134 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



her decree without a humiliating sense of having been 

 naughty. 



I valued her far too much to subject her to the long 

 trek to the coast and the sea- voyage home. Also her 

 charming personality seems bound up with Fort Lamy, 

 and the place and those who live in it would suffer an 

 irreparable loss were she to leave them. Therefore she 

 remains, and some day I hope I may visit her again, 

 and once more feel her soft muzzle in my hand as she 

 bends her long neck to accept an offering of salt, and 

 again see her beautiful soft eyes and ungainly but 

 fascinating form. 



Native Casts of an Ostrich, Horseman, and "Josephine." 



We had arrived at Fort Lamy on the 26th of 

 November, and on the 28th Commandant Maillard 

 started on his dangerous mission. We lunched to- 

 gether first, and all strove to be gay. Jokes and 

 laughter echoed round the table, but tears were not 

 very far behind. It was impossible not to think of the 

 losses already sustained in that fatal country, and we 

 knew that our friend was going with his life in his 

 hand. He spoke very simply of his fear of defeat and 

 death, and of the check his reverse would mean to the 

 glory of France. He was a brave man, but he was too 

 human not to count the chances of failure, and life was 

 dear to him. 



