MORE TROUBLES. 219 



Pitsane, "Mohorisi, and I, who alone were mounted, were 

 often caught; and, as there is no stopping the oxen when 

 they have the prospect of giving the rider a tumble, we 

 came frequently to the ground. In addition to these mis- 

 haps, Sinbad went off at a plunging gallop, the bridle 

 broke, and I came down backward on the crown of my 

 head. He gave me a kick on the thigh at the same time. 

 I felt none the worse for this rough treatment, but would 

 not recommend it to others as a palliative in cases of fever. 

 This last attack of fever was so obstinate that it reduced 

 me almost to a skeleton. The blanket which I used as 

 a saddle on the back of the ox, being frequently wet, 

 remained so beneath me even in the hot sun, and, aided by 

 the heat of the ox, caused extensive abrasion of the skin, 

 which was continually healing and getting sore again. To 

 this inconvenience was now added the chafing of my pro- 

 jecting bones on the hard bed. 



On Friday we came to a village of civil people on the 

 banks of the Loajima itself, and we were wet all day in 

 consequence of crossing it. The bridges over it, and 

 another stream which we crossed at mid-day, were sub- 

 merged, as we have hitherto invariably found, by a flood 

 of perfectly-clear water. At the second ford we were met 

 by a hostile party, who refused us farther passage. I 

 ordered my men to proceed in the same direction we had 

 been pursuing, but our enemies spread themselves out in 

 front of us with loud cries. Our numbers were about 

 equal to theirs this time, so I moved on at the head of my 

 men. Some ran off to other villages, or back to their own 

 village, on pretence of getting ammunition ; others called 

 out that all traders came to them, and that we must do 

 the same. As these people had plenty of iron-headed 

 arrows and some guns, when we came to the edge of 

 the forest I ordered my men to put the luggage in our 

 centre, and, if our enemies did not fire, to cut down 

 some young trees and make a screen as quickly as possible, 

 but do nothing to them except in case of actual attack. I 



