and wife ; thus all parties were satisfied, and the sheep
was immediately killed for dinner.
“ The following morning Katchiba appeared at my
door with a large red flag, made of a piece of cotton
cloth that the Turks had given him ; he was accompanied
by two men beating large drums, and a third
playing a kind of clarionet : this playing at soldiers
was an imitation of the Turks. He was in great spirits,
being perfectly delighted with the necklace I had sent
him.”
“ Oct. 6th.—I have examined my only remaining
donkey ! he is a picture of misery—eyes and nose
running, coat staring, and he is about to start to join
his departed comrades ; he has packed up for his last
journey. With his loose skin hanging to his withered
frame he looked like the British lion on the shield over
the door of the Khartoum consulate. In that artistic
effort the lion was equally lean and ragged, having
perhaps been thus represented by the artist as a pictorial
allusion to the smallness of the Consul’s pay ;
the illustration over the shabby gateway utters, ‘ Behold
my leanness ! 1501, per annum !’
' “ I feel a touch of the poetic stealing over me when
I look at my departing donkey. ‘ I never loved a dear
gazelle,’ &e.; but the practical question, ‘Who is to
carry the portmanteau ?’ remains unanswered. I do
not believe the Turks have any intention of going to
Kamrasi’s country; they are afraid, as they have heard
that he is a powerful king, and they fear the restrictions
that power will place upon their felonious propensities.
In that case I shall go on without them ;
but they have deceived me, by borrowing 165lbs. of
beads which they cannot repay; this puts me to much
inconvenience. The Asua river is still impassable
according to native reports; this will prevent a general
advance south. Should the rains cease, the river will
fall rapidly, and I shall make a forward move and
escape this prison of high grass and inaction.”
“Oct. 11 th.—Lions roaring every night, but not
visible. I set my men to work to construct a fortified
camp, a simple oblong of palisades with two flanking
projections at opposite angles to command all approaches;,
the lazy scoundrels are sulky in consequence,
Their daily occupation is drinking merissa, sleeping,
and strumming on the rababa, while that of the black
women is quarrelling—one ebony sister insulting the
other by telling her that she is as * black as the kettle,’
and recommending her ‘ to eat poison.’ ”
“ Oct. 17th.—I expect an attack of fever to-morrow
or next day, as I understand from constant and
painful experiences every step of this insidious
disease. For some days one feels a certain uneasiness