28th January, 1871.—­A safari, under Hassani and Ebed, arrived with news of great mortality by cholera (Towny), at Zanzibar, and my “brother,” whom I conjecture to be Dr. Kirk, has fallen.  The men I wrote for have come to Ujiji, but did not know my whereabouts; when told by Katomba’s men they will come here, and bring my much longed for letters and goods. 70,000 victims in Zanzibar alone from cholera, and it spread inland to the Masoi and Ugogo!  Cattle shivered, and fell dead:  the fishes in the sea died in great numbers; here the fowls were first seized and died, but not from cholera, only from its companion.  Thirty men perished in our small camp, made still smaller by all the able men being off trading at the Metamba, and how many Manyuema died we do not know; the survivors became afraid of eating the dead.

Formerly the Cholera kept along the sea-shore, now it goes far inland, and will spread all over Africa; this we get from Mecca filth, for nothing was done to prevent the place being made a perfect cesspool of animals’ guts and ordure of men.[11] A piece of skin bound round the chest of a man, and half of it hanging down, prevents waste of strength, and he forgets and fattens.

Ebed’s party bring 200 frasilahs of all sorts of beads; they will cross Lualaba, and open a new field on the other, or Young’s Lualaba:  all Central Africa will soon be known:  the evils inflicted by these Arabs are enormous, but probably not greater than the people inflict on each other.  Merere has turned against the Arabs, and killed one; robbing several others of all they had, though he has ivory sufficient to send down 7000 lbs. to the coast, and receive loads of goods for 500 men in return.  He looks as if insane, and probably is so, and will soon be killed.  His insanity may be the effect of pombe, of which he drinks largely, and his people may have told him that the Arabs were plotting with Goambari.  He restored Mohamad’s ivory and slaves, and sent for the other traders who had fled, saying his people had spoken badly, and he would repay all losses.

The Watuta (who are the same as the Mazitu) came stealing Banyamwezi cattle, and Mteza’s men went out to them, and twenty-two were killed, but the Lewale’s people did nothing.  The Governor’s sole anxiety is to obtain ivory, and no aid is rendered to traders.  Seyed Suleiman the Wazeer is the author of the do-nothing policy, and sent away all the sepoys as too expensive, consequently the Wagogo plunder traders unchecked.  It is reported that Egyptian Turks came up and attacked Mteza, but lost many people, and fled.  The report of a Moslem Mission to his country was a falsehood, though the details given were circumstantial:  falsehood is so common, one can believe nothing the Arabs say, unless confirmed by other evidence:  they are the followers of the Prince of lies—­Mohamad, whose cool appropriation of the knowledge gained at Damascus, and from the Jews, is perfectly disgusting.