days, very few bright ones, never an Italian sky, as
too many vapours hung about this equatorial region.
The dews were heavy, and lay long, and the mould
getting amongst plants was very disheartening to the
collector, obliging him to discard many a souvenir.
Brushwood was used instead of firewood, which was
scarce and dear, otherwise the chilly mornings and
nights might have been cheered by the watchfire.
The country was luckily so hilly, that, though the rain
dashed with the N.E. wind into the red clayey soil,
making the hill-sides stream with muddy rivulets, one
hour after the “ pelt ” all had run down, and a gleam
of sunshine made the ground not unpleasant to walk
upon. The health of the men did not seem to suffer
from wet. Zanzibar people are accustomed to getting
ducked. I t keeps them occupied in repairing their
grass huts, collecting firewood, and making merry over
it, rather than causing despondency. With one case
of ophthalmia, and a few of fever, there were no other
cases of sickness amongst the half-dozen men left by
Speke on the 10 th January, when he departed for
Uganda, leaving me behind sick. At first sight this
appeared to some persons at home as an unkind proceeding,
leaving a helpless “ brother V in the heart of
Africa; but my companion was not the man to be
daunted; he was offered an escort to the north, and
all tender feelings must yield to the stem necessities
of the case. | Strike while the iron is hot,” applies to
Africa more appropriately than to any country I know;
another such opportunity might never occur, and had
the traveller’s determination of character been softened,
and had he not proceeded without me at that
time, we might never again — so little upsets the
mind of an African chief—have had the road opened
to us. .
The -following account of my own ailments I give,
not with a wish to parade them, but in order to convey
information :—Having had fevers twice a-month,
in December my usual complaint assumed a new
form. The right leg, from above the knee, became
deformed with inflammation, and remained for a
month in this unaccountable state, giving intense
pain, which was relieved temporarily by a deep incision
and copious discharge. For three months fresh
abscesses formed, and other incisions were made, my
strength was prostrated; the knee stiff and alarmingly
bent, and walking was impracticable. Many
cures were attempted by the natives, who all sympathised
with me in my sufferings, which they saw
were scarcely endurable; but I had great faith -was
all along cheerful and happy, except at the crisis of
this helpless state, when I felt that it would have been
preferable to be nearer home. The disease ran its
course, and daffy, to bring out the accumulated discharge,
I stripped my leg like a leech. Bombay had
heard of a poultice made of cow-dung, salt, and mud
from the lake; this was placed on hot, but it merely
produced the effect of a tight bandage. Baraka was
certain that a serpent had spat upon my leg “ it
could not have been a bite.” Dr M’nanagee, the sultan’s
brother, knew the disease perfectly; he could
send me a cure for it—and a mild gentle peasant of
the Wanyambo race came with his wife, a young pleasing
like person, to attend me. With the soft touch of
a woman he examined the limb, made cuts over the
skin with a penknife, ordered all lookers-on outside