very heavily upon the ground, amidst a roar of laughter
from my men, in which I am afraid Mrs. Baker was
rude enough to join. The crest-fallen Katchiba was
assisted upon his legs, and feeling rather stunned, he
surveyed the horse with great astonishment; hut his
natural instincts soon prompted him to call for the jar
of beer, and after a long draught from the mighty
** v . .
cup, he regained his courage, and expressed an opinion
that the horse was “ too high, as it was a long way to
tumble down;” he therefore requested one of the
“ little horses these were the donkeys. Accordingly
he was mounted on a donkey, and held on by two men,
one on either side. Thus he started most satisfactorily
and exceedingly proud.
On his return the following day, he said that the
villagers had given bim the fowls immediately, as he
had told them that he had thirty Turks staying
with him on a visit, and that they would burn and
plunder the country unless they were immediately
supplied. He considered this trifling deviation from
fact as a great stroke of diplomacy in procuring the
fowls.
Six days after the loss of my horse, I was delighted
to see him brought back by the natives safe and well.
They had hunted through an immense tract of country,
and had found him grazing. He was naturally a most
vicious horse, and the natives were afraid to touch
bim ; they had accordingly driven him before them
until they gained the path, which he then gladly
followed. The saddle was in its place, but my sword
was gone.
The rains were terrifie; the mornings were invariably
fine, hut the clouds gathered upon the mountains
soon after noon and ended daily in a perfect deluge.
Not being able to proceed south, I determined to
return to my head-quarters at Latooka, and to wait
for the dry season. I had made the reconnaissance to
Farajoke, in latitude 3° 32", and I saw my way clear
for the future, provided my animals should remain in
good condition. Accordingly, on the 21st of May, we
started for Latooka in company with Ibrahim and his
men, who were thoroughly sick of the Obbo climate.
Before parting, a ceremony had to be performed by
Katchiba. His brother was to be our guide, and he
Was to receive power to eontrol the elements as deputy-
magician during the journey, lest we should be wetted
by the storms,'and the torrents should be so swollen
as to be impassable.
With great solemnity Katchiba broke a branch from
a tree, upon the leaves of which he spat in several
places. This branch, thus blessed with holy water,
was laid upon the ground, and a fowl was dragged