CORRECTION PA TERNELLE 23 1 



loud, rasping sound, like the sound of sawing wood ; 

 it was the horrible grunting of leopards, and there 

 must have been fully half a dozen of them prowling 

 about within a short distance of the camp. But we 

 saw neither antelopes nor leopards, and there was 

 nothing to relieve the monotony of the journey 

 except some unlucky collisions which we had with 

 the natives. 



Near a village called Muniemboka, Carruthers, 

 who had been, unfortunately, suffering from fever at 

 intervals ever since we left Lake Albert Edward, 

 became too ill to walk, so, as there was a Congo 

 post at Kabambare only two days' journey distant, 

 we decided to push on at once to a place where he 

 would have a chance of recovering in tolerable 

 comfort. I accordingly sent the ' headman ' and 

 the * boys ' into the village to engage at least four 

 porters, so that we could start as quickly as possible. 

 After waiting for more than two hours, as they did 

 not return, I went into the village — a wretched 

 collection of about half a dozen huts — and found 

 them with three willing recruits and a fourth, the 

 only other able-bodied man in the place, who was 

 bellowing like a spoilt child and insisting on being 

 paid a quite exorbitant amount of cloth. I told 

 him to make less noise, but as he still continued to 

 shout and insult me, I gave him a slap on the face 

 with my left hand, after which he came like a lamb 

 and worked splendidly at carrying the hammock. 

 But that was only the beginning of the incident. A 



