declaring that he had been brought across the river by his master, and had been engaged for the last two days in building bomas; the whole free population of Nyangwe with the ordinary Arab forces would, he said, attack us in a day or two. That same evening eight of our people, while fetching water from a spring within two hundred yards of the camp, were carried off by an Arab scouting party.

As the plot seemed to be thickening, everyone was on the alert. Towards midnight a tremendous uproar took place: the women of Lutete's camp stampeded and overran the corner of our camp in which Michaux's lines were situated. With great difficulty we got rid of them, but in less than an hour they again were panic-stricken, by the accidental discharge of a rifle, and a second time spread confusion throughout our camp.