THE BAGIRIMI 151 



his beautiful wife, and a retinue suitable to his 

 grandeur. Appearances cannot be kept up on noth- 

 ing, and Mohmaduba let no chance slip to acquire the 

 necessary money, and neither he nor his wife was im- 

 peded in the task by over-scrupulous notions of honour. 



A poor woman in the neighbourhood of Tchekna 

 came to us with a pitiful tale of how she had given 

 Mrs Mohmaduba hospitality for the night, and how 

 in the morning 8 dollars — her whole fortune — had 

 disappeared. She went to the Resident at Tchekna 

 to complain, but his interpreter told her that she could 

 not see him, and had better carry her cause to Fort 

 Lamy. Thither she went, 120 miles, on foot, but 

 Mohmaduba took good care that her case should never 

 reach Captain Facon's ears, and the wretched woman's 

 journey was taken in vain. This is no uncommon 

 instance of how interpreters exercise their power, for 

 it is rare to find a black man in a position of re- 

 sponsibility who has any sense of honour, as we 

 understand it. 



We used oxen for transport, and they are admirable 

 for the purpose, doing twenty-seven miles a-day, our 

 average rate of march, at a speed of little under four 

 miles an hour, without difficulty. It is an idiosyncrasy 

 of these animals that they will not move unless they 

 are ridden, and they each carry two loads, as well as 

 a rider. It is a cheap mode of transport, for the ox 

 and boy cost 1 franc a-day, out of which they get food 

 for themselves and the animals. 



For three days our road led through a country of 

 bush, interspersed with long mud-bottomed swamps, 

 into which our horses sank up to their withers, and 

 the oxen, whose weak point is their want of balance, 



