CuAr. YIII. nUXGER IN THE FOREST. 147 



great number of valuable articles had been stolen, 

 including two bottles of old brandy, a reserve in 

 case of illness, and the loss of which was very 

 vexing, as it was portion of a present made me by a 

 valued friend in London.* I was imprudent enough, 

 at first, to accuse Mintcho of knowledge of the tliefts, 

 a step which nearly led to my being left alone in the 

 wilderness. I was obliged to retract, and allay his 

 fears by saying that I did not hold him responsible. 

 My readers must bear in mind tliat ]\Iintcho was all 

 along the principal thief, together with the men he 

 had with him, who obeyed his orders in everything. 

 It was only by a temporizing policy, and by appeal- 

 ing alternately to their vanity and to their fears, 

 now coaxing and now threatening, that I could hope 

 to avoid the hard fate of being left alone in this 

 inhospitable forest. Towards the evening of the 

 fourth day we came to a standstill ; so many porters 

 had run away, that there were no longer men enough 

 to carry our goods. 



The weather was stormy, and it was almost im- 

 possible to shelter ourselves from the rains which fell 

 eveiy night. We could find no large leaves to make 

 a good thatch for our sheds, and what with the dis- 

 comfort caused by the frequent thunder showers, and 

 the necessit}^ of keeping watch over my goods, I got 

 very little rest. As time went on, hunger came to 

 add to our miseries. Negroes never take more than 

 two or three days' provisions on a march, plantains 

 being so heavy ; and as a large portion of what they 

 carried on the present journey had been hidden in 



* Charles White, Esq., of Lime Street, London. 



