ARRIVAL OF LOHITU. 189 



remarked, he had eaten nothing the whole way, but 

 wheat boiled in water, and broken dried bread of 

 the jowaree flour. I am afraid he was rendered 

 unhappy for the rest of his life ; for after his 

 acquaintance with me, and the diet I had accus- 

 tomed him to, he never could, I should think, relish 

 again the simple fare of his countrymen. The 

 jowaree bread, for example, was a crumbly dust, 

 of a bright red colour, very sour to the taste. I 

 have eaten many handfuls of it on emergencies, cer- 

 tainly, but it was only because I could get nothing 

 else. The boiled wheat was another of their 

 messes ; this, with rich clotted cream, was not so 

 unpalatable, although my puddings of dates, rice, 

 and milk, were allowed to be greatly superior, and 

 a volunteer dinner party, were always ready to 

 finish the contents of a large cooking-pot, which, 

 for the sake of popularity, I used to direct Zaido to 

 prepare every day. 



On the second evening of our stay at Ramudalee, 

 after I had turned in, Zaido disturbed me to report 

 the arrival of Lohitu, who had come into camp 

 with three or four attendants, and who very shortly 

 afterwards made his appearance with Ohmed 

 Medina and Ohmed Mahomed, and sat talking till 

 near midnight at the entrance of my hut. A bowl of 

 rice was prepared for them by Zaido, who called me 

 up again to lend them my only spoon, which was used 

 alternately, one after the other taking it, and having 

 conveyed a large quantity of rice into his mouth, 



