night at the end of the march. They are divided into
groups of from four to eight men. When camp is made,
these groups throw together their store into a common
stock, and appoint one of their number as cook; the
others gather twigs to make the fire. After all preparations
have been made, they surround the pot, and take
turns at dipping their hands into its contents until all is
finished. But in a game country each man will carry
with him as much meat as is allowed him. While on
the march, from morning until night, they were busy
devouring the flesh they had with them. A t home, in
Zanzibar, these people are accustomed to a fish and
grain diet. Consequently, upon their entering into a
game country and eating an unlimited quantity of meat,
dysentery soon breaks out among them. We found
great difficulty in checking the ravages of this ailment,
but at length managed to devise a cure which proved
effectual in almost every case. I very much doubt
whether this cure would meet with the approbation
of the medical profession; but, nevertheless, for the
porters it proved of great service. When one of the
men complained of pains in the abdomen, we at once
gave him a strong purgative of castor oil, if we had' it
in stock; if not, three or four “ Livingston rousers,” or
several vegetable laxatives. Two hours later, we gave
him twenty-five grains of ipecac and five grains of
opium, pulverized and mixed with five drams of water.
This dose we repeated every two hours, and I know
of no case in which it proved ineffectual. However, it
was not until after months of experiment that we
discovered this cure; and in the meantime we had the
misfortune to lose many of our best men from dysentery.
We had decided to follow the Mackenzie, in the hope
that it would lead us to Lake Lorian and the Rendile;
therefore, after waiting one day for the drying of the
meat, we set out, and pushed our way along the left
bank of this river. The route lay over rough, rocky
soil, covered to an irritating degree with acacias. In
order that we might be able to march as lightly as
possible, we had taken for private consumption only
a few luxuries. We depended upon two loads for the
sustenance of the Europeans. These contained dried
beans and rice. On coming into camp after our first
day’s march along the Mackenzie, what was our disgust
to find that the two men carrying these loads
had disappeared! We searched for them in vain; for,
owing to the rocky soil, tracking them was impossible.
From that time on we had to face the journey with
the prospect of living upon the same food as the
porters; namely, dried beans of the previous year’s
growth and Indian corn of the same age. Thankful,
indeed, were we that we had with us salt, pepper,
and one bottle of Worcestershire sauce. When the
latter would get low, we refilled the bottle with water;
and by lively play of the imagination taught ourselves
that the pungency of its flavour rather increased than
diminished, as time went by, and water went in.
As we ascended the Mackenzie, the stream became
smaller and smaller, and after two days’ march one could
almost leap across it. The water was clear as crystal,
and deliciously cool. Owing to the dense bush through
which we marched we could get but few shots at
game, although at this point the country was undoubtedly
filled with animals of all sorts. Now, for the first