162 FEOM THE NIGER TO THE NILE 



Up to this point, all the Baghirmi towns had been on the 

 right bank. Previous to the German occupation a few had 

 existed on the left, but these had since moved over so as to 

 remain under their own Sultan. 



By the next day, though still feeling weak, quinine and 

 calomel with the aid of the invaluable hot-water bottle to 

 produce sweating, had cured my fever. In cases of fever, 

 however slight the attack, the golden rule to follow is to give 

 in at once and go to bed. If only every one would observe 

 this, there would be far fewer deaths in Africa. One can 

 invariably tell six hours beforehand the approach of an attack 

 by a loss of appetite and a feeling of weakness in all the 

 limbs. Then when the fever has left, it is essential to take 

 a quiet day in camp in order to effect a complete cure. 



On the occasion of which I write, having practised what 

 I now preach, we left for Buso on July 1 and made a distance 

 of seven and a half miles. The rate of our going, not counting 

 the windings of the river as distance covered, was a little 

 less than two miles an hour. Our polers had been working 

 pretty steadily of late, and there had been no unnecessary 

 stops. In some parts the river scenery is very pretty, trees 

 and hanging vegetation clothe the steep, sloping banks down 

 to the water's edge. At Buso the river is about a mile in 

 width. At this time it had increased considerably, and a 

 little later on when the rains became continuous it had an 

 average rise of 10 in. a day. 



Buso is a large Baghirmi town, with settlements of Bandas 

 and Arabs. They possessed horses and cattle, the first we 

 had seen since leaving Fort Lamy, so evidently the place is 

 not visited by the tsetse-fly. 



