400 JOURNEY TO THE COAST. Chap. XIX, 



greatly affected at the remembrance of his losses and 

 the death of so many that were dear to him ; and 

 I could not help feeling sympathy for him. " The 

 Bakalai," said he^ " are all gone ; the Rembo people 

 are all gone ; my beloved Monbon (his head slave) is 

 dead ; I am alone in the world." It appeared that 

 he had not even entered Goumbi since he left me at 

 Olenda ; but, finding the plague raging there on his 

 return, he had established his home on the opposite 

 bank of the river, and his nephews, who had accom- 

 panied him and me to Ashira-land, together with 

 most of his men, had died. I looked with sadness on 

 his noble figure, with his hoary head whitened by 

 years and bowed down with the remembrance of his 

 troubles, and I grieved for him from the bottom of 

 my heart. He was like an old oak of the forest left 

 standing alone, after all its companions had been 

 overthrown by the storm. We spent the evening by 

 the side of the fires of our encampment, Quengueza 

 and myself side by side, talking over our troubles, and 

 my men telling the story of their adventures to their 

 Rembo comrades, this time in more moderate terms. 



We spent several days at Quengueza's encamp- 

 ment. I had great difficulty during this time in 

 combating a tendency to sleepiness and lethargy, 

 which had come over me since we had arrived safely 

 amongst our friends. We all suffered much from 

 hunger in the encampment, as food was scarce in 

 this depopulated country. At length, news came 

 that a vessel had arrived off the mouth of the Fer- 

 nand Yaz, and I was seized with an uncontrollable 

 desire to get away at once to the sea-shore. 



