was treated exactly like the 
 first. Then he sent another, and so on, till he nearly came 
 to the end of all the animals, and then he sent a leopard. 
 Now when the leopard arrived, the rabbit invited him in, 
 and when he had finished eating they went to the hill, and 
 the rabbit said to him, "Put your head in the hole." And 
 he did so. Then the rabbit went, just as he always did, 
 and threw the stone. The leopard heard the stone thun- 
 pering along, and took his head out of the hole, and the 
 stone fell into it. Afterwards he took the stone, and laid it 
 on his own head very gently. That done, he remained 
 perfectly still. The rabbit came and looked at him, and 
 thought he was probably dead. So he removed the stone, 
 and said to himself, " He has a fine skin. It's a shame 
 to throw it away." So he took him out of the hole, and 
 said, " I will carry him to my house." He took grass 
 and tied the leopard, and took more grass and made a pad 
 for his head, and hoisted the leopard on to it. The leopard 
 put out a claw and gave the rabbit a kind of pinch on the 
 head. "Ah !" said the rabbit, "I have got a thorn in my 
 pad. Let us see." He threw the leopard down, and looked, 
 but found no thorn. Then he threw away the grass-pad 
 and made another, took the leopard and hoisted him up 
 again, and went on. Then the leopard gave him another 
 pinch, as at first, and he threw him down again as before, 
 and said, "Ah ! nowadays grass has thorns in it, and no 
 mistake." And he found he had positively got sores on 
 his head. Then he saw a wolf passing, and called him, and 
 said, " Lend me a hand, and I will give you a share of the 
 meat." "Very good," said the wolf, and added, "Hoist it 
 on my head." So he hoisted the load on to the wolfs head, 
 and he went on. The leopard put out his claw, and pinched 
 
XIII. The Rabbit and the Elephant (2). 175 
 
 him on the head. The wolf said to the rabbit, " My friend, 
 what have you put in this pad ? " but the rabbit never told 
 him that he had found it just the same, but said not a word. 
 He only said, " I don't know." Then the leopard cut the 
 grass-ropes they had tied him with, and seized the wolf and 
 ate him up, while the rabbit ran away. 
 
XIV. 
 
 THE THREE BROTHERS. 
 
 HERE were once three people, and they were 
 brothers one to the other. The eldest of them 
 began, and said, " I want to go and get some 
 cloth," and the second said the same, and so 
 did the third, the youngest brother. Two of them had each 
 a wife, but the younger had no wife. So they started, and 
 in their travels came near a river, and the two elder brothers 
 built a hut, and the younger brother wanted to build at the 
 same place as his brothers, but they were very, very bad men, 
 and they drove him away. However, the younger brother 
 had a great deal of cunning, and he went and built a hut 
 by himself. When he had finished his hut, he saw a grass- 
 hopper, and caught it, and covered it up inside a cooking- 
 pot. But a fowl belonging to his brothers came and ate up 
 the grasshopper belonging to him. When he came back to 
 his hut he uncovered the cooking-pot, and found nothing 
 in it. And he said to them, " Who is it who has eaten my 
 grasshopper ? " They said, " Our fowl ate it." " There ! " 
 said he, " first you cast me off, and now your fowl has eaten 
 what belonged to me." And he added, " Give me my 
 grasshopper. If you won't, give me a fowl." So someone 
 said, " Come, give him his fowl, or he will be always bother- 
 ing us." So he was given a fowl, and went away. Then 
 
XIV. The Three Brothers. 
 
 177 
 
 his brothers left that place, and came to another, and built 
 a hut, as they had done before, and drove him away. And 
 he went and built at another spot, and there he was with 
 his fowl. And he shut it up as he had done the grass- 
 hopper, and then his brothers' dog came and ate up his 
 fowl. Then he kept saying to them, " Give me the dog. ; ' 
 And they gave it him. He made it fast, as he had done 
 before, and a lion came and killed it. Then he went, and 
 they gave him the lion, and he went away. They were still 
 three months' journey from the place where cloth was sold. 
 Well, they slept just as usual, he and his lion. Then the 
 lion had a fight with an ox, and the lion was killed. And 
 he went to his brothers, and they gave him the ox. Then 
 they had almost got as far as the town, and this younger 
 brother had got a good deal of property. 
 
 Then they went on, and at last came to the place, and the 
 brother who had the ox found his services were wanted by 
 the king. So he got ships and slaves and everything that a 
 king can give. And those four, the brothers and their wives, 
 they were in the service of their brother, and those four, when 
 they came to that place, they did not get ships or clothes 
 or a single slave, while he got a great many. When the 
 time came for them to go back home, those four were going 
 to have travelled on foot, but their brother said, u Come 
 and get on board a ship." So they went on board, and 
 when they had got some distance on their journey they 
 wanted their brother to be their leader and chief, but only 
 for the journey, until they should reach their villages. But 
 their brother refused, and said, " Why did you at the first 
 cast me off, and not give me fire? I was eating nothing 
 but uncooked food, and now you are wanting to make me 
 chief. I entirely refuse." Then they entreated him, and 
 because of ail that matter of casting him off on the journey, 
 they even wanted to repay him with money. But he re- 
 
 N 
 
i 7 8 
 
 African Talcs. 
 
 fused to take recompense, for for a long time past he had 
 been wanting to forgive his brothers. One reason (for 
 acting as they did) was that they thought, "He will go and 
 tell of us to our mother." Presently he said to them, " I 
 forgive you because you are my brothers." But when they 
 arrived at their village their mother dreamed a dream about 
 her (younger) son. However, they arrived, and asked how 
 everyone was, and everyone said, " Quite well, thank you, 
 and what news do you bring ? " 
 
XV. 
 
 THE BIRD AND THE KING. 
 
 HERE was once a bird, and it laid a thousand 
 eggs. And there were some people with dogs, 
 and they went out hunting, and saw the eggs, 
 and took one egg and examined it, and took it 
 to the king. And the king said, " Go and tell the bird that 
 the king wants to buy one of your eggs/' And the bird 
 said, " I have no power (to sell), only God who gave them 
 to me to watch over here." But the king said, " Go and 
 fight till you get them." The soldiers went till they came 
 to the bird, but did not find it there, and they said, " Let us 
 even carry off these eggs." And they carried them off. 
 But when they had nearly reached the town the bird said. 
 " These people are a sad bad lot. I was given these things 
 by God to watch over, and now they have taken away God's 
 own eggs." And the bird knew that they were the people 
 who had carried them off. So the bird went till it came to 
 the king's palace, and the bird said, " I want my eggs which 
 you took away from the wilderness." The people said, 
 " We will not give them you. If you want to fight, here 
 we are." " As you please," said the bird. " I will fight for 
 what is mine." Well, the bird attacked all those crowds of 
 people, and the people were conquered, and the bird ruled 
 over the land. 
 
i8o African Tales, 
 
 And God heard of it, and he made that town a great 
 river of the sea, and a great tree in the midst of the river, 
 and the bird built on it a very large nest, and brought its 
 eggs there, and there it kept watch over them in its tree for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 ♦ 
 
XVI. 
 
 MAN AND WIFE. 
 
 HERE was once a man and his wife. Their 
 land was visited by a very severe famine, and 
 they had no salt, and they were reduced to 
 eating mushrooms. One day the husband 
 went to look for something to eat, and he went and brought 
 some food, and his wife cooked it. But her husband said 
 to her, " I want you to put my food on the ground for me.'' 
 His wife said, " I will not put it on the ground for you. 
 You may kill me first, if you like.'' Well, the next day 
 their children said, "Why does our father talk like this? 
 What is there on the ground here?" And their mother 
 cooked some food, and the children gathered round her, 
 and one of the children took just a little of the food (set 
 apart for their father), and noticed it was seasoned. So 
 they went to their mother to tell her, and she said, " There, 
 now ! Your father has hidden some salt away." One day 
 their father went to look for something to eat, and they dug 
 in the ground, and found salt and hid it. When he came 
 home they put his food for him in the usual place. He 
 tasted it, and noticed it had no seasoning, and said to his 
 wife, "Why is the food so bad to-day?" And his wife said, 
 "Why do you always eat your meals without saying a word ?" 
 And he killed his wife with a sword. (Note 27*.) 
 
XVII. 
 
 THE HYAENA AND THE RABBIT. 
 
 N days of yore the hyaena came and said to 
 the rabbit, " Be my friend." The rabbit 
 accepted his friendship, and in a time of 
 famine the hysena said to him, "What are 
 we to do now? And hunger's pangs upon us \" "I don't 
 know," said the rabbit. "Well," said the hysena, "let us 
 go and take a walk." " By all means," replied the rabbit. 
 Then the hysena said to the rabbit, " When we come to 
 people's fields, and you see something to eat, do not take 
 anything that is quite ripe and ready for eating. You had 
 better not." " Very well," replied the rabbit, and the hysena 
 added, " As for me, I shall do exactly the same." But in 
 his own heart the rabbit said, " He is playing me a trick," 
 which was quite true. The hysena had said what was false 
 in order to deceive the rabbit, and make a meal by himself 
 on the best of the food, and the rabbit knew, "He is 
 playing a trick on me." 
 
 Well, they started off, each man with his bag for provi- 
 sions, and came to someone's field. And the hysena said, 
 " Remember what I said to you just now." And he added, 
 " If you do not listen to me you will be seized by the owner 
 of the field." " I heard what you said," answered the 
 rabbit. They went into the field, and found a quantity of 
 
XVII. The Hycena and the Rabbit. 183 
 
 potatoes. "Stop here," said the hyaena; "just take the 
 leaves from the top, and I will go yonder and do the same." 
 When he was well out of the way the rabbit was left and 
 dug potatoes, and the hyaena, he had gone off, but he did 
 not go to take the leaves of the potatoes. When he had 
 dug some potatoes, he took the leaves and put them at the 
 top and the potatoes underneath. And the rabbit tried the 
 very same dodge. The hyaena came and found him, and 
 said to him, " Come along." So they went on till they 
 came near a river, and the hyaena said, " Let every man 
 open his bag;" and he added, " I will open mine." So he 
 uncovered the leaves at the top. And the rabbit caught 
 sight of the potatoes, and said (to himself), " Ah ! my friend 
 here ! That's the sort of trick he plays ! " But the rabbit 
 did not utter a word. Then the hyaena took all the potatoes 
 out of his bag, and when he had done he said to the rabbit, 
 " Now then, my friend, out with yours, and let me see them." 
 The rabbit took out the leaves, and the hyaena saw the 
 potatoes, and began to get in a fret. However, the rabbit 
 took out all his, and the rabbit said, " Now let us each eat 
 our own." And the rabbit began to eat his own. But the 
 hyaena got in a very bad humour with the rabbit, on which 
 the rabbit took them all off and ate them, and all the 
 hyaena's potatoes he ate up too. 
 
 Presently the hyaena said to the rabbit, "Come along." 
 So they went on and came to a forest, and the hyaena said, 
 " When we come to a town, if I say I have a stomach-ache, 
 go and get this medicine." "Very well," said the rabbit. 
 When they had gone a little farther the rabbit thought, " I 
 must get a chance of going and getting the medicine." So 
 the rabbit went and got the medicine, and returned in a 
 very short time indeed. The hyaena asked him, " Why run 
 so fast?" " There was a lion after me," said the rabbit. 
 Then the hyaena said to the rabbit, " Let us run away." 
 
African Tales. 
 
 And the rabbit said to the hyaena, " Oh, the lion has gone 
 off this long time." " Let us have a rest then," said the 
 hyaena. Then they went on again, and the hyaena said to 
 the rabbit, " I say, my good fellow, don't you hear what I 
 am saying to you ? Let us rest a bit." So they sat down 
 for a bit. Then they went on and came to a town, and a 
 friend of the hyaena came and welcomed him, and spread a 
 mat for him, and the rabbit and the hyaena sat on a large 
 piece of matting, and food was prepared. The hyaena said, 
 "I have a stomach-ache," and added to the rabbit, "Go 
 and get that medicine." The rabbit just ran round the 
 back of the house and got the medicine out of his bag, and 
 brought it, and found the hyaena just beginning his meal. 
 The rabbit gave him the medicine, and the hyaena took it 
 and left the porridge, and told him to eat. So the rabbit 
 ate it all up, and a very good meal the rabbit made, and the 
 hyaena was in a very bad humour, because he had sent off 
 the rabbit to fetch medicine, and the rabbit took only a 
 moment to get it. 
 
 They remained till one day they were invited to a house, 
 and it was a house in which goats were shut up at night. 
 They slept in it, and in the middle of the night, while the 
 hyaena was asleep, the rabbit woke up and caught a goat, 
 and killed it and flayed it and gathered up the inwards and 
 skin, and went and found the hyaena asleep, and tied them 
 to him. When he had done, he got up and went and took 
 the goat off the hyaena, and went with it to the river, and 
 washed it, all in the dead of night, and conveyed it into the 
 forest, and spread it on a bush, and went back to the river, 
 and had a good bathe, and after that he rubbed himself 
 with oil and went back and went to sleep. When he woke 
 up in the morning he saw the hyaena and said, " Ah ! you 
 will get a thrashing to-day; you have stolen a goat." "In- 
 deed it's not I," said the hyaena. " It is," said the rabbit. 
 
XVII. The Hyczna and the Rabbit. 185 
 
 " It is not," said the other. They waited, and the owners 
 of the house came and let out the goats and counted them, 
 and found the number short, and questioned them, u Where 
 are the goats gone to?" The hyaena had not come out of 
 doors ; he was still on his bed. So they came and asked 
 the rabbit, "Where is your companion?" "My friend is 
 asleep," he replied. And the rabbit went and woke him up. 
 The hyaena came, and was questioned. " Did you not see 
 who stole the goat?" "No, I did not," said he. "How 
 did you get this blood on you ?" asked they. " Perhaps it 
 was my companion here," he said. "Oh, no, not I!" 
 said the rabbit. The hyaena had nothing to say. " Well, 
 you have both stolen it," said the people. The rabbit was 
 asked, "What kind of rope shall we tie you with?" 
 " Banana rope," said the rabbit. The hyaena was asked, 
 "What kind of rope do you wish us to tie you with?" 
 " Straps," said the hyaena. He was tied accordingly, and 
 the rabbit was tied with banana rope. When they were 
 both made fast, the rabbit said, " Put me in the road." He 
 was put in the road. Then the rabbit devised a trick for 
 making his escape, but the hyaena told of him, and said, 
 " The rabbit is trying to escape." The people asked the 
 rabbit, "What is it you are saying?" "The hyaena is a 
 liar," said the rabbit ; " I never said a word." Then he 
 added, "All I said was, * We want a fowl to-day with our 
 rice.'" So a fowl was killed for them. When they had 
 finished eating it the rabbit said to the hyaena, " Come, let 
 me untie your straps, and we'll make off." The hyaena 
 raised a shout, "Here's a runaway! here's a runaway!" 
 The people came and asked him, "What is the matter?" 
 " Nothing at all," said he, and added, " We were saying we 
 were hungry to-day." They were brought food and ate it. 
 Presently the rabbit cut his banana-rope and made off. 
 The people came and asked the hyaena, "Where is the 
 
i86 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 rabbit?" He replied, "I don't know where he has gone. 
 The fact is," he said to them, " I was asleep." They took 
 the hyaena and went and killed him. 
 
 This is the end of my story. If it is good, I hope it may 
 please people. If bad, it may please myself. 
 
XVIII. 
 
 THE WOMEN AND THE STONE. 
 
 NCE upon a time there was a river, and in 
 the river was a small stone, and this stone 
 was the abode of a fairy, and everyone who 
 passed the river, if he struck against the 
 stone, held his peace. 
 
 One day four women started to go to the other side for a 
 ramble. They went and arrived at the river. When they 
 got there they proceeded to cross over. They went into the 
 water, and the first who went into the water struck against 
 the stone, but she never said a word. And so with the 
 second and the third. But the last, when she touched the 
 stone, abused it. They passed on, and went off for a ramble 
 among their relations. When it was time to go back they 
 came to the very same spot, and found the stone was standing 
 up in its place, and they had not a word to say to it. And 
 they said to their companion, "Look, you have done wrong. 
 What shall we do now? We cannot go on, and it is all 
 your fault." However, the three tried praying, and all three 
 passed over and went on, and the fourth was left behind by 
 herself. When they got home they were asked, " Where is 
 your companion ?" And they said, " She went with us, and 
 when we came to the river our companion stumbled and' 
 was provoked, and abused the stone she had stumbled over." 
 
African Tales. 
 
 The father and mother got very furious indeed, and they 
 bought guns and cloth, and a great deal besides, and placed 
 them on the stone. And her father said, " Who will mount 
 up on this stone and go to the other side and fetch my 
 child ? I will give him all these things I have here." The 
 squirrel stepped forward and said, " Here am I." They 
 said to him, "Can you do it?" " I can," he said. They 
 said to him, " Do it then." Off he went, and found her 
 crying and wandering about distractedly, and said to her, 
 "Come." And she came. When she had come, he took 
 her up and went with her up to the very top, and remained 
 four days at the top. On the fifth day he came down and 
 gave them their child, and they gave him his reward. And 
 he went off. And they, too, went off with their daughter. 
 That is the end. 
 
XIX. 
 
 THE ELEPHANT AND THE RABBIT (3). 
 
 HERE was once an elephant, and he made a 
 brew of beer, and said, " I should like to have 
 a dance for my friends, but at my drinking- 
 bout I will have none who have not horns. I 
 want all who have horns, but no one else." So one day he 
 collected together " all my friends who have horns, but no 
 one else." And they all assembled. And he asked his 
 friends, " Whom shall we appoint policeman to keep the 
 door for us ?" They all said, " Perhaps the hyaena would 
 do." Someone was sent to go and find the hyaena. He 
 was soon found, he and a very little cub of his, and they 
 were brought to the elephant. And the elephant said, " I 
 want you to be our policeman, and just keep the door for 
 us." " Oh, certainly," said he. "Very well. Agreed." 
 
 The arrangements were made for the dance. It was a 
 dance called " Njipa." First they conversed, and presently 
 beer was brought, a jar and a half full, and they drank. 
 When they had done drinking they fell to dancing, and the 
 song to which they danced was this : — " Njipa, mwiwale zale ? 
 Uwanywo hatupiyakao mwanyi pwanabwa ng'oo" — which 
 means, " This dance, where did you hear of it ? And we 
 are by no means at home yet, oh, no!" That is what it 
 meant. Well, while they were dancing away and highly de- 
 
African Tales. 
 
 lighted because the dance was a very good one, suddenly 
 they saw a very handsome young person coming with antlers 
 like a stag. They called the stag, and asked him, " Is this 
 a relation of yours or not?" The stag replied, " I do not 
 know. Possibly it is a relation of mine." The elephant 
 said at once, " Give this young person a place and let him 
 dance. It is all right, he has horns." A place in the dance 
 was given him at once. But he would not dance in the sun, 
 for he was afraid his horns would come off, for he was only 
 a rabbit really, and had no horns at all. So they danced till 
 they began to be tired. Presently they went to have another 
 pull at the beer, just by way of refreshment. When they 
 had refreshed themselves, then at once they fell to dancing 
 again. And then the rabbit got in a sunny place, and in a 
 moment both his horns melted off, and one horn flew off 
 and hit the elephant near the nose. " Collar that fellow 
 there !" exclaimed the elephant to the hyaena. "Where?" 
 answered the hyaena. " I have not got sight of him yet." 
 The rabbit had not got out, he had hid himself near where 
 the hyaena was. The very moment the hyaena went out of 
 the door, the rabbit bolted out too. When the hyaena saw 
 him he went after him at full speed. Suddenly the rabbit 
 dived into a hole. The hyaena and his young cub dug away 
 with a will, but could not get at him. Presently the hyaena 
 said, " Wait here ; I will go and get fire." " Very well." 
 said the cub. As soon as he was well on his way back, the 
 rabbit came up from inside and knocked at the door. Just 
 then the cub took out the wisp of grass and threw it away, 
 and stuffed another in the hole. In a twinkling out came 
 the rabbit with the wisp of grass. As soon as he was safe 
 outside he asked the cub, "Where has your father gone?" 
 " He has gone to get fire," answered the cub. " What is the 
 fire for ? " he inquired. " To smoke the rabbit out," said 
 he ; " he's here inside." " Oh ! " said the rabbit. " It is 
 
XIX. The Elephant and the Rabbit (3). 191 
 
 no good stuffing grass in. He will get out. Take out the 
 grass and put your paw in, and keep singing like this, 
 ' Too-00 tee-ay-lar, too-00 tee-ay-lar.' " And he added, 
 "Now then, begin. And go on till you see your father 
 coming. Then stuff the grass in. Do you understand, you 
 little cub ? " " Oh ! yes," said the cub. The rabbit was 
 off in a moment, and the cub never, saw where the rabbit 
 went to. And the cub attended to what the rabbit had said 
 to him, and did exactly as he was told. And as soon as he 
 saw his father coming he stuffed the grass into the hole. 
 Presently his father came up and asked his cub, "Is the 
 rabbit in there?" "Yes, father, he is there." So they 
 lighted a fire and put it in the hole and puffed away at it 
 till the hole was quite full of smoke. Then they fell to 
 digging again. They dug and dug till they came to the end, 
 and not a thing did they find inside it after all. The father 
 promptly asked his child, " Why is the rabbit not in there 
 inside the hole ? Where has he gone to ? I know you have 
 let him out." The young one answered at once and said, 
 " I did see a rabbit. He came up behind me, and said to 
 me, 1 What are you waiting for here ? ' and I replied, ' I 
 am waiting for a rabbit. It is here in this hole.' And he 
 said to me, ' If you are waiting for a rabbit it is no good 
 stuffing grass in the hole. He will be out and away in a 
 moment.' And I answered, ' Well, what am I to stop the 
 hole with?' 'With your paws,' said he. 'Besides keep 
 singing songs like this, " Too-00, tee-ay-lar, too-00 tee-ay- 
 lar " ' " — which means " stopping up and letting out," that is 
 its meaning. When his father heard this he was very angry, 
 for he was afraid the elephant would kill him. Well, his 
 father hunted for the rabbit, but could not find him, for he 
 had gone clean away. Then the hyaena and his cub went 
 back to the elephant, and found them all dancing away just 
 as before. And the dance was in full swing, too. The 
 
192 
 
 Af7'ican Tales, 
 
 hyaena went up to the elephant, and said to him, " I have 
 not caught the rabbit." " What rabbit ? " said the elephant, 
 hastily. " The one you told me to collar," said the hyaena. 
 "I never told you any such thing," said the elephant. The 
 fact was, the elephant denied it because the dance was quite 
 too delightful ; the dancing and the singing were quite ex- 
 quisite. So the hyaena went back to his post and kept the 
 door again as before, he and his cub with him. 
 
 The company continued to dance, and drank up the beer. 
 The beer was not quite so good at first, but now there were 
 the dregs at the bottom, and they were particularly nice — 
 nicer than all the rest together. Then they made up another 
 dance, and presently they saw a young person with the 
 horns of a buffalo, and very fine horns indeed they were. 
 They welcomed him at once in high good-humour, and the 
 rabbit (for it was the rabbit again) joined in the dance with- 
 out more ado. At first, however, he took great care not to 
 get into the sun, for he was afraid his horns would melt off 
 at once. So he danced in the shade. Presently the elephant 
 called out, "Stop dancing. Now let us finish off what is 
 left of our beer." They lost no time in gathering together, 
 and very soon the beer was brought, and they drank till 
 they had finished it all up, and the rabbit with them. 
 When they had done drinking they stood up to dance, and 
 danced away vigorously, and the dance got into a famous 
 swing. And the rabbit got into the sun, because he was so 
 taken up with the dancing. And in a moment, while the 
 rabbit was dancing, both his horns melted right off, and 
 flew up and hit the buffalo. And the rabbit made a rush 
 for the hyaena, who was keeping guard at the door, and the 
 hyaena entirely failed to collar the rabbit. And the rabbit 
 bolted into a cemetery, and the hyaena tried to hunt him 
 down, but could not catch him, for in the cemetery there 
 were a great many footmarks, so he did not know which 
 
XIX. The Elephant and the Rabbit (3). 193 
 
 was the track of the rabbit. And the hyaena went back and 
 said to the elephant, u I could not catch him, for he ran 
 into the cemetery, and I do not know the track which he 
 made, for there are a great many footmarks there.'' " Well," 
 said the elephant, " what are we to do ? He has contrived 
 to drink our beer, and he has joined in our dance, and got 
 off scot-free. And he has hurt us, too, with those beastly 
 horns of his." However, the company danced and enjoyed 
 themselves, and then they took leave of each other, and 
 everyone went away highly delighted. So the dance came 
 to an end. As for the rabbit, he took care not to appear a 
 third time. 
 
 0 
 
XX. 
 
 THE RAT AND THE MOLE. 
 
 NE day there came a rat and said to a mole, 
 " I should very much like to go a walk with you. 
 We have not had a good walk for a long time." 
 " By all means," said the mole. " I, too, 
 should much like a walk." As they were going the mole 
 became a little tired, and said to the rat, " My good fellow, 
 I am tired; I want to rest here in the shade." "Very 
 well," said the rat ; "the fact is, I, too, am greatly in need 
 of rest." While they were sitting there the rat heard a 
 sound of fire approaching, and said to the mole, " Mole, if 
 fire comes, how are you going to escape ?" " Oh !" said he, 
 I really don't know, but I shall do what I can. I shall 
 escape in this way — dig a hole, and in I go. That's my way 
 of escaping." " The way I shall escape," replied the rat, 
 is this — get the other side of a hill." ''Very good," said 
 the mole ; " an excellent plan. You know how to take care 
 of yourself, that's clear." W T hile they were talking in this 
 way suddenly the fire came in view, the flames leaping high, 
 and they at once began to make their escape, the mole sing- 
 ing his song of " Dig a hole and in you go," and the rat his, 
 " Round behind the hill we go." While they were trying to 
 make their escape the fire increased, and raged most fiercely. 
 When the mole saw that the fire had got near he went into 
 
XX. The Rat and the Mole. 195 
 
 a hole, and the fire passed by. But the rat could not run 
 very fast, because he was very tired. And the fire burnt 
 with great fury, and killed the rat on the side of the hill. 
 The mole came out of the hole and viewed the fire, and 
 saw that it had not yet quite cooled down, so he went back 
 into his hole and- waited a bit. Then presently he said, 
 " Perhaps now it has cooled down," and he came out as 
 before, and looked and saw it had quite cooled down. 
 Then he went along the same path as he had come by 
 before, and arrived at the very place where they had rested, 
 and said, " Now I am off to search for my friend, for the 
 fire is all over now." So he began wandering about the 
 hills, and besides kept calling out, "Rat, rat, where are 
 you?" But he heard no voice in reply, nothing but his 
 own. While he was thus wandering about the hills he came 
 upon him lying dead on the side of a hill, with one of his 
 teeth protruding. So he said, "What am I to do? I had 
 better take this tooth, and bury my companion." And so 
 he did. When he had finished, he took the tooth and 
 hollowed it out inside, and took wax, and melted it on to 
 the sides of the tooth, and it became a kind of pipe. And 
 then he took some more wax and heated it thoroughly, till 
 it was as hot as fire. 
 
 When he had finished doing this he returned to his house, 
 and sat in his verandah and played upon the tooth, " Noopa 
 nino la mula akwile moro wa ekwala " — which means, " I 
 chant the name of my friend, who died in a forest-fire." 
 Well, while he was singing in this way, presently he Saw an 
 elephant coming. The elephant said to the mole, "My 
 friend, I want to look at that thing you are playing on." 
 The mole took the tooth and gave it him. The elephant 
 played on it, and saw that it had a beautiful tone, and was 
 going to run off with it. But the mole took the heated wax 
 and threw it at him. Then the elephant gave it back at 
 
196 African Tales. 
 
 once, and the owner took it as before and played on it. 
 Presently a buffalo appeared, and said, " My friend, just 
 lend it me for a moment ; I want to look at it." The mole 
 gave it him, and the buffalo played on it, and saw it sounded 
 very sweetly, and was going to run off with it too. But the 
 mole took the heated wax and threw it at him, and he gave 
 it back at once. The mole took it and played on it, and a 
 lion came, but he could not get possession of it, for the 
 mole hurt him dreadfully with the hot wax. Everyone of 
 the animals came, but could not get it. 
 
 However, the tortoise appeared, and said, " I will go and 
 see what / can do." So the tortoise went till he came to 
 the house of the mole, and said, " My good fellow, let me 
 look at your pipe." And the mole gave it him. The tor- 
 toise played on it, and found it take his fancy wonderfully, 
 and ran off with it. The mole took his heated wax and 
 threw it at him. The tortoise said to him, "Opatela nra- 
 bata etai iri vati " — which means, " You only hit the skin, 
 the flesh is underneath." But the mole went on taking 
 great lumps of wax and throwing them at him. But he 
 could not hurt him. And the tortoise kept saying the same 
 words over and over again, till he came to his house, and 
 in he went. And the mole he went in too, but the tortoise 
 tried a stratagem, and said to him, "Ah! my friend, you 
 had better get out pretty quick. Why, you are stepping on 
 his Majesty, you are. Don't you hear, you mole?" But 
 the mole saw it was only nonsense, and went in further and 
 further. Well, when the tortoise saw he was sure to be 
 killed by the mole, he said, " I say, Mole, I am coming out 
 now to give you your tooth." " Well, come along, and be 
 quick about it," said the mole. So the tortoise came out- 
 side, and the mole said, " Give me my tooth." The tor- 
 toise said to him, " If you want your tooth, let us go to 
 Mwala (Note 28) first. Besides, go and get a very sharp 
 
XX. The Rat and the Mole. 
 
 197 
 
 spear. Then when we get to Mwala, when you see me turn 
 over on my back, be quick and run the spear into me." So 
 the mole took a very sharp spear, and they went to Mwala. 
 Then the tortoise turned over on his back, but the mole 
 was not quick enough to spear him. And in a moment the 
 tortoise was in a hole in the rock, and the mole could not 
 get at him any more, for he had gone into a fissure in hard 
 rock. He lost his tooth, and he missed killing the tortoise. 
 So the mole went back home very sorrowful indeed. 
 
 This is the end of my story. If it is a bad one, may it 
 come back to me ; if good, do you take it. 
 
XXI. 
 
 THE ELEPHANT AND GOD. 
 
 HERE was once an elephant, and he had a 
 contest with God. God said to the elephant, 
 " I can dry up all the waters of the rivers." 
 "You cannot dry them up at all," said the 
 elephant. When the elephant had said this all the rivers 
 dried up. The elephant endured ten days without drinking 
 a drop of water. When he felt he was ready to faint, he 
 gathered together all the animals, and gave his orders to 
 the animals. One by one they began to go and pray for 
 water. Each animal which he sent (saying), "Go and pray 
 for water," went, and was told, " Go and tell them, ' Cut 
 down the tree which stands in the verandah.' " When he 
 came back he said it was such and such a tree ; but, strange 
 to say, it was the wrong one. And so on with each animal 
 — he went off and came back, and could not remember 
 which tree it was. Well, the tortoise tried. He took his 
 bell and put it on, and went off to God, and fell on his 
 knees and said, "The elephant wants water." And He said 
 to him, "Let him cut down the tree which stands in the 
 verandah." He went off, and when he got into the road he 
 struck his bell, and it said to him, " The tree which stands in 
 the verandah." He went on and said, "The tree which stands 
 in the verandah." It was cut down, and water came out. 
 
The Elephant and God. 
 
 199 
 
 The elephant drank up all the water, and (the tortoise) was 
 sent again to go and ask for water, and he was told, " Go 
 and cut down such and such a tree." So the tortoise told 
 them, " Cut down this tree/' And they cut it down, and water 
 came out in abundance, and the beasts drank, and it sufficed 
 them, and many great rivers were filled with the abundance 
 of water. All the animals were delighted with the very 
 great abundance of water, and the elephant could not drink 
 it all up by himself. 
 
XXII. 
 
 THE IMPENETRABLE ISLAND. 
 
 HERE were once three children, and they said 
 to their mothers, "We want to go and set 
 snares." Their mothers said, " Do not go." 
 But they did not pay any regard. Their 
 mothers each told her own child, but not one of them paid 
 regard to his mother — they refused, every one of them. So 
 each parent gave her child a bag of flour and beans. Then 
 they bade their mothers farewell and went off. 
 
 When they arrived at the place, at that island which no 
 man could penetrate because of its dangers, they built a 
 hut, and cooked their food and ate it. When they had 
 done eating, they rose up and went off to set snares, and 
 they set them as it were from here to the high road {i.e., 
 over a space of about 500 yards). Then they went back to 
 their hut and went and slept. In the morning they came to 
 look at their snares, and every snare had an animal in it. 
 They took them out of the snares, and went on taking them 
 out of the snares, till they came to the last snare, and there 
 they saw a head swaying to and fro. And they asked each 
 other, "What is that?" and they said, "Let us go and 
 look. If it means death, let us die together." When they 
 got near they saw a huge snake, and they were dreadfully 
 frightened. One of them was very courageous, and said to 
 
XXII. The Impenetrable Island. 201 
 
 the others, " Come along." So they went and found a huge 
 snake, and it had eaten the animal which had been caught 
 in the snare. Moreover, the animals which they had caught 
 in the other snares the snake robbed them of and ate them, 
 and asked them, "Where do you come from?" And they 
 said, " We come from such and such a country," pointing 
 in the direction of their home. The snake asked them, 
 " Who were the people who told you, 'Go yonder,' and you 
 came and interfered with my animals." And they said, 
 " You have eaten up the animals yourself." " I know all 
 that," said the snake. "Well," said they, "no one told us." 
 " That is as much as to say you want to be killed," said he. 
 " If not, carry me to your country." " If you go you will 
 kill our mothers," they said. He killed two of them, and 
 he said (to the one remaining), " And what do you say ? " 
 He was frightened, and said, " Come along." " Come and 
 carry me," said the snake. The child came and carried 
 him, and went with him the first day, and the second day, 
 and the third day, and the fourth day — because he went 
 very slowly on account of the weight of the snake, and the 
 boy grew thin. 
 
 They went on till they arrived at his country. When he 
 arrived he found the people drinking beer. When they saw 
 the boy they ran away because of the snake he was carrying. 
 The boy came up, and stood near his mother's house, and 
 sang, " Come, mother, come, and take my burden down." 
 His mother said to him, " You asked leave of yourself to 
 go." Then he sang, " Come, father, come." His father 
 made just the same reply. But there happened to be a 
 great man there, and he said to his father and mother, " If 
 I give you a medicine which will save your son, what will 
 you give me?" His father and mother said, "Anything 
 you ask we will give you, even to the half of our field." He 
 said to them, "Get tobacco, opium, and beer; then mix 
 
202 
 
 African Tales, 
 
 them together, and put them near that snake." They did 
 as they were told by the chief of the village. They got it, 
 and went and put it near the snake. When the snake had 
 put his mouth to the beer, tobacco, and opium he fell down, 
 and the boy got away and went to his mother. The snake 
 lost all its strength, and lay just where it was, unable to get 
 away. The people collected guns and powder and bullets, 
 and fired at the snake the first day, the second day, and the 
 third day, till the fourth day, and then the snake died. The 
 people cut firewood, and put it over him and set fire to it, 
 and the fire blazed up and the snake was burnt — nothing 
 but ashes was left. 
 
 This is the end of my story. 
 
XXIII. 
 
 THE CRUEL STEP-MOTHER. 
 
 !^8P§3 HERE was once a child and his mother. His 
 'm mother loved him dearly, and she said to him, 
 " You have had nothing but happiness, you 
 will come to have trouble." When his mother 
 died he went to his step-mother, and lived with her. She 
 only loved him a little ; she gave him neither food nor 
 clothes — she did not love him as he was loved by his real 
 mother and father. And he remembered how he had been 
 told by his mother saying, " You will come to have trouble." 
 He thought over this and cried, and hunger pinched him, 
 and he was given no food. The work he was told to do 
 was " Attend to the door." That was all he had to do. 
 When they went into the fields he used to go to a refuse-heap 
 and look for food and eat it. That was what he did when 
 left in the house. 
 
 One day when they had gone away into the fields, the 
 child went to a pond, and said, singing, " Snake, come, 
 come, snake." And a snake came out of the pond, and the 
 child went with it, and put it in the house and shut the door, 
 and went and sat on the refuse-heap and ate what he could 
 find. His father and mother came, and first his father tried 
 to open the door and fell down. His wife said to him, 
 " You are slack. A door is enough to knock you down." 
 " Come yourself," said he. She came and laid hold of the 
 
204 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 door and tried to open it. Down she fell. Her husband 
 puzzled his wits to open it, but could not. So he said to 
 her, " It beats me. You laughed at me. Why did you just 
 try once and fail ? I have tried twice, and can't open it." 
 Then they called the child, but he answered never a word. 
 Then they collected people together, and said, " I wish you 
 would open my door for me." They tried, but not a man 
 could do it. 
 
 At last a man came forward, and spoke and questioned 
 them and said, " This child here, why is he so thin? Is he 
 not given food ? " They replied, " He is." The child 
 looked hard at them, and the man said, " He is not given 
 food. Why, when you said, ' He is,' did the child look so 
 hard at you ? Believe me, it is he who has put something 
 inside." Then he said to them, " If you want to get at the 
 things inside, tell your wife to make some water hot, and 
 take this child and scrub him well, and rub him with oil, 
 and put good clothes on him and make him tidy, and then 
 tell your wife to cook some food for him to eat. When he 
 has done eating tell him to open the door." They did as 
 they were told, and dressed him nicely, and said, " My 
 child, go and open the door for us." He said, " Go a little 
 way off." They went a little way off, and he went and 
 opened the door. When all the people saw the snake 
 coming out they all ran in different directions, and the 
 child was left with his father and mother. The child sang, 
 and the snake came out of the house, and the snake went 
 with the child to the pond. The child stood on the brink 
 of the pond and sang, and the snake went into the pond 
 and dived to the bottom, and nothing of him remained. 
 The child went home again to his mother and his father, 
 and the child lived happily — he got clothes and food, and 
 everything he asked for from his father or his mother he got. 
 
 This is the end of the story. 
 
XXIV. 
 
 THE BEGGAR (i). 
 
 HERE was once a beggar who had three sons. 
 They lived in a town, and found themselves 
 getting poorer and poorer. Two of the three 
 sons were a good deal older than the other. 
 These two elder ones said to their father and mother, "We 
 want to leave this town and go on our travels" — in sheer 
 desperation. Their father could not forbid them, and said, 
 "Very well." And their mother made them a quantity of 
 food, and gave some to each of them to put in his wallet, 
 and they took the food. And she gave them water-bottles, 
 and they took them also. When they were ready to start 
 their younger brother said to them, "I want to go with you, 
 my elder brothers." The elder brothers refused at first, but 
 he begged and begged, till they consented to let him go 
 with them. So he, too, had food prepared for him, and put 
 it into his wallet, and his water-bottle. This done, they 
 bade farewell to their father and mother, and started across 
 a wilderness. 
 
 On went the lads, on and on, not knowing where they 
 were going, but simply wandering in the wilderness. They 
 travelled till they reached the middle of the wilderness, and 
 then were seized with hunger, and they told their younger 
 brother to give them food. He took some out and gave it 
 
2o6 n 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 them. Afterwards he took out water, and they drank. 
 Then the younger brother found his food coming to an end, 
 there was only a little left, and the same with the water. 
 Again they made a long march, it was a long way from 
 where they started to where they stopped, and they were 
 seized with hunger. So they said to their younger brother, 
 " Give us food, we are hungry." He replied that his food 
 was all gone, and none left in his wallet. They asked if 
 there really was not a scrap in it, and he told them there was 
 just a very little left. And they said to him, "Bring it, and 
 we will finish it up." The boy could not say " No " — what 
 was he to do ? So he gave it up to them, and they ate it, 
 and afterwards he took out water too, and they finished it. 
 So the boy's food had quite come to an end. 
 
 Then they started, and travelled on through woods and 
 wilds, woods and wilds. At last the younger brother got 
 very hungry, and said to his elder brothers, " My brothers, 
 I am hungry. Give me a little bit of food to eat." But 
 the brothers refused to give him their food, and said to him, 
 " Who told you to come with us? Did we not tell you not 
 to come with us, because we were going a long way ? Did 
 you not hear us? You can't have any food." Their brother 
 cried, and tried to coax them to give him just a little food. 
 But the elder brothers replied, " No, we will not. Only if 
 you really want us to give you food you must consent to let 
 us put out one of your eyes first, and then we will give you 
 food." And he, so terrible were the pangs of hunger, agreed 
 to have one eye put out, and said, " Come, brothers, I agree. 
 What else can I do ? Hunger has seized upon me." And 
 the brothers put out one of his eyes, and threw it away. 
 Then they took a little food and gave it him, and he ate, 
 and water likewise, and after that he followed them. 
 
 They went on and on, through woods and wilds, woods 
 and wilds, till at last the younger brother was again seized 
 
XXIV. The Beggar (i). 207 
 
 with hunger as before. And he said to his brothers, "Give 
 me food. I am hungry." The elder brothers replied with 
 the same words as before, " If you want food you must 
 agree to let us put out your other eye, and then we will give 
 you food." The boy agreed, for he felt the world was 
 pressing him hard, and he said to them, "Very well, I 
 agree." So they put out his other eye too, and threw it 
 away, and then they took a little food and gave it him, and 
 he ate, and took some water, too, which they gave him and 
 drank. Afterwards they took him by the hand, and went 
 on with him. Presently they arrived at a place where there 
 was a very large baobab tree by the road, and they took 
 their brother and set him at the foot of the tree, and then 
 went off and left the boy there all alone in the midst of the 
 wilderness. 
 
 The boy sat there under the baobab tree till the very 
 middle and dead of night, and he leaned against the tree. 
 On a sudden he felt the tree shaking, and its very roots 
 were all quivering too. The reason of the shaking was 
 that a monstrous bird came with its young one, and they 
 alighted on the tree. The young bird uttered a cry, 
 " Ngaaa-a." Its mother asked, " My child, what are you 
 crying for ? It's true there is a lad below who has lost his 
 eyes, but it does not matter. He has only got to stretch 
 out his hand and pick seven leaves twice over and apply 
 them to his eyes, and he will see at once." The boy kept 
 listening to the words of the bird. Then the young bird 
 cried out again, and its mother said the same words. First 
 she asked, " My child, what are you crying for ? I know 
 there is a lad down there below who has lost his eyes, but 
 it does not matter. He has only to take seven leaves twice 
 over in his hand and apply them to his eyes, and he will 
 certainly be able to see." The youth pondered over the 
 words of the bird. Finally he stretched out his hand and 
 
208 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 took some leaves and counted them, and felt that there 
 were seven. Then he stretched out his hand again and 
 took seven more, that is altogether fourteen. And he tried 
 rubbing them on his face. The first time he saw just a 
 very little light. He tried again, and saw just a little more. 
 He tried a third time, and saw things in an indistinct way, 
 as the light increased. Finally he rubbed and saw clearly, 
 just as all men see. Then he applied it again, and saw mid- 
 night and darkness prevailing, but he himself saw as if it was 
 midday ; he could pick up anything, if it were but a needle, 
 so clear was his sight. He had recovered all his powers. 
 Then he took those leaves and put them in his wallet, and 
 took some more and put them in too. After that he rose 
 up and went on. 
 
 He went on till he came to a town, and went into it. But 
 first he came to the people's fields, and stopped there. 
 Now in the town to which he had come the Sultan's daughter 
 had a disease of the eyes, and could not see. And the 
 Sultan had proclaimed that he would give his daughter in 
 marriage to anyone who could make her a medicine and 
 cure her. So the people of the town had tried to make her 
 a medicine, but she did not get well, and everyone who 
 tried but failed to cure her was put to death by order of the 
 Sultan. Numbers of young men had been put to death for 
 her sake — sons of ministers of state, lords, and grandees, 
 as well as poor people — had all been put to death, but 
 there was no one who could effect a thorough cure. Well, 
 the stranger lad had heard all about this Sultan's daughter, 
 and he told the people that he, too, wanted to go and try 
 to restore the sick princess. The townspeople said to the 
 young man, " Ah ! hold your tongue, can't you ? You are 
 only a boy. What can you do ? Dozens have had their 
 try and never come back, and belong no more to this world. 
 And they were young men of rank and wealth, and even so, 
 
XXIV. The Beggar (\\ 209 
 
 what became of them ? They all lost their lives for the 
 sake of this princess. What use will you be ? " "I will 
 try," said the stranger lad. " If I fail, I shall be put to 
 death, of course. What objection is there? The fine 
 gentlemen you talk about were simply fine gentlemen and 
 nothing more, and accordingly are dead. Of course, a lad 
 like me has less chance. But surely I may just as well go 
 and have my try? If I fail, let me die." "Very good," 
 said they, and went and told the Sultan that a stranger had 
 come to the town, and he wanted to try and cure his 
 daughter. "By all means," said the Sultan. "Call him. 
 Let the young stranger come." The people went and said 
 to him, "The Sultan summons you." "Thank you," he 
 replied, and rose and followed them to the Sultan. The 
 Sultan asked him, " Are you the person who wants to under- 
 take the cure of my child ? " The lad replied, " I am, my 
 lord and master." The Sultan laughed at him heartily, and 
 then recounted to him how many people had lost their lives 
 on her account. Finally, the Sultan said again to him, 
 " Does a boy like you want to die for nothing at all ? You 
 certainly will not be able to cure my child." The young 
 stranger replied, " If I cannot, well and good. I will follow 
 those who have gone before me." " Very well," replied the 
 Sultan. The young man then said to the Sultan, " I want 
 you to get a new house built, that your daughter may be 
 removed and placed in it. Moreover, let two couches be 
 placed in it, one for this sick child, and one for me." The 
 Sultan at once gave orders, and a large house was completely 
 built in the course of a few days. The couches were placed 
 in it and all else that was required. Late at night the girl 
 was removed to it. And the young man gave orders that 
 no person should enter the house but himself and the sick 
 girl. This was done. At night the young man went into 
 the house to the princess, and took his leaves which he had 
 
 p 
 
2 IO 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 in his wallet, and rubbed the princess' eyes with them. In 
 a moment the invalid saw, but saw only just a very, very 
 little. He rubbed again, and she saw, her sight getting 
 stronger. He rubbed again, and she saw as clearly as if by 
 the rising sun — she began to see just so clearly. He rubbed 
 again, and the young girl sneezed three times, and was 
 able to see w r hen it was night, seeing in it just as if it was 
 twelve o'clock noon. Then he rubbed for the last time, and 
 the princess uttered cries of joy in the darkness of the 
 night, for her eyes had stronger sight than anyone else 
 throughout the land. At once the people heard her cries 
 in the house, and wondered greatly. They rose up and 
 came to the princess' house and knocked at the door, and it 
 was unfastened. When they went inside they found the 
 princess seated and talking with the young man, smiling 
 and happy, and with even better than common sight. When 
 those who had entered the house saw the princess no longer 
 blind they raised loud cries and screams of joy because the 
 princess had recovered her sight. Then they hastened off 
 to the Sultan, and told him that his daughter was completely 
 recovered and able to see perfectly. W T hen the Sultan heard 
 their report he utterly disbelieved them, and sent his wife 
 to go and observe the girl and see whether she was really 
 cured. The Sultan's wife went out to the house where her 
 daughter was, and went inside to her daughter. And she 
 found her positively seated, talking with the young man who 
 had cured her, and saw her former look and appearance 
 changed ; she had a different appearance, her face shining 
 with wondrous lustre ; night with her was like daytime, so 
 gloriously radiant was she to the eye. When the Sultan's 
 wife saw her she stayed not a moment for joy. She has- 
 tened with all speed to her husband, and told him it was 
 really true what the people said — his child was cured. 
 When the Sultan heard his wife's report he ordered the 
 
XXIV. The Beggar (i). 
 
 2 I I 
 
 ground to be spread with silver pieces from the door of his 
 palace to the door of the house in which his daughter was. 
 Then the Sultan went forth to go to his daughter, to go and 
 see her condition, and the path he walked on was one mass 
 of silver pieces, on which he walked. He went to the house 
 in which his daughter was, and found his daughter quietly 
 sitting. The moment the girl saw her father she rose to her 
 feet and greeted her father joyously. When her father 
 saw his daughter's state he at once gave orders for a salute 
 to be fired. Accordingly cannon were fired from dawn 
 till six o'clock in the evening; then the cannon ceased — 
 so great was the Sultan's joy at seeing his daughter cured. 
 
 The next day the Sultan prepared a feast for the marriage 
 of the young man who had succeeded in curing his daughter. 
 The preparations for the wedding were on an unheard-of 
 scale. All the people over whom he ruled assembled to 
 partake of the banquet. Everyone feasted, but the feast 
 was more than they could eat — so great was the feast. The 
 young man was married, and the princess lived a life of 
 peace and happiness. The Sultan descended from his 
 throne and gave it to the young man, and he became Sultan, 
 and the Sultan himself became simply the governor of the 
 land — all authority rested with the young man. 
 
 So passed the young man's life. Meanwhile his brothers 
 had arrived at other towns far off, and there they were 
 buffeted by the world, and had not a single thing — no 
 clothes nor food, nothing but their bodies. At last they 
 left the town which they had come to and came to the town 
 which their younger brother had arrived at, and they came 
 to the people's fields. Presently they fell in with the people, 
 who seized them and carried them to the Sultan. And they 
 reported to the Sultan that they had picked up two men 
 outside the town. The Sultan said, " Bring them and let 
 me see them." They went at once to bring them to the 
 
212 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 Sultan. When the Sultan saw them he recognized at once 
 that they were his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 
 And the Sultan pretended that he did not know them. He 
 asked them where they came from and where they were 
 going, and they said, " We are simply wandering about the 
 world." So the Sultan said, "You are spies. You had 
 come to spy out our country." Immediately the Sultan 
 gave orders to his soldiers, and said to them, " Take these 
 men and go into the wilderness, and you will see by the 
 roadside a large baobab tree. When you get there, take 
 these men and put out both their eyes. That done, put them 
 under the baobab tree and leave them there, and come 
 back." The soldiers went to execute the Sultan's orders, 
 and put out their eyes. After that they put them under the 
 baobab tree and went back. All this was done to them 
 simply that he might try them, and see if they would go and 
 get wisdom as he had got, and also to repay them for their 
 conduct to him. So the two young men remained sitting 
 under the baobab tree. In the middle of the night they 
 suddenly felt the tree shaking violently, and the reason why 
 the tree shook was that the same bird came with its young 
 one, and when they had come they alighted on the baobab 
 tree. Instantly the young one uttered a cry, " Ngaa-a-a." 
 Its mother asked, " My child, what are you crying about ? 
 I know there are two young men there below who have lost 
 their eyes, but it does not matter. They have only got to 
 take fourteen leaves each and apply them to their eyes, and 
 they will recover their sight." Well, when they heard the 
 bird's voice they said, " What a regular nuisance this is ! 
 This bird is annoying us, and we want to go to sleep." So 
 they searched for stones and threw them at the birds, and 
 they flew away. It was the same on the second and third 
 day, up to the fifth ; the birds came and said the same 
 words, and the young men always drove them away, and 
 
XXIV. The Beggar (i). 213 
 
 thought they came only to annoy them and keep them from 
 sleeping. Well, the birds came a sixth time, saying the 
 same words, and the young men searched for stones and 
 threw them at the birds, and they flew away, and the birds 
 did not return any more to the baobab tree. And the 
 young men remained where they were under the tree, and 
 could not find either food or drink. They remained there 
 the first day and the second day, and on the third they died, 
 thanks to the foolishness which possessed them. 
 
 This is the end of this story. Sense — the meaning of it 
 is, practical sagacity. Trouble first and pleasure after, or 
 pleasure first and trouble after. Let us choose one or the 
 other of these two courses. 
 
XXV. 
 
 THE FROG AND THE CHAMELEON. 
 
 ["Frog" and "Chameleon" are practically nothing more 
 than proper names throughout the story, the only allusion 
 to the chameleon as an animal having reference to the well- 
 known deliberateness of its movements. The key to the 
 whole narrative seems to lie in the opening scene. It is a 
 satire on " coastiness," or coast character, moulded as it is 
 largely by Mahommedanism. Polite Arabic conversation 
 is a tissue of religious verbiage. The chameleon, fresh from 
 the coast, and pluming himself on his newly-acquired know- 
 ledge of its fashions in deportment and religion, administers 
 a patronizing rebuke to his less sophisticated friend, of 
 which the latter humbly acknowledges the justice. The 
 sequel is a shrewd and elaborate comparison of the two 
 characters in respect of their actual moral worth, ending 
 with an apotheosis of the hero in the usual style of Arab 
 romance.] 
 
 NE day a frog spoke to his fellow frogs, and 
 said, " I have heard that there is a chameleon 
 about. The day I see him he shall be my 
 friend." Well, one day they met, the frog and 
 the chameleon, and they at once wished each other good 
 morning, and after wishing each other good morning they 
 
XX V. The Frog and the Chameleon. 2 1 5 
 
 made mutual inquiries. First the frog asked the chameleon, 
 " How are you getting on ? " " Capitally," replied the 
 chameleon ; " and how are you — well or badly ? " " Excel- 
 lently," said the frog, " and how have you been this long 
 time past?" "In peace and quietness," answered he, 
 " passing all understanding." " My friend," said the frog, 
 " you have given me an answer, but it has a fatal flaw. 
 4 Peace ' cannot ' pass all understanding,' unless you ascribe 
 it to Almighty God, who created us, me and you. You, my 
 friend, speak to me of a peace passing all understanding, 
 without naming your Creator, yours and mine, the Creator 
 of all things, Almighty God." " Quite true," answered the 
 chameleon. "You have a very fine sense of propriety." 
 
 Well, the frog and the chameleon clave to each other, as 
 the ring to the finger, and so remained for many a day, the 
 frog and the chameleon. At last the frog got up and said 
 to the chameleon, " My friend, we are still unmarried. Let 
 us go and look for wives, and so marry." " By all means, 
 my friend," said the chameleon, "let us go in search." So 
 off they went to search for wives, and travelled for many a 
 day without finding what they were in search of. However, 
 one day they saw a town, and said, " Suppose we enter this 
 town. It is possible we shall get them here." So they 
 entered the town, and were at once made welcome — "Wel- 
 come, welcome, strangers." They sat down, and food was 
 brought in abundance, and they made a meal on the spot. 
 In the morning they were asked, " How are things going in 
 your parts — well or badly ? " " As well as could be," an- 
 swered they. " But there is just one thing to mention, we 
 are in want of wives." "What do you say?" rejoined the 
 people of the town. " Wives," said they, " simply wives." 
 Now in that town there was a certain man who had two 
 children, both girls, and just at that time the two daughters 
 of this man appeared, and passed in front of the frog and 
 
African Tales. 
 
 the chameleon, who noticed that they were fine girls, and 
 asked the people of the town, " Where is their father ? " 
 The people answered and said, " He is the man you were 
 just now talking to here. They are his daughters." "We 
 should like," they said, " to marry his daughters." Their 
 father and their mother were at once called. The frog and 
 the chameleon said, " We should like to marry your 
 daughters." The man had a little conversation with his 
 wife. " Well, what do you think, my dear? Our daughters 
 are asked in marriage by the frog and the chameleon. Now 
 what do you think, my dear ? Are they to marry or not 
 marry ? " " Just as you like, my dear," replied his wife. 
 "Well," said he, "for my part, I should think they had 
 better marry. These are gentlemen of quality, and I really 
 cannot say 1 No ' to them." Then the wife remarked, " I 
 won't have my children live in want. I won't have my 
 children find life all worry and trouble." So the husband 
 replied, " Is it really the case that you have the means to 
 provide well for your wives ? " The frog and the chameleon 
 answered and said to them, " We have, sir, never fear. We 
 have, we have indeed, sir." Then the mother put in her 
 word, " I want sons-in-law who know how to dig." " We 
 will try," replied they, but the frog added a boast on his 
 own account, and said, " I have no doubt, madam, I can 
 dig, no doubt at all." But the chameleon only said, " I 
 will try, but I do not think I can." So the wedding of the 
 frog and chameleon was celebrated, and it was as grand as 
 could possibly be, the wedding of the chameleon and the 
 frog. Fifty days lasted the wedding festivities of the frog 
 and the chameleon, with slaughter of oxen and slaughter of 
 sheep and goats. As to fowls, they were of no account. 
 So a very grand affair was the wedding of the frog and the 
 chameleon. 
 
 Well, when the wedding festivities were over the father- 
 
XX V. The Frog and the Chameleon. 2 1 7 
 
 in-law said to them, " Well, sons-in-law, what line of life will 
 you take up now?" " In this country/' said they, " we are 
 strangers," and added, " We want spades and axes and 
 sickles. We will do field-work," saying further, " Of course 
 we are going to dig. Should we take your daughters and do 
 nothing for it?" Their father-in-law bought spades, axes, 
 and sickles — everything required for field-work their father- 
 in-law bought. He gave them the things, and said, " I want 
 you to farm. Only support your wives, and I won't take a 
 single sixpence from you." "By all means," they replied, 
 and the frog said, " For my part, one spade and one axe are 
 by no means enough for me. I require twelves spades and 
 ten axes and nine sickles. Then I shall do rare work." 
 " Gently, gently," interrupted his friend the chameleon ; 
 " are you speaking the truth, my friend ? How do you pro- 
 pose to work with twelve spades?" " Oh ! oh !" cried the 
 frog, "just because he is a rare stick-in-the-mud, he's a 
 whole year getting anywhere, just crawls one foot at a time. 
 I won't have you make me out a do-nothing. I want twelve 
 spades. None of your nonsense for me. Out of the road 
 there, Mr. Chameleon." The chameleon moved off, and 
 then the frog was given his twelve spades, and said, " Now 
 I shall do rare work " — axes too and sickles, just as he had 
 requested. But the chameleon was given one spade and 
 one axe and one sickle. And his father-in-law said, " The 
 frog has told me you are a thorough idler. That's why I 
 gave you one spade and one axe and one sickle, because 
 you are lazy." " Very good, father-in-law," said the chame- 
 leon, "you will see if I am lazy. Thank you, thank you; 
 one spade and one axe and one sickle will do for me> 
 father-in-law. Thank •you. Let the frog there have your 
 spades." 
 
 So the matter ended, and they went off to work. Well, 
 whenever the frog went out to work he used to cover him- 
 
2l8 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 self with sand and cover himself with mud, and when he 
 came home to his father-in-law's house he bragged, " I have 
 done a fine stroke of work to-day ; I want a good pile of food 
 on my plate to-day." His mother-in-law cooked for him, 
 and he took his meals by himself, and the frog was very 
 greedy, and would go presently to his mother-in-law and 
 say, " I have worked hard to-day, mother-in-law, but as to 
 the chameleon, he does not do a single stroke of work ; he 
 goes off a ramble without you seeing him ; he carries off his 
 spade in the morning, but don't you believe that he is at 
 work. He is a liar and a do-nothing." Then the mother- 
 in-law got to hate the chameleon heartily, because he was 
 lazy. The frog had made mischief, and said to her, " Keep 
 your love for me, who work like a man, but the chameleon 
 does nothing." When the frog came from his fields it was 
 always the same thing, he covered himself with mud, so as 
 to get a name for hard work, and be praised by everybody. 
 When the chameleon came from the fields he would oil him- 
 self and bathe himself and go back to his house, and when 
 he went indoors his wife sees him and flies into a passion, 
 and demands of her husband, " How much digging have 
 you done to-day?" and the chameleon answers his wife, "I 
 have fine games. I don't dig. The frog is the great digger ; 
 he has it all to himself ; no one else has a chance with him 
 in digging." His wife would answer and say, "You are an 
 idle do-nothing, you ! Everyone tells me you are. Is there 
 a man in the world who comes from the fields and all to 
 oil himself? Where did you ever see one? Tell me." 
 " No, I never did," said he. " But still, suppose it is a way 
 a man has, what are you to do?" His wife made no reply. 
 At last she said to him, "Just try to dig a bit; don't be 
 lazy, my dear. Look at your friend the frog; when he 
 comes from his fields does he oil himself or not ?" The 
 chameleon said to his wife, " No, he does not." " Well," 
 
XX V. The Frog cwzd the Chameleon. 2 1 9 
 
 said his wife, " then you are an idler, you do not dig/' 
 " Just so. an idler," was his answer to his wife. 
 
 So the chameleon went off to his fields. The fact is, the 
 chameleon was uncommonly industrious at digging, while 
 the frog never put spade to the ground. The frog was the 
 regular do-nothing. Every day it was just the same. He 
 would go to his field and stay a long time, doing nothing 
 but amuse himself, then spatter himself with mud, and come 
 home bragging to his wife, " Ah ! my dear, I have done a 
 fine day's work. I trust Almighty God may send down rain 
 to-night, and then to-morrow I will go and sow my field. 
 A very large field it is, too." So bragged the frog. Well, 
 that night there was a heavy fall of rain. In the morning 
 he said to his wife, " Go to your mother, and say I want 
 seed." She went and cried, " Mother, mother, may I come 
 in ? My husband wants seed to sow." " Oh ! by all 
 means," said her mother. Then the daughter asked, "What 
 sort of seed do you want baskets of, my husband — maize or 
 millet?" The frog replied, "I want eighteen baskets of 
 maize, and ten of millet, and nineteen of rice." And the 
 frog got all his seed of all kinds together. Then the chame- 
 leon was asked, " How many baskets do you want?" " Just 
 what you can supply me with," said he. " I shall make no 
 fuss, mother-in-law." " Quite right," said his mother-in-law, 
 and produced three baskets of maize, and two of millet, and 
 three of rice. And of each kind of seed his mother-in-law 
 gave him two baskets only, because (thought she) " the 
 chameleon knows nothing about digging." The chameleon 
 went off to sow his seed. What did the frog do, but carry 
 off his baskets of seed, and go and dig a hole and put all 
 his seed in the hole — that was all the field the frog had. 
 But the chameleon went to his field and sowed the seed 
 which his mother-in-law had given him — he sowed his seed 
 until the chameleon's seed was all gone. As to the frog, 
 
220 
 
 African Tales, 
 
 his seed, too, was all gone, of course — the frog's seed being 
 simply put in a hole. Then the frog lodged another request 
 for seed with his mother-in-law. " I want " (said he) " nine- 
 teen more baskets of maize, and the same of millet and the 
 same of rice, nineteen baskets — of each kind of seed nine- 
 teen baskets." His mother-in-law did not like to be out- 
 done, so she procured the seed, and conveyed the seed to 
 her son-in-law the frog ; and oh ! oh ! oh ! the frog was 
 overjoyed and went again to dig a hole and put in it the 
 whole lot of seed which his mother-in-law had given him. 
 Then the frog said, " No, that is enough now ; I don't want 
 any more seed. What you gave me is sufficient. Now I 
 have only got to keep the ground clear of weeds. Then 
 the chameleon was asked, "Do you want any seed?" " I 
 am a mere do-nothing," said he. " I want none of your 
 seed, mother-in-law. I will get seed myself." "Very 
 good," said his mother-in-law. So the chameleon sowed 
 his field, and kept his eye on it till the seed sprouted and 
 came up, and he kept the ground clear of weeds, and in the 
 chameleon's field things were uncommonly flourishing. In 
 his field there were bananas, in his field the maize was past 
 all reckoning, so was the sugar-cane in his field, the 
 chameleon's. 
 
 Harvest-time came, and the frog was summoned by his 
 mother-in-law, who said to him, "I want to go and see 
 your fields, son-in-law. It is harvest-time, you know." 
 " Indeed it is, mother-in-law," he said ; " it is harvest-time." 
 But the frog quaked with terror at deceiving his mother-in- 
 law. However, he said, " Certainly. Suppose we go to- 
 morrow morning early?" And his mother-in-law said, "By 
 all means." They slept till morning, and then his mother- 
 in-law went to the frog's house and said, " Well, what say 
 you? Are we to go to your field, son-in-law?" "But," 
 replied the frog to his mother-in-law, " are you sure you are 
 
XXV. The Frog and the Chameleon. 221 
 
 equal to a very long walk ? It is a very long way to the 
 place where I have worked, mother-in-law." " Never mind," 
 said his mother-in-law ; " let us start and take it quietly, 
 and we shall get there at last." The frog was at his wits' 
 end, and his mother-in-law said, " All right, come along." 
 His mother-in-law carried a basket with her, thinking she 
 would take some of the maize. Well, they went on, and on, 
 and on, and his mother-in-law kept asking, " Son-in-law 
 Frog, son-in-law Frog, where are you going to?" The frog 
 uttered an ejaculation, which meant, " Come along, mother- 
 in-law, come along, mother-in-law." So they went on till it 
 was mid-day, and the frog said to his mother-in-law, "We 
 have left the field behind us. Let us go back, mother-in- 
 law." His mother-in-law was fatigued, and so were the 
 people who were with her, and she said, " What have you 
 given us all this trouble for nothing for?" The frog quaked 
 at the voice of his mother-in-law. The frog was at his wits' 
 end for an idea. " I had better say the seed was devoured 
 by swarms of vermin. Yes, rats in swarms. I had better 
 say that, and my mother-in-law will let me off." The frog 
 racked his brains. " I had better say it." So he said to 
 his mother-in-law, almost beside himself with terror, " That 
 seed you gave me was eaten by rats and vermin. They 
 came in swarms, and devoured it wholesale, and the rats 
 routed up all the seed I planted, and here's the rats' hole." 
 Well, his mother-in-law simply could not bear the sight of 
 this wicked waste of seed. She could not call him her son- 
 in-law, but said to him, " Frog, you are no friend of mine. 
 You have given me all the trouble of a laborious hunt after 
 seed, and now you have spoilt it all in this way. And then 
 you have worried me with a hunt after spades and axes — 
 everything, indeed, I had to hunt up, and now I should like 
 to know, where are your fields?" " I couldn't dig," whim- 
 pered the frog, " because I was all by myself." And the 
 
222 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 frog was terribly ashamed ; he could not look his mother-in- 
 law in the face. Then his mother-in-law said, " Frog, you 
 are no longer my son-in-law. You have done very wrong." 
 So they went back to the town in a ferment, the frog not 
 having a word to say for himself, and only expecting to be 
 summarily expelled. 
 
 The next day the chameleon was summoned. " Well, 
 Chameleon, how are you ? Have not you been digging 
 either?'' The chameleon answered his mother-in-law, 
 " Come to my field and see. But I am a sad idler, I am, 
 just as you said yourselves, just like the frog. However, 
 come along and see the results of my idling." So they 
 went to the chameleon's field, went on and on, and at 
 last they reached it. When she set eyes on the chame- 
 leon's field (and that field was something like a field, it 
 was enormous), then his mother-in-law gave a cry of sur- 
 prise, and said, "Well, I never ! son-in-law Chameleon, who 
 has dug here? All this field, you by yourself?" "Oh! 
 I'm a lazy dog," said the chameleon. " You see how lazy I 
 am." His mother-in-law was quite astounded. Then in a 
 moment the chameleon gave orders for a house seven stories 
 high, and there it stood in a moment. Then in a moment 
 he gave orders to his maid-servants to convey his mother- 
 in-law upstairs, and she was carried up. The news spread 
 to the town, and a man was sent off to bring the father-in- 
 law from the town. Very soon he was brought to the 
 chameleon's residence. The father-in-law was astounded 
 too, and said, " How have you managed to dig all this ground 
 by yourself?" The chameleon gave orders to his men- 
 servants to convey his father-in-law upstairs to a room, and 
 people began to come into the chameleon's house, and he 
 received them in state. The chameleon went to his field, 
 and plucked some half-ripe maize, and gave it his slaves. 
 " Make haste and cook this for my guests to eat." His 
 
XXV. The Frog and the Chameleon. 223 
 
 father-in-law was in the seven- storied house, and his father 
 was in raptures, and said, " I have got a fine son-in-law." 
 And he added, " Now I will not have another son-in-law, 
 only the chameleon now, and no one else. As to the frog, 
 I will have nothing to do with him whatever." So he sent 
 people, " Tell the frog to take himself off. Don't let me 
 see him when I come to the town. Don't let me see him a 
 single moment." The people went to the town, and the 
 frog was told, " Your father-in-law is at the chameleon's 
 house, and he says, ' Take yourself off this very day. Don't 
 stay here to-day, go away.' Now then ! You are a do- 
 nothing, you frog, you! Hit him! Hit him!" Off the 
 frog ran into the forest, and was never seen again. When 
 the father-in-law came back to the town he asked, " Has 
 the frog gone?" The people of the town replied, "Yes, 
 he has run off into the woods. We were going to kill him, 
 but he ran away." Well, the frog's wife was given to the 
 chameleon, and so the chameleon had two wives. And the 
 chameleon said to his father-in-law, " Come now, let us walk 
 about my fields." So he walked about till he was tired, and 
 then rested. When he was ready he got up and went 
 away. The father-in-law told everyone, " I have got a fine 
 son-in-law indeed." 
 
 So the chameleon lived with his two wives in the house 
 of seven stories, and they lived in peace and quietness. His 
 father-in-law died, and the mother-in-law only was left, and 
 presently she died too. Then the chameleon was left and 
 his two wives and a number of servants, male and female. 
 They had nothing to do but eat and drink. 
 
 This is the story of the chameleon and the frog. And 
 the frog ran away into the woods — that was what became of 
 the frog. As to digging, the chameleon handed that all over 
 to his slaves. 
 
 This is the end of the Story of the Chameleon and the 
 Frog. 
 
XXVI. 
 
 K I N G O B E ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 The Man who went in Search of a Wife. 
 
 ^|M hERE was once a man a long time ago, and 
 ffiMi he had no wife. And he said, "Just think ! 
 I have grown a beard ever since I was a man 
 IS^igil^ t0 tms day, ano ^ I have neither wife nor sweet- 
 heart." So he said to the people of his village, " I am 
 going on my travels, my friends, to look for a wife." It so 
 happened that in that village there was not a single young 
 woman. They said to him, " By all means go and look for 
 one." The man had no mother or father, both his father 
 and mother were dead, and he had no near relations, just 
 his friends only. 
 
 Well, he got ready for the journey, and had bread made 
 for him and cakes cooked for him, and bade good-bye to 
 all the people of the village, and started. His name was 
 Kingobe. On he went through woods and wilds — on he 
 went, on and on through woods and wilds ; for ninety days 
 he was just travelling on and on. Then he looked in front 
 of him, and saw a town, and Kingobe was glad because he 
 saw a town, and he went into the town, and Kingobe was 
 at once made welcome, and said, " Do I intrude?" " Oh ! 
 no ; you are welcome. Take a seat." " I am seated," said 
 
XXVI. Kingobe. 
 
 22 5 
 
 he, and then he was given water and food and a place to 
 sleep in. In the morning he was asked, M What news do 
 you bring ? " " All well," said Kingobe, and then he added, 
 u I am in search of a wife. It is a very long way from my 
 home. From the day I was born I have never been 
 married." "Very good," said the people of the town, "look 
 out yourself for someone you like." " Thank you," said 
 he. And then Kingobe asked, " When I have found her, 
 what will her father and mother ask ? " " Oh ! " replied the 
 people, " you had better find her first. Then you will know 
 afterwards." So Kingobe looked about for a sweetheart 
 who took his fancy. And presently he saw a girl passing, 
 and she was a pretty, blooming girl. He called her, and 
 asked her, "Have you a father or mother?" But that 
 young woman was not accustomed to gossip with people at 
 all, and he asked her a second time, but not a word did she 
 say, only pointed to their house. Kingobe went to their 
 house, and spoke to the father and mother and said, " I 
 should like this girl for my sweetheart." Her father and 
 mother said, "We quite approve it." So the young woman 
 was called, and she said, " If he wants to marry me, I want 
 first one thing. It is a hyaena's tail I want," said she. " If 
 he gets that, then Kingobe is the man for me." Kingobe 
 was told of this, and his (would-be) father-in-law said, " My 
 child wants the tail of a hyaena." Kingobe listened and 
 considered and said, " I will try. If I succeed, well. If 
 not, it cannot be helped. I shall not take your daughter 
 away with me." He went off to the chief people of the 
 place and inquired how to obtain the tail of a hyaena. And 
 he said, " I will give a large reward to anyone who gives me 
 the information." Then a certain little old woman appeared, 
 and called Kingobe aside by himself privately. And the old 
 woman said, " Do you want a hyaena's tail ? " Then she said, 
 " Go and get some wax and honey, and mix it together and 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 smear it over your whole body. Then take a very sharp 
 sword and lie down in a road, and you will get a hyaena's 
 tail." " Thank you," said Kingobe, and the old woman 
 went away. Kingobe went and got the things prescribed 
 by the old woman. He got wax and honey and smeared 
 himself all over, and the wax, too, Kingobe put all over his 
 body, even on his face he put the wax and honey, and he 
 got a very sharp sword, and Kingobe went and lay down in 
 the middle of a road late in the evening. He lay down, and 
 in the middle of the night there came a very great many 
 hyaenas, and they found the man lying in the road, and they 
 asked Kingobe, "Are you a man or a beast?" Dead 
 silence. Then they asked him again, " Are you dead or 
 asleep?" Not a sound. And the hyaenas said, "Meat for 
 dinner to-day." And the hyaenas grinned and nibbled and 
 licked their toes, and it tasted nice, the honey and wax, and 
 the hyaenas were in high glee, and stuck their claws into 
 the wax and licked their toes, and it tasted sweet, and the 
 hyaenas said, "Let us even carry him home." "By all 
 means," said the others. " Let us carry him off." The 
 man was lying perfectly quiet and still. So they carried 
 Kingobe off, the hyaenas licking their toes, and well nigh 
 biting them off because their toes tasted so nice. They 
 hoisted him on their shoulders, and the next minute dropped 
 him on the ground again while they licked the honey and 
 wax. Then the man drew his sword very, very gently while 
 the hyaenas were engaged in licking the honey. Indeed, 
 the hyaenas were quite unable to carry him off, because they 
 liked the taste of the honey so much. Well, he selected the 
 hyaena which was their leader, a hyaena with a large tail, and 
 he pushed himself towards the tail, and cut off the hyaena's 
 tail. They all ran off into the woods, and the man got the 
 hyaena's tail, and was in raptures of delight. The man 
 returned to his house and slept till morning. Then he took 
 
XXVI. Kingobe. 
 
 227 
 
 the hyaena's tail with him, and said, " Here is a hyaena's tale. 
 I have got it. "Are not you my wife now?" "True," 
 said she, " you have got me now. It only remains to be 
 married." Her mother and father were in ecstasies of joy. 
 Then Kingobe went to the old woman and said, " I have 
 got a hyaena's tail, and now I have got a wife." " And how 
 about me?" said the old crone. "What are you going to 
 give me, who showed you what you had to do, and so you 
 got the hyaena's tail ? " "I will give you," he replied, " oxen 
 and goats." "Good," said the crone, "give them me." 
 And Kingobe took twelve oxen and twelve goats and gave 
 them to the old woman. And the old woman said, " Now 
 go and get married. You have nothing whatever to fear." 
 
 Kingobe went away and said to the people, " Now I want 
 to marry my sweetheart." The people went and said to her 
 father and mother, " He wants to marry his sweetheart. 
 Well, is she ready ? " " No," said they, " we are not ready 
 yet." The people went and said to him, " Wait a bit. She 
 is not ready yet." He said, "Very well." His bride's 
 father brought oxen and goats and sheep — thirty-nine oxe'n 
 and thirty-eight sheep and thirty-seven goats. Then he 
 said, " Enough. Now call my daughter's suitor to come 
 and marry." So the summons was brought him and inquiries 
 made, " Are you ready ? " " Yes," he said, "I am ready." 
 And Kingobe bought rice and oxen and sheep and goats, 
 and they were ready, and he said, " Now I have done — all 
 except the wedding itself." So the wedding of Kingobe 
 took place, and a very fine wedding it was. The people of 
 the town were highly delighted, and kept holiday at the 
 wedding — for fifty days all was holiday, and a salute of a 
 hundred cannon was fired, and guns beyond counting for 
 the number of them — in fact, there was nothing but firing 
 of guns. At last the fifty days expired. Then the bride- 
 groom came out, and the bride also came out to show her- 
 
228 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 self to the people. And Kingobe said to his wife's parents, 
 "There is a request I have to make of you. I want to 
 take my wife home to my country, for I have left my 
 father's and mother's property there. So you see I cannot 
 stay here, my property will go to ruin. As for myself, I 
 should like to remain here, but what about my property?" 
 " Take her away then," said his father-in-law ; " only I would 
 beg you give her food and a pleasant home." Kingobe 
 said, " I will take all the care I can of her, father-in-law." 
 " Good," said he, " take your wife away." Kingobe took a 
 hundred oxen and fifty sheep and sixty goats, and gave them 
 to his father-in-law, and said, "This is a present for you, 
 father-in-law." And her mother took a hundred and ten 
 slave-women and gave them to her daughter, and her father 
 took a hundred and eight male slaves and gave them to 
 Kingobe, and said, "This is a present for you, son-in-law." 
 And Kingobe took a present for the people of the town, five 
 hundred goats, and gave them to the people of the town, 
 and the people said, " Thank you. Kingobe has given a 
 present to us all. He is a very rich gentleman, he is." 
 When he had finished making presents to all, he bade fare- 
 well to everyone and his father-in-law, and prepared to start 
 on their journey homeward. 
 
 And Kingobe took his wife and the male and female ser- 
 vants presented to him by his wife's parents, and departed. 
 His mother-in-law went with her daughter a little way, and 
 charged Kingobe, " Don't cast off my daughter here ; take 
 good care of her, give her food and a nice place to sleep 
 in ; and as for me, every year come and pay a visit to your 
 mother. And his mother-in-law went back to the town. 
 And Kingobe took his wife and servants and travelled one 
 day, two days, three days — for thirty-four days he travelled^ 
 and then Kingobe came to his country. Cannons and guns 
 were fired. There was a great deal of firing. Kingobe 
 
XXVI. Kingobe. 
 
 229 
 
 entered the town, and there was great firing of cannon. 
 " Kingobe has come, and dozens of servants, and his wife ! 
 there's not the like of her in the town. Just take a look at 
 Kingobe's wife, and you will get a shock you will not for- 
 get." Kingobe had to settle in a cottage, not a stone house. 
 The fact is, Kingobe was quite a stranger there, he was not 
 accustomed to the place. And there he lived with his 
 servants. 
 
 One day Kingobe was summoned by the king, and 
 Kingobe went off to the king, and found his courtiers 
 seated in state, and saluted them, "Your humble servant, 
 my lords, your humble servant." Then he proceeded to 
 the king. "Good morning, your Majesty, your humble 
 servant." The king acknowledged his greeting. " By-the- 
 bye, Kingobe, I hear you have a wife superior to mine." 
 " How is it possible?" said Kingobe. "I am but a slave 
 here, a man whose face no one knows. And am I likely to 
 get a wife superior to yours ? Ah ! Don't talk so, your 
 Majesty." The king said, " I will appoint you my Prime 
 Minister." "Oh! your Majesty," said Kingobe, " how can 
 I discharge such an office?" "You can," said the king. 
 " There ! I have appointed you my Prime Minister." And 
 he gave Kingobe a chain of gold and a silver ring. Kingobe 
 protested. " Your Majesty, I cannot take these things, your 
 Majesty." "You can," said the king, "you can." So 
 Kingobe went away to his house joyfully. When he reached 
 his house he wrote a letter to the king, and said, " I will 
 be Prime Minister, I cannot oppose your wishes, your 
 Majesty." The letter went to the king, and the king read 
 the letter, and the king said, "That is well. Now Kingobe 
 is my friend and Prime Minister. All small matters Kingobe 
 will settle, I shall have nothing to do with them." And 
 Kingobe said, " I am Prime Minister, and I have wife and 
 servants. How shall I dispose of them ? " The king said, 
 
230 African Tales. 
 
 " There is abundance of room ; I will give you a plot of 
 ground for yourself." So he gave him a plot of ground. 
 Kingobe, the Prime Minister, inspected it, and bowed his 
 head, and said to himself, " I will go into the woods and 
 look for the money which my father told me of when he 
 died. Yes, I will go." So he said to his wife, " I want to 
 go a hunting expedition, I shall be away ten days, and then 
 I shall come back. His wife said, " Don't be long, come 
 back soon. Perhaps the king will ask after you." " Never 
 fear," said he, " I shall come back." And Kingobe said, 
 " Bake me seven loaves." His wife gave orders to her ser- 
 vants, "Bake your master seven loaves." And they baked 
 them. And he left a man in charge, and said to him, " If 
 anyone comes from the king tell him, ' He has gone out 
 shooting.' Do you understand ? " " Yes, sir," said he, " I 
 understand." 
 
 Kingobe took two servants and their food and started, 
 Kingobe and his two servants. On they went through 
 woods and wilds, woods and wilds, and six days passed. 
 On the seventh day they came upon the old crone, sitting 
 all alone, and she inquired of them, " Where are you 
 going?" Kingobe and his servants were startled, and the 
 two servants were terribly scared. But Kingobe himself 
 was not afraid, he knew what to do. The old crone asked 
 them again, "Where are you going?" "I am looking for 
 money," said Kingobe, " and anything that may turn up." 
 " Come here," said the old crone. Then she said, " These 
 servants of yours, let them go a little way off and stay 
 there." The servants retired a little way back, and Kingobe 
 went by himself to the old crone's dwelling. Then she 
 said, " Lick my eyes." Kingobe licked the old crone's eyes, 
 and licked and licked again. Then the old crone said, 
 " Stop and let me look." She looked, and said, " Lick 
 again." He licked diligently, till she said, "That will do 
 
XXVI. Kingobe. 
 
 231 
 
 now." Then she said to him, " How many loaves have you 
 brought? " " Seven," said he. u Give them me," she said. 
 He gave them her, and the old crone ate the loaves, and 
 only one was left, which she gave to Kingobe, and told him 
 to eat it himself. And he ate it. Then she asked him, 
 " What do you want ? " "I want now what I came to seek, 
 and so go home again." The old crone took out seven 
 rings and gave them Kingobe, and said to him, "Take 
 these rings, and anything and everything you ask for you 
 will get." Kingobe answered the old crone, " What sort of 
 things?" "Houses," she said, " possessions, oxen, goats, 
 chests, slaves — anything whatever that you ask from these 
 rings you will get." "Thank you," replied Kingobe, " thank 
 you, thank you, you old crone." Kingobe departed, and 
 travelled till he came in sight of his town, and he said, " It 
 will not do to come back empty-handed, with no game." 
 Just then he saw a guinea-fowl and shot it, and went with it 
 to his house, and he arrived on the very day of which his 
 wife had said to him, " Please come home then." He came 
 on that very day, and she asked him, " Where is the game, 
 dear husband? " " I hunted all these days," said he, "and 
 saw nothing but this one guinea-fowl." 
 
 He slept the first day, and the second day, and on the 
 third day he said to his wife, " I do not like a thatched 
 cottage, I want a house of stone." "Send a man," said his 
 wife, " to call the slaves from the fields and the women ser- 
 vants and masons, and begin building." Kingobe said, " I 
 don't want a house built by labour, I don't want it." He 
 went off and looked for a site on the shore near a fine har- 
 bour in a beautiful spot and inspected it, and went to his 
 wife, and said to her, " To-morrow I will build my house, 
 and finish it, too, to-morrow." His wife was astounded, 
 and replied, " What sort of a house is it that you are going 
 to begin to-morrow and finish to-morrow, the same day ? It 
 
232 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 seems to me nonsense." " Very well," said her husband to 
 her. " Now may I die this very night, or if I don't, that 
 will be a token you will see your house, wife, standing by 
 the seaside." But his wife did not believe him. They went 
 to bed, and in the morning he said, " Get our things to- 
 gether. This is no house for me." And he ordered the 
 women and men-servants, " Remove these things. I won't 
 have this house." So they removed the things. Then he 
 went to the spot he had chosen, and took the seventh ring 
 and said to it, " Ring, I want a house nine stones high, and 
 servants, male and female." In a moment there stood the 
 house with nine stories, and his wife was carried upstairs 
 into the new house, and up to the ninth story on the very 
 top. There was no such house in the town ; the windows 
 were of gold, and the doors solid silver, and the windows 
 glittered — the house of Kingobe, the Prime Minister. And 
 he said, " Now I have got a house." And he took out the 
 sixth ring, and Kingobe gave it his orders, and said, " Ring, 
 I want silver and gold and servants, male and female, to 
 appear at once." Six thousand chests of silver appeared, 
 and seventy thousand chests of gold, and eight thousand 
 women-servants, and ten thousand men-servants. That was 
 the sixth ring. Now for the fifth ring. He gave orders to 
 his ring, and said, " Now I want chairs, and ships and the 
 sea to be brought close to my house." Chairs of gold 
 appeared and of silver, twenty thousand, all of gold and 
 silver. That was the work of the fifth ring. And Kingobe 
 said, " Now twenty million ships of Kingobe are lying in 
 harbour, all his ships." These were all produced by the 
 fifth ring. The effect of the fourth ring — Kingobe gave 
 orders and said, " I want innumerable soldiers and of all 
 arms, and let them appear at once." In a moment innu- 
 merable soldiers appeared, crowding Kingobe's doors. He 
 had quite outdone the king. Kingobe had steamers and 
 
XXVI. Kingobe. 
 
 233 
 
 ships of all kinds. The king had none. And Kingobe had 
 all kinds of things which the king had not. The king sent 
 a man. " Prime Minister, you are summoned by the king." 
 Kingobe wrote a letter. The man said to him, " Mr. Prime 
 Minister, what am I to do with this letter ? " Kingobe, the 
 Prime Minister, said, " I give you this letter to be taken to 
 the king, and I will come myself on Friday." "Certainly," 
 replied the man. " I thank you, Prime Minister Kingobe, 
 I thank you." The man went back to the king and said to 
 him, " The Prime Minister is coming on Friday." Then 
 the king read the letter which came from Kingobe, and read 
 it and learnt about Kingobe's acquisitions, and learnt that 
 they were very splendid. And he wrote a note to his 
 Prime Minister, and the king was in high good humour, 
 and wrote and said, " On Friday I desire you will come with 
 your ships. I want to see them." The letter went to Prime 
 Minister Kingobe, and was delivered to him at his house, 
 and he read it and said, " What the king wants is to have 
 honour paid him. Just wait a minute." Kingobe despatched 
 a messenger at once, and directed his servant, " Go and tell 
 the captains on Friday I want two thousand ships, all 
 steamers." The servant went off with all despatch in a boat, 
 and went on board the largest ship, and w r ent straight to the 
 captain's cabin, and said to him, " My master wants two 
 thousand ships to go to the king and pay the king a visit." 
 " Certainly," answered the captain : " they are ready." The 
 servant received a note from the captain, and got into his 
 boat and went ashore and delivered the letter, and Kingobe 
 read it and saw that the ships w r ere ready. His boats were 
 of pure gold, and his ships of silver, brightly burnished 
 on the outside, and their boats were of pure silver and 
 burnished. 
 
 On Friday the Prime Minister Kingobe went on board 
 his ship. The ship was selected for its beauty and size, and 
 
234 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 Prime Minister Kingobe went on board. Two thousand 
 ships attended him before and behind ; cannons were as 
 common as dirt in Kingobe's ships, and he entered the 
 king's harbour, and the ships came to anchor and hoisted 
 flags, and the people of the town replied with a salute. 
 Three thousand rounds were fired in the town. Then 
 Kingobe hoisted signals for firing more cannon, and the 
 king said, "This is indeed bombardment." Six thousand 
 rounds were fired. "Wait yet a bit," said Kingobe, "for 
 your Prime Minister," and Kingobe fired twenty million 
 rounds. The whole fleet was hidden in smoke, as if in rain. 
 After that seven thousand more rounds were fired. The 
 people of the town were the first to give over and fire no 
 more cannon, so astounded were they at the way in which 
 salutes were fired by Kingobe. And the king said, " Ah ! 
 Kingobe has beaten me. His cannon are brass and gold." 
 Then twenty cannon were fired, and Kingobe landed before 
 the king's palace. A ladder of gold was brought at once 
 for him to mount up to go to the king. Kingobe, the 
 Prime Minister, went into the king, and he instantly 
 ordered a salute to be fired. Twenty cannon were fired 
 upon his entrance within the palace. Kingobe had more 
 soldiers than his king, but none of them landed from the 
 ships, and they did not enter the palace — all remained in 
 the ships, and all the crews of the ships remained in the 
 ships. They did not land, unless, perhaps, they landed just 
 for drill. Well, the king prepared a banquet for his Prime 
 Minister, Kingobe, and at noon he went to dinner, and 
 twenty cannon were fired. They dined, the king flattering 
 him the whole time. " Your wealth is unequalled in the 
 whole world." Kingobe said, " To whom am I like, your 
 Majesty ? I am like a tiny insect, a man whom no one 
 knows, your Majesty." " If you like," said the king, " I 
 will give you my daughter in marriage. I should very much 
 
XXVI. Kingobe. 
 
 235 
 
 like you to marry her, you, my Prime Minister." " It would 
 not be at all becoming," said Kingobe, " for me to take your 
 daughter. Ah ! your Majesty, how can you make such a 
 proposal ? " And Kingobe shed tears. " Well," said the 
 king, " I will give you my promise, the first son you have 
 shall marry my daughter." " Perhaps so, your Majesty," 
 replied Kingobe; "a son whom I shall have may be the 
 one to marry your daughter." Then they left the dining- 
 hall, and twenty-one cannon were fired. Prime Minister 
 Kingobe remained seven days with the king. Then Kingobe 
 said to him, " To-day I wish to go away to my house." 
 " Very well, Prime Minister," said the king. And he said 
 to the king, "When will you pay a return visit to my 
 house ?" "I will come on Friday," said the king. " Be it 
 so," replied Kingobe. They shook hands, and he got into 
 his boat alone, only his soldiers with him, and went on board 
 the ship. Instantly two thousand rounds were fired with 
 cannon in the town. Then Kingobe departed in his ship — 
 puff, puff, puff, with clouds of steam, and all the ropes were 
 silk. Kingobe arrived at his house, and lived in peace and 
 tranquillity, his only occupation being that of judge. 
 
 On the Thursday the king sent a messenger with the 
 order, " Go to Kingobe and tell him I will come to-morrow, 
 Friday, in my carriage." He was also given a letter, and 
 told, " Convey this letter too," and he conveyed it. When 
 Kingobe had read it he was highly pleased, and prepared a 
 banquet, and put everything ready. The cannon were 
 ready loaded on the ships, and on the shore all was ready. 
 In the morning the king entered his carriage, with his 
 attendants and soldiers before and behind, and three thou- 
 sand carriages went before and behind. When he came 
 near Kingobe's house instantly orders were given for a salute 
 on shore and from the ships, and innumerable cannon were 
 fired. At last the king said, " Stop ! the cannon are 
 
236 African Tales. 
 
 deafening me." In a moment the firing ceased. The king 
 marvelled greatly at Kingobe's house, and the king said to 
 Kingobe, " Never yet have I seen a real house in the world, 
 but this one of yours." And Kingobe answered the king, 
 " I was given it by Almighty God. It is He who gave me 
 this house and these possessions." The king shed many 
 tears. Then Kingobe pondered and said, " You all know 
 the king desires a house like this and ships like these. Well, 
 I will give them to you, your Majesty." Then the king was 
 greatly rejoiced, and they feasted seven days in Kingobe's 
 house. Presently the king ordered his carriage, and went 
 away. Then Kingobe was angry, and sent his soldiers to 
 seize the king and put him to death. The soldiers went, 
 and found him riding in his carriage, and instantly seized 
 him and killed him. The king's soldiers ran to Kingobe. 
 "The king has been murdered. Send soldiers." "I am 
 king now," said Kingobe. And all the people said, " Yes, 
 yes, Kingobe is our king." So he was king of that land, 
 and lived in peace and tranquillity. And Kingobe carried 
 away the dependents of the king, and the king's wife he 
 put to death, and all his children he put to death. And 
 Kingobe ruled, and Kingobe was king. 
 
 This is the end of the story of Kingobe, as it is written, 
 The first shall be last, and the last first. 
 
XXVII. 
 
 THE PRINCESS AND THE TORTOISE. 
 
 fp^jHERE was once a princess, and she had 
 
 no 
 
 husband, and she was very beautiful. And 
 her mother summoned all the animals, and 
 iS^^^Si said to them, " The man who shall cut down 
 this baobab tree at one stroke with a sword, I will give him 
 my daughter." First came the elephant (he was king of 
 the beasts), and he gave a blow with the sword, but made 
 no impression on the tree. Then came the rhinoceros and 
 tried, but it beat him ; and the hippopotamus came, but it 
 beat him ; and the lion came, but it beat him. And all the 
 animals came, but it beat them. 
 
 Then the tortoise came, and all the beasts laughed at 
 him and jeered him, and said to him, " It beat the elephant, 
 and are you going to cut it down?'"' "I will try," said he. 
 And he made a feast and spread it under the baobab tree, 
 and his friends the white ants ate into the baobab tree till 
 it was ready to fall. Then he said to all the beasts, " Come 
 and see." They came, and the tortoise took his sword, 
 and gave one blow, and down it fell. The princess cried, 
 and said, " The beautiful elephant failed to cut down this 
 tree, and it has been cut down by this ugly tortoise." Her 
 mother said, " Never mind." 
 
 The tortoise took his wife. But his wife did not love her 
 
2 3 8 
 
 African Tales, 
 
 husband, the tortoise, and told stories of him to her mother, 
 but her mother said to the girl, " It will not do to hate a 
 husband for being ugly." She left off till night came, and 
 then the girl threw her husband on the floor. Mr. Tortoise 
 cried out, and people came and said to her, " It will not do 
 to part with your husband." Then they loved each other 
 very much, and made a promise to each other that they 
 would never leave each other all their lives. 
 
XXVIII. 
 
 THE FISHERMAN AND THE RINGS. 
 
 HERE was [a fisherman, and he was very poor. 
 The fisherman used to go to sea every day, 
 and every day he caught just one fish. This 
 fish he always took to a certain rich man. 
 And the rich man used to say, " Go away and come again 
 presently, and I will give you a cob of maize." When the 
 fisherman had gone to his house, the rich man would say to 
 his people, " Pound a cob of maize." When it had been 
 pounded he would take it outside and put it in the sun. 
 When the fisherman came he said to him, " Come, take your 
 cob of maize here and go away." And the fisherman took 
 his maize and went away. Many and many a time that 
 fisherman took a fish to the rich man, and the rich man gave 
 him some maize or only some millet. 
 
 One day the fisherman went out fishing, and he caught a 
 fish of most extraordinary and wonderful size, so that he 
 could not carry it away. It would not go into his canoe. 
 He said to himself, " I will wait till the tide ebbs, and then 
 I will drag it over dry land." So he waited out on the sea 
 all alone. Presently he saw a monstrous serpent approaching. 
 He fell down, and his heart quaked, and he said, " This 
 serpent will devour me." Fly he could not, shout he could 
 not, but simply lie where he was, perfectly still. The serpent 
 
240 African Tales. 
 
 came and coiled and folded itself round the fisherman, but 
 did not eat, as he himself thought it would. The man 
 lifted up his eyes, and saw an enormous kite. The man 
 said, " O, kite, what do you want?" "I want that ser- 
 pent," said the kite. The man said to it, "The serpent you 
 shall not have, and if you give me any trouble I'll shoot 
 you with my gun." " But the man has not got a gun," said 
 the kite, which was true, for he had no gun. However, it 
 added, " Perhaps he will hit me with a pole, and I shall be 
 simply throwing my life away." So the kite departed. 
 Then the serpent said to the man, " Come home with me." 
 " I never heard," said the man, " that serpents have houses." 
 " Just come with me," said the serpent, " and to-day you 
 will find out, because you have done me this service." The 
 man pondered in his mind, and then he bent down. And 
 he said, " What about my fish ? Who is to have it ?" " Let 
 it alone to rot," said the serpent. " But my canoe ? " re- 
 joined he. " Leave it," said the serpent. "There is not a 
 man dares to carry off your canoe." He bent down a 
 second time, and said, " Very well. I will go with you." 
 " Then catch hold of my tail," said the serpent, and added, 
 " Hold on tight." He held on tight. Down sank the 
 serpent into the depths of the sea. In two days he came 
 to the house of the serpent. 
 
 There were a great number of serpents there, and of 
 huge size, thousands, up to a million. And the whole 
 crowd of serpents kept saying, " Meat ! meat ! Our com- 
 rade has brought us meat." But the serpent said to them, 
 " Just keep silence first." " No," replied the other serpents, 
 " we won't keep silence, for we never before set eyes on a 
 human being ; we don't even know there are such things." 
 But the serpent said to them, " Now do just keep silence 
 first." So they all kept silence, and he said to them, " Well, 
 when I was on my wanderings I arrived at the earth. And 
 
XXVIII. The Fisherman and the Rings. 241 
 
 on the earth there is an insignificant creature called a kite. 
 And this kite wanted to eat me, and this man saved my 
 life." Then all the serpents were highly delighted, and said 
 to him, " Welcome, welcome to our home/' And the man 
 was conducted to see the serpent's mother. 
 
 He stayed two or three days, and the serpent said to his 
 friend the man, "Should you like to go home?" "Yes, 
 please," said the man. "What should you like?" said the 
 serpent, " that I may give you what you want." " Indeed, 
 you know best yourselves," said he. Then his friend the 
 serpent said to him, " Take these six rings. If one gets 
 lost, there are still five." "Thank you," said the man, but 
 he added, "What is the use of them?" His friend said to 
 him, "Tell one ring anything whatever that you want." So 
 he said to one of the rings, " Spread a sumptuous feast." 
 In a moment he saw the feast already laid. "Ah!" ex- 
 claimed the fisherman, " I was always on the search for food, 
 and never got it. And now I have got all this. Ton my 
 word, I am as well off as that rich gentleman, perhaps better." 
 On the fifth day he said, "Take me home," for he saw they 
 were inclined to put off his going, and he had acquired great 
 wealth. So on the sixth day they took him home. 
 
 When he came to his house on the sixth day, he found 
 his mother bowed down and in tears. No sooner did he see 
 her than he fell at her feet and cried too. The fisherman 
 said in his heart, " Now I am a man of substance, and I 
 will use it like that gentleman, or rather I will cut him out. 
 If he has slaves, well, I will have numbers more than* he." 
 So he said to one of his rings, " I want a house four times 
 as fine as the rich man's house." In a moment he saw it 
 all complete, with men-servants and women-servants, and 
 horses and donkeys and cattle — everything that could pos- 
 sibly be desired appeared in a twinkling. Well, the fisher- 
 man said in his heart, " Now I will marry the gentleman's 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 daughter." So he went to marry her. Well, the rich man, 
 because the other was richer than he, spoke to his daughter, 
 and said, " Look ! the fisherman is running us close, and 
 he is but a beggar by birth. So what shall I do ? " said he. 
 " Well, father, let us rob him of his wealth." Her father 
 said to his daughter, " What is at the bottom of all his brag ? 
 Where did he get his wealth ? Where does it come from ? 
 Who gives it him ? " " He has six rings," answered his 
 daughter ; " everything he wants those rings give him." 
 Her father gave her instructions, "You go home, and I will 
 remove from here to give you a chance of carrying off those 
 rings of his." So they were married. 
 
 Then her father removed and went to live a long way off, 
 perhaps twenty days' journey, and there he built a house. 
 One day his daughter spoke thus and said to her husband, 
 " I want to go and see my father." " By all means," said 
 her husband; "when will you go?" "The day after 
 to-morrow," she said. On the third day she said to him, 
 "Choose out some good men-servants and handsome maid- 
 servants and a number of ships." " Very well, wife," re- 
 plied her husband. He spoke to his ring, and in a moment 
 ships appeared, and men-servants and maid-servants. And 
 every one of the servants, male and female, carried rice as 
 food for their mistress' father. Well, they travelled twenty 
 days, and came to where her father was. And he fired a 
 great many cannon. And they spread a thousand mats and 
 poured out on them the rice which his daughter had brought. 
 So tfiat actually those mats were not sufficient, and they 
 brought others, and those were enough. The daughter then 
 went upstairs to see her father. Her father gave her 
 instructions, "Go and tell your men-servants and maid- 
 servants, 'My father is very ill.' And I will make a mess 
 in the room. And you, when you go, tell them, 4 Perhaps 
 to-morrow he will die. Let us go to my husband and get 
 
XXVIII. The Fisherman and the Rings, 243 
 
 him to give me his rings, that I may come and bury my 
 father.' Then go, and if he gives them to you, come with 
 them here." She went downstairs, and spoke to the men- 
 servants and women-servants. And some said, " Let us go 
 and see him." They went and saw him lying in bed, and all 
 the room in a mess from his bed to the door. The men- 
 servants could not go inside. They said to her, " What are 
 we to do now?" And she said to them, "Let us go and 
 get fine linen from my husband, that I may come and bury 
 my father." And they went and reached her home. Their 
 master asked the men-servants and women-servants, " What 
 news ? Is your mistress quite well, and her father ? " For 
 they arrived first, and some of the ships were left behind. 
 And they replied, " Ah ! sir, he is very ill, too ill even to 
 speak. Why, some of us could not even go into his room 
 because of the mess." Afterwards his wife came crying. 
 And he said, " What news? " " I have no news," said she. 
 " I have only come to get some fine linen and go and bury 
 my father. I expect that he is dead to-day." Her husband 
 asked her, "What do you want?" "I want you," she 
 answered, "to give me your six rings." "Ah !" said her 
 husband, " am I to give you my six rings? You know they 
 are my wealth." Then he added, "I will give you one." 
 "No," said she. " I will give you two." " No." " I will 
 give you three." "If you give me only three of your 
 rings," she said, " then I am just a slave, and have nothing 
 to do with your rings. You know you have married me. 
 You shan't give me three rings. You shall give me all of 
 them." Then her husband said to her, " First of all, one 
 ring is enough. For these rings will provide anything." 
 " My father," she replied, "has numbers of people. That 
 is why I want you to give me six. I, your wife, shall be 
 publicly known to be your wife, and you, who married me, 
 to have the money. Why, I want everyone to know at a 
 
244 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 glance that in fact I am rich, and you will become yet more 
 widely known. If you don't give me the rings, then I am 
 not your wife, I am your slave." " Then I will give you 
 five," said her husband. "No," said she. And the woman 
 was very wily. She waited till evening, and gave him a 
 quantity of wine. And he drank, and was very drunk. In 
 the night she said to him, " Ah ! my master, so you will not 
 give me the rings, will you ? " Her husband, because he 
 was very drunk, said to her, " Very well, take them then. 
 Go and make haste to bury your father." The woman flew 
 off, and embarked with all speed, and all her attendants 
 with her, and they went away. 
 
 When she got back to her father she said to him, " I have 
 got the rings which gave occasion for all that beggar's brag." 
 Her father said to her, " Let us remove from this town." 
 They removed, and went on board their ship to go to the 
 coast opposite, that the beggar might not be able to follow. 
 They all went off, and left nothing but the house behind. 
 People asked, " Why are you flitting ? " and they said, " This 
 is not a particularly nice place." 
 
 The husband waited a long time without setting eyes on 
 a ship of any kind. So he said to himself, " My wife has 
 not got back to her father yet." He waited a whole month 
 without seeing anything of her, neither messenger nor letter. 
 Then he went on board his ship, and sailed for twenty days, 
 and saw a town, and asked the people, " Where is the 
 daughter of so-and-so ? W'here does she live ? " " Oh ! " 
 they replied, " she has not been here this full month." And 
 some said, " Oh ! she has left the place altogether." He 
 asked them, " Which way did they go ? " And he was 
 pointed out the direction. Then he embarked in his ship 
 and went after them. He came to a town, and then he was 
 told, " Oh ! that is the ship sailing off yonder in the dis- 
 tance." The man landed on the shore and sat on the 
 
XXVIII. The Fisherman and the Rings. 245 
 
 shore, lamenting and crying and swaying himself from side 
 to side. Well, a very large rat, like the Zanzibar rat, 
 appeared and said to him, " Man, what are you crying 
 for?" " I was crying," he replied, " over the loss of all my 
 wealth." " What sort of wealth is it," said the rat, "which 
 is lost ? " " My rings are gone," he answered, " gone in 
 those ships yonder, sailing far away." " I could do it," said 
 the rat ; " if only I had wings, I could get them. I would 
 go to the ship and bore through everything till I got those 
 rings." Then a kite appeared. " I could overtake that 
 ship, but I cannot board it. I should be shot." " Well, 
 kite," said the rat, " carry me, and when you get to the ship 
 drop me into it." So the kite carried the rat off. When 
 the kite reached the ship, it floated down very gently, as if 
 to seize something, and suddenly dropped the rat, making 
 just as if he had clutched a snake. The people cried, 
 ** Rat ! rat aboard there ! The kite has got a snake ! " The 
 rat meanwhile slipped below, and bored through everything 
 inside the ship. Every day the rat made the round of the 
 ship. At last the rat found a small casket, and bored into 
 it and found the rings. He carried them off, and went 
 outside with them into the ship. Then the rat rushed out, 
 and climbed up the mast with great speed. People cried 
 out, " There he is ! There he is, going up. Shall we pelt 
 him with stones?" In a moment the kite came with a 
 swoop and carried him off. " You well deserve your fate," 
 said the people ; "you want to spoil our things." The kite 
 inquired of the rat, " Have you got the rings ? " He nodded 
 his answer, "Yes." Then the kite asked him again, " Have 
 you got the rings?" And again he answered by a nod. 
 Then a third time the kite put the question, " Have you 
 got the rings?" "Yes, I have," said he. And the rings 
 dropped out of his cheeks and fell into the sea. In a 
 moment a large fish came and swallowed them all six. 
 
246 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 "There !" said the rat. "What do you mean by asking 
 me three times? Look ! Now the rings have dropped into 
 the water ! " 
 
 So they came to the man. He asked them, "Well, have 
 you got them?" "Yes," said they, "but they have fallen 
 into the sea, and a fish has swallowed them all. But it is 
 of no consequence. Just wait here seven days, for a man 
 will come and catch that fish, and take care you get hold of 
 it. Cut it open, and you will find your rings." The man 
 accordingly remained there for the space of seven days. 
 Then a man made his appearance, and waded a little way 
 into the sea, and sang a fisherman's song to attract the fish, 
 and cast his line, and brought up a fish of extraordinary 
 and wonderful size. He landed the fish. Then the poor 
 man said, " Please bestow the entrails on me." And they 
 gave them to him. He went to his house with them, and 
 cut them open and found those six rings. His delight knew 
 no bounds. 
 
 The first thing he did was to ask to live in peace and 
 happiness with his wife. And a wife appeared out of those 
 rings more beautiful than the rich man's daughter. Then 
 the kite and the rat came and said, " Give us, too, our 
 share, for we got your rings." And he said, " What would 
 you like me to do for you ?" "Man," said they, "you do 
 not do well. You are always ungrateful." " But what am 
 I to do for you ? " he asked. " Do for us," said they, " just 
 as each of us asks." Then the kite said, "I am a denizen 
 of the air. My business is simply flying. I neither dig nor 
 reap. So give me your fowls." " I will," said he. And 
 the kite ate up every fowl he had, and then went and ate 
 other people's fowls. The rat said, " I, too, neither dig nor 
 reap. So I will call my brethren to come and live inside 
 your house. We are not particular as to food." " Agreed," 
 said he. So the rats came to live in the man's house. 
 
XXVIII. The Fisherman and the Rings. 247 
 
 You see that to this day the kite catches people's fowls 
 for this reason, and also the rat lives in men's houses to this 
 day. Suppose you have built a brand-new house. Sure 
 enough there's a rat in it. He is not afraid, for the reason 
 just given. And to this day the kite, every year when the 
 chickens are young, comes and catches them. Again, all 
 men are ready enough to spin yarns about " my father's " 
 wealth. But men do not deal fairly. If they see a rat, it 
 is " Oh ! the rascal of a rat ! he has spoilt something of 
 mine ! " If they see a kite catching fowls, they drive it away 
 and throw stones at it. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 THE POOR MAN AND THE SULTAN. 
 
 IME was when our poor men were not without 
 money, but were poor for all that every hour 
 of their lives. Now there was a Sultan and 
 some rich men living in their town. In days 
 gone by, the poor man had no seed. All his seed came from 
 sultans and rich gentlemen. The poor tilled their plots of 
 land, but seed was in the hands of the Sultan and the 
 wealthy. Every man dug his land, and then went to the 
 Sultan and begged, and the Sultan would give him all the 
 seed he asked for. 
 
 One year a poor man tilled a very large plot of ground, 
 eight times as large as the Sultan's. Well, in those days, 
 just as we see it in these, there was plenty of mischief- 
 making. A man started off and went to the Sultan, and 
 spoke to the Sultan, and the Sultan said, " Well ? " And 
 he said, " Have you heard that this year there is a poor 
 man has cultivated an enormous piece of land, eight times 
 as large as yours ? " " No," said the Sultan, " I have not 
 heard so as yet." " Then go," said the man, " and inspect 
 the poor man's land." " I think I will go to-morrow," said 
 the Sultan, "God willing." In the morning he went*to 
 inspect the poor man's land in disguise, quite unknown to 
 
XXIX. The Poor Man and the Sultan. 249 
 
 the poor man himself. The Sultan came back and said, 
 " What you told me is quite true." 
 
 The following day the poor man said, " To-day I will go 
 to the Sultan and ask him to give me seed to plant my 
 ground with. Perhaps to-day or to-morrow will send me 
 rain." (Now in those days poor men put trust in Almighty 
 God.) He went to the Sultan, and said to him, " My 
 master, please let me have seed enough to sow my bit of 
 land." The Sultan reflected for a moment, but presently 
 replied, "Wait a bit, and let me give the Arabs seed first." 
 " By all means," said the poor man. The Sultan rose up 
 and went to his women-servants, and said to them, " Take 
 a cauldron and put it on the fire." They put it on the fire 
 and went on working. The Sultan went and asked the poor 
 man, " What sort of seed do you want ? " " Ah ! master, I 
 have got some of all kinds of seed, but I am short of millet." 
 The Sultan got up and took some inferior millet and went 
 and parched it over the fire. When he had done that, he 
 brought it to the poor man. When he saw it had been 
 parched at the fire he shed tears, and said to the others, 
 " Ah ! my friends, you see the Sultan has done me a very 
 bad turn, and I a poor man without a friend in the world. 
 Why is he jealous of me? He has taken the millet and 
 parched it. Besides the millet itself is but a very little, and 
 my field is large. I should like to know where I am to get 
 more seed." And he wept bitterly. At last he comforted 
 himself. And he said to his wife, " Dear wife, let us go 
 and sow. Perhaps one or two will sprout. Perhaps, too, 
 it will rain in the night." So they went to sow, people 
 laughing at them heartily. And he said to his wife, " You 
 never sowed like this, each grain separately, before." So 
 they sowed, seed by seed, one in each hole, the man scoop- 
 ing the hole, the woman putting in the seed, one grain in 
 each hole. He made the rows distinct and far apart, and 
 
250 African Tales. 
 
 so they covered the whole field. Then he went back to his 
 house, crying because he had been given millet which was 
 parched. And he said, " It is from God that all good things 
 do come." 
 
 In the night there was a very heavy fall of rain. The 
 poor man waited two or three days, and then went to look 
 at his field, and found that in every place he had planted, 
 more millet than he had planted had come up. He went 
 and waited two days longer and came again, he and his 
 wife, and found it had turned as deep a hue as ink, so 
 wondrous rich was the crop. People saw that millet, and 
 were astounded at the way it grew, the blades so crowded 
 together that there was no room for a man to pass between 
 them. 
 
 Well, the millet grew up, and the stalks were as thick as 
 a man's arm. Then a man went to tell the Sultan, and he 
 said to him, "Your Highness, have you heard the news?" 
 " What news ? " he asked. " That millet which you gave 
 the poor man has come up. If you examine his field, there 
 is not a man who has millet like that poor man. Even you 
 by no means come up to him." The Sultan said, " To- 
 morrow I will go and observe his field." And he asked, " It 
 is the very same millet which has sprouted?" And they, 
 said, " Yes." The Sultan was greatly astonished. 
 
 In the morning they went to take observations of the 
 poor man's field, and sure enough he saw the millet. He 
 bent down and said, " God alone could do this. I parched 
 the millet myself, and it has all sprouted. Not a single 
 grain has rotted." He rose up and went home and made 
 lament, because the poor man had got millet like that. 
 
 The millet was growing up and began to swell, but it had 
 not yet put out ears. Well, the harvest-time for millet was 
 at hand, and millet everywhere was ripening, but the poor 
 man's millet had not put out a single ear. The people said 
 
XXIX. The Poor Man and the Sultan. 25 1 
 
 to each other, " What were you saying the poor man had 
 got? In the whole crop of millet not a single ear has come 
 out. They are all completely closed up." So all the millet 
 was reaped, except that of the poor man. People kept 
 saying, "The poor man's millet, why does he not reap it?" 
 Some said, " Why, what is he to reap ? He is no better a 
 man than I am, and none of his millet is in ear." One day 
 the poor man said, " I am going to have a look at that 
 millet of mine and see if there is not at least something 
 inside, and if so take it." He went right into the middle of 
 his field and broke off one stalk, and opened the ear and 
 found a piece of red gold. He started and trembled all 
 over. Then he ran off and showed it to his wife, and they 
 broke two hundred stalks, and found gold in them. Then 
 they went and they talked together, just the two of them, 
 the poor man and his wife by themselves. " Come, suggest 
 a plan." " Plan for what, master ? " answered the wife. 
 "Plan for harvesting all that money," said he. In the 
 evening they started off together and reaped all the night, 
 breaking the stalks and putting the gold on the ground 
 close by in the field, and then burying it. They reaped the 
 first day and the second, and so on to the sixth day, and 
 the tenth day and sixteenth day, and then he finished 
 reaping the whole of his field. As they reaped the stalks 
 they threw them down at the border of the field. People 
 said, "What is that for?" and they replied, " We want to 
 hoe it again." The whole of the gold they had buried 
 underground on the spot. 
 
 A poor man never gets enough. The man began to talk, 
 saying to his wife, " Dear wife, I have three times as much 
 money as the Sultan. I will build a fine house to outshine 
 all the houses of the Sultan and of the whole lot of 
 grandees." Presently by a large outlay in six days a house 
 six storeys high was completed. Very soon the Sultan heard 
 
252 African Tales. 
 
 the news that " The poor man has far outstripped you in 
 wealth, and as to your rich friends, they simply count for 
 nothing." The poor man, so ignorant was he how to use 
 his money, bought estates and numbers of slaves, and cattle 
 and horses and donkeys by dozens. " Where has he got 
 all that money ? " said the Sultan. " Perhaps he picked it 
 up somewhere," said some people ; while others said, " It 
 has all come of that millet." The poor man was getting 
 more and more puffed up and proud. Then people ques- 
 tioned them very closely, and his wife said to them, " I and 
 my husband have now become gentlefolk, all because of 
 that millet of ours." The Sultan wrote a letter to an Arab 
 friend of his, and said, " Come here, for this fellow is enor- 
 mously rich. Come, and let us rob him of his wealth." So 
 he brought a great number of his soldiers, and so did his rich 
 friend. Someone said to the poor man, " You poor man, 
 all your wealth is going to be taken from you by the Sultan." 
 He said, " Who is the Sultan ? He would not dare to." 
 Then he saw the soldiers. They went in and tied the poor 
 man, and took all the poor man's property — gold and silver, 
 and cattle and donkeys, and horses and goats and sheep? 
 and all his slaves. All this property was taken to the 
 Sultan. The poor man said, " That is nothing. You have 
 not got half my property yet." He went and bought slaves 
 as before, and donkeys and horses and everything as before. 
 Again the Sultan was told, and again the Sultan sent 
 soldiers, and they took away all that the poor man possessed, 
 and he himself was tied and thrown out on the shore. And 
 they went away. No sooner had they gone than they heard 
 he had bought a house at 787,899 dollars — three houses at 
 787,899 dollars a house. The Sultan said, "W T hat am I to 
 do next?" The people said to the Sultan, '' If you want to 
 get hold of the poor man and his money, tell people to 
 build in the poor man's field." So he sent and robbed him 
 
XXIX. The Poor Man and the Sultan. 253 
 
 of the whole of his wealth. He built a house in the middle 
 of the poor man's field. No sooner had the people begun 
 to dig than they found an enormous quantity of gold, and 
 they told the Sultan of it. Thus the poor man got no more 
 money, because he was fond of money; but use it? he 
 could not use it, his only wish being to rival the Sultan. So 
 the poor man said, " Never, never will I dig again, but only 
 beg of the rich. If I get anything, I will eat it. If I get 
 nothing, I will be resigned." 
 
 Thus it is. Poor men go to rich men and beg for any- 
 thing they can get, and are given just a little, because if 
 they get much they will forget to thank their God. To this 
 day poor men beg ; it is their business to. Poor men never 
 get a good meal in the daytime, only at night. In the day- 
 time everyone who sees you will say, "Where did he get 
 it ? " You go and get put into prison all for nothing, and 
 all you have you lose. 
 
 Man, when you get wealth use it with self-restraint, and 
 God will bless you by it. If you do not know how to use 
 it, it will be taken from you, and given to someone else. 
 
XXX. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF SEFU. 
 
 HERE was once a young man named Sefu, 
 He was not a rich man — he possessed thirty 
 dollars. He sat and reflected, and bent down 
 and then pondered. At last he said to himself, 
 " This money of mine — if I marry, I must keep a servant 
 to wait on my wife. If I buy a donkey, I want a boy to 
 look after my donkey. If I buy a bit of land, it requires 
 slaves to cultivate the land I buy." He thought over all 
 these things, and saw they would not do at all. And he 
 said, "Now I will leave this town." So he took his money 
 and put it in a purse, and tied it up securely. Then he 
 took his wallet and his food, and put it in his wallet with 
 the money, and also a skin of water. " Now let me see the 
 ways of the world. 1 have stayed a long time in one place, 
 and I do not know what will happen to me in my journey. 
 If God helps me always, I shall prosper. But if Almighty 
 God does not help me, I shall certainly not prosper." 
 
 The first day he walked till sunset, and the second day 
 till sunset. But on the third day he fell in with a little old 
 woman. The mere sight of her was enough to fill him with 
 abject terror. But the old hag said to the lad, " Why were 
 you afraid ? " The lad answered and said to her, " Because 
 I have lived a long time in a town, and never yet saw any- 
 
XXX. The A dventurcs of Scfu. 255 
 
 one so old as you." The old woman said to him, " Well, 
 to-day God has graciously permitted you to see me." Then 
 the old woman took the lad to her house, and the lad sat 
 down just to rest, and then was going away. The old crone 
 said to him, "What do you want to go away for? I have 
 heard nothing about you yet." " My story is a very stupid 
 one," said the young man, " for I don't know where I came 
 from, and I was just idling about." " Just look at the young 
 men of these days!" remarked the old woman; "they 
 never think of asking advice first from their elders, people 
 who have seen the world long before they did." " Quite 
 true," said the lad ; " I did very wrong." Then the old 
 crone said to the lad, " Well, I will give you a bit of advice 
 now." "Thank you, mother," said the lad; "you are 
 indeed my helper, and that is half the thing in this world. 
 Yes, mother, it is a great thing for people to help each 
 other." " Well," said the old crone, "just mind you listen, 
 young man." "Indeed I will," said the lad; "I will do 
 my best to listen to every word you say." The old woman 
 said to him, "I give you this bit of information. If you 
 hear of a place where a man is lying dead, do not go fast ; 
 just be patient a little first, and let other people go before 
 you, and then you go on after them. It is better for a man 
 to be a fool about his own lawful rights than knowing in 
 matters which are not lawful at all." And the old woman 
 added, " Do you understand ? " " Not quite," said the lad. 
 " Well, I was saying to you that if you hear that someone 
 is dead, do not go fast. If you go fast, you will be the first 
 person to get to the place. Then everyone who comes 
 will be asking you all about it, and presently they will say, 
 1 Why, it is you who killed him,' and you will say, ' I did 
 not,' and they will not believe you. They will say, * Who 
 did you find here ? ' And you will be obliged to say, ' I 
 found no one here.' And they will simply put you to death. 
 
256 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 But if you follow behind you will not be put to death, for 
 you will find a crowd of people there. And if a man comes 
 up and asks you questions, you will promptly reply and say, 
 1 1 don't know, I have only just come. Ask those who got 
 here before me.' " The young man was greatly pleased, and 
 took out twenty dollars and gave them to the old crone. 
 And the lad bade the old crone farewell. 
 
 The lad then went on with his journey, going on and on, 
 till the next day he saw another old woman. The lad was 
 very tired, and wanted to go to sleep just where he was, 
 and it was a hollow in a hill. The old woman said to him, 
 " No, my child, it will not do to go to sleep here under the 
 hill. No ! It is better, my child, I entreat you. I know 
 you are quite exhausted, but I beg you leave this place and 
 go up the hill yonder." The lad put out all his strength, 
 so as not to provoke the old woman, and went dragging 
 himself along till he got to the hill. In the night it rained 
 very heavily, till the water rose over the banks of the 
 stream, and numbers of trees were rooted up, because there 
 was such a deluge of rain. In the morning the lad saw 
 that the old woman's words were quite true. And he said 
 to himself, " If I had not listened to that old woman I 
 should be dead. But God put in her heart words of 
 wisdom." Then the young man took out the remaining 
 ten dollars and gave them to the old woman, and said, 
 " This is the thanks I owe you for the directions you gave 
 me." " Thank you, my son," said the old woman ; " may 
 God Almighty bless you wherever you go." And the old 
 woman bade him farewell, and the young man went on his 
 way. 
 
 He travelled on through woods and wilds, woods and 
 wilds, till at last he came out into a clearing where there 
 was an Arab caravan, with slaves carrying loads. They 
 were just beginning to cook a meal and pass the night there. 
 
XXX. The A dventures of Seftt. 257 
 
 The lad besought the Arab, and said to him, " Please, my 
 lord, listen to the appeal of your servant. Please, I beg 
 you, listen to me." The Arab flatly refused, but the lad 
 pressed him most earnestly. His slaves said to him, " Do 
 consent, sir." But their master did not listen to his own 
 people either. The Arab gave orders to his slaves, and part 
 of them followed him, carrying their masters' loads. The 
 young man followed the Arab and his slaves till they came 
 to a hill. And he said to the Arab, " Here is the place to 
 pass the night." So the Arab slept there till the morning. 
 In the night very heavy rain fell, and even date-palms were 
 rooted up. In the morning when the Arab and his slaves 
 woke up he said his prayers and had his meal. When he 
 had finished his meal he said to his slaves, " Follow me." 
 And they followed him. They went back till the Arab 
 came to the place where his caravan was. Not a sound of 
 a human being did he hear. When the Arab came quite 
 close he could not open his eyes for grief. He saw the 
 loads, and everyone of his people were dead. He was 
 consumed with bitter grief and remorse. And he said, 
 " Ah ! truly, I should be dead, too, if I had not listened to 
 that young man." The rain which fell in the night was the 
 cause of the death of his people. Then the Arab loved 
 the young man greatly, and the Arab took out fifty dollars 
 and gave them to the young man as a mark of his gratitude. 
 And the young man went his way. 
 
 He came to a town, and a Gunga invited him to his 
 house. The Gunga was in appearance very like an Arab, 
 so much so that the people of the town used to call him an 
 Arab. The young man lived with him, till at last he sent 
 him to his country house, treating him as his own son, and 
 he was set over all the Arab's slaves. And the slaves hated 
 the young man heartily. 
 
 Now this Arab had a camel. It lived on his estate in 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 the country, and he was more fond of it than of any of his 
 people — more than of his country-house, so fond was he of 
 that camel. The head-slave and all his people made a plot 
 to kill the young man, for they hated him bitterly, because 
 he was a favourite. So they said one to another, " How 
 are we to kill him ? " " It will not take a moment," said 
 the foreman, " to find a way of killing him. It is this. I will 
 write him a letter, as if from my master, as follows : 1 1 have 
 lost a child. So kill that camel that I may say the Burial 
 Service over him.' Well?" said the foreman, inquiringly, 
 "is not that a good notion?" And they said, "It is a 
 capital idea." They did so, and the camel was killed. So 
 the foreman wrote a letter to his master, and said, " This 
 young man whom you settled on the estate here has killed 
 your camel." When he heard this he could not wait a 
 single day. He took seven Arabs with him, each mounted 
 on his best horse. And the young man had put the house 
 in excellent order, and had decorated it. He had even set 
 up a bower on the road leading to the estate, and furnished 
 it with the best hangings, hangings from Muscat. And he 
 wrote a letter as follows : u Master, dear Master, — I killed 
 the camel not for any funeral of mine, but as you yourself 
 directed by your own choice." And the Arabs who went 
 with him, they, too, read the letter. As for the Arab, his 
 one thought was, the moment he arrived, to have the young 
 man summoned and cut him in two pieces with his sword. 
 And his sword he had sharpened to such a degree that if a 
 fly touched it it would cut it in two, because it was so sharp. 
 The other Arabs asked him, "This fellow here on your 
 estate, is he your son?" And he said, "No, he is not my 
 son. I am going to kill him because he has killed my camel." 
 "If you are going to kill him," said the Arabs, "take two 
 bags of money (for him), for we see he is a man of intelli- 
 gence, judging from the way he has fitted up that bower." 
 
XXX. The Adventures of Sefti. 259 
 
 The Arab's feelings were pacified by the praises of the young 
 man which these Arabs uttered. Well, when the Arab 
 arrived he asked the young man, " Who told you to kill that 
 camel?" The young man said, "The foreman here, he 
 told me, not simply by word of mouth, but he sent me a 
 written order. And this is the order he sent me.'' The 
 Arab took it and read it. At once he sent a man, and he 
 went to summon the foreman. The moment the foreman 
 appeared, before he could say a single word to him, the 
 Arab rushed upon him and cut him asunder. 
 
 The Arab had a great affection for the young man, and at 
 last, when the Arab died, the inheritance went to the young 
 man. And the young man lived in peace all the days of 
 his life. 
 
XXXI. 
 
 THE BEGGAR (2). 
 
 HERE was once a poor man and his wife. 
 They were very poor, and had no friends. 
 The man was by profession a beggar. Every 
 morning, as soon as he woke up, he rose and 
 went out begging. 
 
 One day he went out as usual, and came upon an Arab 
 at his prayers. And he said, " For God's sake ! pity the 
 beggar ! " When the Arab had finished his prayers he gave 
 him a shilling. The beggar questioned the Arab, and said, 
 " What were you doing with all those bowings here? " The 
 Arab answered and said, "I was praying to God. It is He 
 who gave me the shilling which I gave you, and He is our 
 Lord." "Indeed!" said the beggar. "I thought it was 
 you who gave me the shilling ; and, strange to say, you are 
 a beggar yourself. I won't have your shilling, take it your- 
 self, and I will go and pray to Him who gave it to you. If 
 I am not a creature of His who gave you that shilling, let 
 me just starve to death." 
 
 He returned to his house, and went inside and threw him- 
 self on his bed. His wife came and asked him, "What is 
 the matter with you to-day, my master ? Has anything 
 hurt you ? " But he made no reply. Thus he remained 
 
XXXI. The Beggar (2). 
 
 261 
 
 for three days. He neither ate nor drank nor spoke to his 
 wife. His wife continued to question him, and at last he 
 spoke to her and told her all about the Arab who prayed. 
 His wife answered and said, " My dear husband, you are 
 foolish. Every day you go and beg and get nothing but a 
 grain of millet, and are well content, and yet you refuse a 
 shilling. Do you not know that God has made poor and 
 rich, slave and free man, small and great?" " I do not 
 know it at all," replied he. " He who gave to the Arab did 
 not give to me. And what is more, I will not beg again. 
 If I am not God's creature, just let me die." When his 
 wife saw that her husband would not beg any more, she 
 began to set to work digging, and took her hoe and went 
 round to the back of the house to dig. There she saw a 
 pot of money, and she ran back to her husband and said 
 to him, " Master, get up. God has sent us poor folk a 
 blessing." Her husband replied, " If I am really God's 
 creature, He will bring His blessing here where I am now." 
 His wife was very angry, and went to the town to engage 
 porters to carry the pot of money to him indoors. When 
 the porters came they looked at the pot and found it full of 
 bees. And they said to the woman, " What have you given 
 us all this trouble for ? You said you had found a pot of 
 money, and there is nothing but bees ! You are a nice 
 young woman ! " And the porters went home. As they 
 were on the way home they said to each other, " What do 
 you think of that woman, giving us all this trouble for 
 nothing? Suppose we go back presently in the evening 
 and put that pot of bees inside the house for her to sting her 
 and her husband ? " " Agreed," they all said. So at night 
 they went back, and took the pot of bees and put it in the 
 beggar's house. Suddenly the pot of bees turned to money 
 again as at first. The pot fell down and was broken, and 
 the money poured out. Up rose the beggar and said, 
 
262 
 
 African Tales. 
 
 " Wife, I told you that God's creatures do not fail to get 
 His blessing." They took the money, and bought a piece 
 of land and built a house, and lived happily, he and his 
 wife, and were beggars no longer. 
 
APPENDICES. 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 On the Swahili Language as Spoken in 
 Zanzibar. 
 
 HE materials of this essay are drawn mainly 
 from the works of the late Dr. Steere, Bishop 
 of the Universities Mission to Central Africa ; 
 the late Dr. Krapf, of the Church Missionary 
 Society ; Mr. Cust's book on the " Languages of Africa ; " 
 and a four years' contact with the spoken dialect of Swahili 
 used in Zanzibar in East Africa. 
 
 This dialect is but one, and that the most mixed, of the 
 dialects of the Swahili language, which is itself but one mem- 
 ber of the vast group or family of languages now generally 
 known as Bantu, of which Mr. Cust writes (" Languages of 
 Africa," p. 345) : "This is, and is destined to continue, one 
 of the twelve most important languages of the world." The 
 grounds for such an estimate are briefly these : — (1) The 
 Bantu languages occupy about one-third of the whole con- 
 tinent of Africa. Draw a line from the Cameroons, on the 
 Atlantic, due east to the Indian Ocean, and, with the exception 
 of outliers of the Hamitie and Nubah-Fulah families on the 
 east coast bending southward as far as the Equator, and the 
 isolated Hottentot and Bushmen languages at the extreme 
 south-west, the whole native population south of this line 
 
266 
 
 Appendix I. 
 
 speaks Bantu — that is, a population of perhaps fifty millions, 
 spread over about three and a half millions of square miles. 
 Bantu is not merely a common name for a large number of 
 languages which only agree in being radically distinct from 
 all their neighbours : on the contrary, it is now generally 
 allowed that all the languages included under the name are 
 really one. Tfre grammar is essentially the same. Lepsius 
 enumerates twelve unique characteristics common to them 
 all (Pref. to " Nuba Grammar," quoted by Cust, p. 294). A 
 few will be noticed in connection with the Swahili language 
 presently. On the other hand, the languages included in 
 the family are very numerous. Cust enumerates 168, under 
 three geographical divisions and eight sub-divisions. And 
 those who speak them are (to say the least) to a large extent 
 mutually unintelligible. (2) The second important point, 
 however, is, that the Swahili language is among all these (as 
 Cust says) " the rising dialect," and Bishop Steere wrote : 
 " There is probably no African language so widely known 
 as the Swahili. It is understood along the coasts of Mada- 
 gascar and Arabia" [and the whole coast line between], 
 " it is spoken by the Sidis in India, and is the trade language 
 of a very large part of Central or Intertropical Africa. 
 Zanzibar traders penetrate sometimes even to the western 
 side of the continent, and they are in the constant habit of 
 traversing more than half of it with their supplies of Indian 
 and European goods. Throughout this immense district 
 anyone really familiar with the Swahili language will gene- 
 rally be able to find someone who can understand him, and 
 serve as an interpreter." (" Handbook of the Swahili Lan- 
 guage," Pref. to First Edition.) Commander Cameron 
 certainly found this true in his journey across Africa. The 
 Swahili language is thus understood across the whole conti- 
 nent, from Zanzibar to the mouth of the Congo, and round 
 the whole sweep of the Indian Ocean, from Madagascar to 
 
Appendix I. 
 
 267 
 
 India. (3) The third point to notice, bearing on the future 
 of the language, is that besides sharing with all other 
 Bantu languages a wonderful fertility in developing gram- 
 matical forms from a given root, and great delicacy as well 
 as flexibility in the use of them, Swahili is pre-eminent in 
 having the opportunity as well as the capacity to draw upon 
 the inexhaustible stores of the Arabic vocabulary for the 
 expression of new ideas, and in consisting of sounds which 
 admit of easy and adequate representation by the common 
 Roman alphabet, even Arabic words being promptly and 
 effectually softened down in the act of appropriation by its 
 unfailing euphonic instinct. 
 
 These remarks may now be very briefly illustrated. And 
 first as to the verb. This is the easy part of Swahili, just as 
 the noun is the hard, but the only hard part. It has been 
 said that Swahili is a language practically without exceptions. 
 Certain it is, that given a root in Swahili, a large number of 
 forms, limited, indeed, only by the meaning of the root 
 itself, can be at once developed from it by a kind of 
 mechanical process — the prefixing or affixing certain syl- 
 lables or letters in a certain order. A Swahili verb has 
 Active and Passive Voices, as well as a Neuter or quasi- 
 Passive (and an Affirmative and Negative Conjugation in 
 each). It has Indicative, Subjunctive (to use the common 
 nomenclature), Infinitive, and Imperative Moods — the 
 Infinitive being also a Verbal Noun, and only existing in 
 the Affirmative Conjugation. Varieties of Tense (with 
 perhaps one exception) only exist in the Indicative Mood, 
 and chiefly in the Active Conjugation. Here there are 
 nine — Presents, Definite and Indefinite, Present Perfect, 
 two Past tenses (identical in meaning, but one used only in 
 narrative), one Future, and three Conditional. There is also 
 a Present Participial Form. 
 
 All distinctions of Person and Tense, as also of Affirma- 
 
268 
 
 Appendix I. 
 
 tive and Negative Conjugations, are marked by Prefixes. 
 All other distinctions are marked by changes at the end 
 of the root, which may be called generally Affixes. A 
 Table will perhaps best indicate the general structure of 
 verb-forms. 
 
Appendix I. 
 
 269 
 
 is 
 
 rt 2 5 ij u £ 
 
 O-r; 
 
 ' « 2 o 3 * u - 
 •_=ii-r/ o " $ 
 
 1)S> & N C § 
 
 si.il;lis!|ls5l||. 
 1 5 a a | irl-92 ^ 
 
 c o « °< rt 
 
 a, c 
 
 rt . 
 
 > 4> 4) ' 
 
 * 2 5.C 
 
 C/3 
 T3 
 
 
 2 pooj\r 
 
 aAUBOipuj rt 3Aijounfqng v 
 
 C 
 
 
 
 
 rt 
 
 
 
 
 xes 
 
 
 O SAISSBJ 
 
 
 C/l 
 
 U 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 Pre 
 
 E 
 th 
 
 <j 
 
 uouBSnfuoQ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 varic 
 
 
 uouc§nfuo3 
 
 D .- 
 
 vo SAixaysy; 
 
 9AU03fqQ 
 
 pjiiosasj 
 
 6--S. * 
 
 rt > « 
 
 (jOOJSA\0[[OJ 
 
 uaqj puB pgsn 
 
 SI uSlS SSU3J 
 
 o'u uaqA\ -oxg) 
 
 « > o g 
 
 r « rt 
 
 — : < 
 
 SAnoafqng 
 
 i - I 
 
 5 E 
 
 . N « 
 
 (fr pun t (s put: i saxyajj jqj 
 
 saxysjjj uaaAwaq pasn si is aaaqAv '"Sing 
 
 pawasut si;y uaqi JS -siaj 1" -'oxa 'pooj\j -Dip 
 
 pur'p3snsi3AUB[ -uj sqj ui sjaquinu piiu 
 
 uaqAv idaoxa) 'suosaaj " sasuaj, \\v joj) 
 
A ppendix I. 
 
 Supplementary tenses are formed by auxiliaries. The 
 richness of the Swahili verb is, however, largely due to 
 the fact that there are four derivative forms, which might, 
 perhaps, be called Conjugations, and can be formed imme- 
 diately from any root whatever, when compatible with its 
 meaning — viz., Applied, Causal, Reciprocal, and Neuter. 
 
 Thus from ona, meaning (to) see, or feel, may be 
 formed : — 
 
 (Passive, onwa, to be seen.) 
 
 Applied, onea, to feel towards, see with, and, with special meaning, 
 to oppress. 
 
 {Neuter, oneka, to be visible, or felt. 
 Reciprocal, onekana, to appear, come into sight of. 
 Causal, onya, to make see, warn. 
 
 Do. onycsha, to show, point out. 
 Reciprocal, onana, to see each other. 
 Reflexive, jiona, to see, or think oneself. 
 
 All these forms may, if their meanings allow of it, take 
 passive forms or another conjugational affix in addition to 
 their own. And each, of course, forms the base of a whole 
 fabric of tenses. 
 
 Thus from pzga, to strike, can come : — 
 
 (Causal), pigiza, to cause to strike. 
 (Reciprocal), pigana, to strike each other, fight. 
 (Causal), pigam's/ia, to cause to fight. 
 
 And even piganishana, to cause each other to fight, and so 
 on, besides, pigia, pigilia, &c. 
 Or, again : — 
 
 Penda, (to) love. 
 
 Peudea, to love for, on account of, &c. 
 
 Pendcza, to cause to love, please. 
 
 Pendezea, to cause to have love for, to please by. 
 
 Pendana, to love each other. 
 
 Pendeka, to be loveable. 
 
Appendix I. 
 
 271 
 
 Pendekeza, to cause to be loveable or liked, to ingratiate. 
 Pendelea, to have a particular liking for. 
 Pendeleza, to cause to have a special liking for. 
 
 And so on. 
 
 Perhaps the most really remarkable form is what has 
 been called the Applied Form of the verb. By the simple 
 insertion of the vowel -/- or -e- before the vowel -a-, with 
 which a true Swahili verb always ends, the force of any 
 preposition whatever may be added to the verb itself — a 
 relation is attached to it which is only to be defined by the 
 nature of the case. Thus leta means to bring ; but letea, to 
 bring to, for, with, by, from, in, on account of, and so on. 
 Nena means to speak, but nenea, to speak for (recommend), 
 speak against (decry, scold), speak about (describe), speak 
 with, and so on. The effect in the corresponding passive 
 forms is noticeable ; from leta, (to) bring, comes letwa, (to 
 be) brought, but from letea, (to) bring to, comes letewa, (to 
 have) brought to, or from, oneself. 
 
 An instance to illustrate the prefix-system would be 
 aliloiletea, which contains four prefixes — viz., Subjective 
 Personal Prefix a = he, Past Tense Prefix //=did, Relative 
 Pronoun Prefix lo = which, Objective Personal Prefix /=it, 
 and the Applied Form of the verb leta — the whole meaning 
 " he did which it bring to," i.e., "which he brought to it.' 5 
 
 This, however, naturally leads to the subject of the 
 Swahili noun. In the word aliloiletea, the form of each of the 
 prefixes denoting subject, Relative and Object, are deter- 
 mined by the form of the noun to which each refers. They 
 might each assume some ten or fifteen forms, according to 
 the class and number of that noun. The great, but the 
 only real, difficulty in speaking Swahili correctly, is to make 
 instantaneously, indeed spontaneously, the appropriate selec- 
 tion from some sixty or more alternative prefixes ir. such a 
 case as " aliloileteaP Thus the Prefix a can refer only to a 
 
272 
 
 A ppendix L 
 
 noun of the first class and in the singular number. But 
 there are eight classes of nouns in Swahili, each with a corre- 
 sponding form of Prefix, and several with a different one 
 for the Singular and Plural. Thus instead of a in aliloiletea, 
 there might be wa, u, /, zi, //, ya, fo\ vi,pa, hi, and similarly 
 with lo and i, and the place of // might be taken by any of 
 the Tense Prefixes. The Prefixes preserve (with a few 
 exceptions) the same order relatively, but vary with the class 
 and number of the nouns referred to. 
 
 The origin of these classes, or in other words the reasons 
 for dividing all possible objects of thought into eight groups, 
 it is impossible (except in two cases) at present to decide. 
 If the Swahili groups were to be named from the meaning, 
 or a prominent meaning among the nouns in the group, the 
 names would be, perhaps, the Animal, Local, Abstract, 
 Diminutive, Amplificative, and Verbal, and two General 
 Classes — one of these last, however, shows signs of having 
 denoted at least Vegetable Life, if no higher kind. A Com- 
 parative Grammar of Bantu may some day explain the 
 mystery. Not only verb-forms, but all pronominal and adjec- 
 tival forms brought into relation with a noun, must have a 
 prefix or first syllable appropriate to the noun. To take a 
 not at all unusual case, a man might express himself thus : 
 " Vitu vile vyangu vilivyo vizuri viwe vyako, vyote vinne " 
 ("Let all those beautiful things of mine be yours, all four 
 of them.") Everyone of the last eight words begins with the 
 same syllable as the first, the noun "vitu." This is a typical 
 case. The result is perspicuity at the expense of brevity. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of verbs and nouns it should 
 be remarked that roots in Swahili are as fertile of noun- as 
 of verb-forms. Thus, to take again penda, (to) love, the 
 following nouns occur : — 
 
 Mpenda, a loving man. 
 Mpendaji, a lover. 
 
Appendix L 
 
 Mpenzi, a beloved person. 
 Kipendo, an object of love. 
 Mapenzi, inclination, desire, will. 
 Upendo, feeling of love, affection. 
 Pcndo, Do. 
 Pendeleo, favour. 
 Upendano, mutual love. 
 
 And so on with other roots. 
 
 This luxuriance of forms is, of course, to a great extent 
 thrown away, but it is well worthy of attention in estimating 
 the possibilities of the language. As thought becomes defi- 
 nite, and distinctions become clearly felt, there will be no 
 lack of appropriate linguistic forms to select from, and 
 synonyms in language will become specialized with the 
 gradual differentiation in ideas. 
 
 o 
 
 Moreover, as has been already mentioned, the vast stores 
 of the Arabic vocabulary are not only within reach of Swa- 
 hili, but are readily appropriated, not, however, without 
 considerable phonetic changes. Swahili has no more gut- 
 tural sounds than English. Arabic gutturals are therefore 
 softened into an ordinary g or or even into a simple 
 aspirate. Swahili has all the English vowel sounds at its 
 disposal, and so does not care to confine itself too closely 
 to the three of Arabic. All Swahili words can be broken 
 up into either biliteral or triliteral syllables, of which the 
 last letter is a vowel, or simple vowel sounds. Swahili words 
 cannot end with a consonant. If it were not for a prepon- 
 derance of the broad vowel sounds, the repetition of similar 
 prefixes, and such consonants as k, t, p, Swahili might, per- 
 haps, bear comparison with Italian, and, considered phone- 
 tically, sometimes certainly with Homeric Greek. 
 
 Of course, its characteristics are here only broadly indi- 
 cated. There are several disturbing influences, especially in 
 connection with the nasal sounds, which largely affect the 
 
 T 
 
A ppendix L 
 
 other consonants, and produce apparent exceptions to the 
 general rules. 
 
 And, finally, it must be remembered that Swahili is in a 
 fluid condition, and sensitive to every influence. Not only 
 Arabs, but Hindoos, Persians, Parsis, Goanese, and a 
 motley, if not numerous, colony of Europeans, all contri- 
 bute to colour the speech of the great human currents 
 moving ceaselessly to and fro between the vast lake re- 
 gions and their eastern capital. It has hitherto had no 
 literature but a few poems and tales, and letters disguised 
 rather than clothed with the utterly ill-fitting dress of the 
 Arabic alphabet. It never knew it had a grammar till 
 Krapf and Steere displayed it. The yearly increasing pub- 
 lications of the Universities' Mission Press may do some- 
 thing in time to check the tide of dialectic change and 
 shifting vocabulary, but perhaps, after all, the publications 
 of this generation will have to be rewritten for the next. 
 However, Bishop Steere has led the way, and little remains 
 but to follow and fill in his lines. At least the language 
 appears to those who are most concerned with it not 
 unworthy of the best efforts they can use upon it. 
 
APPENDIX II. 
 
 HE Story L in Part II. is here given, as written 
 by the boy himself, both in Swahili, according to 
 the rules and spelling adopted by Bishop Steere 
 for the Universities' Mission, and also in his 
 native tongue, the Ganda, in representing the sounds of which 
 he followed the same rules as well as he could independently. 
 Not knowing the Ganda language, the Editor could not help 
 or correct him. The sentences are arranged as nearly parallel 
 as possible for comparison, and a very literal translation is 
 added beneath. 
 
 KAWEKWA NA TEGUAKI. 
 
 (Swahili.) 
 
 ( : ) (Kawekwa na Teguaki walik- 
 wenda kwa mtu mganga, mahali 
 pake panakwitwa Msaba, jina lake 
 Namganga. ) 
 
 ( 2 ) Mtu mmoja alitoka kwa mfal- 
 me akaenda kwa mganga kumpa 
 dawa ya vita. 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 I 1 ) (Kawekwa na Teguaki bagenda 
 wa muntu mganga, wawe baitwao 
 Masaba, elinye live Namganga.) 
 
 ( 2 ) Muntu ommu yavwa wa ka- 
 baka n agenda wa Namganga kumua 
 dagala la mafumu. 
 
 ( ! ) (Kawekwa and Teguaki went to a medicine-man, his place is called 
 Masaba, his name Namganga.) 
 
 ( 2 ) A certain man went out from the king, and went to a medicine-man 
 (to ask him) to give him medicine for war. 
 
276 
 
 Appendix II. 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 Namganga akamwambia yule 
 mtu, wewe mwanaume sana ? Yule 
 akamjiba, Mimi mwanaume sana. 
 ( l ) Namganga akamwambia, Ukiwa 
 mwanaume sana, njoo twende. Wa- 
 kaenda pale njiani. ( 5 ) Akamwam- 
 bia yule peke yake, napana watu 
 wangine, nitakupa mikuke miwili na 
 ngao moja. ( 6 ) Uende katika mwitu 
 ule mbele yako, ukikuta mwenzio 
 usimwogope Ukiogopa utakufa. ( 7 ) 
 Yule mtu alipokwisha kumpa habari 
 hizo zote akaenda mwiluni na mi- 
 kuke yake na ngao yake. ( s ) Aka- 
 enda mwituni na ngao yake, na 
 mikuke yake akamkuta binadamu 
 mwenzake, akampiga mkuke, hau- 
 kumpata vema, na yule wa mwituni 
 akampiga yule mwenyi kutakadawa 
 akamua. ( 9 ) Watuwote wakaiogopa 
 dawa ya Namganga. 
 
 ( I0 ) Tena mtu mmoja alitoka ma- 
 hali pake, panakwitwa Singo, mtu 
 wa mfalme, lakini yeye hakutumwa 
 na mfalme. (") Jina lake Kawekwa. 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 ( 3 ) Namganga nangamba oli 
 muntu, Uli msa'ja nyo? Oli nam- 
 gamba, nzee msa'ja nyo. (*) Nam- 
 ganga namgamba, Oba uli msa'ja 
 nyo, tungeendee. Nebagenda boka 
 mkubo. ( 5 ) Namgamba oli yeka, 
 angatewali bantu balala, Nakuua 
 mafuma abili na ngabo imu. ( 6 ) Gen- 
 da mkibila kili mumasogo, onosanga 
 mno tomtia. Buotiya onofa. ( 7 ) Oli 
 Muntu bweamala kumbulila biyuna, 
 nagenda mkibila na mafuma gee na 
 ngabo ye. ( 8 ) Nagenda mkibila ra 
 ngaboye na mafumuge, namsanga 
 omtu mtum'ne, namkasukilira fumu, 
 nilitamkwata, noli uomkibila nam- 
 fumita oli ayagala dagala namta. 
 ( 9 ) Na bantu bona hebalitiya dagala 
 liye Namganga. 
 
 ( 10 ) Omtu ommu yavwa ewawe 
 ye, waitwa Singo, muntu wa ka- 
 baka, tegatumwa kabaka. ( u ) Elin- 
 ya liye Kawekwa. Natuka wa 
 
 ( 3 ) Namganga said to him, Are you really a man ? The man answered, 
 Yes, I am really a man. ( 4 ) And Namganga said to him, If you are really 
 a man, come, let us go. And they went along the road. ( 5 ) And he said 
 to him when alone and no one else was there, I will give two spears and 
 one shield. ( 6 ) Go into that forest before you, and if you meet your fellow, 
 do not be afraid of him. If you are afraid of him, you will die. ( 7 ) When 
 he had given him all these directions, the man went into the forest with 
 his spears and his shield. ( 8 ) He went into the forest with his shield and 
 his spears, and met a fellow-man, and threw a spear at him, but did not hit 
 him full, and the man from the forest struck the man who had asked for 
 war-medicine, and killed him. ( 9 ) Everyone was afraid of Namganga's 
 medicine. 
 
 ( 10 ) Presently another man set out from his place, a place called Singo, 
 one of the king's men, but he was not sent by the king. ( u ) His name was 
 
Appendix II. 
 
 2/7 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 Akafika kwa Namganga, akamw- 
 ambia, Nataka dawa ya vita. ( 12 ) 
 Namganga akamjibu, Dawa yangu 
 utaiweza wevve? Kawekwa akam- 
 jibu, Mimi dawa yako ntaiweza. 
 ( 13 ) Bassi Namganga akamwambia, 
 Ukiwa unaiweza, njoo hapa nik- 
 wambie maana yake yote. Akaenda 
 akamwambia maana yake yote. 
 ( u ) Alipokwisha kumwambia yale 
 maana yake yote, akampa mihuhe 
 na ngao, akamwambia. ( 15 ) Haya 
 nenda katika mwitu ule mbele yako ; 
 ukimkuta binadamu mwenzako, usi- 
 mkimbie. Ukimwogopa, yeye ata- 
 kuna. ( 16 ) Yule akajibu, Vema. 
 Namganga akamwambia, Nenda. 
 Akamda yule Kawekwa, akafika- 
 pale alipomwambia, akamkuta yule 
 aliyemwambia. ( 1T ) Kwanza Ka- 
 wekwa akautwaa mkuke wake 
 akamtupia yule mwenzake akamua. 
 ('*) Alipokwisha kumua, akarudi 
 kwa Namganga na furaha yake, 
 akamwambia, Niniekwisha kumua 
 yule. ( I9 ) Namganga akamjibu, 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 Namgamba namgamba, Njagala 
 dagala ya mafumu. ( la ) Namganga 
 namdamu, Dagala yange noliinza ? 
 Kawekwa namdamu, Nze dagala 
 liyo na4iinza. ( ia ) Kale Namganga 
 namgamba, Oba unaliinza, jangu 
 wanu kubulile mpisa yaliyo yona. 
 Nagenda namgamba mpisa yaliyo 
 yona. ( u ) Bweyamala kumbulila 
 mpisa yaliyo yona, namwaa ama- 
 fumu nengabo namgamba, ( 15 ) Kale 
 genda mkibila kili mumasogo ; 
 bummsanga muntu muno, tomu- 
 duka. Buonumtia ye anakuta. 
 ( ,6 ) Oli nadamu, Birungi. Nam- 
 ganga namgamba, Genda. Nagenda 
 oli Kawekwa, natuka wali weyam- 
 gamba, namsanga oli gweamgamba. 
 ( 7 ) Lubelebeliye Kawekwa natola 
 fumu liye, namkasukilila oli muune 
 namta. { lH ) Bweamala kumta, na- 
 komao wa Namganga na sanyo liye, 
 namgamba, Maze kumta oli. ( 19 ) 
 Namganga namdamu, Birungi. Ja- 
 gala bujira bwange, kuue dagala 
 diyo. Jagala mbuzi emu na koko 
 
 Kawekwa. He came to Namganga and said to him, I want war-medicine. 
 C 2 ) Namganga answered him, Shall you be able to manage my medicine? 
 Kawekwa answered him, I shall be able to manage your medicine. ( 13 ) So 
 Namganga said to him, If you can manage it, come here and let me tell you 
 all about it. And he went and he told him all abont it. ( u ) When he had 
 finished telling him all about it, he gave him spears and shield and said to 
 him, ( 15 ) Now then, go into that forest before you, and if you meet a fellow- 
 man, do not run away from him. If you are afraid of him, he will kill 
 you. ( 1G ) The man replied Very good. And Namganga said to him, Go. 
 And Kawekwa went, and arrived at the place he told him of, and met the 
 man he told him of. ( 17 ) First Kawekwa took his spear and threw it at 
 the other man and killed him. ( ,8 ) When he had killed him, he went back 
 to Namganga in his joy, and said to him, I have killed that man. ( 19 ) And 
 
278 
 
 Appendix II. 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 Vema. Nataka ujira wangu nikupe 
 dawa yako. Nataka mbuzi mmoja 
 na kuku mweupe mmoja, na Hondo 
 moja na kauli tissaini bassi. ( 2o ) Naye 
 alipokwisha kumpa ujira wake Nam- 
 ganga, naye tena Namganga akaitoa 
 dawa yake, akamfanyizia ilizi akam- 
 pa Kawekwa, ( 21 ) akamwambia, 
 Nenda, ukipigwa mkuke, usikuingie, 
 ukipigwa, bunduki, isikupate. Ndi- 
 vyo vilivyokuwa. ( 22 ) Akaenda ka- 
 tika vita, akapigana, akawamshujaa 
 sana ; tena akaenda peke yake aka- 
 piga miji mingi peke yake. 
 
 ( 23 ) Tena akatokea mtumwingine, 
 mahali pake alipotoka panakwitwa 
 Bulemenzi. Naye mtu wa mfalme, 
 lakini hakutumwa na mfalme, jina 
 lake Teguaki. ( 24 ) Naye akaenda 
 kwa Namganga kutaka dawa. Nam- 
 ganga akamwambia, Wataka dawa 
 yangu we we ? Na yule akajibu, 
 Nataka dawa yako mimi. ( 25 ) Wewe 
 jina lako nani, utakaye dawa langu 
 mimi ? Teguaki. Utaweza dawa 
 yangu wewe? Nitaweza mimi. 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 emu jeru na dubogo ndumu na sibi 
 kiyenda amaze. ( 20 ) Bweyamala 
 kumua bujira bwee Namganga, 
 Namganga natola dagala liye, nam- 
 kolela ejembe namua Kawekwa, 
 ( 21 ) namgamba, Genda, wofumitwa 
 efumu lisikugule, bukubwa emundu, 
 esikukwate. Bweeguali. ( 22 ) Na- 
 genda kuburwa, naruwana naba 
 mzila nyo ; nate nagenda yeka nata 
 bialo bingi yeka. 
 
 ( 23 ) Nate nevwa omtu omlala, 
 ewawe weyavwa waitwa Bulemenzi. 
 Naye omtu wa kabaka, naye teya- 
 tumwa kabaka, elinya liye Teguaki. 
 ( 24 ) Naye nagenda wa Namganga 
 kuagala dagala. Namganga nam- 
 gamba, oyagala dagala ndiyange 
 gwe ? Noli namdamu, Jagala da- 
 gala ndiyu nzee. ( 25 ) Gwe elinya 
 liyo gwani, ayagala dagela ndiyange 
 nzee ? Teguaki. Onoliinza dagala 
 ndiyange gwe ? Naliinza nzee. 
 
 Namganga answered him, Good. I want my fee that I may give you your 
 medicine. I want one goat, and one white fowl and one bark-shawl and 
 ninety cowries. ( 20 ) When he had given Namganga his fee, then Nam- 
 ganga gave him his medicine, and he made him a bag and gave it to 
 Kawekwa, ( 21 ) and said to him, Go. If a spear hit you, it shall not pierce 
 you, if you are fired at with a gun, it shall not hit you. And so it was. 
 ( 22 ) He went to war and fought and was very heroic ; then he went by him- 
 self and subdued many towns by himself. 
 
 ( 23 ) Then another man appeared, the place which he came from is called 
 Bulemenzi. And he was one of the king's men, but he was not sent by the 
 king ; his name was Teguaki. ( 24 ) And he went to Namganga to ask for 
 medicine. And Namganga said to him, Do you want medicine from me ? 
 And he replied, I want medicine from you. ( 25 ) What is your name, you 
 
Appendix II. 
 
 279 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 Sema kweli. Wallai. ( 26 ) Bassi 
 wakaenda pale akansumulia habari 
 zote, kama alizomsumulia yule wa 
 kwanza Kawekwa, akampa mikuke 
 na ngao, akaenda. ( 27 ) Naye aka- 
 fanya vile vile, hama alivyofanya 
 Kawekwa, naye alipomua akarudi 
 nyumbani kwa Namganga. Nam- 
 ganga akamwambia, Nataka ujira 
 wangu. ( 2 ") Akamjibu Ujira wako 
 wapewa kitu gani ? Namganga 
 akamwambia, kama alivyomwambia 
 yule wa kwanza akauleta ujira 
 wake. 
 
 ( 29 ) Namganga akaitoa dawayake, 
 akamfanyizia ilizi akampa Teguaki 
 akamwambia vile vile kama alivyo- 
 mwambia yule wa kwanza Kawekwa. 
 ( 30 ) Akaenda katika vita akapigana 
 akawashinda akawa mshujaa sana. 
 Tena akaenda peke yaka akapiga 
 miji mingi peke yake, akawa mshu- 
 jaa sana, akasifiwa nu watu wote. 
 
 ( 31 ) Habari zake zikafika kwa 
 yule wa kwanza Kawekwa. Jirani 
 wake wakamwambia, Mtu mmoja 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 Yugelamazima. Mazima. ( 26 ) Amaze 
 nebagenda wali, nambulila bigambo 
 biyuna, ngaa bweyabulila oli olube- 
 lebeliye kawekwa, namua mafumu 
 na ngabo, nagenda. ( 2T ) Naye nakola 
 gabiri gaa bweyakola Kawekwa, 
 naye bweyamta nada ekawe Nam- 
 ganga. Namganga namganda, Ja- 
 gala bujira bwange. Namdamu, 
 Bujira bu owebwa kituki ? Nam- 
 ganga namgamba, gaa bweyam- 
 gamba oli odubelebeliye nabuleta 
 obujira bwe. 
 
 ( 29 ) Namganga natola dagala 
 ndiyi namkolela jembe namua Te- 
 guaki, namgamba gabiri ngaa bwe- 
 yamgamba oli odubelebeliye Ka- 
 wekwa. ( 30 ) Nagenda kuburwa 
 naruana nabakoba naba mzila nyo. 
 Nate nagenda yeka omu naruana 
 mbialo bingi omu, naba mzila nyo, 
 natendebwa na bantu bona. 
 
 ( 31 ) Bigambo bii nebituka ewoli 
 odubelebeliye Kawekwa. Mrilanwa 
 
 who want medicine from me ? Teguaki. Can you manage my medicine ? 
 I can manage it. Say the truth. I do. ( 26 ) So they went to the place, 
 and he told him all about it, just as he had told the first man Kawekwa, 
 and gave him spears and shield, and he went. ( 27 ) And he did just as 
 Kawekwa had done, and when he had killed him he returned to Namganga's 
 house. And Namganga said to him, I want my fee. ( 2S ) And he answered 
 him, What do you receive for your fee ? And Namganga said, just what 
 he had said to the first man, and he brought him his fee. 
 
 ( 29 ) And Namganga gave him his medicine and made him a bag and gave 
 it to Teguaki, and said to him just what he had said to the first man 
 Kawekwa. ( 30 ) And he went to war and fought and conquered them and 
 was a great warrior. Then he went by himself and subdued many cities by 
 himself and was a great warrior, and was praised by all people. 
 
 ( 31 ) News of him reached the first man Kawekwa. His neighbours said 
 
280 
 
 Appendix II. 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 
 yuko katika inchi yetu hii, naye 
 mshujaa kama wewe. 
 
 ( 32 ) Bassi Kawekwa akawajibu, 
 Yuko wapi yeye huyu ? Wakamw- 
 ambia, Anakaa Bulemenzi. Bassi 
 yule Kawekwa akawakaidi, Hapana 
 mwanaume kama mimi. Wakam- 
 jibu, Yupo kama wewe. ( 33 ) Ali- 
 kuwa na hasira sana, akamfuata yule 
 wmenziwe, walipomwambia. Aka- 
 enda akafika Bulemenzi yule, jina 
 lake Kawekwa akauliza, Nyumba 
 ya Teguaki iko wapi ? Wakamw- 
 onyesha, Ilee ndefu sana ndio ny- 
 umba yake. ( 34 ) Bassi akafika pale 
 akakuta mkewe, mumewe hakum- 
 kuta, amekwenda katika vita. 
 Mbuzi wa Teguaki wote Kawekwa 
 akawachinja. 
 
 ( 35 ) Akarudi Teguaki katika vita, 
 mahali pake pazuri hapana gasiya, 
 akaona mbuzi wake hapana, akaona 
 migomba yake nayo imekatwa, 
 akamwita mkewe, mkewe akamw- 
 ambia, Mimi siyawezi kuyanena 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 we nebamgamba, Omtu omu ali kusi 
 yafe eno, naye mzila ngaa gwe. 
 
 ( 32 ) Amaze Kawekwa namdamu, 
 Arunda waye oyo ? Nebamgamba, 
 Ewawe Bulemenzi. Amaze oli Ka- 
 wekwa nabawakanya, Tewali msa'ja 
 gaa nzee. Nabo nebamdamu, Wali 
 gaa gwe. ( 33 ) Yali no busungu nyo, 
 namgobelela oli mu'nne bwebam- 
 gamba. Nagenda na tuka Bule- 
 menzi oli, elinye ndiyi Kawekwa, 
 nabuza, Nyumba ya Teguaki erun- 
 dawa ? Nebamlaga, Elii epafu nyo, 
 ye nyumba ye. ( 34 ) Amaze natuka 
 wali nasanga mkaziwe, bawe teyam- 
 sanga, gangeze kuburwa. Mbuzi wa 
 Teguaki zona Kawekwa naziliya. 
 
 ( 85 ) Nada Teguaki kutabala ewa- 
 we wasungi tewali bitutu, nalaba 
 mbuzi ze tewali nalaba bitoke biyi 
 oruwi nduteme, namwita mkaziwe, 
 mkaziwe namgamba Nze siinza ku- 
 kubulila ebiyo. Babuze mrilanwabu. 
 
 to him, There is a man in our country here, and he is as great a warrior 
 as you. 
 
 ( 32 ) Kawekwa answered them, Where is this fellow ? And they said to 
 him, He lives at Bulemenzi. Kawekwa stoutly contradicted them. There 
 is no such man as I. And they answered him, There is one even as you. 
 ( 33 ) He was very angiy, and went after his rival to the place they told him 
 of. He went and came to Bulemenzi, this man named Kawekwa, and 
 inquired, The house of Teguaki, where is it? And they showed him, 
 Yonder the very high one, that is his house. ( 34 ) He went to it and found 
 his wife, the husband he did not find, he had gone to war. All Teguaki's 
 goats Kawekwa slaughtered. 
 
 ( 3S ) Teguaki came back from the war, his nice home was all quiet, and 
 he saw his goats were gone, and he saw his bananas too had been cut, and 
 he called his wife, and his wife said to him, I cannot speak of this. Ask 
 
A ppendix II 
 
 281 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 
 haya. Waulize jiraniwako. ( 3C ) Mtu 
 alitoka kwake kuja kukutafuta we- 
 we, apigane nawe, kwa sababu una- 
 sitiwa mno, ndio kukata migomba 
 yako na kuchinja mbuzi wako, upate 
 kuingiwana hasira sana, ukamfuate. 
 ( 37 ) Alisema jina lake Kawekwa, 
 mahali pake Singo, pana mlima jina 
 lake Kishozi, mkubwa sana. Uki- 
 fika penyi mlima huu, Nyumba uta- 
 iona wazi, nayo ndefu mno. 
 
 ( 36 ) Alikuwa bado kuingra nyum- 
 bani mwake, lakini aliposikia ha- 
 bari hizo, nyumbani mwake haku- 
 ingra, na chakula hakula, akaona 
 hasira nyingi sana. ( 39 ) Tena Ka- 
 wekwa amesema, usipomfuata, yeye 
 atakuja akuchukue uende ukam- 
 tekee mkewe maji. ( 40 ) Bassi yule 
 Teguaki akamfuata mwenziwe Ka- 
 wekwa, akafika pale penyi mlima, 
 akaiona nyumba ya Kawekwa aka- 
 telemka akafika akamkuta mkewe 
 akamwusiza, ( 41 ) Nyumba ya nani 
 hii ? Akamjibu, Ya Kawekwa. 
 Yuko wapi mwenyewe? Mkewe 
 
 . (Ganda.) 
 ( 3G ) Omtu yavwa ewawe naja kuku- 
 nonya gwe, muruane nawe, kwa 
 kukutenda nyo, nange kutema bi- 
 toke biyi nakuta mbuzi ze ukwa 
 tibwe busungu nyo, omgobelele. 
 ( 3T ) Yayugela elinya liye Kawekwa, 
 ewawe Singo, wali wo lusozi, liny a 
 ndiyalu Kishozi, ndunene nyo. Bu- 
 tuka awali lusozi olu, enyumba noji- 
 laba mubanga nayu pafu nyo. 
 
 ( 38 ) Yali tanaba kuingila mny- 
 umba ye naye bweyaulila bigambo 
 ebiyu, mnyumba ye teyaiingila, no 
 kuliya teyalila, yalina busungu bungi 
 nyo. ( 39 ) Nate Kawekwa agambiye, 
 buotomgobelele, yee anaja akutwale 
 ugende umsenele mkaziwe mazi. 
 ( i0 ) Amaze oli Teguaki namgobelela 
 mu'nne Kawekwa, natuka wali 
 awali lusozi, nalaba nyumba ya 
 Kawekwa, naselegeta natuka na- 
 sanga mkaziwe nambuza, Nyumlm 
 yani mo ? Namdamu, Ya Kawekwa. 
 Arudawa kenyini ? Mkaziwe nam- 
 akamjibu, Omekwenda katika vita. 
 
 your neighbours. ( 3t3 ) A man set out from home to come in search of you, 
 to fight with you, because you are extravagantly praised, that is why he cut 
 your bananas and slaughtered your goats that you may get into a great rage 
 and come after him. ( 3T ) He said his name was Kawekwa, and his place 
 Singo, (where) there is a hill called Kishozi, very high. When you get to 
 this hill, you will see his house plainly, it is a very high one. 
 
 ( 3S ) He had not yet gone inside his house. But when he heard this 
 account, he did not go into his house, and he did not eat food, and he was 
 very angry. ( 39 ) Then Kawekwa has said, Unless you follow him, he will 
 come and carry you off to go and draw water for his wife. ( 40 ) So Teguaki 
 went after his rival Kawekwa, and came to the hill, and saw Kawekwa's 
 house, and went clown and came and found his wife and asked her, 
 "Whose house is this ? And she answered, Kawekwa's. Where is he ? 
 
282 
 
 Appendix II 
 
 (SWAHILI.). 
 
 Akamwambia, Njoo hapa. ( 42 ) Aka- 
 ja yule mwanamke, Teguaki akam- 
 kata masikio yote, akamwambia, 
 Mumeo akija umvvambie, Mwenzio 
 Teguaki ndiye aliyenikata masikio 
 haya, lakini usipomfuata wewe, tena 
 atarudi na yako ayakate. 
 
 ( 43 ) Tena Kawekwa amerudi ka- 
 tika vita, bado hajafika nyumbani 
 kwake, wakampasha habari, Mke 
 wako amekatwa masikio naTeguaki. 
 ( u ) Bassi aliposikia neno hilo na 
 nyumbani kwake hakufika, kwa 
 sababu mkewe kukatwa masikio ; 
 amesema, Nitamwonaje mke wangu ? 
 
 ( 45 ) Akaenda kumfuata yule Te- 
 guaki, akafika mlima mdogo karibu 
 na kufika, akapiga mzomari wake, 
 mke wa Teguaki akamwambia, 
 Mzomari huo ndio wa lafiki yako, 
 uliyemkatra mke wake masikio. 
 
 ( 46 ) Naye akautoa wake, akaupiga, 
 akamjibu. Na yule Kawekwa ali- 
 posikia amenijibu, nage akafurahiwa 
 kwa sababu kumkuta mwenziwe. 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 damu, Yagenda kutabala. Nam- 
 gamba Jangu wanu. ( 42 ) Naja oli 
 mkazi, Teguaki namsala matu gonaa, 
 namgamba, Bau buaja, nomgamba 
 mu'nno Teguaki ye yasala amatu 
 gano, naye bwotomgobelele gwe, 
 nate anada na ngango nangasala. 
 
 ( 4a ) Nate Kawekwa akomiyeo ku- 
 tabala, ngatanaba kutuka mnyumba 
 ye, nebambulila, Mkaziwo bam- 
 sala matu Teguaki. ( 44 ) Amaze 
 okulila bigambo ebiyo, mnyumba ye 
 teyatuka, kwa bigambo mkaziwe 
 kusalwa matu ; nagamba, Namula- 
 batiya mkazi wange ? ( 45 ) Nagenda 
 kumgobelela oli Teguaki, natuka 
 wali lusozi lutono kumpi nokutuka, 
 nafuwa egombe ye, mkazi wa Te- 
 guaki namgamba, Mgombe eyo yee 
 ya mu'nno gwe, wasalila mkaziwe 
 amatu. ( 4U ) Naye natola eiye, nam- 
 wanukuza, namdamu noli Ka- 
 wekwa bweawulila ngamwanukuza, 
 naye nasanyuka kwa kumsanga 
 
 His wife answered, He has gone to the wars. And he said, Come here, 
 ( 42 ) The woman came, and Teguaki cut off both her ears and said to her, 
 When your husband comes, tell him, It was your friend Teguaki who cut 
 off my ears, and if you do not go after him, he will come back and cut off 
 yours too. 
 
 ( 43 ) Afterwards Kawekwa came back from the wars, and had not yet 
 entered his house, and they reported to him, Your wife has had her ears cut 
 off by Teguaki. ( 44 ) When he heard that, he did not go to his house, 
 because his wife had had her ears cut off. He said, How can I look at my 
 wife ? ( is ) And he went in pursuit of Teguaki, and came to a small hill 
 just as he arrived, and sounded his war-pipe. And Teguaki's wife said to 
 him, That is the war-pipe of your friend, whose wife's ears you cut off. 
 ( 4C ) So he took out his pipe and sounded it and answered him. Kawekwa 
 when he heard, He has answered me, was rejoiced because of meeting his 
 
Appendix II 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 ( 47 ) Bassi akajongea karibu, na yule 
 Teguaki akatoa majifu na mazizi 
 akampelekea, kwa sababu ndio des- 
 turi yao wakienda katika vita, 
 kwanza ajipake majifu na mazizi, 
 asipate kutambulikana. ( 4H ) Tena 
 Kawekwa akamwambia Teguaki, 
 Njoo upesi, usinione kutoka mbali 
 ukathani amechoka bado. Mimi 
 nakutaka wewe uje upesi. Akam- 
 jibu, Ningoje nnakula kwanza. 
 ( 49 ) Akatoa mikake na ngao yake 
 akapeleka barazani. Alipokwisha 
 kula, akatoka ngumbani mwake, 
 akapiga mzomari wake, na yule 
 akamjibu. ( 50 ) Bassi akamwendea, 
 wakakutana pale pale. Kwanza 
 Kawekwa akamtupia, yule akaue- 
 puka ukakatika vipande viwili. 
 ( 51 ) Tena Teguaki naye akamtupia, 
 naye akauepuka, nao ukakatika 
 vipande viwili. Tena wakatupa 
 wote sawasawa. killa mtu akapiga 
 ngao, na wenyewe wakaanguka wote 
 wawili wakafa. ( 52 ) Ndugu zao 
 wakaja kuwalilia, wangine waka- 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 mu'nne. ( 47 ) Amaze nasembela 
 kumpi, noli Teguaki natola efu na 
 zilo namtwalila kwa ndio mpisa 
 yabwe webagenda kuburwa ruwana 
 nasaba efu ne zilo, babeme butamu- 
 manya. ( w ) Nate Kawekwa nam- 
 gamba, Teguaki, Jangu, mangu, 
 tondaba kuvwa ewala nongamba 
 akoyi sinabaa. Nze jagala gwe sje 
 mangu. Namdamu, Ninda, chaliya 
 lubelebeliye. ( 49 ) Natola mafumu 
 nengabo ye natwalamkigago. Bwe- 
 yamala kuliya navwa mnyumba ye 
 nafuwa gombe ye, noli namdamu. 
 ( 50 ) Amaze namgendia nebasisikana 
 wali. Lubelebeliye Kawekwa na- 
 kasuka, oli neyewoma nelimenyeka 
 vitundi vibili. ( 51 ) Nate Teguaki 
 naye nakasuka neyewoma naye, ne- 
 limenyeka vitundi vibili. Nate ne- 
 bakanyuga bona daladala, buli mtu 
 nafumita egabo, no mtu nebagwa 
 bona babili nebafa. ( 5a ) Ng'anda 
 zabwe nebaja kubakabila, abalala 
 nebasuna etana. Kawekwa alina 
 mwana we, elinya liye Wakiuguru, 
 
 rival. ( 47 ) So he went near, and Teguaki brought out ashes and cinders 
 and sent them to him, for that is their custom when they go to war, first to 
 rub themselves with ashes and cinders, so as not to be recognizable. 
 ( 4e ) Then Kawekwa said to Teguaki, Come quickly, do not think that I 
 have come a long way and fancy I am still fatigued. I want you to come 
 on at once. He replied, Wait, I am eating first. ( 49 ) And he took out 
 spears and his shield and had them placed in the verandah. When he had 
 finished eating, he went out of his house and sounded his war-pipe and the 
 other answered him. ( 50 ) Then he went at him, and there they met. First 
 Kawekwa made a cast at him, and he avoided it, and (the spear) broke in 
 two pieces. ( 51 ) Then Teguaki too made a cast at him, and he avoided it, 
 and it broke in two pieces. Then both cast at the same moment, each man 
 struck the shield, and the warriors fell down both together and died. 
 ( 5a ) Their brethren came to mourn over them, and some dug a grave 
 
284 
 
 A ppcndix IL 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 chimba kaburi. Kawekwa anaye 
 mloto wake, jina lake Wakiuguru, 
 naye akaja kumlilia. Alikuwa bado 
 kufika na kaburi bado kwisha, waka- 
 fufuka wote wawili. ( 5S ) Wote 
 wawili wakafanya wrafiki. Walipo- 
 kwisha kufanya wrafiki wao, wa- 
 kamwita mtato wao Wakiuguru, 
 akaja. ( 5l ) Kawekwa akamwambia, 
 Mtoto wangu huyu Wakiuguru. 
 Nikifa mimi ndiye amilikiye nyumba 
 yangu huyo. ( 85 ) Bassi aliposema 
 nianeno haya wakafa wote wawili. 
 Walipokwisha kufa, yule akaimiliki 
 nyumba ya baba yake Kawekwa. 
 ( 56 ) Naye alikuwa vile vile kama 
 alivyokuwa baba yake kwa ushujaa. 
 Akapendwa na mfalme kwa ushn- 
 jaa wake, akamwambia, .Nataka 
 kwenda hupiga Busoga. ( 57 ) Mfalme 
 akamjibu, watakaasikari? Akasema, 
 Sitaki asikari wako, peke yangu tu. 
 Akamwambia Haya nenda. Aka- 
 enda. 
 
 ( ' 8 ) Akaenda akapiga inchi, ina- 
 kwitwa Busoga. Akaipiga peke 
 yake. Alipokwisha kuipiga akarudi. 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 naye naja dumkabila. Yali tanaba 
 kutuka netana tanaba kugwa, neba- 
 lamka bona babili. ( 53 ) Bona babili 
 nebata mkago. Bwebamala kukola 
 mkago gwabe, nebamwita mwana 
 wabwe Wakiuguru, naja. ( 54 ) Ka- 
 wekwa namgamba, Mwana wange 
 oyo Wakiuguru. Bwemfwa nze yan- 
 sikila nyumba yange oyo. ( 55 ) Amaze 
 luwayogela bigambo epiu nebafa 
 bona bombi. Webamala kufa, oli 
 nasikila nyumba ya kitawe we Ka- 
 wekwa. ( 50 ) Naye naba ngaa bwe- 
 yali kitawe kuba msiila. Nayaga- 
 luwa na kabaka kuba mzila bwe, 
 namgamba, Njagala ngende nzite 
 Busoga. ( 57 ) Kabaka namdamu, 
 Oyagola bantu. Namgamba, Sagala 
 bantu buo, nze yeka ommu. Nam- 
 gamba, kale genda. Nagenda. 
 
 ( 58 ) Nagenda nata nsi, iitwa elinya 
 liyayo Busoga, nagita yeka. Bwea- 
 mala kugita nada. Bweamala kuda, 
 
 Kawekwa had a child named Wakiuguru, and he too came to mourn for 
 him. He had not yet come and the grave was not yet finished, (when) both 
 revived. ( 53 ) They both made friends with each other. When they had 
 finished making friends, they called their child Wakiuguru and he came. 
 ( 54 ) Kawekwa said to him, This is my child Wakiuguru. When I die, he 
 is master of my house, this (child). ( 55 ) When he had said these words, 
 they both died. When they were dead, the (boy) was master of the house 
 of his father Kawekwa. C* 6 ) And he was exactly as his father was for 
 bravery, and he was beloved by the king for his bravery. And he said to 
 him, I want to go and conquer Busoga. (") The king answered him, Do 
 you want soldiers ? And he said, I do not want your soldiers, just myself 
 alone. And he said to him, Go then. And he went. 
 
 ( 58 ) He went and conquered the country called Busoga. He conquered it 
 
A ppendix II 
 
 (SWAHILI.) 
 Alipomdi mfalme akampenda sana 
 kwa ushujaa wake akampa wa- 
 tumwa wengi, akampa na mahali 
 panakwitwa Jinga. ( 59 ) Wakaenda 
 wakamjengea mji wake, na yeye 
 akaenda akahaa katika mji wake. 
 Akatoka katika mji wake akaenda 
 akapiga Wasoga, killa mwezi vivyo 
 hivyo. 
 
 ( 60 ) Bassi siku moja alipojudi 
 katika vita akapatikana na ugonjwa 
 wa siku mbili akafa. Wakaenda 
 wakamwambia mfalme, Wakiuguru 
 amefariki. ( G1 ) Mfalme akamsiki- 
 tikia sana kwa ginsi alivyompenda, 
 akamkus anyra watumwa wamde, 
 wakafagie kaburi lake pale Jinga. 
 
 (Ganda.) 
 kabaka namwagala nyo kuba buzila 
 bwe, namua abantu bangi, namua 
 na kibanja baitao Jinga. ( 59 ) Xe- 
 bagenda nebamzibila kibugachi, na- 
 genda natula mkisaka tekye. Xaowa 
 omumwe omoo nagenda kuta Bu- 
 soga buli mwezi bwatiyu. 
 
 ( 60 ) Amaze ndunaku ndumu bwe- 
 yada kuburwa nakwati bwa burwade 
 bwa naku mbili oaf a. Nebagenda 
 nebamgamba mfalme, Wakiuguru 
 afude. ( 61 ) Mfalme naumkibila nyo, 
 bweyaliamwa ngala, namkunganyiza 
 abantu, bagende bela malalo gee na 
 kakano webali bela malalo wali 
 Jinga. 
 
 by himself. When he had finished conquering it, he returned. When he 
 returned, the king loved him very much for his bravery, and gave him many 
 slaves and gave him also a place called Jinga. ( 59 ) And they went and built 
 him his town, and he went and lived in his town. And he set out from his 
 town and went and defeated the people of Busoga — every month just the 
 same. 
 
 ( y0 ) One day when he came back from war he was seized with a sickness 
 for two days and died. They went and told the king, Wakiuguru has 
 departed. ( 6I ) The king was very much grieved about him, so much did 
 he love him, and he gathered a number of slaves to go and sweep his grave 
 at Jinga. 
 
NOTES, 
 i. 
 
 EW Africans have precise ideas of distance or measures 
 of distance. The boy describes distances by objects 
 familiar to him at the Universities' Mission School of 
 Kiungani (Kiinua Mguu), one mile from the city of 
 Zanzibar. Mkokotoni is the chief town in the northern 
 part of the island, distant about twenty miles. The Sultan's powder 
 magazine, and the high road leading from the city to his country 
 palace at Chukwani, represent distances of about 500 yards from the 
 school premises. Chukwani is distant about five miles. (P. 14.) 
 
 2. Lintipe and Dyampwi. Both these rivers appear in the Royal 
 Geographical Society's large-scale map of Eastern Africa, and sufficiently 
 localize the scene of the first part of this story in the country bordering 
 on the extreme south-west of Lake Nyassa. (P. 15.) 
 
 3. The Mission boys grasp clearly the truth, that "Mission" pro- 
 perty is for the common benefit of all, sometimes even a little too lite- 
 rally. " Like the Mission," here means, a magazine or store from which 
 all may help themselves. (P. 18.) 
 
 4. It appears that the ship was H.M.S. " Flying Fish," and that the 
 boys were received from the consul on February 13th, 1S76. (P. 28.) 
 
 5. Mataka's town, to the east of Lake Nyassa, between the upper 
 waters of the Rovuma and Lujenda, was visited by Dr. Livingstone in 
 his last journeys, and by the late Bishop Steere, of the Universities 1 
 Mission, in 1875. This town, called Mwembe, consisted of about 1000 
 houses, but the raids of the Zulu tribe, called in that region Magwang- 
 wara, in 1879, compelled Mataka to move to a position further south. 
 From the description of its position, this town appears to have been 
 also that in which the boy whose history is given in Story I. was sold 
 by Yaos to the Arabs. (P. 30.) 
 
 6. This name appears in the Royal Geographical Society's map of 
 
 U 
 
290 
 
 Notes. 
 
 Eastern Africa in the hilly region of the upper waters of the Lintipe, to 
 the south-west of Nyassa. (P. 31.) 
 
 7. Pemba is an island thirty miles north of Zanzibar. The number 
 of Arab estates in it causes a large demand for slaves, and till lately it 
 was closely watched by the boats of English men-of-war. It was off 
 this island that Captain Brownrigg, of H.M.S. "London," met his 
 death in a fight with an Arab slave-dhow in 1881. (P. 31.) 
 
 8. Mpunga and Taisiri are the names of other boys in the Mission 
 School at Zanzibar. (Pp. 34-36.) 
 
 9. Makanjila, a powerful Yao chief and rival of Mataka, with whom 
 he was lately at open war. His town is on the east of Lake Nyassa. 
 (P. 34-) 
 
 10. One of the chief difficulties of an English officer on boarding a 
 dhow suspected of carrying slaves is the unwillingness of the slaves to 
 confess that they are so. This is partly from vague fear of people they 
 know nothing about, but mainly because the Arabs tell them that all 
 Europeans are cannibals, and only catch slaves in order to fatten and 
 eat them. See History II. and others. (P. 35.) 
 
 11. Hindi and Banyan are the names given to the two chief classes of 
 Hindoo traders settled on the east coast — Hindi denoting the Mahom- 
 medan, and Banyan the heathen Hindoos, who mainly come from 
 Cutch. (P. 36.) 
 
 12. Apparently a man-of-war's boat got information from the shore, 
 landed and searched a slave depdt, with the result described. (P. 38.) 
 
 13. A slave-stick is a stout piece of wood from four to seven feet long 
 with a fork at the end. The slave's neck is placed in the fork and 
 confined with a pin. The weight varies according to the object in view, 
 whether merely secure fastening on a journey or punishment. A slave- 
 stick lately brought from East Africa weighs nearly twenty pounds. 
 (P. 43-) 
 
 14. Msheliwa appears to be a small coast town a little to the south 
 of Mozambique. (P. 47.) 
 
 15. Madagascar is probably here a mistake for the Comoro Islands. 
 The writers of this and the preceding story were together in this part of 
 their travels. (P. 47.) 
 
 16. The Rev. Arthur Nugent West died in Zanzibar, Christmas, 
 1S74, and was buried in the Mission's cemetery at Kiungani. He 
 bought the site of the old Zanzibar slave-market, on which Bishop 
 Steere built the present church. (P. 53.) 
 
 17. The meaning is that he was being conveyed in a dhow to the 
 island of Pemba, just north of Zanzibar, to be employed as a slave on 
 an Arab plantation, when he was taken by an English cruiser, brought 
 to Zanzibar, and handed over to the Mission. (P. 62.) 
 
Notes. 
 
 291 
 
 18. A contrast is meant between the readiness of Zaramo people to 
 help each other in a difficulty, and the reverse not uncommon in 
 Zanzibar. (P. 63.) 
 
 19. The term " father " would include anyone whom choice or cir- 
 cumstances had put in the place of a father towards the boy. (P. 74.) 
 
 20. This journey follows generally the line of the main road running 
 westward from Zanzibar, of which fuller notices are given in the two 
 following stories. See Introduction, and "Africa," by Keith Johnston- 
 Stanford). (P. 78.) 
 
 21. After the arrival of each mail at Zanzibar, a small party is 
 despatched to convey letters to the various European stations on the 
 westward road and in the region of Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza. 
 The speed here indicated would be over forty miles a day. (P. 79.) 
 
 22. The Ganda tribe were the assailants in all these wars, — appa- 
 rently regular yearly raids, not campaigns in force. Compare Story 
 XII. (P. 105.) 
 
 23. The same King Mtesa as is described in Stoiy XII. (P. 106.) 
 
 24. Mirambo was another powerful king visited by Mr. Stanley and 
 other travellers penetrating from Zanzibar to the Lake regions. He 
 died about 1882. (P. 108.) 
 
 25. The Further Sea probably means to a native of Ganda the 
 Mediterranean, known vaguely as a place of wonders through the 
 reports of travellers by the Nile route. (P. 136.) 
 
 26. Of course it will not be supposed that clocks are in common use 
 in Gandaland, because the boy describes the flight of time in terms 
 familiar to him in Zanzibar. (P. 149.) 
 
 27. The large solid-looking purple flower at the end of a banana 
 cluster somewhat resembles a heart in shape and colour — sufficiently, at 
 any rate, for the purpose of the coney. (P. 167.) 
 
 27*. To understand this story it is necessary to remember that in some 
 parts of the interior salt is a rare and precious commodity, and the total 
 lack of it a severe hardship. The salt used is often hardly distinguish- 
 able in colour from earth. Apparently the selfish husband had procured 
 a little, and for concealment had strewn it on the ground at a certain 
 place. The wife thought at first he was simply going to spoil good 
 food. (P. 181.) 
 
 28. Mwala, according to the boy's description, is a place near his 
 own Makua home, a steep slope of perfectly bare rock, the surface 
 smoothed and polished as if by water. (P. 196.) 
 
CHISWICK PJRKSSf— C. WHITT1NGHAM AND CO., TOOKS CGUKT, 
 CHANChRY LAN E. 
 
York Street, Covent Garden, 
 November 1888. 
 
 CLASSIFIED ^CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 SELECTED WORKS 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 GEORGE BELL AND SONS. 
 
 CONTENTS : 
 
 Travel and Archaeology . . P. 1 j Poetry and Drama 
 
 Biography 2 ! Dictionaries . . . 
 
 History 4 j Natural History 
 
 Theology 51 Art and Ornament 
 
 Standard Prose 8 j Young People . . 
 
 P. 10 
 16 
 
 TRAVEL AND ARCHAEOLOGY. 
 
 ROME AND THE CAMPAGNA. By R. Burn, M.A. 
 With 85 Engravings, Maps, and Plans. Demy 4to. 3/. $s. 
 
 OLD ROME. A Handbook for the use of Travellers. By 
 J. Burn, M.A. With Illustrations, Maps, and Plans, ioj. 6d. 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES OF GOTHIC ECCLESIASTICAL 
 
 ARCHITECTURE. With an Explanation of Technical Terms 
 and a Centenary of Ancient Terms. By M. H. Bloxam. With 
 numerous Woodcuts by Jewttt. Eleventh Edition, crown 8vo. 
 2 vols. 15s. 
 
 Companion Volume on CHURCH VESTMENTS. 7s. 6d. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF HAMPTON COURT PALACE. 
 
 Profusely Illustrated with Copper-plates, Autotypes, Etchings, 
 Engravings, Maps, and Plans. In large type, on superfine toned 
 paper. Bv Ernest Law, B.A. 
 
 Vol. I. — IN TUDOR TIMES. 4 to. 1/. 5s. 
 Vol. II.— IN STUART TIMES. Fcap. 4 to. 21 s. 
 ' It is seldom that one comes across so satisfactory a combination of research 
 and recital as this volume presents.' — Academy. 
 
 HISTORY OF EGYPT. From the Earliest Times till its Con- 
 quest by the Arabs, A.D. 640. By S. Sharpe. With numerous 
 Illustrations, Maps, 8cc. 6th Edition. 2 vols, post 8vo. io.r. 
 
 NINEVEH AND ITS PALACES. By J. Bonomi, F.R.S.L. 
 With upwards of 300 Engravings. Post 8vo. 5s. 
 
 HISTORY OF POMPEII: its Buildings and Antiquities. By 
 T. H. Dyer, LL.D. With nearly 300 Wood Engravings, a Map, 
 and a Plan of the Forum. 4th Edition, bringing the woik down to 
 1874. Post 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
2 
 
 George, Bell and Sons' 
 
 BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 ANTONINUS (M. AURELIUS), The Thoughts of. Translated, 
 
 with Notes, Biographical Sketch, Introductory Essay, by G. Long, 
 M.A. 3 s. 6d. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. By Thompson Cooper, 
 
 F. S. A. , Editor of ' Men of the Time. 1 Containing concise Notices of 
 Eminent Persons (upwards of 15,000) of all Ages and Countries. 
 
 1 vol. with Supplement, bringing the Work down to 1883. 1431pp. 
 price 15s. SUPPLEMENT separate, y. 6d. 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL DICTIONARY OF 
 
 PAINTERS AND ENGRAVERS. By M. Bryan. New Ed. 
 enlarged. By Armstrong and Graves. In 2 vols. imp. 8vo. 
 half buckram, 3/. 3.5-. ; or in 12 parts, 55. each. 
 
 BOSWELL'S LIFE OF JOHNSON, with the TOUR in the 
 HEBRIDES and JOHNSONIAN A. New Edition, with Notes 
 and Appendices by the late Rev. A. Napier, M.A. Trin. Coll. 
 Camb. 6 vols, small post 8vo. 3J. 6d. each. 
 
 BURNS, LOCKHART'S LIFE OF. With Portrait. 3s. 6d. 
 
 CALVERLEY'S LITERARY REMAINS. With Portrait and 
 Memoir. Edited by Walter J. Send all. 2nd Edition, 10s. 6d. 
 
 CELLINI'S AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS. 1 vol. 3*. 6d. 
 
 COLE (SIR H.). FIFTY YEARS OF PUBLIC LIFE of the 
 late Sir H. Cole, K.C.B. 2 vols, demy 8vo. 365-. 
 
 COLET'S (DEAN) LIFE. By the Rev. J. H. Lupton, M.A., 
 Surmaster of St. Paul's School. With Portrait. Demy 8vo. 12s. 
 
 COLERIDGE'S (S. T.) Biographia Literaria, and two Lay 
 Sermons. Post 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 CUNNINGHAM'S LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT 
 BRITISH PAINTERS. 3 vols, post 8vo. 3-r. 6d. each. 
 
 EPICTETUS. Translated with Notes, a Life and Essay, by 
 
 G. Long, M.A. 5^. 
 
 GOLDSMITH (O.), The Life of. By Washington Irving, is. 
 
 GOETHE, Autobiography of (Wahrheit und Dichtung aus Meinem 
 Leben). 2 vols, post 8vo. y:6d. each. Conversations with Ecker- 
 mann and Soret. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. Correspondence with Schiller. 
 
 2 vols, post 8vo. js. Correspondence with Zelter. Post 8vo. y. 6d. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 3 
 
 IRVING (W.) f Life and Letters. By his Nephew, P. E. Irving. 
 In 2 vols, post 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 KEITH-FALCONER, Memorials of. By Rev. R. Sinker, B.D. 
 Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo. 4s. LIBRARY EDITION, -js. 6d. 
 
 LAMB. MEMORIALS AND LETTERS OF. Talfourd's 
 Edition enlarged by W. Carew Hazlitt. 2 vols. 3^. 6d. each. 
 
 LESSING, Short Life, with DRAMATIC WORKS. 2 vols. 
 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 LUTHER, Autobiography of. Edited by Michelet. Translated by 
 W. Hazlitt. Post 8vo. 3*. 6d. 
 
 MAHOMET AND HIS SUCCESSORS. By Washington 
 Irving. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 MICHAEL ANGELO AND RAPHAEL, their Lives and 
 Works. By Duppa and Quatremere de Quincy. With 13 
 Engravings on Steel. Post 8vo. 5^. 
 
 MELSON, The Life of. By R. Southey. With additional Notes 
 and numerous Illustrations. Post 8vo. 5J. 
 
 PLUTARCH'S LIVES. Newly translated. By A. Stewart, 
 M.A., and G. Long, M.A. 4 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 SCHUMANN (ROBERT). HIS LIFE AND WORKS. By 
 A. Reissmann. Translated by A. L. Alger. 3J. 6d. 
 
 SCHUMANN (ROBERT). EARLY LETTERS. Translated 
 by May Herbert, y. 6d. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE (WILLIAM). A Literary Biography. By 
 Karl Elze, Ph.D., LL.D. Translated by L. Dora Schmitz. 
 Small post 8vo. 6s. 
 
 STEERE (BISHOP), Memoirs of. By the Rev. R. M. 
 Heanley, M.A. With Portrait, &c. Crown 8vo. 8s. 6d. 
 
 VASARI'S LIVES OF THE MOST EMINENT PAINTERS, 
 SCULPTORS, AND ARCHITECTS. Translated by Mrs. J. 
 Foster, with Notes. 6 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 WALTON'S LIVES OF DONNE, HOOKER, &c. New 
 Edition, revised by A. H. Bullen. With numerous Illustrations. 5J. 
 
 WASHINGTON, The Life of. By W. Irving. With Portrait. 
 In 4 vols, post 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 WELLINGTON, The Life of. By An Old Soldier, from the 
 materials of Maxwell. 18 Engravings. Post 8vo. $s. 
 
 WESLEY (JOHN), The Life of. By R. Southey. New and 
 Complete Edition. With Portrait. Post 8vo. 5*. 
 
4 
 
 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 HISTORY. 
 
 Dedicated by Permission to H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught. 
 
 THE BRITISH ARMY: Its Regimental Records, Badges, 
 Devices, &c. By Major J. H. Lawrence-Archer. 8vo. 31^. 6d. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF SEDAN : The Downfall of the Second 
 Empire, August-September, 1870. By George Hooper. Map 
 and 6 Plans of Battle. 8vo. 14s. 
 
 ' This is an admirable history.' — Spectator. 
 
 ENGLAND IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. By the 
 
 late Rev. W. DENTON, M.A. Demy 8vo. i2.>\ 
 
 THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT of 1848 49 in 
 
 ITALY, AUSTRIA, HUNGARY, and GERMANY. By C. 
 Edmund Maurice. Demy 8vo. \6s. 
 
 MODERN EUROPE, from the Fall of Constantinople to the 
 Founding of the German Empire, A.D. 1453-1871. By THOMAS 
 Henry Dyer, LED. 2nd Ed. 5 vols, demy 8vo. zl. 12s. 6d. 
 
 GIBBON'S ROMAN EMPIRE. Complete and unabridged, 
 In 7 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 HISTORICAL MAPS OF ENGLAND during the First 
 Thirteen Centuries. With Explanatory Essays and Indices. By 
 C. H. Pearson, M.A. Imp. folio. 2nd Edition. 31J. 6d. 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND FROM 1800 to 1845. Being 
 a Reprint of the ' History of the Peace.' By Harriet Marti- 
 NEAU. With New and Full Index. 5 vols. 3^. 6d. each. 
 
 QUEENS OF ENGLAND, from the Norman Conquest to the 
 Reign of Queen Anne. By Agnes Strickland. Library Edition, 
 with Portraits, Autographs, and Vignettes. 8 vols, post 8vo. js. 6d. 
 each. Cheap Edition, 6 vols. 5^. each. 
 
 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS, The Life of. By Agnes 
 Strickland. 2 vols, post 8vo. cloth gilt, 10s. 
 
 THE TUDOR AND STUART PRINCESSES. By Agnes 
 Strickland. In 1 vol., with portraits. 55. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE IRISH REBELLION IN 1798. By 
 
 W. H. Maxwell. With Portraits and Etchings on Steel by 
 George Cruikshank. 10th Edition, js. 6d. 
 
 MACHIAVELLI'S HISTORY OF FLORENCE, with, the 
 Prince, Savonarola, various Historical Tracts, and a 
 Memoir of Machiavelli. $s. 6d. 
 
 THE WAR OF THE SUCCESSION IN SPAIN.. 1702. 
 
 By Colonel the Hon. A. Parnell. Demy 8vo. 14^. j 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 5 
 
 MICHELET'S HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLU- 
 TION, from its Earliest Indications to the Flight of the King in 
 1791, y. 6d 
 
 MIGNET'S HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, 
 from 1710 to 18 14. y 
 
 RANKE'S (L.) HISTORY OF THE POPES. 3 vols. 3s. 6d 
 each. 
 
 RANKE'S HISTORY OF THE LATIN AND TEUTONIC 
 NATIONS. Translated by P. A. Ashworth. i vol. 3^ 6a. 
 
 THEOLOGY. 
 
 LITURGIES AND OFFICES OF THE CHURCH for the 
 use of the English Readers. By Edward Burbidge, M.A., 
 Rector of Backwell, Somerset, Crown 8vo. gs. 
 
 ARTICLES OF RELIGION, History of the. To which is 
 added a Series of Documents from a.d. 1536 to A. D. 1615. By 
 the late C. Hardwick, M.A., Archdeacon of Ely. 3rd Edition. 
 Revised by the Rev. F. Procter, M.A. Post 8vo. 5s. 
 
 THE CREEDS, History of. By J. Rawson Lumby, D.D., 
 Norrisian Professor of Divinity, Cambridge. 3rd Edition, revised. 
 Crown 8vo. js. 6d. 
 
 PEARSON (BP.) ON THE CREED. Carefully printed from 
 an Early Edition. With Analysis and Index. Edited by E. Wal- 
 ford, M.A. Post 8vo. 5j. 
 
 COMMON PRAYER. Historical and Explanatory Treatise on 
 the Book of. By the late W. G. Humphry, B.D. , Prebendary of 
 St. Paul's. 6th Edit., revised and enlarged. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 Cheap Edition for Sunday-school Teachers. Cloth, is. 
 
 COMMON PRAYER, Rational Illustrations of the Book of. 
 By C. Wheatley, M.A. Post 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 COMPANION TO THE GREEK TESTAMENT. For the 
 use of Theological Students and the Upper Forms in Schools. By 
 the late A. C. Barrett, M.A., Caius College. 5th Edition, 
 revised. Fcap. 8vo. 5J. 
 
 By F. H. A. Scrivener, D.C.L., LL.D., Prebendary 
 of Exeter. 
 
 A PLAIN INTRODUCTION TO THE CRITICISM OF 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT. With 40 Facsimiles from Ancient 
 Manuscripts. Containing also an Account of the Egyptian Versions 
 by the Bishop of Durham, D.D. For the Use of Biblical Students. 
 Third Edition, revised. Demy 8vo. i8j\ 
 
G 
 
 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 NOVUM TESTAMENTUM GR/ECE, TEXTUS STE- 
 PHANICI, 1550. Accedunt variae lectiones editionum Bezae, Elzeviri, 
 Lachmanni, Tischendorfii, et Tregellesii. i6mo. 6d. With wide 
 Margin for Notes. 4to. 12s. 
 
 Editio Major. Crown 8vo. js. 6d. Containing, in addition, 
 the Capitula (Majora et Minora), and the Eusebian Canons, the 
 Readings of Westcott and Hort, and those adopted by the Re- 
 visers ; also a revised and much enlarged series of References. 
 
 SIX LECTURES ON THE TEXT OF THE NEW TESTA- 
 MENT and the ancient Manuscripts which contain it. Chiefly 
 addressed to those who do not read Greek. With facsimiles from 
 MSS. &c. Crown 8vo. 6s. 
 
 BOOK OF PSALMS ; a New Translation, with Introductions 
 and Notes, Critical and Explanatory. By the Very Rev. J. J. 
 Stewart Perowne, D.D., Dean of Peterborough. 8vo. Vol. I. 
 6th Edition, iZs. Vol. II. 6th Edition, 16s. 
 
 An abridged Edition for Schools and Private Students, 6th 
 Edition, crown 8vo. 10s. 6d. 
 
 A COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPELS AND EPISTLES 
 
 AND ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. By the Rev. W. Denton, 
 A.M., Worcester College, Oxford, and Incumbent of St. Bar- 
 tholomew's, Cripplegate. In 7 vols. gs. each. 
 
 ANALOGY OF RELIGION, Natural and Revealed, to the 
 Constitution and Course of Nature. By Bp. Butler. With 
 Analytical Preface and Index by the late Bp. Steere. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 CHURCH OR DISSENT? An Appeal to Holy Scripture. 
 Addressed to Dissenters. By T. P. Garnier, M.A. 2nd Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. 2s. Cheap edition, paper wrapper, u. 
 
 HOLY LIVING AND DYING. By Bp. Jeremy Taylor. 
 With Portrait. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 For Confirmation Candidates. 
 
 THE CHURCH TEACHER'S MANUAL OF CHRISTIAN 
 
 INSTRUCTION. Being the Church Catechism expanded and 
 explained in Question and Answer, for the use of Clergymen, 
 Parents, and Teachers. By the Rev. M. F. Sadler. 38th Thou- 
 sand. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 ' Far the best book of the kind we have ever seen.' — Literary Churchman. 
 
 CONFIRMATION : An Extract. 47th Thousand, id. 
 
 THE WINTON CHURCH CATECHIST. Questions and 
 Answers on the Teaching of the Church Catechism. By the Rev. 
 Dr. Monsell. 4th Edition. 321110. cloth, 3s. Also in Four Parts, 
 6d. or gd. each. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 7 
 
 CONFIRMATION DAY. Being a Book of Instruction for 
 Young Persons how they ought to spend that solemn dav. By the 
 Rt. Rev. H. Goodwin, D.D., Bishop of Carlisle. 22nd Thousand. 
 2d. ; or 25 for 35. 6d. 
 
 By the Rev. M. F. Sadler, Rector of Honiton and 
 Prebendary of Wells. 
 
 CHURCH COMMENTARY ON THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 In Crown 8vo. 
 
 ST. MATTHEW. 4 th Edition. 7 s. 6d. 
 ST. MARK. 2nd Edition, revised, js. 6d. 
 ST. LUKE. 2nd Edition, revised, gs. 
 ST. JOHN. 4 th Edition. 7 s. 6d. 
 
 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 2nd Edit., revised. 7 s.6d. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 6s. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS. [In the press. 
 ' It is far the best practical Commentary that we know, being plain-spoken, 
 fearless, and definite, and containing matter very unlike the milk and water 
 which is often served up in (so-called) practical Commentaries. . . . For solid 
 Church teaching it stands unrivalled.' — Church Quarterly. 
 
 ' Indeed, one great merit in this Commentr.ry and its companion volumes is 
 the frequency with which notes are found, which are capable of being each 
 expanded into useful sermons. They aie like very strong essences or tinctures, 
 which will bear considerable dilution before being employed medically, though 
 for convenience they are usually kept in the more portable form.' — Church 
 Times. 
 
 ' Mr. Sadler's Commentary is decidedly one of the most unhackneyed and 
 original of any we have. It will often be found to give help where others quite 
 fail to do so.' — Guardian. 
 
 CHURCH DOCTRINE— BIBLE TRUTH. Fcap. 8vo. 38th 
 Thousand, is. 6d. 
 
 ' Mr. Sadler takes Church Doctrine, specifically so called, subject by subject, 
 and elaborately shows its specially marked Scripturalness. The objective nature 
 of the faith, the Athanasian Creed, the Baptismal Services, the Holy Eucharist, 
 Absolution and the Priesthood, Church Government and Confirmation, are some 
 of the more prominent subjects treated. And Mr. Sadler handles each with a 
 marked degree of sound sense, and with a thorough mastery of his subject.' — 
 Guardian. 
 
 ' We know of no recent work professing to cover the same ground in which the 
 agreement of our Church Services with the Scriptures is more amply vindicated.' 
 — From an adverse review in the Christian Observer. 
 
 THE COMMUNICANT'S MANUAL; being a Book of Self- 
 examination, Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving. 96th Thousand. 
 Royal 32mo. roan, gilt edges, price 2s. ; cloth, is. 6d. Cheap 
 Edition, for distribution, Sd. A larger Edition, on fine paper, and 
 Rubrics. Fcap. 8vo. 2s. 6d. ; morocco, 7 s. 
 
 JUSTIFICATION OF LIFE. Its Nature, Antecedents, and 
 Results. Written with special reference to Plymouth Brethrenism 
 and Revivalism. New and revised Edition. Crown 8vo. 4s. 6d. 
 
8 
 
 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 THE ONE OFFERING ; a Treatise on the Sacrificial Nature of 
 
 the Eucharist. 9th Thousand. Fcap. 8vo. is. 6d. 
 
 ' A treatise of singular clearness and force, which gives us what we did not 
 really possess till it appeared.' — Church Times. 
 
 ' It is hy far the most useful, trustworthy, and accurate book we have seen 
 upon the subject.' — Literacy Churchman. 
 
 _ ' The subject of the Holy Eucharist is ably and fully treated, and in a candid 
 spirit, by Mr. Sadler in these pages.' — English Churchman. 
 
 THE SECOND ADAM AND THE NEW BIRTH ; or, The 
 
 Doctrine of Baptism as contained in Holy Scripture. Fcap. 8vo. 
 nth Edition, price 4-f. 6d. 
 
 ' The most striking peculiarity of this useful little work is that its author 
 argues almost exclusively from the Bible. We commend it most earnestly to 
 clergy and laity, as containing in a small compass, and at a trifling cost, a body 
 of sound and Scriptural doctrine respecting the New Birth, which cannot be too 
 widely circulated.' — Guardian. 
 
 THE SACRAMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY; or, Testi- 
 mony of the Scripture to the Teaching of the Church on Holy 
 Baptism. Fcap. 8vo. cloth. 5th Edition, is. 6d. Also, Cheap 
 Edition, 9th Thousand, fcap. 8vo. sewed, 6d. 
 
 ' An exceedingly valuable repertory of arguments on the questions it refers 
 to.' — English Churchman. 
 
 EMMANUEL ; or, The Incarnation of the Son of God the Founda- 
 tion of Immutable Truth. 2nd and Cheaper Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 55. 
 
 SERMONS. Plain Speaking on Deep Truths. 7th Edition. 6s. 
 
 Abundant Life, and other Sermons. 2nd Edition. 6s. 
 
 STANDARD PROSE WORKS. 
 
 ADAM SMITH'S WEALTH OF NATIONS. With Intro- 
 duction by E. Belfort Bax. 2 vols. 3s. 6d. 
 
 ADDISON'S WORKS. With Notes by Bishop Hurd, and nu- 
 merous Letters hitherto unpublished. With Portrait and eight 
 steel Engravings. 6 vols, cloth, post 8vo. 3 J. 6d. each. 
 
 BACON'S ESSAYS AND HISTORICAL WORKS, with In- 
 troduction and Notes by J. Devey, M.A. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 ESSAYS, with Introduction and Notes, is. 
 
 BAX (E. BELFORT). HANDBOOK OF THE HISTORY 
 OF PHILOSOPHY. 6s. 
 
 BURKE'S WORKS. In 8 vols, post 8vo. cloth, 3*. 6d. each. 
 
 BURNEY'S (F.) EVELINA. Post Svo. 3s. 6d. CECILIA 
 
 2 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 9 
 
 CERVANTES' WORKS. 4 vols. 3s. 6d. each. DON 
 QUIXOTE. 2 vols. GALATEA. 1 vol. EXEMPLARY 
 NOVELS. 1 vol. 
 
 COLERIDGE'S (S. T.) WORKS. 6 vols. THE FRIEND. 
 3J. 6d. BIOGRAPHIA LITERARIA. y. 6d. AIDS TO 
 REFLECTION. 3s. 6d. LECTURES ON SHAKESPEARE. 
 3s. 6 J. TABLE-TALK. 3 s. 6d. MISCELLANIES. 3 s. 6d. 
 
 DRAPER'S INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT of EUROPE. 
 2 vols. 5.?. each. 
 
 DUN LOP'S HISTORY OF PROSE FICTION. Revised by 
 Henry Wilson. 2 vols. 5s. each. 
 
 EMERSON'S (R. W.) WORKS, comprising Essays, Lectures, 
 Poems, and Orations. In 3 vols, post 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 EVELYN'S DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 4 vols. 5*. 
 each. 
 
 FIELDING'S (H.) WORKS. 4 vols. With Illustrations by G. 
 Cruikshank. TOM TONES. 2 vols. 7s. JOSEPH ANDREWS. 
 3s. 6d. AMELIA. 5*. 
 
 GOLDSMITH'S WORKS. 5 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 GOETHE'S WORKS. Translated. 12 vols. 3* 6d. each. 
 
 GRIMM'S GERMAN TALES. With the Original Notes. 
 2 vols. 3^. 6d. each. 
 
 GROSSI (T.) MARCO VISCONTI. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 HAWTHORNE'S TALES. 3 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 HAZLITT'S (W.) LECTURES, &c. 7 vols. 3* 6d. each. 
 
 HEINE'S TRAVEL-PICTURES, &c. 3*. 6d. 
 
 IRVING'S (W.) WORKS. In 15 vols. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 \See also p. 3 
 
 KANT. CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON, 5^. PROLE- 
 GOMENA, Sx. 
 
 LAMB'S (C.) ESSAYS AND LETTERS. 4 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 LESSING'S LAOKOON. Dramatic Notes, Ancient Repre- 
 sentation of Death. 1 vol. 3^. 6d. 
 
 LAOKOON, with Introduction and Notes. If. Sewed, 
 
 ij. 6d. Cloth. 
 
 LOCKE. PHILOSOPHICAL WORKS, with Notes and Index 
 by J. A. St. John. Portrait. 2 vols. 3-f. 6d. each. 
 
 LUTHER'S (M.) TABLE-TALK. Translated by W Hazlitt. 
 With Life and Portrait. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
10 
 
 George Bell and Sons 1 
 
 MANZONI (ALESSANDRO). THE BETROTHED (I pro- 
 messi Sposi). The only complete English translation. With 
 numerous Woodcuts, $s. 
 
 MITFORD'S (MISS) OUR VILLAGE. 2 vols. y. 6d. each. 
 
 MONTESQUIEU'S SPIRIT OF LAWS. New Edit. revised, 
 with Analysis, Notes, and Memoir. By J. V. Pritciiard, A.M. 
 2 vols. js. 
 
 PEPYS' DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. By Lord 
 Braybrooke. With Appendix containing additional Letters, an 
 Index, and 31 Engravings. 4 vols. $s. each. 
 
 PROUT (FATHER). RELIQUES. New Edition, revised and 
 largely augmented. Twenty-one spirited Etchings by Maclise. 
 1 vol. 5-T. 
 
 REYNOLDS' (SIR J.) LITERARY WORKS. With a 
 
 Memoir 2 vols. 3J. 6d. each. 
 
 RICHTER (J. P. F.) AUTOBIOGRAPHY and LEVANA. 
 Translated. Post 8vo. 35. 6d. 
 
 FLOWER, FRUIT, AND THORN PIECES. A Novel. 
 
 Translated by Alex. Ewing. 3s. 6d. 
 
 SCHILLER'S WORKS. 7 vols. 3*. 6d. each. 
 
 SPINOZA'S CHIEF WORKS. By R. H. M. Elwes. 2 vols. 
 35. 6d. each. 
 
 TASSO'S JERUSALEM DELIVERED. Translated into 
 English Spenserian Verse, with Life by }. H. Wiffen, and 32 
 Illustrations. $J. 
 
 WALTON. THE COMPLETE ANGLER. Edited by E. 
 Jesse. With an account of Fishing Stations, &c, and 203 Engrav- 
 ings, 5s. ; or with 26 additional page Illustrations on Steel, ys. 6d. 
 
 WORTLEY- MONTAGU (LETTERS AND WORKS OF 
 LADY MARY). Lord Wharncliffe's 3rd Edition. With Steel 
 Plates. 2 vols. 5s. each. 
 
 POETRY AND DRAMA. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. Edited by S. W. Singer. With a Life by 
 W. W. Lloyd. Uniform with the Aldine Edition of the Poets. 
 10 vols. 2s. 6d. each. In half morocco, 5J. each. 
 
 CRITICAL ESSAYS ON THE PLAYS. By W. W. Lloyd. 
 Uniform with the above, 2s. 6d. ; in half morocco, $s. 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. DRAMATIC ART OF. The History and 
 Character of the Plays. By Dr. Ulrici. Translated by L. D. 
 Schmitz. 2 vols, post 8vo. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 11 
 
 SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS AND POEMS. With Notes and 
 Life by Charles Knight. Royal 8vo. ioi. 6d. 
 
 (Pocket Volume Edition). Comprising all his Plays and 
 
 Poems. Edited from the First Folio Edition by T. Keightley. 
 13 vols, royal 321T10. in a cloth box, price 21s, 
 
 CHAUCER. Robert Bell's Edition, revised. With Preliminary 
 Essay by the Rev. W. W. Skeat, M.A. 4 vols. 3s. 6d- each. 
 
 EARLY BALLADS AND SONGS OF THE PEASANTRY 
 
 OF ENGLAND. Edited by Robert Bell. Post 8vo. 3*. 6d. 
 
 PERCY'S RELIQUES OF ANCIENT ENGLISH POETRY. 
 Reprinted from the Original Edition, and Edited by J. V.Pritchard. 
 In 2 vols. js. 
 
 MILTON'S (J.) POETICAL WORKS. With Memoir and 
 Notes, and 120 Engravings. In 2 vols, post 8vo. 5^. each. 
 
 HUGO (VICTOR). LYRICAL FOEMS. In English Verse. 
 35. 6d. 
 
 DRAMATIC WORKS. (RUY BLAS, THE KING'S 
 
 DIVERSION, HERNANI.) Translated. 1 vol. 3* 6d. 
 
 SHERIDAN'S DRAMATIC WORKS. With Short Life. 3*. 6d. 
 
 POETRY OF AMERICA. Selections from One Hundred 
 American Poets from 1776 to 1876. 35. 6d. Library Edit. 7s. 6d. 
 
 DANTE. THE DIVINE COMEDY. Translated by the Rev. 
 H. F. Cary. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 The Popular Edition. Royal 8vo. swd., is. 6d. ; cloth, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Translated into English Verse by J. C. Wright, M.A. With 
 
 Portrait and 34 Engravings on Steel, after Flaxman. 5th Edit. 5^. 
 
 DANTE. THE INFERNO. Translated, with Notes, by Cary. is. 
 
 THE INFERNO. By Dr. Carlisle. $s. Literal trans- 
 lation, with Texts and Notes. 
 
 THE PURGATORIO. By W. S. Dugdale. 5*. 
 
 PETRARCH. SONNETS, TRIUMPHS, AND OTHER 
 POEMS. Translated into English Verse. With Campbell's Life 
 of the Poet. Illustrated. Post 8vo. 5s. 
 
 GOETHE'S DRAMAS AND POEMS. 3 vols. 3* 6d. each. 
 HEINE'S POETICAL WORKS. 1 vol. 5*. 
 
12 
 
 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 LESSING'S DRAMATIC WORKS. 2 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 SCHILLER'S DRAMAS AND POEMS. 3 vols. 3s. 6d. each. 
 
 MOLIERE. DRAMATIC WORKS. In prose. Translated 
 by C. H. Wall. In 3 vols, post 8vo. y. 6d. each. Also fine- 
 paper Edition, with 19 steel engravings, large post 8vo. 31*. 6d. 
 
 By Adelaide Anne Procter. 
 
 LEGENDS AND LYRICS. Illustrated Edition, with Portrait, 
 and Introduction by Charles Dickens. 8th edition, 21s. 
 
 Crown 8vo. Edition, complete, with new Portrait. 8s. 6d. 13th 
 
 Thousand. 
 
 ■ Cheap Edition, with 18 Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. double 
 
 columns. Two Series, is. each. In 1 vol. limp cloth, 3JS 
 
 CHISWICK SERIES. 
 
 In fcap. 8vo., carefully printed and neatly bound. 
 
 1. ENGLISH SONNETS by Living Writers. Selected and Arranged, 
 with a Note on the History of the Sonnet by S. Waddingtok. 
 2nd Edition, enlarged, is. 6d. 
 
 2. ENGLISH SONNETS by Poets of the Past. Selected and Ar- 
 ranged by S. Waddington. is. 6d. 
 
 3 and 4. LEGENDS AND LYRICS. By Adelaide A. Procter. 
 First Series. With Introduction by Charles Dickens. 66th Thou- 
 sand. 3*. Second Series, 59th Thousand. 3s. 
 
 5. THE POEMS OF S. T. COLERIDGE, is. 6d. 
 
 6. THE POEMS OF GEORGE HERBERT. 15. 6d. 
 
 7. FLORILEGIUM AMANTIS. A Selection from Coventry Pat- 
 more's Works. Edited by Richard Garnett, LL.D. is. 
 
 8. GREEK WIT: A Collection of Smart Sayings and Anecdotes. 
 Translated from Greek Prose Writers. By F. A. Paley, M.A., 
 LL.D. is. 6d. 
 
 9. LAMB'S TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. 2s. 
 
 . SHAKESPEARE'S POEMS AND SONNETS, is. 6d. 
 Others in preparation. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 18 
 
 ALDINE SERIES OF THE BRITISH POETS. 
 
 The Editors of the various authors in this Series have in all cases 
 endeavoured to make the collections of Poems as complete as possible, 
 and in many instances copyright Poems are to be found in these editions 
 w hich are not in any other. Each volume is carefully edited, with Notes 
 where necessary for the elucidation of the Text, and a Memoir. A Por- 
 trait also is added in all cases where an authentic one is accessible. The 
 volumes are printed on toned paper in fcap. 8vo. size, and neatly bound 
 in cloth gilt, price 5^. each. 
 
 %* A Cheap Reprint of this Series, neat cloth, is. 6d. per volume. 
 
 AKENSIDE. 
 BEATTIE. 
 BURNS. 3 vols. 
 BUTLER. 2 vols. 
 CHAUCER. 6 vols. 
 CHURCHILL. 2 vols. 
 COLLINS. 
 
 COWPER, including his Trans- 
 lations. 3 vols. 
 DRYDEN. 5 vols. 
 FALCONER. 
 GOLDSMITH. 
 GRAY. 
 
 KIRKE WHITE. 
 MILTON. 3 vols. 
 PARNELL. 
 POPE. 3 vols. 
 PRIOR. 2 vols. 
 SHAKESPEARE'S POEMS- 
 SPENSER. 5 vols. 
 SURREY. 
 SWIFT. 3 vols. 
 THOMSON. 2 vols. 
 WYATT. 
 YOUNG. 2 vols. 
 
 The following volumes of a New Series have been issued, $s. each. 
 
 CHATTERTON. 2 vols. 
 CAMPBELL. 
 WILLIAM BLAKE. 
 ROGERS. 
 
 THE COURTLY POETS, from 
 RALEIGH to WOTTON. 
 
 GEORGE HERBERT. 
 KEATS 
 
 VAUGHAN S SACRED 
 
 POEMS. 
 COLERIDGE'S POEMS. 
 
 2 vols. 
 
 Uniform Edition, in 4 vols. Crown 8vo. 
 CALVERLEY'S (C. S.) WORKS. 
 
 Vol. I.— LITERARY REMAINS. With Portrait and Memoir: 
 Edited by Walter J. Sendall. 2nd Edition, iar. 6d. 
 II.— VERSES AND FLY-LEAVES. New Edition. 7 r. 6d. 
 
 III. — TRANSLATIONS into English and Latin, with addi- 
 
 tional pieces. 3rd Edition, js. 6d. 
 
 IV. — THEOCRITUS, translated into English Verse. 2nd 
 
 Edition revised. 7s. 6d. 
 
 FLYLEAVES. Original Edition. Fcap. 8vo. 15th Thousand. 
 
 3s. 6d. 
 
 VERSES AND TRANSLATIONS. Original Edition. Fcap. 
 
 8vo. nth Edition. 5s. 
 
14 
 
 George Bell and Sons 9 
 
 BROWNING. HANDBOOK TO ROBERT BROWNING'S 
 WORKS. By Mrs. Sutherland Orr. 3rd Edition, with 
 additions. Fcap. 8vo. 6s. 
 
 'Taken as a whole, this book — and it is no ordinary undertaking— bears 
 •evidence throughout of that courage, patience* knowledge, and research, and 
 last, but not least, that lightness and firmness of hand which are essential in 
 dealing with the work of a master whose art ranges so high, so wide, and so 
 deep. ' — Academy. 
 
 STORIES FROM ROBERT BROWNING. By Frederic 
 M. Holland, Author of « The Reign of the Stoics,' with an Intro- 
 duction by Mrs. Sutherland Orr. Wide fcap. 4s. 6d. 
 
 By Michael Field. 
 
 CANUTE THE GREAT; THE CUP OF WATER. 1 vol. 
 
 Js. 6d. 
 
 CALLIRRHOE, FAIR ROSAMUND. 2nd Edition. Cr. 8vo. 
 parchment cover, 6s. 
 
 THE FATHER'S TRAGEDY, WILLIAM RUFUS, 
 LOYALTY OR LOVE? Crown 8vo. parchment cover, js. 6d. 
 
 BRUTUS ULTOR : a Play. Crown 8vo. is. 
 
 By Cot' entry Fat more. 
 
 POETICAL WORKS. Third and Cheap Edition, complete. 
 2 vols. fcap. 8vo. Qj-. 
 
 THE ANGEL IN THE HOUSE. 6th Edition. Fcap.8vo.5j. 
 
 By Professor Covington, M.A. 
 
 HORACE'S ODES AND CARMEN S^ECULARE. Trans- 
 lated into English Verse. 10th Edition. Fcap. 8vo. $s. 6d. 
 
 SATIRES AND EPISTLES. Translated into English 
 
 Verse. 7th Edition. 6s. 6d. 
 
 0 
 
 BOHN'S (HENRY G.) DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS 
 from the ENGLISH POETS, arranged according to Subjects. 
 Post 8vo. dr. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 15 
 
 DICTIONARIES. 
 BRYAN'S DICTIONARY OF PAINTERS. Seep. 2. 
 COOPER'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. See p. 2. 
 A SUPPLEMENTARY ENGLISH GLOSSARY. By T. O. 
 
 Davies, M.A. 8vo. 752 pp. x6s. 
 
 FQLK-ETYMOLOGY : a Dictionary of Corrupted Words which 
 have been Perverted in Form or Meaning by False Derivation or 
 Mistaken Analogy. By the Rev. A. S. Palmer. Demy 8vo. 21s, 
 
 BUCHANAN'S DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE AND 
 
 TECHNICAL TERMS USED IN PHILOSOPHY, LITERA- 
 TURE, PROFESSIONS, COMMERCE, ARTS, and TRADES. 
 With Supplement by Jas. A. Smith. 6s. 
 
 New Edition, enlarged, with a Supplement of 4600 new words 
 and meanings. • 
 WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY of the English Language, in- 
 cluding Scientific, Biblical, and Scottish Terms and Phrases, with 
 their Pronunciations, Alternative 1 Spellings, Derivations, and 
 Meanings. In 1 vol. 4to. 1628 pages and 3000 Illustrations. 21^. 
 
 WEBSTER'S COMPLETE DICTIONARY, being the above 
 with numerous valuable literary Appendices, and 70 pages of Illus- 
 trations. 1 vol. 4to. 1919 pages, cloth, xl. xxs. 6d. 
 •Certainly the best practical English Dictionary extant.'— Quarterly 
 
 Review, October 1873. 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY. 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF NATURAL HISTORY. Containing 
 Morris' British Birds— Nests and Eggs— British Butterflies— British 
 Moths— Bree's Birds of Europe — Lowe's Works on British and 
 Exotic Ferns, Grasses, and Beautiful Leaved Plants — Hibberd's 
 Plants — Maund's Botanic Garden — Tripp's British Mosses — 
 Gatty's Seaweeds — Wooster's Alpine Plants, and Couch's 
 Fishes — making in all 50 Volumes, in super-royal 8vo. containing 
 upwards of 2800 full-page Plates, carefully coloured. 
 
 Complete Lists sent post free on application. 
 
 Works by J. G. BAKER, FR.S, FZ.S., First Assistant 
 in the Herbarium of the Royal Gardens, Kew. 
 
 HANDBOOK OF THE AMARYLLIDE/E, including the 
 ALSTRGEMERIE.E and AGAVES. Demy 8vo. 55. 
 
 A FLORA OF THE ENGLISH LAKE DISTRICT. Demy 
 8vo. 7s. 6d. 
 
 A HANDBOOK OF THE FERN ALLIES. A Synopsis of 
 the Genera and Species of the Natural Orders, Equisetaceae, 
 Lycopodiacece, Selaginellaceae, Rhizocarpeae. Demy 8vo. 5s. 
 
16 
 
 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 SOWER BY'S BOTANY. Containing a Description and Life- 
 size Drawing of every British Plant. Edited by T. Boswell, LL.D., 
 F.L.S., &c. With Popular Descriptions of the Uses, History, 
 and Traditions of each Plant, by Mrs. Lankester. The Figures 
 by J. C. Sowerby, F.L.S., J. De C. Sowerby, F.L.S., J. W. 
 Salter, A.L.S., F.G.S., and J. E. Sowerby. Third Edition, 
 entirely revised, with descriptions of all the species by the Editor, 
 and 1937 full-page Coloured Plates. In 12 vols. 24/. 3*. cloth ; 
 26/. 1 is. half morocco ; and 30/. gs. whole morocco. Also in 89 
 parts, 5s. each, except Part 89, containing an Index to the whole 
 work, ys. 6d. Volumes sold separately. 
 
 COTTAGE GARDENER'S DICTIONARY. Edited by G. W. 
 Johnson. With a Supplement, containing all the new plants and 
 varieties down to the year 1881. Post 8vo. cloth, 75. 6d. 
 
 BOTANIST'S POCKET-BOOK. By W. R. Hayward. 
 
 Containing the Botanical name, Common name, Soil or Situation, 
 Colour, Growth, and Time of Flowering of all plants, arranged in 
 a tabulated form. 5th Edition, revised, with a new Appendix. 
 Fcap. 8vo. 4s. 6d. 
 
 RAMBLES IN SEARCH OF WILD FLOWERS, AND 
 
 HOW TO DISTINGUISH THEM. By Margaret Plues. 
 With 96 Coloured Figures and numerous Woodcuts. 3rd Edition, 
 revised. Post 8vo. js. 6d. 
 
 ROBSON'S BOTANICAL LABELS FOR HERBARIA. 
 
 Demy 8vo. $s. 
 
 By A. J. fakes- Browne, B.A., of the Geological Survey of 
 England and Wales. 
 
 THE STUDENT'S HANDBOOK OF PHYSICAL AND 
 
 HISTORICAL GEOLOGY. Numerous Diagrams and Illus- 
 trations. 2 vols. 6s. each. 
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BRITISH ISLES. A Study in 
 Geographical Evolution. With numerous Maps and Woodcuts. 
 7 s. 6d. N.S. 
 
 ART AND ORNAMENT. 
 
 CONTEMPORARY GERMAN ART, as Illustrated by 
 Paintings exhibited at the Centenary Festival of the Royal Berlin 
 Academy of Arts, 1886. 140 Photogravures, with Descriptive 
 Text, by Ludwig Pietsch. Translated by N. DAnvers. 
 Imperial 4to. 8/. Privately printed for Subscribers only. 
 
 BRYAN'S DICTIONARY of PAINTERS and ENGRAVERS. 
 
 See p . 2. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 17 
 
 THE ART OF SKETCHING FROM NATURE. By 
 
 Philip H. Delamottk, Professor of Drawing at King's College, 
 London. Illustrated with 24 Woodcuts and 21 Coloured Plates, 
 arranged progressively, from Water-colour Drawings by Prout, 
 
 E. W. Cooke, R.A., Girtin, Yarley, De Wint, and the Author. 
 Second Edition, revised. Royal 4to. 21s. 
 
 ENGRAVED GEMS. New edition, with more than 600 Illus- 
 trations. By the Rev. C. W. King, M.A., Fellow of Trinity 
 College, Cambridge. 1 vol. imperial 8vo. 16s, 
 
 PICTURES FROM LIFE IN FIELD AND FEN. Twenty 
 Plates in Photogravure from Original Negatives, together with an 
 Introductory Essay by P. H. Emkrson, B.A. , M.A. (Cantab.), 
 co-Author with T. F. Goodall of ' Life and Landscape on the 
 Norfolk Broads.' Edition da Luxe (fifty copies only), 5/. 55-. ; 
 Ordinary Edition, 3/. 3.?. 
 
 FL AXMAN'S CLASSICAL COMPOSITIONS, reprinted in 
 a cheap form for the use of Art Students. Oblong demy, paper 
 cover. 2s. 6d. each. 
 
 THE ILIAD OF HOMER. 39 Designs. 
 THE ODYSSEY OF HOMER. 34 Designs. 
 THE TRAGEDIES OF ^ESCHYLUS. 36 Designs. 
 THE WORKS AND DAYS AND THEOGONY OF HESIOD. 
 37 Designs. 
 
 Also complete in One Volume, cloth, 12s. ; half morocco, 14?. 
 SELECT COMPOSITIONS FROM DANTE'S DIVINE 
 DRAMA. 37 Designs. Oblong, paper cover, 2s. 6d. 
 
 FLAXMAN. LECTURES ON SCULPTURE, as delivered 
 before the President and Members of the Royal Academy. By 
 J. Flaxman, R.A. With 53 Plates. New Edition, 6s. 
 
 LECTURES AND LESSONS ON ART. Being an Intro- 
 duction to a Practical and Comprehensive Scheme. By the late 
 
 F. W. Moody, Instructor in Decorative Art at South Kensington 
 Museum. With Diagrams to illustrate Composition and other 
 matters. 5th Edition, demy 8vo. sewed, 4^ 6d. 
 
 AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ARMS AND AR- 
 MOUR, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. By 
 Auguste Demmin. Translated by C. C. Black, M.A., Assistant 
 Keeper, South Kensington Museum. One Vol. with nearly 2000 
 Illustrations, ys. 6d. 
 
 LEONARDO DA VINCI'S TREATISE ON PAINTING. 
 
 Translated from the Italian by J. F. Rigaud, R.A. With 
 a Life of Leonardo and an Account of his Works by John 
 William Brown. New Edition, revised, with numerous Plates. 
 One Vol. 5-r. 
 
 DIDRON S CHRISTIAN ICONOGRAPHY. A History of 
 Christian Art in the Middle Ages. Translated from the French 
 with Additions, &c. , by Margaret Stokes. 2 vols. $s. each. 
 
18 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 THE ANATOMY AND PHILOSOPHY OF EXPRESSION 
 
 AS CONNECTED WITH THE FINE ARTS. By Sir Charles 
 Bell, K.H. 7th Edition, revised. One Vol. $s. 
 This edition contains all the plates and woodcuts of the original edition. 
 
 FAIRHOLT'S COSTUME IN ENGLAND. A History of 
 Dress to the End of the Eighteenth Century. 3rd Edition. En- 
 larged and thoroughly revised. By the Hon. H. A. Dillon, F.S. A. 
 Illustrated with above 700 Engravings. 2 vols. 5?. each. Vol. I. 
 History. Vol. II. Glossary. 
 
 HOW TO DECORATE OUR CEILINGS, WALLS, AND 
 
 FLOORS. With Coloured Plates and numerous Diagrams. By 
 M. E.James, Author of 'What Shall We Act?' Crown 8vo, in 
 appropriate binding, 4s. 
 
 FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 By the late Mrs. Alfred Gatty. 
 PARABLES FROM NATURE. 
 
 4to. Edition. With Notes on the Natural History, and numer- 
 ous large Illustrations by W. Holman Hunt, E. Burne Jones, 
 J. Tenniel, &c. With short Memoir of the Author. 4th Edition. 
 Fcap. 4to. In handsome Binding, with Design by Gordon 
 Browne. \os. 6d. 
 
 i6mo. with Illustrations. First Series, 17th Edition, is. 6d. 
 
 Second Series, 10th Edition, 2s. The two Series in 1 vol. 2 s - 6d. 
 Third Series, 6th Edition, 2s. Fourth Series, 4th Edition, 2s. The 
 Two Series in 1 vol. 4s. Fifth Series, 2s. 
 
 New, cheap, complete Edition, with full-page Illustrations. 
 
 Fcap. 4to. double columns. Two Series, is. each ; in one vol. 3J. 
 
 The Uniform Edition. Fcap, 
 
 PARABLES FROM NATURE. 
 2 vols. With Portrait. 
 
 THE HUMAN FACE DIVINE, 
 and other Tales. With Illus- 
 trations. 3rd Edition. 
 
 THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS, 
 and other Tales. With Frontis- 
 piece. 7th Edition. 2s. 6d. 
 
 AUNT JUDY'S TALES. Illus- 
 trated. 8th Edition. 
 
 AUNT JUDY'S LETTERS ; a 
 Sequel to 'Aunt Judy's Tales.' 
 Illustrated. 5th Edition. 
 
 8vo. 3s. 6d. each volume. 
 
 DOMESTIC PICTURES AND 
 TALES. With 6 Illustrations. 
 
 WORLDS NOT REALIZED, 
 and Proverbs Illustrated. 
 
 THE HUNDREDTH BIRTH- 
 DAY, and other Tales. With 
 Illustrations by Phiz. New 
 Edition. 
 
 MRS. ALFRED GATTY'S PRE- 
 SENTATION BOX for Young 
 People, containing the above 
 volumes, neatly bound, and en- 
 closed in a cloth box. 31;, 6d. 
 
Selected Works. 
 
 NEW AND CHEAP EDITION 
 
 OF 
 
 POPULAR TALES BY MRS. E WING. 
 
 Everything Mrs. Ezving writes is full of talent, and also full of perception 
 and common sense.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 The Uniform Edition. Small post 8vo. 3s. each. 
 
 WE AND THE WORLD: A Story for Boys. With 7 Illus- 
 trations by W. L. Jones, and Design on the Cover by Miss Pym. 
 2nd Edition. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 1 A very good book it is, full of adventure graphically told. The style is just 
 what it should be, simple, but not bold, full of pleasant humour, and with some 
 pretty touches of feeling. Like all Mrs. Ewing's tales, it is sound, sensible, and 
 wholesome. '— Times. 
 
 SIX TO SIXTEEN : A Story for Girls. With 10 Illustrations 
 by Mrs. Allingham. 7th Edition. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 ' The tone of the book is pleasant and healthy, and singularly free from that 
 sentimental, not to say "mawkish," stain which is apt to disfigure such produc- 
 tions. The illustrations by Mrs. Allingham add a special attraction to the ittle 
 volume.' — Times. 
 
 'It is scarcely necessary to say that Mrs. Ewing's book is one of the best of 
 the year.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 A FLAT IRON FOR A FARTHING; or, Some Passages in 
 the Life of an Only Son. With 12 Illustrations by H. Allingham, 
 and Design on the Cover by Miss Pym. 17th Edition. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 ' Let every parent and guardian who wishes to be amused, and at the same 
 time to please a child, purchase " A Flat Iron for a Farthing ; or, some Passages 
 in the Life of an Only Son," by J. H. Ewing. We will answer for the delight 
 with which they will read it themselves, and we do not doubt that the young and 
 fortunate recipients will also like it. The story is quaint, original, and altogether 
 delightful.' — A theu&um. 
 
 JAN OF THE WINDMILL; a Story of the Plains. With 
 11 Illustrations by Helen Allingham. 3rd Edition. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 1 It is a long time since we have read anything in its way so good. . . . Such, 
 a book is like a day in June — as sweet and as wholesome as anything can be.' 
 
 American Church Union. 
 
 ' " Jan of the Windmill " is a delightful story for children and other people. 
 . . . The atmosphere of country life — " the very air about the door made dusty 
 with the floating meal " — breathes freshly in the book, and the rural scenes are 
 not unworthy of George Sand, if George Sand wrote for les petites fillcs. The 
 growth of the hero's artistic power is as interesting as the lives of old painters.' 
 
 Academy. 
 
20 
 
 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 By Mrs. Ewing — Continued. 
 
 MRS. OVERTHEWAY'S REMEMBRANCES. Illustrated 
 with 10 fine Full-page Engravings on Wood, after Drawings by 
 Pasquier and Wolf, and Design on the Cover by Miss Pym. 4th 
 Edition. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 ' We think we shall not be accused of extravagance when we say that, 
 without exception, "Mrs. Overtheway's Remembrances" is the most delightful 
 work avowedly written for children that we have ever read. There are passages 
 
 in this book which the genius of George Eliot would be proud to own 
 
 It is full of a peculiar, heart-stirring pathos of its own, which culminates in the 
 last pages, when Ida finds that her father is not dead.' — Leader. 
 
 A GREAT EMERGENCY, and other Tales. With 4 Illustra- 
 tions and Design on the Cover by Miss Pym. 2nd Edition. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 * Never has Mrs. Ewing published a more charming volume of stories, and 
 that is saying a very great deal. From the first to the last the book overflows 
 with the strange knowledge of child-nature which so rarely survives childhood ; 
 and, moreover, with inexhaustible quiet humour, which is never anything but 
 innoeent and well-bred, never priggish, and never clumsy.' — Academy. 
 
 MELCHIOR'S DREAM, and other Tales. Illustrated by 
 
 Gordon Browne. 6th Edition. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with Gordon Browne's Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 ' " Melchior's Efream " is an exquisite little story, charming by original 
 humour, buoyant spirits, and tender pathos.' — Athenceum. 
 
 THE BROWNIES, and other Tales. Illustrated by George 
 Cruikshank. 5th Edition. Imp. i6mo. y. 6d. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. is. 
 
 ' Mrs. Ewing gives us some really charming writing. While her first story 
 most prettily teaches children how much they can do to help their parents, the 
 immediate result will be, we fear, anything but good. For if a child once begins 
 " The Brownies," it will get so deeply interested in it, that when bed-time comes 
 it will altogether forget the moral, and will weary its parents with importunities 
 for just a few minutes more to see how everything ends. The frontispiece, by 
 the old friend of our childhood, George Cruikshank, is no less pretty than the 
 story.' — Saturday Review. 
 
 LOB-LIE-BY-THE-FIRE ; or, the Luck of Lingborough. And 
 other Tales. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. 3rd Edition. 
 Imp. i6mo. 3-y. 6d. 
 ' A charming tale by another of those clever writers, thanks to whom the 
 children are now really better served than their neighbours.' — Spectator. 
 
 ' Mrs. Ewing has written as good a story as her " Brownies," and that is 
 saying a great deal. " Lob-lie-by-the-fire " has humour and pathos, and teaches 
 what is right without making children think they are reading a sermon.' — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
'Selected Works. 
 
 21 
 
 CHEAP RE-ISSUE 
 
 OF 
 
 POPULAR TALES BY F. M. PEARD AND 
 MISS F. SHAW. 
 
 MOTHER MOLLY. A Story for Young People. With 
 8 Illustrations. Small post 8vo. $s. 
 ' The story is to other Christmas books what Mr. Blackmore's stories are to 
 ordinary novels. It is fresh, a little quaint, and is, in fact, a charming ideal of 
 the latter end of the last century.' — Standard. 
 
 THROUGH ROUGH WATERS. A Story for Young People. 
 With ii Illustrations. Small post 8vo. y. 
 
 ' It is a book intended for young readers, and they may be thankful to light 
 upon it instead of the sentimental twaddle with which they are so often supplied.' 
 — Academy. 
 
 PRINCESS ALETHEA : a Story for Young People. With 
 8 Illustrations by J. D. Watson. Small post 8vo. 3*. 
 'A pleasant, wholesome story, full of interest, and certain to attract and 
 benefit the young people for whom it has been written.' — Scotsman. 
 
 HECTOR : a Story for Young People. By Flora Shaw, Author 
 of ' Castle Blair,' &c. With 8 Illustrations by W. J. Hen- 
 nessey. Small post 8vo. 35. 
 
 Cheap Edition, with all the Illustrations. Fcap. 4to. double 
 
 columns, is. 
 
 ' Hector, the brave, bright English boy, with his high thoughts, his love of the 
 wild birds, his respect for honest labour, and his chivalrous sympathy with the 
 distressed, is exactly the type of hero that it is good for children to have before 
 them. ' — A cade my. 
 
 Captain Marryafs Books for Boys. 
 
 Uniform Illustrated Edition, neatly bound in cloth, post 8vo. 
 y. 6d. each. 
 
 POOR JACK. With Sixteen II- THE SETTLERS IN CANADA 
 
 lustrations after Designs by 
 Clarkson Stanfield, R.A. 
 
 THE MISSION ; or, Scenes in 
 Africa. With Illustrations by 
 John Gilbert. 
 
 THE PIRATE, AND THREE 
 CUTTERS. With Memoir of the 
 Author, and 20 Steel Engravings 
 by Clarkson Stanfield, R.A. 
 
 Cheap Edition, without Illus- 
 trations, is. 
 
 PETER SIMPLE. With 8 full 
 page cuts. 
 
 With Illustrations by Gilbert 
 and Dalziel. 
 
 THE PRIVATEERSMAN. 
 Adventures by Sea and Land 
 in Civil and Savage Life One 
 Hundred Years ago. Illustrated 
 with Eight Steel Engravings. 
 
 MASTERMAN READY ; or, the 
 Wreck of the Pacific. Embel- 
 lished with Ninety-three En- 
 gravings on Wood. 
 
 MIDSHIPMAN EASY. With8 
 full page cuts. 
 
22 
 
 George Bell and Sons' 
 
 MASTERMAN READY. New Illustrated Edition, with 60 
 Original Woodcuts. Post 8vo. 5^. 
 
 SETTLERS IN CANADA. New Illustrated Edition. Cloth 
 
 gilt, post 8vo. 5-f. Uniform with above. 
 
 POOR JACK. With 46 Illustrations by CLARKSON Stanfiei.D, 
 R.A., taken from the Original Wood Blocks. Cloth gilt, post 
 8vo. ss. 
 
 ROBINSON CRUSOE. With 100 Illustrations, 21 Coloured, 
 by E. H. Wehnert. Crown 8vo. gilt edges, 3*. 6d. 
 
 THE WIDE, WIDE WORLD. By E. Wetherell. With 10 
 Illustrations. Post 8vo. 3^. 6d. 
 
 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. By H. B. Stowe. Illustrated. 
 
 Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 FRIENDS IN FUR AND FEATHERS. By Gwynfryn. 
 
 Illustrated with 8 Full-page Engravings by F. W. Keyl, &c. 8th 
 Edition. Handsomely bound, 3s. 6d. 
 
 GRIMM'S GAMMER GRETHEL; or, German Fairy Tales 
 and Popular Stories. Translated by Edgar Taylor. Numerous 
 Woodcuts after G. Cruikshank's designs. Post 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 
 By Hans Christian Andersen. 
 
 FAIRY TALES AND SKETCHES. Translated by C. C. 
 Peachey, H. Ward, A. Plesner, &c. With 86 Illustrations by 
 Otto Speckter and others. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 'The translation most happily hits the delicate quaintness of Andersen — 
 most happily transposes into simple English words the tender precision of the 
 famous story-teller ; in a keen examination of the book we scarcely recall a 
 single phrase or turn that obviously could have been bettered.' — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 TALES FOR CHILDREN. With 48 Full-page Illustrations by 
 Wehnert, and 57 small Engravings on Wood by W. Thomas. 
 A New Edition. Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. 
 This and the above vol. form the most complete English Edition of Andersen's 
 
 Tales. 
 
 WHAT SHALL WE ACT? or, a Hundred Plays from which 
 to Choose. With Hints on Scene Painting, &c. By M. E. 
 James. Third Edition, crown 8vo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 FAIRY PLAYS FOR CHILDREN. By Kate Freiligrath- 
 
 Kroeker. With Illustrations by M. Sibree. And Songs. 2nd 
 Edition, is. each. Alice ; adapted, by permission, from ' Alice's 
 Adventures in Wonderland.' Snowdrop. The Bear Prince. 
 Jack and the Princess who never Laughed. The Four Plays 
 in 1 vol. cloth gilt, 4*. 6d. 
 
Selected Works. 23 
 
 BOHN'S SELECT LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 STANDARD WORKS. 
 
 The texts are in all cases printed without abridgment, and 
 ■where Introductions, Biographical Notices and Notes, are 
 likely to be of use to the Student they are given. The 
 volumes, well printed, and on good paper, are issued at is. in 
 paper covers, and is. 6tf. in cloth. 
 
 Noiv Ready. 
 
 1. Bacon's Essays. With Introduction and Notes. 
 
 2. Lessing'S Laokoon. Beasley's Translation, revised, 
 
 with Introduction, Notes, &c, by Edward Bell, M.A. 
 
 3. Dante's Inferno. Translated, with Notes, by Rev. 
 
 H. F. Cary. 
 
 4. Goethe's Faust. Part I. Translated, with Intro- 
 
 duction, by Anna Swanwick. 
 
 5. Goethe's Boyhood. Being Part I. of the Autobiography. 
 
 Translated by J. Oxenford. 
 
 6. Schiller's Mary Stuart and The Maid of Orleans. 
 
 Translated by J. Mellish and Anna Swanwick. 
 
 7. The Queen's English. By the late Dean Alford. 
 
 8. Life and Labours of the late Thomas Brassey. 
 
 By Sir A. Helps, K.C.B. 
 
 9. Plato's Dialogues — TheApology — Crito — Phaedo 
 
 — Protagoras. With Introductions. 
 
 10. Moliere's Plays — The Miser — Tartuffe — The 
 
 Shopkefper turned Gentleman. With brief 
 Memoir. 
 
 11. Goethe's Reineke Fox in English Hexameters. By 
 
 A. Rogers. 
 
 12. Oliver Goldsmith's Plays. 
 
 13. Lessing's Plays — Nathan the Wise— Minna von 
 
 Barnhelm. 
 
 14. Plautus's Comedies — The Trinummus — Me- 
 
 naechmi — aulularia — captive 
 
24 
 
 George Bell and Sons' List. 
 
 BOHN'S SELECT LIBRARY— Continued. 
 
 15. Waterloo Days. By C. A. Eaton. With Preface 
 
 and Notes by Edward Bell, M.A. 
 
 16. Demosthenes — On the Crown. Translated by C. 
 
 Rann Kennedy. 
 
 17. The Vicar of Wakefield. 
 
 18. Oliver Cromwell. By Dr. Reinhold Pauli. 
 
 19. The Perfect Life. By Dr. Channing. Edited by 
 
 his nephew, Rev. W. H. Channing. 
 
 20. Ladies in Parliament, Horace at Athens, and 
 
 other pieces, by G. Otto Trevelyan, INI. A. 
 
 21. Defoe's The Plague in London. 
 
 To be folloiued by ^ 1 
 
 Burke's Essay on 'The Sublime and Beautiful.' With 
 
 short Memoir. 
 Horace's Odes. Englished by various hands. 
 Irving's Life of Mahomet. 
 Sheridan's Plays. 
 
 Harvey's Treatise on the Circulation of the Blood, 
 
 Hauff's * Caravan.' 
 
 Cicero's Friendship and Old Age. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 4 As might be expected from the publishers, these are valuable 
 reprints, with nothing catchpenny about them.' — Atheruzum. 
 
 ' The selection is made with good judgment. It is especially 
 satisfactory to observe that whilst these volumes are, as we have 
 said, cheap, their cheapness involves no sacrifice of the decent respect 
 that is due to good authors, for the typography is choice and the 
 paper of excellent quality.' — Daily News. 
 
 ' We are glad to note also that Messrs. Bell have decided not to 
 abandon their authors to the scissors and fancies of opiniated editors. 
 .... The little series is a promising advance in the excellent move- 
 ment for good and cheap literature.' — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 ' Several shilling series of standard works in general literature 
 have recently been put before the English reading public by enter- 
 prising publishers, but we know none to surpass, if any even to equal, 
 that so admirably initiated by Messrs. Bell with the books named at 
 the head of this notice.' — Schoolmaster. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 GEORGE BELL & SONS, York Street, Covent Garden. 
 
mi 
 ■ i 
 
 lb 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■■I 
 
 ■ 
 
 i 
 
 ■••\f. 
 
 ~ v» ■ I vi I i"» ■ v.'^