fatal to the mules and donkeys. Speke and our Tots
would have known a tzetze fly had they seen one,
and we therefore concluded that their deaths must have
been caused by their eating deleterious grasses, for they
lived on what they could themselves pick up, having
neither corn nor hay. Here are the notes on one case :
“ 30th Dec. ’60. — Mule (the last red one) swollen
all over the body for the last two days; breathing
thickly; discoloured water oozing from the body;
on making incisions, blood and water came freely;
not relieved; half of tail cut off; no blood, only
water came; on pressing the body with thumb, the
impression remains. Miracle if he recovers ”—which
he never did. The donkeys had much more spirit
than the mules. We lost only three out of five during
the march, though overladen with bundles, pots,
and kettles. The wild zebra and donkeys mingled and
fraternised by distant neighs.
Some of the daily incidents seemed so strange and
interesting to me that I noted them rather fully, and
think a few quotations from the Journal now and
then may not be unacceptable. Extract: “ 8th Nov.
’60.—Peters reported ill yesterday; teeth clenched,
eyes rolling, body rigid, pulse 120; wouldn’t speak;
had been asleep in the sun. I recommended bleeding.
To-day he had ridden the march on a donkey, but could
not sit u p ; had to be lashed to the beast. He now
lay on the ground seemingly unconscious, his stomach
violently heaving. At 3 P.M. the caravan was under
way again. Lashed Peters on the saddle like a
Mazeppa! Fever still upon me.” f November 9th.—
‘ The man is dead,’ said the corporal, while we were
busy painting. We were all shocked. He had died
calmly without the knowledge of his comrades. I
had fever to-day.” “November 10th.—Funeral, 5 A.M.
The body sewed up in an American cloth; carried in a
blanket, four Tots with a corner each. The corporal,
Speke, and myself formed the procession, the corporal
carrying a hatchet and two sword-bayonets to extend
the grave if necessary. Found only a grave one foot
deep, and partly filled in with grass. Hatchets and
bayonets were used, and we got a place large enough.
I read the service, and afterwards returned to camp.
Sketched a I Goodse ’ tree. Had fever, no ague, but
mind wandering; very drowsy; disturbed rest. All
the niggers exceedingly jolly—singing, playing bells,
horns, drums, &c.”
At our first camping-ground by the coast there was
not a drop of water to be seen—a sad calamity ! But
Bombay, an old traveller, and always ready-witted,
relieved the minds of the Tots by telling them that a
well would be dug after the camp had settled down
a bit, which literally was the case. While near the
TCingani—a true African-looking river, with its tall
reed edges—we had abundance of water, but mawkish.
It was a white, muddy, sluggish stream 40 to
50 yards across, with steep clay banks 16 feet above
the water, and winding so much that no steamer could
make its sharp turns. Canoes ferried it. One well,
or puddle, a short distance from this river, made our
plated spoons quite black, and turned blue test-paper
red. In Ugogo the wells were from 11 to 15 feet
deep, of bluish clay upon rock, the water nitrous, and
nearly the price of beer. Sometimes, when there was
no water for thirty miles, a small quantity would be
carried in gourds, where, from the shaking and heat,