The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fifth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through AfricaKnox, Thomas Wallace
General
The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Fifth: Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey through Africa
Knox, Thomas Wallace
Africa -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature; Africa, Central -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
At the time of Stanley's second journey in Africa to Lake Tanganyika the
war was over, and the king had resumed business relations with his
neighbors. He made terms of friendship with Stanley, and told him that
hereafter any white man or Arab might travel through his territory or
come there to trade, and he would be welcome. Stanley and the king
exchanged presents, and the latter gave his visitor all the guides and
porters he wanted to accompany him on his journey.
The peaceful relations established by Stanley continued at the time
Doctor Bronson and his companions arrived at the southern end of the
Victoria N'yanza. As soon as Mirambo received the letter informing him
of the approach of the strangers, and also the letter of M'tesa
introducing the travellers as his friends, he sent two of his officers
to meet them and conduct them to the capital.
[Illustration: NATIVES BRINGING PROVISIONS FOR SALE.]
Our friends started on their journey three days behind the delegation
which carried the letter to Mirambo. They had no great difficulty in
engaging porters, as the country bordering on the lake is well peopled,
and the natives were quite desirous of earning some of the white man's
cloth and beads. The Doctor's liberality to M'tesa's sailors had been
noised about, and the porters were eager to be employed by a man who
paid for services when an African tribunal had decided that he need not
give anything. They brought various articles for sale, and there was a
liberal offering of whatever the country produced. A couple of riding
donkeys were obtained by Abdul, and also an ox that had been trained to
the saddle. These animals, added to what they had brought from Rubaga,
served to mount the entire party, including Abdul and Ali, and left an
extra donkey for use in case of accident to any of the others.
There was some delay at starting, owing to the tendency of the porters
to seek the lightest loads. The matter was finally arranged by placing
the loads in a row, and then forming the men in line a little distance
away and out of sight of the burdens they were to carry. Then they
marched forward, and each man picked up the load which chance assigned
to him and marched off without a murmur. Frank observed that they were
finely-shaped, muscular fellows, and their countenances showed them to
be quite the equals of the people of Ugunda, if not of a superior
intelligence.
Fred took note of the clothing worn by the porters and others of the
people of Unyamwezi, and remarked that a very little writing was
sufficient to describe it. The principal garment was a cloth around the
loins. Some of the better class had leopard or other skins thrown over
their shoulders; and the boys were told that only a chief or man of high
authority is allowed to wear the hide of a lion. The capture of a lion
was a sufficiently rare occurrence to make the clothing of the chiefs
equal the supply of the skin of the king of beasts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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