This was a true anticipation; for, on the 31st, Mahamed came in with his triumphant army laden with ivory, and driving in five slave-girls and thirty head of cattle.
1st to 3d .-- I now wished to go on with the journey, as I could get no true information out of the suspicious blackguards who called themselves Turks; but Mahamed postponed it until the 5th, by which time he said he would be able to collect all the men he wanted to carry his ivory.
Rionga's men then departed, and Mahamed showed some signs of getting ready by ordering one dozen cows to be killed, the flesh of which was to be divided amongst those villagers who would carry his ivory, and the skins to be cut into thongs for binding the smaller tusks of ivory together in suitable loads.
4th and 5th .-- Another specimen of Turkish barbarity came under my notice, in the head man of a village bringing a large tusk of ivory to Mahamed, to ransom his daughter with; for she had been seized as a slave on his last expedition, in common with others who could not run away fast enough to save themselves from the Turks.

Fortunately for both, it was thought necessary for the Turks to keep on good terms with the father as an influential man; and therefore, on receiving the tusk, Mahamed gave back the girl, and added a cow to seal their friendship.
6th to 10th .-- I saw this land-pirate Mahamed take a blackmail like a negro chief.

Some men who had fled from their village when Mahamed's plundering party passed by them the other day, surprised that he did not stop to sack their homes, now brought ten large tusks of ivory to him to express the gratitude they said they felt for his not having molested them.

Mahamed, on finding how easy it was to get taxes in this fashion, instead of thanking them, assumed the air of the great potentate, whose clemency was abused, and told the poor creatures that, though they had done well in seeking his friendship, they had not sufficiently considered his dignity, else they would have brought double that number of tusks, for it was impossible he could be satisfied at so low a price.
"What," said these poor creatures, "can we do then?
for this is all we have got." "Oh," says Mahamed, "if it is all you have got now in store, I will take these few for the present; but when I return from Gondokoro, I expect you will bring me just as many more.

Good-bye, and look out for yourselves." Tired beyond all measure with Mahamed's procrastination, as I could not get him to start, I now started myself, much to his disgust, and went ahead again, leaving word that I would wait for him at the next place, provided he did not delay more than one day.