"
Next I set to work to get into communication with the bearers, who
thought, poor devils, that they had been but sold to a new master.
Here I may explain that they were slaves not meant for exportation,
but men kept to cultivate Hassan's gardens. Fortunately I found that
two of them belonged to the Mazitu people, who it may be remembered
are of the same blood as the Zulus, although they separated from the
parent stock generations ago. These men talked a dialect that I could
understand, though at first not very easily. The foundation of it was
Zulu, but it had become much mixed with the languages of other tribes
whose women the Mazitu had taken to wife.
Also there was a man who could speak some bastard Arabic, sufficiently
well for Sammy to converse with him.
I asked the Mazitus if they knew the way back to their country. They
answered yes, but it was far off, a full month's journey. I told them
that if they would guide us thither, they should receive their freedom
and good pay, adding that if the other men served us well, they also
should be set free when we had done with them.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163