bracelets, and a number of natives were sent by the
chief to scour the jungles.
There was little use in remaining at Farajoke, therefore
I returned to Obbo with my men and donkeys,
accomplishing the whole distance (thirty miles) in one
day.
I was very anxious about Mrs. Baker, Who had been
the representative of the expedition at Obbo during
my absence.
Upon my approach through the forest, my well-
known whistle was immediately answered by the
appearance of the boy Saat, who, without any greeting,
immediately rushed to the hut to give the intelligence
that “ Master was arrived.”
I found my wife looking remarkably well, and regularly
installed “ at home.” Several fat sheep Were tied
by the legs to pegs in front of the h u t; a number of
fowls were peeking around the entrance, and my wife
awaited me on the threshold with a large pumpkin
shell containing about a gallon of native beer. “ Dulce
domum,” although but a mud hut, the loving welcome
made' it happier than a palace; and that draught of
Beer, or fermented mud, or whatever trash it might be
compared with in' England, how delicious it seemed
after a journey of thirty miles in the broiling su n !
and the fat sheep and the fowls all looked so luxurious.
Alas !—for destiny—my arrival cut short the existence
of one being ; what was joy to some Was death to a
sheep, and in a few moments the fattest was slain in
honour of master’s return, and my men were busily
employed in preparing it for a general feast.
Numbers of people gathered round me ; foremost
among them was the old chief Katchiba, whose self-
satisfied countenance exhibited an extreme purity of
conscience in having adhered to his promise to act as
guardian during my absence, Mrs. Baker gave him
an excellent character ; he had taken the greatest care
of her, and had supplied all the luxuries that had so
much excited my appetite on the first coup d’oeil of my
home. He had been so mindful of his responsibility,
that he had placed some of his own sons as sentries
over the hut both by day and night.
I accordingly made him a present of many beads
and bracelets, and a few odds and ends, that threw him
into ecstacies : he had weak eyes, and the most valued
present was a pair of sun-goggles, which I fitted on his
head, to his intense delight, and exhibited in a looking-
glass—this being likewise added to his gifts. I noticed
that he was very stiff in the back, and he told me that
he had had a bad fall during my absence. My wife
explained the affair. He had come to her to declare
his intention of procuring fowls for her from some