8 FROM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



carried Gosling and myself, the naturalists of the party, she 

 was christened The Ibis, and the latter was named Cassiopeia 

 as she carried my brother and Talbot, who were the geo- 

 graphers. I had derived the idea for their construction 

 from the boats used by Major Gibbons on his expedition 

 up the Zambesi ; but I dispensed with engines, which were 

 so apt to get out of order, and relied, instead, on native 

 methods of propulsion by paddles or poles. Moreover, I sub- 

 stituted beaten steel for aluminium, which would never have 

 stood the rough work among the rapids, and our boats were 

 made rather broader in the beam, as they had to balance the 

 weight of twelve polers each. The total cost for the two 

 without fittings was £380. It would be hard to exaggerate 

 the importance of these boats to the Expedition, for in many 

 places they did the work of bullock transport and carriers, 

 which were impossible to obtain in some of the countries 

 that we passed through. 



It must be remembered that in so large an expedition, 

 embracing so many enterprises, it was necessary at times to 

 support a great number of followers, sometimes 200, who had 

 to be paid and fed, and for this purpose a great amount of 

 trade goods were carried. These included cutlery ranging 

 from sword blades to needles, stuffs, from 14,000 yards of 

 cloth to reels of cotton ; medicines from iodoform to hair- 

 oil ; as well as mirrors, beads and bracelets and many other 

 things. Shopping in those days was an extensive and 

 arduous operation which, I fear, our masculine natures did 

 not altogether appreciate. Often since then I have thought 

 that I threw away an opportunity of scattering happiness by 

 not making it over to a lady to do for us. For shopping is 



