38 COLLAPSE AND RETURN part i 



The drawbacks of our life here were increased by illness. 

 My legs gave me a good deal of trouble ; they had been sun- 

 blistered during the canoe voyage down the river, and the over- 

 exertion of the march from Witu to Borabini had produced 

 a crop of ulcers. For more than a week I could not walk. 

 Fever broke out in camp, and my two best men both had it 

 in a serious form. Twice a day scouts went out to look for 

 Count Lovatelli's party, which I expected to bring the medicine 

 and stores we now urgently needed. Day followed day without 

 any news, and we became very anxious. At length the wel- 

 come tidings came in of the approach of the party, which was 

 nearly three weeks overdue. 



Wasama marched into camp with ten camels, sixty porters, 

 and fourteen Somali, but no medicines. He told me that 

 there had been a good deal of illness and many deaths at 

 Mkonumbi, and some at Fungozambo ; that thirty-five Somali 

 and the few survivors of the Turkish contingent had been sent 

 back invalided, and that both our leader and Count Lovatelli 

 had gone away. He added that the former had told one of 

 the Somali that he was only taking the invalids to Mombasa 

 in order to send them to Aden, and that he would then come 

 back to us. Only twenty more camels had been landed, and 

 five of these were useless. Wasama was very disheartened 

 about the whole expedition, and very bitter in his complaints 

 about mismanagement. We sent the men back the same day 

 to bring up another batch of stores, and then set to work 

 strengthening the camp. This, however, was interrupted by 

 the outbreak of an epidemic of malarial fever combined with 

 gastritis. 



A day or two afterwards a canoe came up from Mackinnon, 

 stating that he had just received a telegram from a friend in 

 Mombasa to say that our leader had passed through that town 

 on his way into the interior, and to ask if I knew anything 

 about the matter. 



As my services had been lent to our chief and not to the 

 expedition, and I had been instructed before leaving London 

 that in case of any disagreement or breaking-up of the expedi- 

 tion I was to keep with him, I felt very awkwardly situated. 

 The last communication I had had from him was the letter at 

 Kau, ordering me to take the advance guard at Ngatana. At 



