“‘We must stop now. It is noon. You have broken our march. We will go and camp in your village,’ I said, at the same time rising, and pointing to the men to take up their loads.
“We were compelled to camp, there was no help for it; the messengers had not returned from Kawanga. Having arrived at his village, Mionvu cast himself at full length under the scanty shade afforded by a few trees without the boma. About 2 P. M. the messengers returned, saying it was true the chief of Kawanga had taken ten cloths, not however for the King of Uhha, but for himself.
“Mionvu, who, evidently, was keen-witted and knew perfectly what he was about, now roused himself and began to make miniature fagots of thin canes, ten to each fagot, and shortly he presented ten of these small bundles, which together contained one hundred, to me, saying, ‘Each stick represents a cloth.’ The amount of the bonga required by the King of Uhha was one hundred cloths,—nearly two bales.
“Recovering from our astonishment, which was almost indescribable, we offered ten. ‘Ten to the King of Uhha! Impossible. You do not stir from Lukomo until you pay one hundred,’ exclaimed Mionvu in a significant manner.
“I returned no answer, but went to my hut, which Mionvu had cleared for my use, and Bombay, Asmani, Mabruski, and Chowpereh were invited to come to me for consultation. Upon my asking them if we could not fight our way through Uhha, they became terror-stricken, and Bombay, in imploring accents, asked me to think well what I was about to do, because it was useless to enter on a war with the Wahha. Said he, ‘Uhha is a plain country; we cannot hide anywhere. Every village will rise all about us; and how can forty-five men fight thousands of people? Think of it, my dear master, and do not throw your life away for a few rags of cloth.’
“‘Well, but, Bombay, this is robbery. Shall we give the fellow everything he asks? He might as well ask me for all the cloth and all my guns without letting him see that we can fight.’
“‘No, no, dear master; don’t think of it for a moment. Pay Mionvu what he asks and let us go away from here. This is the last place we shall have to pay, and in four days we shall be in Ujiji.’
“‘Did Mionvu tell you that this is the last place we should have to pay?’
“‘He did, indeed.’”
Each of the others whom Stanley had chosen as counsellors advised him to yield to the extortion of Mionvu and pay rather than provoke a fight.