44 ACROSS AFRICA. [Chap. 



March, of the Kingaiii wliicli was up to our armjjits, discovered a few 

 18V3. miserable huts ; but from the inhabitants my men could get 

 nothing more than a root or two of cassava. 



It was now getting late, and we turned our footsteps camp- 

 ward, allowing Bombay to lead, as he declared there was a short 

 cut. So away we went plowing our way through long wet 

 grass ; and, as the darkness closed around, without a single star 

 to guide us, we lost our road comj)letely. 



I was confident that Bombay was wrong, but he and all the 

 men persisted that he was right. I trusted them, not then hav- 

 ing practical exj)erience of the inability of an African to strike 

 out a new road, although he will remember every turn and step 

 of those he has once traveled over. 



About nine o'clock we found ourselves in a swampy wood, 

 and, hearing no answer to the guns I had ordered to be fired to 

 apprise the people in camp of our whereabouts, I thought it 

 best to select some dry spot where we could kindle a fire, cook 

 the goat, and make ourselves as comfortable as possible under 

 the circumstances. 



I squatted down close to the fire, with my back against a 

 tree, and tried to eat some of the goat, but was too completely 

 done up to get even a morsel down my throat. The men, how- 

 ever, made short work of it. 



As soon as the first gleams of light heralded the approach of 

 day, I arose from my " wretched lair" and set off to look for the 

 camp, and shortly met some peojjle who had been disj^atched 

 by Dillon to come in search of us. In another hour I reached 

 my tent, though barely able to crawl into it, the night's expos- 

 ure having brought on a violent attack of fever. I was only 

 fit to turn into bed, and get Dillon to doctor me. 



To add to my annoyance, I found that, had we taken the di- 

 rection I wished the evening before, we should have got into 

 camp all right. 



I w^as a very different -looking object on my arrival from 

 what I had been on my departure on this luckless cruise. 

 Shirt and trousers wet, torn, and mud-stained ; the color of the 

 veil washed out, and hat, face, and shoulders all rejoicing in a 

 pea-green tint. 



Three more days were we delayed at this camp, and then the 



