264 CHIEFS & CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA 



answered that six days, three weeks, six months were 

 all one to them, and they would wait without pay till 

 we were ready. They did wait, though it was only 

 two days short of a month before we started, and 

 all those weary weeks Mr Talbot was a prisoner to 

 his bed. 



Fortunately there is a rest-house at Fika, with two 

 huts for white men. One served as Mrs Talbot's 

 dressing-room and my bedroom, and also as " silence" 

 room when either of us wanted to do any work. 

 The other, with two entrances, was a big round hut 

 which was both sickroom and living-room. It was 

 airy, for there was a gap between the wall and the 

 thatched roof, which jutted down a long way to prevent 

 glare from the sun, as also to carry off rain in the wet 

 season. Tents were of no good to us, as at night Mrs 

 Talbot could not leave her husband unguarded, and by 

 day the heat was far too great for a mere canvas 

 shelter. In the draughtiest place in our mud house 

 the thermometer registered 87° by night and 105° by 

 day. Our good fortune was not confined to comfort- 

 able quarters, for we were detained amidst a friendly 

 people and lovely scenery. 



Fika is on a river formed by two streams that come 

 down from the hills and unite some hundred yards 

 above the town. In the dry season it is nothing but 

 a sandy bed, though water is obtained for the whole 

 town from shallow wells in its course. The women 

 scoop it up in small calabashes and pour it into water- 

 pots, — a somewhat laborious and back-breaking pro- 

 ceeding. 



It would be hard to say which stream has the more 

 beautiful surroundings. Both pass through valleys 



