considerately dragged close to the entrance of my
camp.
“ June 22d.—Finding that the disgusting Turks had
deposited the dead body almost at my door, I had it
removed a couple of hundred yards to leeward. The
various birds of prey immediately collected—buzzards,
vultures, crows, and the great Marabou stork. I
observed a great bare-necked vulture almost succeed
in turning the body over by pulling at the flesh of the
arm at the opposite side to that where it stood. I
have noticed that birds of prey invariably commence
their attack upon the eyes, inner portions of the thighs,
and beneath the arms, before they devour the coarser
portions. In a few hours a well-picked skeleton was
all that was left of the Latooka.”
We were to start on the following day. My wife
was dangerously ill with bilious fever, and was unable
to stand, and I endeavoured to persuade the traders’
party to postpone their departure for a few days. They
would not hear of sueh a proposal; they had so irritated
the Latookas that they feared an attack, and
their captain, or vakeel, Ibrahim, had ordered them
immediately to vacate the country. This was a most
awkward position for me. The traders had induced
the hostility of the country, and I should bear the
brunt of it should I remain behind alone. Without
their presence I should be unable to procure porters,
as the natives would not accompany my feeble party,
especially as I could offer them no other payment but
•beads or copper. The rains had commenced within
the last few days at Latooka, and on the route towards
Obbo we should encounter continual storms. We were
to march by a long and circuitous route to avoid the
rocky passes that would be dangerous in the present
spirit of the country, especially as the traders possessed
large herds that must accompany the party. They
allowed five days’ march for the distance to Obbo by
the intended route. This was not an alluring programme
for the week’s entertainment, with my wife
almost in a dying sta te ! However, I set to work, and
fitted an angarep with arched hoops from end to end,
so as to form a frame like the cap of a wagon. This
I covered with two waterproof Abyssinian tanned
hides securely strapped; and lashing two long poles
parallel to the sides of the angarep, I formed an excellent
palanquin. In this she was assisted, and we
started on 23d June.
Our joint parties consisted of about three hundred
men. On arrival at the base of the mountains, instead
of crossing them as before, we skirted the chain to
the north-west, and then rounding through a natural
gap, we ascended gradually towards the south.