lamp was trimmed with, oil of lions ; our butter for
cooking purposes was the fat of hippopotami, while
our pomade was made from the marrow of buffaloes
and antelopes, scented with the blossoms of mimosas.
We were entirely independent, as our whole party had
subsisted upon the produce of the rod and. the rifle.
We were now destined to be deprived of two
members of the party. Mahomet had become simply
unbearable, and he was so impertinent that I was
obliged to take a thin cane from one of the Arabs
and administer a little physical advice. An evil
spirit possessed the man, and he bolted off with some
of the camel men who were returning to Geera with
dried meat.*
Our great loss was Barrake. She had persisted in
eating the fruit of the hegleek, although she had
* Some months afterwards he found his way to Khartoum, where
he was imprisoned by the Governor for having deserted. He subsequently
engaged himself as a soldier in a slave-hunting expedition
on the White M le; and some years later, on our return
from the Albert N’yanza we met him in Shooa on 3° north latitude.
He had repented—hardships and discipline had effected a
change—and like the prodigal son, he returned. I forgave him,
and took him with us to Khartoum, where we left him a sadder
but a wiser man. He had met many near relations during his
lono journey, all of whom had stolen some souvenir of their cousin,
and left him almost naked. He also met Achmet his “ mother’s
brother’s cousin’s sister’s mother’s son/’ who turned up after some
years at Gondokoro as a slave-hunter; he had joined an expedition,
and like all other blackguards, he had chosen the White Hile
regions for his career. He was the proprietor of twenty slaves, he
had assisted in the murder of a number of unfortunate negroes, and
he was a prosperous and respectable individual.
suffered from dysentery upon several occasions. She
was at length attacked with congestion of the liver.
My wife took the greatest care of her, and for weeks-
she had given her the entire produce of the goats,,
hoping that milk would keep up her strength; but
she died after great suffering, and we buried the poor
creature, and moved our camp.