第74章

Thewantofprovisionswassorelyfelt；fortunately，asourcowshadbeendyingdaily，thetroopshadsomesweetpotatoesthathadbeenpurchasedinexchangeforflesh。Thesewouldlastforafewdays。

Ashorttimebeforetheattack，IhadpromisedtosendKabbaRegaaporcelaincache-pot。Ithereforetooktheopportunityofremindingthesheikofmypromise，andIbeggedhimtodeliverthepieceofchinatoKabbaRegaasaproofofmypeacefulintentions，shouldhereallybeinnocentofthetreachery。

ThehandsomepresentwaswrappedupinredTurkeycloth，andthemessengersdeparted。

Iwatchedthemthroughthetelescope，and，upontheirarrivalatthevillagebelowus，Idistinctlywitnessed，notonlytheirreceptionbytheexpectantcrowd，butthecache-potwasunpackedandheldatarm’slengthabovethehead，tobeexhibitedtotheadmiringpeople。

Thislookedwell。Myofficersbegantobelieveinpeace；and，althoughIstillhadstrongsuspicions，IhopedthatthesignaldefeatwhichKabbaRega’sarmyhadsustainedhadsofarcowedthemastoinduceaterminationofhostilities，thatwouldenablemetocommunicatewithMajorAbdullah。

Theluggagefromthegovernmentdivanhadallbeencarriedtothefort。

Thiswasnowreturnedtoouroriginalquarters；mywifeandherblackmaidswereworkinghardatrearrangingtherooms。

Thenightpassedquietly。

On10thofJuneamatongaleandseveralnativesarrivedfromKabbaRega，withamostpolitemessageandfriendlyassurances，accompaniedbyapresentoftwobeautifulwhitecows。

Themessengerscorroboratedthestatementoftheprecedingday，thatlargequantitiesofprovisionswerebeingpreparedforus，togetherwithtwentyelephants’tusks，whichweretobedeliveredasapeace-offeringbyRahonkaandKittakarainperson。

Affairslookedbrighter。Itwasmybestpolicytosecurepeaceifpossible。

IdeterminedtosendKabbaRega，inreturnforhispresentofcows，thelargeGenevamusicalbox，withdrumsandbells，whichhehadalwaysdesired。

Nooneknewhowtowinditup；anditwasnecessarythatsomepersonshouldaccompanyitwiththenativemessengers。

Theclerkofthedetachment，Ramadan，whohasalreadybeenmentionedasafavouritewiththenatives，andagoodlinguist，atoncevolunteeredtobethebearerofthepresent。SincethebattleofMasindi，Ramadanhadbeeninfrequentpersonalcommunicationwiththenatives，andheassuredmethattherewasageneraldesireforpeacefulrelations。HewassupposedtobeafavouriteofKabbaRega’s，anditwasthereforearrangedthatheshouldaccompanythemusicalbox，whichwasagoodloadforafast-travellingnative。

Hafiz，thefarrier，whoseoccupationwasnearlygonebythedeathofallthehorsesbuttwo，volunteeredtoaccompanyRamadan。Iorderedthemtogounarmed，astheirpeacefulmissionwouldbeatonceunderstood；thisfactwouldestablishconfidenceamongthenatives。

Itwasabout3P。M。whentheystarted，andwewatchedtheirarrivalinthevillagewiththetelescope，wheretheyappearedtobewellreceived。

Intheeveningtheybothreturnedwiththemusicalbox，

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节