156 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



mock, and gazed earnestly at me ; then put his arm 

 round me, lifted me up, rearranged the cushions, and 

 departed, satisfied that he had done all, and more 

 than all, that Mr Talbot had ever done. 



That march was over thirty miles, and next day 

 was devoted to recovering from it. The recollection 

 makes me smile grimly when people at home innocently 

 suggest that Mrs Talbot and I were carried most of the 

 way in litters. 



It was here, at the Arab village of Maaishe, that we 

 received our mail, a runner having been sent on from 

 Maifoni with it. It was the first news we had had 

 from home for three and a half months, and our excite- 

 ment was intense. Every line was welcome, even those 

 devoted to the enumeration of the previous excellent 

 letters begun and never despatched, or those of the 

 regulation four sides sparsely filled with the corres- 

 pondent's conjectures as to whether or not a letter 

 would really arrive. All passed ; and stale political 

 news was devoured with genuine excitement. 



There ought to be a mission started for writing 

 letters to those abroad — the pleasure it would give 

 would be enormous, — for the mere fact of an envelope 

 addressed with one's own name restores that rather 

 flattering sense of individuality which is apt to dis- 

 appear in the bigness of untrodden spaces. 



Next day we continued our march and entered 

 Bagirimi territory. Mrs Talbot was ahead when we 

 reached the boundary, and was met by a deputation 

 from Gauaronga sent to bid us welcome. They turned 

 to escort her to the village of Ngama, but she wished 

 that we should share her entry, and accordingly 

 indicated that a Baturi, the native expression for 



