In the afternoon of the 22d, as we approached
Chogué, the little Beluch jemadar, with the rest of
the guard, turned out to welcome us, and gloat over
the successful termination of an artful trick he felt
himself the father of. He spread mats for us to sit
upon, and brought the universal coffee-pot and some
sweetmeats as a relish to refresh us and increase the
triumph ; for the little man, no doubt, thought he
had gained his prize.
The next three days were spent in making different
excursions, shooting hippopotami in the vicinity of
the outpost ; and on the 26th February we returned
to Pangani, Captain Burton dropping down the river
in a canoe, whilst I, to complete the survey of the
country and to check my former work on the river,
walked with Bombay to Pombui, ferried across the
stream there, and came by the right bank down to
Buòni, on the shore of the Pangani Bay. Here I
recrossed the river again, and found Sheikh Said
and my “ boy ” Gaetano, with all the traps arranged,
ready at the old house for our reception. Our vessel
had been discharged at the expiration of the first
month’s engagement, and we were now expecting a
second one from Zanzibar, to continue the cruise southward
along the shore, and gain a fuller knowledge of
the various entrepôts of caravans. I had by this time
become much attached to Bombay, for I must say I
never saw any black man so thoroughly honest and
conscientious as he was, added to which, his generosity
was unbounded ; and I thought (as we shall see afterwards
proved to be the case) he would turn out a
most valuable servant for the future journey—a regular
§f Friday.” The only difficulty now was how to
obtain his discharge from the service he was in ; but
this the jemadar, who followed us down to Pangani
to receive the wages for the men who accompanied us
to Fuga, said he would arrange, if Bombay felt willing,
and would leave a substitute to act for him whilst he
was away. A compact was accordingly concluded, by
which Bombay became my servant for the time being,
at five dollars per mensem, with board and lodging
on the journey found him. The jemadar now left us,
with a present for himself and the hire of his men,
and we were all alone.
On the 1st March a violent bilious fever attacked
me, and also floored Captain Burton and Valantine.
It appeared in the form of the yellow jack of Jamaica,
and made us all as yellow as guineas; and had we
been able to perspire, I have no doubt we should have
sweated out a sort of yellow ochre which a painter
might have coveted. In this state we lay physicking
ourselves until the 5th, when a vessel chartered
by the Consul, and stored with delicacies of all kinds
by our generous, thoughtful old host for the journey
southwards, arrived, and took us off. Captain Burton
being still under the influences of this terrible scourge,
and very ill, even to absolute prostration, and occasionally
wandering in his mind, he gave up his projected
plans, and we returned at once to Zanzibar,
reaching it on the 6th March.