170 THE WORLD'S WONDERS. 



country. This country lies two hundred miles west of Gondo- 

 koro, and is inhabited by cannibals. The stories of his adventures 

 among these man-eaters were highly edifying and of no little 

 importance, since Baker's steps were bent in that direction. 



Ibrahimawa and many of his party hud been frequent witnesses 

 to acts of cannibalism during their residence among the Makka- 

 rikas. They described these cannibals as remarkably good 

 people, but possessing a peculiar taste for dogs and human flesh. 

 They accompanied the trading parties in their raids, and inva- 

 riably ate the bodies of the slain. The traders complained that 

 they were bad associates, as they insisted on killing and eating 

 the children which the party wished to secure as slaves : their 

 custom was to catch a child by its ankles, and to dash its head 

 against the ground ; thus killed, they extracted the stomach and 

 intestines, and tying the two ankles to the neck, they carried 

 the body by slinging it over the shoulder, and thus returned to 

 camp, where they divided it by quartering, and boiled it in a 

 large pot. 



On one occasion, many slave women and children, on witness- 

 ing such a scene, rushed panic-stricken from the spot and took 

 refuge in the trees. The Makkarikas, seeing them in flight, were 

 excited to give chase, and pulling the children from their refuge 

 among the branches of the trees, they killed several, and in a 

 short time a great feast was prepared for the whole party. 



ON THE MARCH TO OBBO. 



IBRAHIM returned from Gondokoro on the last day of April, 

 having made the trip with much expedition, considering the large 

 supply of ammunition that he brought back with him. Having 

 had some very favorable reports from the Obbo country, whose 

 natives desired to trade with the Turks, Ibrahim decided to pay 

 it a visit, much to the delight of Baker, who had now only fifteen 

 men and no porters ; besides, Obbo lay directly in the path of 

 Baker's intended journey to the Nile source. Accordingly, on 

 the 2d of May the two parties started from Latooka for the new 

 country, forty miles distant, their friendship being now well and 

 truly cemented. 



