“The caravan stopped, and I walked forward to ascertain the cause from the two natives. I was greeted politely by the two Wahha with the usual yambos, and was then asked, ‘Why does the white man pass by the village of the King of Uhha without salutation and a gift? Does not the white man know that there lives a king in Uhha to whom the Wangwana and Arabs pay something for the right of passage?’
“‘Why, we paid last night to the chief of Kawanga, who informed us he was the man deputed by the King of Wahha to collect the toll.’
“‘How much did you pay?’
“‘Ten doti of good cloth.’
“‘Are you sure?’
“‘Quite sure. If you ask him he will tell you so.’
“‘Well!’ said one of the Wahha, a fine, handsome, intelligent-looking youth, ‘it is our duty to the king to halt you here until we find out the truth of this. Will you walk to our village and rest yourselves, under the shade of the trees until we can send messengers to Kawanga?’
“‘No, the sun is but an hour high, and we have far to travel; but in order to show you we do not seek to pass through your country without doing that which is right, we will rest where we now stand, and we will send with your messenger two of our soldiers, who will show you the man to whom we paid the cloth.’
“The messenger departed; but in the meantime the handsome youth, who turned out to be a nephew of the king, whispered some order to a lad, who immediately hastened away, with the speed of an antelope, to the cluster of villages we had just passed. The result of this errand, as we soon saw, was the approach of a body of warriors, about fifty in number, headed by a tall, fine-looking man, who was dressed in a crimson robe, called joho, two ends of which were tied in a knot over the left shoulder; a new piece of American sheeting was folded like a turban around his head, and a large, curved piece of polished ivory was suspended to his neck. He and all his people were armed with spears and bows and arrows, and their advance was marked with a deliberation that showed they felt perfect confidence in any issue that might transpire.
“The gorgeously-dressed chief was a remarkable man in appearance. His face was oval in form, with high cheek-bones, eyes deeply sunk, a prominent and bold forehead and a well-cut mouth; he was tall in figure and perfectly symmetrical.