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These things I have merely noticed in passing, because I shall hereafter have occasion to allude to a migratory people, the Watuta, who dressing much in the same manner, extend from Lake N'yassa to Uzinza, and may originally have been a part of this same Kafir race, who are themselves supposed to have migrated from the regions at present occupied by the Gallas.
This was permitted; but his wisdom in showing off was turned into ridicule; for the same evening the Watuta made and attack on his villages and killed three of his subjects, but were deterred from committing further damage by coming in contact with my men, who, as soon as they saw the Watuta fighting, fired their muskets off in the air and drove them away, they themselves at the same time bolting into my camp, and as usual vaunting their prowess.
He had been captured by the Watuta, who had cut off several of his toes. This man never deserted them during the journey, accompanying them to Cairo, having gained the character of a faithful servant. The Arab in Africa takes presents for everything he does, and it was believed that the white men would do the same.
August 27th. Mirambo retreated during the night; and when the Arabs went in force to attack his village of Kazima, they found it vacant. The Arabs hold councils of war now-a-days battle meetings, of which they seem to be very fond, but extremely slow to act upon. They were about to make friends with the northern Watuta, but Mirambo was ahead of them.
But far worse clad than these are the Wataturu, a tribe living to the eastward, and the Watuta, living to the westward of this place, besides the Warori and others. Of the first mentioned, the Wataturu, a people living a little to the northward of Turu, I have only seen a few males, and they were stark naked.
Two days afterwards, Musa's men came in with porters, who would not hire themselves for more than two marches, having been forbidden to do so by their chief on account of the supposed Watuta invasion; and for these two marches they required a quarter of the whole customary hire to Karague. During the whole of the two years' warfare the loss was only three men on each side.
They are very different in physical form and appearance from one another; for, whilst the Watusi alias Wahuma retain their Abyssinian type, the Watuta alias Zulu Kafirs are much more like the Somali and Masai thus, I think, showing that the Wahuma have detached themselves at a later period than the Kafirs from the parent stock.
To this Dr K'yengo, who was now living with Rumanika as his head magician, added that, whilst he was living in Utambara, the Watuta invested his boma six months; and finally, when all their cows and stores were exhausted, they killed all the inhabitants but himself, and he only escaped by the power of the charms which he carried about him.
As soon as this was settled, against my wish and opinion, a special messenger arrived from Suwarora, to inquire of Musa what truth there was in the story of the Arabs having allied themselves to the Watuta. He had full faith in Musa, and hoped, if the Arabs had no hostile intentions towards him, he, Musa, would send him two of theirs; further, Suwarora wished Musa would send him a cat.
When I was a free man I saw you at Uvira, on the Tanganyika lake, when you were there; but since then the Watuta, in a fight at Ujiji, speared me all over and left me for dead, when I was seized by the people, sold to the Arabs, and have been in chains ever since. Oh, I saw, Bana wangi, if you would only liberate me I would never run away, but would serve you faithfully all my life."
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