AN ATTACK. 29 ten miles from that place. I discovered that the reason we were attacked was that my men had been robbing in all directions, according to the custom, and the natives, thinking that they were stronger than we were, had intended to retake their lost property. I only wish I had been able to punish my men, but the only person with me whom I could trust being a small boy, I was obliged to say little about it. I was very much amused at the way a man had been tied up the night before for misbehaving himself. He was made to lie on his back, and two thick poles were driven into the ground, crossing each other just over his neck ; his arms were then tied to the poles at the wrists, as high up as they could stretch them. I thought that he was quite securely fastened ; but it is not so easy to tie up a negro, and in the middle of the night he escaped, causing great confusion.

For ten miles immediately preceding Kahiira, the road lies through the most splendid park-like land, with no swamps, so that the march was really pleasant. Kahura is a very pleasant town ; its owner, Maraku, had been killed about three weeks before my arrival. He and about 200 of his men had been attacked by Kabrega's warriors, and had been completely destroyed, only three men escaping to bring back the news. I did not stay within the stockade itself, but encamped in a banana-grove at a little distance to the east of the town. I was five days at