The effect was magical. Early the following day Lokomogo stalked into camp, followed by a couple of men driving a small flock of thirteen sheep, which, after much circumlocution, he introduced as his present. El Hakim immediately made him a return present of a quantity of cloth, wire, and beads, of the value of something like twenty per cent. above the market price of the sheep. Lokomogo was delighted, and departed with his present with every sign of pleasure and good-will.
The other chiefs must have been waiting to see how Lokomogo’s present was received, as the next day, finding it had been satisfactory, the presents came in thick and fast, every present consisting of exactly thirteen sheep, neither more nor less than that brought by Lokomogo. Each donor received a return present over and above the market value of the sheep, and business fairly boomed, everybody being satisfied. Had we offered treble the value of the sheep in the ordinary way of business, we could not have bought any, as the market was glutted with trade goods. El Hakim, however, touched them on their weak spot when he made a ceremonial transaction of it, and the result fully justified his claim to a certain amount of insight into the working of the native mind.
About this time I was prostrated with a very severe toothache, which confined me to my tent for some days. By the time I was about again our scheme for the exchange of presents had worked so well that our cloth was almost exhausted, and we were nearly ready to take our departure for M’thara. We had now upwards of 500 sheep, and it promised to be a tedious task to transport them safely to Nairobi; more especially as we were extremely doubtful of our reception by the A’kikuyu of north-east Kenia.
Late in the evening two days before our departure from the Rendili settlement, a couple of the Somalis came into our camp exhibiting every symptom of alarm. They brought a message from Ismail to the effect that the Burkeneji warriors had killed and eaten three sheep[15] preparatory to attacking him and us. The attack was to take place during the small hours of the same night. His information emanated from some friendly Rendili.
We had already retired for the night, but we donned our clothes and went over to the Somali camp to see Ismail.
The Somali camp was in a great state of excitement. Ismail himself was serving out ammunition to his men with a lavish hand, and others of the Somalis were cutting bush and otherwise strengthening the boma. We did not quite believe their story, but as it would do no harm to take ordinary precautions, we returned to our own camp and proceeded to put it into a state of defence.
It was already well protected on two sides by a thick belt of bush, so thickly interlaced as to be impenetrable, and by a large fallen thorn tree, which, while easily seen through, formed a barrier as impassable to naked savages as a barbed wire entanglement. More thorn-bush was cut down and a strong barrier erected on the river side. On the opposite side, where the men’s tents were situated, we built another thorn fence, leaving the tents outside with the fires burning as usual, in the hope that in the event of hostilities the apparently unprotected tents would draw the first attack. We did not think that the enemy would feel inclined to make a second.
The men all slept under arms in the centre of our boma, with the exception of the sentries, whom we posted some distance outside the camp. The 8-bore, loaded with slugs, was placed handy, together with half a dozen of the blue flares, which would instantly light up the scene for a hundred yards round with an intense radiance as awe-inspiring to the enemy as it would be useful to ourselves. When our defensive preparations were completed we retired fully dressed to our blankets, and endeavoured to snatch a little sleep, with such success that we did not wake till sunrise.
We temporarily demolished the “boma” on the side on which the men’s tents stood, so that we should not give our scheme away should we be visited during the day by any of the Burkeneji, as, for all we knew, it might yet prove useful.
The Burkeneji were undoubtedly restless, as we found that they were moving their villages down the river again, some of them going as far as the eastern spur of the Zambo Plateau.