August, 1873In answer to our formal announcement of arrival we received a letter the following morning from Said ibn Salim, the governor, inviting us to breakfast with him and stating that he had placed a house at our disposal during our stay at Unyanyembé. We at once proceeded to his residence at Kwikuruh and were welcomed most warmly, and found prepared for us a capital breakfast of curried fowl, wheat cakes, butter, milk, coffee, and tea. To this meal we did such ample justice that I fancy we must have rather astonished our host.

Our appetites being appeased, the governor, accompanied by many other Arabs who had gathered together to welcome us, conducted us to the house in Kwiharah, and when we had been shown over the premises left us to make ourselves comfortably at home. The house - which had previousy been lent to Livingstone and Stanley - was a large and substantial building of mud bricks with a flat roof. The interior arrangements will be understood by reference to the accompanying plan.

Our first business was to pay and discharge the pagazi whom we had engaged to accompany us thus far, after which only thirteen bales of cloth remained.

In the afternoon Said ibn Salim called to acquaint us that on the morrow we should pay visits to the principal Arabs, and that the most convenient arrangement would be for us to commence the day by breakfasting with him.

He had formerly been detailed by Syud Majid to accompany Burton and Speke on their famous journey when they discovered the Tanganyika and Victoria Nyanza; and also was sent with Speke and Grant on their journey, but did not go further than this place on account of illness. He cherished an affectionate memory for his former masters and was very kind to us for their sakes; not only lending the house, but giving us a supply of milk morning and evening, and constantly sending presents of fowls, eggs, and goats.

A harder day's work than we anticipated was in store for us, and had we known what making calls upon all the Arabs involved we should not so readily have undertaken it, although the customs of a country must be observed.

We began with a somptuous breakfast with Said ibn Salim, after which he conducted us, with much state and ceremony, to pay the promised round of visits to the local magnates. According to usage we were expected to eat and drink at every house we entered, but though doing our utmost to show appreciation of the kind intentions of our hosts, our capacities were but limited, and I am afraid we were scarcely equal to partaking of the proffered hospitality to the extent they would have wished.

The Arabs at Unyanyembé live in great comfort, having large and well-built houses with gardens and fields in which they cultivate wheat, onions, cucumbers, and fruits introduced from the coast. They maintain constant communication with Zanzibar in paceful times, and thus obtain supplies of coffee, tea, sugar, soap, candles, curry powder, and various luxuries.

But at this time they were much harrassed by Mirambo, with whom they had waged war for years without seeing any prospect of a speedy and successful termination to the hostilities.

The whole truth of the cause of this war I did not ascertain whilst at Unyanyembé; but I learnt some particulars afterwards. It appeared that Mirambo was originally the chief of a small district of Unyamwési, and for a number of years evinced a strong friendship towards the Arabs and even yet maintained friendly relations with many of them. Several had houses situated close to his village, and he had frequently given fifty cattle at a time as a present to any one whom he esteemed.

But some unprincipled fellow took advantage of this good-nature to obtain a large quantity of ivory on credit, and when payment became due laughed at Mirambo for having trusted him. Mirambo then applied to the Arabs at Unyanyembé to assist him in bringing the matter to a just settlement, but as they turned a deaf ear to his complaints he determined to arrange affairs according to his own wishes.

Shortly afterwards a caravan commanded by a partner of the man who had cheated Mirambo arrived on the borders of his territory and he refused to allow it to pass unless the outstanding debt was paid. The Arab yielding to adverse circumstances consented to meet a portion but not the whole debt, but Mirambo being in no humour for half-measures took the law into his own hands, and the caravan was worsted in the struggle.

Since that time an irregular, desultory warfare has been carried on, greatly to the detriment of trade and causing an immense amount of misery; for Mirambo is always on the move and brings destruction wherever the people decline to join him. On more than one occasion he has invaded the settlement of the Arabs in Unyanyembé and carried off their cattle from under their eyes, whilst they have barricaded themselves in their houses, being afraid to offer any resistance.

A thousand Balooches in the pay of Syud Burghash were quartered in Unyanyembé, and during our stay the force was stregthened by the arrival of two thousand coast people. Besides this little army the Arabs have native allies, and had they any union amongst themselves Mirambo might easily have been defeated and his power altogether broken long since. There were, however, many different cliques jealous of each other, and no settled plan of campaign was ever followed out.

On both sides the war was prosecuted with the most revolting barbarity and cruelty. They had no idea of fair fighting, but considered that the greatest glory was won by burning villages inhabited by unoffending people, and surprising and murdering small parties and individuals by stratagem.

This barbarous system was fostered by the Arabs, who rewarded any man bringing in a trophy of a fallen foe by presenting him with a slave and a concubine.

Such a course naturally provoked retaliation on the part of Mirambo's men, and so the struggle became more and more embittered. For my own part I cannot but admire the pluck and determination shown by Mirambo.

Two days after our round of visiting and entertainment I was attacked by fever, Dillon and Murphy quickly followed suit. Indeed during our stay here we passed the greater part of our time down with fever.

The pagazi engaged for the journey to Unyanyembé having taken their departure after payment, those whom we had hired by the month apparently thought this a favourable opportunity for going on strike and demanding two months' pay in advance. As long as possible I resisted, but ultimately agreed to advance one month's wages. They would have deserted en masse had I not yielded to some extent and some fifty ot sixty deserted after obtaining this partial compliance with their demands.

Although the more respectable Arabs showed us great kindness and rendered much assistance, I am compelled to add that many of the smaller traders threw every possible obstacle in our way, tempting our men to desert and even carrying them off in some cases against their will.

One case was especially galling, some of our pagazi whilst drunk being enticed away by a man on the point of starting for the coast, although he well knew they belonged to us. On hearing of this proceeding I sent to remonstrate, and in reply received a message to the effect that he should retain the pagazi unless I agreed to pay him three doti a man, which he averred he had advanced to them.

Not feeling inclined to submit to this extortion I represented the matter to the governor, who investigated the case, and ordered the men to be given up. Before the conclusion of the affair another attack of fever laid ne low, and Dillon, not knowing the full particulars of the case, yielded to the man's demand.

When I recovered I found to my chagrin that not only had the cloth gone, but the men had also disappeared, having been marched out of Unyanyembé in chains.

Whilst remaining here a caravan belonging to Mtésa, chief of Uganda, arrived, bringing a letter from Sir Samuel Baker addressed to Dr. Livingstone. I thought it advisable to open the letter to ascertain whether it contained any news of Livingstone. It was dated from Fort Fatiko, and in it Sir Samuel mentioned having had some trouble with Kabba Regga (Kamrasi), chief of Unyoro, by which he had lost many followers, but that Mtésa having sent men to assist him he had passed through the difficulty.

As these people said they should at once return to Mtésa's, I entrusted them with a letter for Sir Samuel, and also two for Mtésa - one in English, which was, of course, only a matter of form; the other in Arabic, the contents of which would, I knew, be explained by a Mohammedan missionary who had resided with him for some years.

I also forwarded two good cloth as a present, for at that time there appeared some possibility of receiving directions from Dr. Livingstone to proceed to Victoria Nyanza.

We heard that the only obstacle in converting Mtésa to the Mohammedan religion was the difficulty experienced in finding any one sufficiently bold to perform the rite of circumcision, for it was feared that death would be meted out to one who caused him pain.

At the end of August Shaykh ibn Nassib and Abdallah ibn Nassib, two brothers in command of the Sultan's troops, came in from the scene of the last fighting with Mirambo. They were fine specimens of Arab gentlemen and we speedily became great friends; and as their settlement was only a few hundred yards from our house, visits were constantly interchanged. They also proved of great service on one occasion when our askari mutinied and the expedition narrowly escaped being altogether broken up.

The mutiny arose through one of the askari taking the law into his own hands on discovering that a doti of cloth had been stolen from him by a pagazi. Instead of reporting the man to me for punishment he proceeded to wreak vengeance on the thief, and with the assistance of three comrades triced up the culprit by the heels and left him hanging.

Issa, passing that way, fortunately saw the poor wretch and immediately came to me exclaining that four of the askari were killing a man. On running to the rescue I found the miserable creature with his heels in the air and blood pouring from his nose, mouth, and ears, leaving no doubt that all would soon have been over with him.

I then ordered Bombay to put in chains the four ruffians who had committed this outrage; but he instantly returned with the startling intelligence that the askari refused to obey orders.

As I was still attending to the pagazi, who began to show symptoms of recovery, I told Bombay to give the askari notice that if they would not obey orders they should no longer be soldiers of Englishmen; but that they should be stripped of their red coats, made to lay down their arms, and be dismissed.

He then left me, but instead of making any attempt at enforcing the order to put the four men in chains he merely said, "Master, no want you; put down coats and guns and go." Of course the whole number, with the exception of our servants and a few who were sick, immediately went, and the four original offenders escaped.

In this difficulty I appealed to Shaykh and Abdallah ibn Nassid, who promised their assistance and sent to acquaint the governor of the occurence and to obtain his permission to act. This resulted in the four men who commenced the trouble being captured and brought the following morning in chains, while the others made their humble submission.

On the intercesion of the Ibn Nassibs I reinstated the askari, but punished the ringleaders by keeping them a fortnight in chains. Bombay had acted most stupidly, and indeed during our stay ay Unyanembé was generally drunk and useless; but he now promised reforamtion, and as I hoped that he really intended to do well I did not punish him.

Several attempts were made at starting from Unyanyembé, but were unsuccessful owing to the pagazi I engaged so constantly deserting. They are always paid in advance on being engaged, according to custom, and at last it almost amounted to paying a man, feeding him for a few days. and then seeing his face no more.

The unpleasantness of our situation may be judged by the following extracts from letters sent home by Dillon and myself at this time. Writing on August 23rd, Dillon, who was usually blessed with buoyant spirits, commenced hs letter, -

"Now for a dismal tale of woe ! On or about (none of us know the date correctly) August 13th Cameron felt seedy. I never felt better, ditto Murphy. In the evening we felt seedy. I felt determined not to be sick. 'I will eat dinner; I'll not go to bed.' Murphy was between the blankets already. I did manage some dinner; but shakes enough to bring an ordinary house down came on, and I had to turn in. For the next four or five days our diet was water or milk. Not a soul to look after us. The servants knew not what to do. We got up when we liked, and walked out. We knew that we felt giddy; that ourlegs would scarcely support us. I used to pay a visit to Cameron, and he used to come in to me to make complaints. One day he said, 'The fellows have regularly blocked me in - I have no room to stir. The worst of it is one of the legs of the grand piano is always on my head, and people are strumming away all day. It's all drawing-room furniture that they have blocked me in with.' I was under the impression that my bed was on the top of a lot of ammunition panniers, and I told Murphy I was sorry I could not get away sooner to call on him; but I had the King of Uganda stopping with me, and I must be civil to him, as we should shortly be in his country. Murphy pretty well dozed his fever off, but I never went to sleep from beginning to end. We all got well on the same day, about, I suppose, the fifth (of the fever), and laughed heartily at each other's confidences. The Arabs sent every day to know how we were, or called themselves, bringing sweet limes, pomegranates, or custard apples. . . .

September, 1873"September 8th.. - We have had a second dose of the beastly (excuse the word) fever. On the morning of the third day of our attack (about the seventh of Cameron's) I saw Murphy get up and steer for the open end of the room, staggering as he went, and endeavouring to get clear of a lot of ammunition which had been emptied from the panniers, but he failed to keep in the right line; apparently seeing that he must go on to the 'rocks ahead', he staggered slower and slower, taking very short steps, till, coming in contact with the edge of a heap of empty cartridges, he gradually subsided on the top of them, with a groan, on his hands and knees. The sight appeared to me to be so ludicrous - a big, powerful fellow not being able to get out of a room without a door or fourth wall - that I laughed as loud as my prostate condition would admit of. This had the effect of bringing him to his senses, and he struggled to his feet and balanced himself out. The whole thing must have been seen to have been appreciated, and by one in a similar state of helplessness as the victim. You can imagine how this fever prostrates one. A slight headache is felt, one feels that one must lie down, though one does not feel ill. The next morning one walks, or tries to walk, across the room; one finds one must allow one's body to go wherever one's foot chooses to place itself, and a very eccentric course the poor body has to take sometimes in consequence. Drink! drink ! drink ! cold water, milk, tea - anything. Bale it out of a bucket, or drink it out of the spout of the teapot."

Writing myself on September 20th, with my troubles uppermost my mind, I said, -

"I am very savage just at this moment, as I have been trying for two days to get enough men together to form a camp a short way out, in order to see all right for marching, and all the pagazi declare they are afraid. I think I am past the fever here now, as although I have had it six times the last attacks have been getting lighter; and the only thing bothering me now is my right eye, which is a good deal inflamed, but I think is getting better. I think it was caused by the constant glare and dust round the house."

"September 30th." - Here I am stil, trying to make a preliminary start, but not one of my pagazi will come in; at least I can't get more than a dozen together out of one hundred and thirty I have engaged, and I can't manage much with them. I am still greatly bothered with my eye, as, if I use the other much, it brings on pain."

October, 1873"October 14th." - Just able to try and write again, but I have been quite blind, and very bad with fever since my last words. I have been more pulled down by the latter than any I have had before, and was feeling very much as if I should like to be with you all for a day or two. . . . I am in great hopes of getting out of here soon now. Dillon is more alive, and growling at not getting away. . . . I am writing this bit by bit, as my eyes allow me, so don't expect much coherence or sense in the epistle."

September, 1873

In a letter to Mr. Clements Markham, I wrote, -

"September 15th." - We have all been down with fever since we have been here, but are now pulling round again. It is a great nuisance, as the fever makes me lose my lunars; I tried directly I was able to think to get some, but wasso shakey and dazed it was utterly impossible.

"Since I wrote the foregoing I have been down with fever, but am now, thank God, clear of it. We are waiting for a few pagazi, and putting our donkeys'saddle-bags prior to starting for Ujiji, which I find can be reached in twenty-two marches or about thirty days. I am afraid Dillon must go back, as he is getting quite blind, in fact the last day or two he has been quite unable to read or write; one eye was affected first, and now the other is going : he ought decidedly, in my opinion, to go back, and I have strongly advised him to do so.

"September 20th. - It is something dreadful this waiting here. Here is the 20th September, and I am bothered still by the lack of pagazi. If I had been well, we should have been away weeks ago; but out of forty-five days, I have had one fever of eight days, one of seven, one of five, one of four, and now just getting well of a violent attack of headache, which lasted for five days (and of course do not feel particularly bright), so I have only had sixteen days. Dillon is much better, and has decided to go on; he is not all right yet, though. . . .

"September 26th and 27th. - Still detained by lack of pagazi, but I hope to be off n about ten days or so. I have just had another attack of fever, and this is the first day I have been able to do anything. Dillon seems to have fever every other day nearly, but not very violently; but what I am most afraid of is his sight. He has quite lost the use of his left eye, and has occasional symptoms in his right. It is atony of the optic nerve. If he gets quite blind further on, I do not see my way to sending him back; in fact it would be impossible for the greater portion of our route, and he himself says getting back to a temperate climate would be the only thing to do him good. . . .

"September 29th. - Yesterday, by dint of great labour, I got sixteen pagazi together at about 2 p.m., and to-day I hear they are all collected at Taborah, and afraid to go on, and I am here with my tent cleared out, and not a soul to move a thing. I shall go mad soon, if this state of affairs continues. I am thinking of going on by myself as light as I can, if I can get enough of the pagazi I have engaged, and making a drive somehow. . . .

"I have sent over to Taborah to try and get the pagazi to come over and go on, but it is dreadful. Oh for a chance to get out of this fever-stricken place, and to feel one is doing something ! I should feel as happy as a king, ay, and far happier too, if I only heard I could go on, even if I had to walk barefoot the whole way. If I go on by myself I should take nine askari, and arm six of the best pagazi with spare rifles, which, with my servant, would give me sixteen well-armed men, besides myself; and if I can only get them to stick together, I should feel perfectly confident. Coûte que coûte, I must go somehow or another, as I don't feel justified in stopping here any longer.

October, 1873"October 18th."Since I wrote the last, I have been quite blind of both eyes, and very bad indeed with fever, so I have been helpless.

"These horrible fevers and my blindness have quite prevented my doing anything since I last wrote, and my eyes now are anything but perfect in work or feeling; however, they are now getting better rapidly, but of course the moon has passed, and I have got no lunars."

The above is sufficient to show how constantly we were ill, and of this the men took advantage to absent themselves. They also worried us into allowing them extra provisions, and cloth, which they well knew would have been refused but for our illness. I managed to hold out against their importunities; but while I was delirious they asked Dillon and Murphy to allow their rations to be doubled, and by dint of persisting obtained compliance.

In consequence of the great losses we sustained by the desertion of pagazi I was obliged to buy cloth at a price four times as high as at Zanzibar, or we should have been regularly stranded.

The Arabs were perfectly right at charging this price, since no caravans from the coast had arrived for some time and stores had become very scarce. In fact, I cannot speak too highly of the behaviour of the upper classes of Arabs towards us during our stay at Unyanyembé.

When we were ill they called or sent daily to enquire for us, and limes, tamarinds, and other fruits, as also dishes of well-cooked curry far beyond the attainments of our own cordon bleu, were constantly sent to us, besides such presents as a bullock, a goat, a dozen fowls, or a basket of eggs. In our intervals of convalescence we used to return their calls, and were always most warmly welcomed.

Hearing that a great auction was to be held a Taborah, for the sale of the effects of some Arabs who had been killed while fighting with the Warori, - a savage trive whose territory lies in the route to the southern end of Tanganyika - I went to see their manner of conducting it.

In two large rooms were assembled nearly a hundred and fifty traders - Arabs, Wasuahili, and Wamerima - and three men acted as auctioneers.

The first part of the sale consisted of household ustensils, kettles, coffee-pots, bedding, and a small quantity of trading stores; and the auctioneers carried each article round the assemblage, gesticulating violently and insisting that it was the best thing of its sort that had ever been brought to Unyanyembé, and asking each and every one what amount they would bid for it. After two or three rounds the articles was knocked down to the highest bidder, whose name and the price given were entered in the inventory which had been previously prepared.

The second part was devoted to the sale of slaves. They were led round, made to show their teeth, to cough, run, and lift weights, and in some instances to exhibit their dexterity in handling a musket.

All these slaves were semi-domestic, and fetched high prices; one woman who was reputed a good cook going for two hundred dollars, and many of the men reached eighty dollars, whilst in no instance was the price under forty.

A sad and eventful day now arrived.

It was the 20th of October, as I lay on my bed prostrate, listless, and enfeebled from repeated attacks of fever; my mind dazed and confused with whirling thoughts and fancies of home and those dear ones far away, that my servant, Mohammed Malim, came running into my tent with a letter in his hand.

I snatched it from him, asking at the same moment where it came from. His only reply was, "Some man bring him."

Tearing it open, I found Jacob's Wainwright's letter - a facsimile of which is here given.

Being half-blind it was with some difficulty that I deciphered the writing, and then failing to attach any definite meaning to it I went to Dillon. His brain was in much the same state of confusion from fever as mine, and we read it again together, each having the same vague idea - "Could it ve our own father who was dead?"

It was not until the bearer of the letter - Chuma, Livingstone's faithful follower - was brought to us that we fully comprehended what we had been reading. The writer had naturally supposed that the doctor's son was the leader of the Relief Expedition. We immediately sent supplies for the pressing needs of the caravan and despatched a messenger to the coast announcing Dr. Livingstone's death.

A good cook. Price two hundred dollars.	Manner of fettering slaves