I began the formation of the new caravan for exploring Northern Unyamuézi immediately after our arrival, but found it difficult to do things hurriedly. There was only one man then at Unyanyembé who knew the coast language, and would consent to act as my Kirangozi;[49] and as he had come all the way from Ujiji with us, he required a few days to arrange things at his home, in a village some distance off. Whilst he was absent the Arabs paid us daily visits, and gave many useful hints about the journey in prospect. One hint must especially be regarded, which was, to take care, on arrival at the lake, that I did not enter the village of a certain sultan called Mahaya, to whose district, Muanza, at the southern extremity of the lake, they directed me to go. This precautionary warning was advanced in consequence of a trick the sultan had played an Arab, who, after visiting him in a friendly way, was forcibly detained until he paid a ransom; an unjust measure, which the Arabs pointedly advert to as destructive to commercial interests. Further, the Arabs had learnt from travellers just arrived from Usukuma that the whole route leading to the N'yanza was in a state of commotion, caused by civil wars, and therefore advised me to go as strongly armed as possible. To lose no time whilst the Kirangozi was away--for I had a long business to do in a very short space--I intimated to Sheikh Said and the Beluch guard my intention of taking them with me to the lake, and ordered them to prepare for the journey by a certain date. Said demurred, saying he would give a definite answer about accompanying me before the time of starting, but subsequently refused (I hear, as one reason), because he did not consider me his chief.[50] I urged that it was as much his duty as mine to go there; and said that unless he changed his present resolution, I should certainly recommend the Government not to pay the gratuity which the Consul had promised him on condition that he worked entirely to our satisfaction, in assisting the expedition to carry out the Government's plans. The Jemadar of the Beluch guard, on seeing the Sheikh hold back, at first raised objections, and then began to bargain. He fixed a pay of one gora or fifteen cloths per man, as the only condition on which I should get their services; for they all declared that they had not only been to Ujiji, the place appointed by Sultan Majid and their chief before leaving Zanzibar, but that they had overstayed the time agreed upon for them to be absent on these travels--namely, six months. I acceded to this exorbitant demand, considering the value of time, as the dry season had now set in, and the Arabs at this period cease travelling to Zanzibar, from fear of being caught by droughts in the deserts between this place and the East Coast Range, where, if the ponds and puddles dry up, there is so little water in the wells that travelling becomes precarious.