672 THE AUTHOK'S OBLIGATIONS. Chap. XXXII. 



in the whole of the delta are something frightful. Sailing com- 

 fortably in this commodious launch along the river of Kilimane, 

 we reached that village (lat. 17° 53' 8" 8, long. 36° 40' E.) on 

 the 20th*of May, 1856, which wanted only a few days of being 

 four years since I started from Cape Town. Here I was received 

 into the house of Colonel Galdino Jose Nunes, one of the best 

 men in the country. I had been three years without hearing 

 from my family ; letters having frequently been sent, but some- 

 how or other, with but a single exception, they never reached 

 me. I received, however, a letter from Admiral Trotter, con- 

 veying information of then welfare, and some newspapers, which 

 were a treat indeed. Her Majesty's brig the " Frolic" had called 

 to inquire for me in the November previous, and Captain Nolloth 

 of that ship had most considerately left a case of wine ; and his 

 surgeon, Dr. Jas. Walsh, divining what I should need most, left 

 an ounce of quinine. These gifts made my heart overflow. I 

 had not tasted any liquor whatever during the time I had been 

 in Africa ; but when reduced in Angola to extreme weakness, I 

 found much benefit from a little wine, and took from Loanda 

 one bottle of brandy in my medicine-chest, intending to use it 

 if it were again required ; but the boy who carried it whirled the 

 box upside down, and smashed the bottle, so I cannot give my 

 testimony either in favour of or against the brandy. 



But my joy on reaching the east coast was sadly embittered 

 by the news that Commander MacLune, of H. M. brigantine 

 " Dart," on coming in to Kilimane to pick me up, had, with 

 Lieutenant Woodruffe and five men, been lost on the bar. I 

 never felt more poignant sorrow. It seemed as if it would have 

 been easier for me to have died for them, than that they should 

 all be cut off from the joys of life in generously attempting to 

 render me a service. I would here acknowledge my deej) obli- 

 gations to the Earl of Clarendon ; to the Admiral at the Cape ; 

 and others, for the kind interest they manifested in my safety ; 

 even the inquiries made were very much to my advantage. I 

 also refer with feelings of gratitude to the Governor of Mozam- 

 bique for offering me a passage in the schooner " Zambesi," 

 belonging to that province ; and I shall never forget the 

 generous hospitality of Colonel Nunes and his nephew, with 

 whom I remained. One of the discoveries I have made is that 



