Chap. YIIT. HUNGER 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 thefts, 

 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 that Mintcho 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 

 every 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 necessity 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. 



L 2 



