boiling in all directions, and a feast in store for the
hungry men who had marched twenty miles without
eating since the morning. The yams were cooked ;
but I did not like the look of them, and seeing that
the multitude were ready, I determined to reserve a
few for our own eating should they be generally pro-
nounced good. The men ate them voraciously. Hardly
ten minutes had elapsed from thè commencement of
the feast when first one and then another disappeared,
and from a distance I heard a smothered but unmistake-
able sound, that reminded me of the lurching effect of a
channel steamer upon a crowd of passengers. Presently
the boy Saat showed symptoms of distress, and
vanished from our presence ; and all those that had
dined off Ibrahimawa’s botanical specimens were suffering
from a most powerful“ vomi-purgatif.” The angels
that watch over scientific botanists had preserved Ibra-
himawa from all evil. He had discovered the yams,
and the men had stolen them from him ; they enjoyed
the fruits, while he gained an experience invaluable at
their expense. I was quite contented to have waited
until others had tried them before I made the experiment.
Many of the yam tribe are poisonous ; there
is one variety much liked at Obbo, but which is deadly
in its effects should it be eaten without a certain preparation.
I t is first scraped, and then soaked in a
running stream for a fortnight. It is then cut into
thin slices, and dried in the sun until quite crisp ; by
this means it is rendered harmless. The dried slices
are stored for use; and they are generally pounded in
a mortar into flour, and used as a kind of porridge.
The sickness of the people continued for about an
hour, during which time all kinds of invectives were
hurled against Ibrahimawa, and his botany was termed
a gigantic humbug. From that day he was very mild
in his botanical conversation.
On the following morning we crossed the last range
of rocky hills, and descended to the Latooka valley.
Up to this point, we had seen no game; but we had
now arrived in the game country, and shortly after
our descent from the rocks, we saw a herd of about
twenty Tetel (hartebeest). Unfortunately, just as I
dismounted for the purpose of stalking them, the red
flags of the Turks attracted the attention of a large
party of baboons, who were sitting on the rocks, and
they commenced their hoarse cry of alarm, and immediately
disturbed the Tetel. One of the men, in revenge,
fired a long shot at a great male, who was
sitting alone upon a high rock, and by chance the ball
struck him in the head. He was an immense specimen
of the Cynocephalus, about as large as a mastiff, but
with a long brown mane like that of the lion. This
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