84 CORROSION OF THE STEAMER'S PLATES. Chap. III. 



The steamer reached Tette on the 23rd of June, and, 

 after undergoing repairs, proceeded to the Kongone to 

 receive provisions from one of H.M. cruisers. We had been 

 very abundantly supplied with first-rate stores, but were un- 

 fortunate enough to lose a considerable portion of them, and 

 had now to bear the privation as best we could. On the way 

 down, we purchased a few gigantic cabbages and pumpkins at 

 a native village below Mazaro. Our dinners had usually 

 consisted of but a single course ; but we were surprised the 

 next day by our black cook from Sierra Leone bearing 

 in a second course. " What have you got there ? " was asked 

 in wonder. "A tart, sir." "A tart! of what is it made?" 

 " Of cabbage, sir." As we had no sugar, and could not " make, 

 believe," as . in the days of boyhood, we did not enjoy the 

 feast that Tom's genius had prepared. Her Majesty's brig 

 " Persian," Lieutenant Sauruarez commanding, called on her 

 way to the Cape ; and, though somewhat short of provisions 

 herself, generously gave us all she could spare. We now 

 parted with our Kroomen, as, from their inability to march, we 

 could not use them in our land journeys. A crew was picked 

 out from the Makololo, who, besides being good travellers, 

 could cut wood, work the ship, and required only native food. 



While at the Kongone it was found necessary to beach the 

 steamer for repairs. She was built of a newly-invented sort 

 of steel plates, only a sixteenth of an inch in thickness, 

 patented, but unfortunately never tried before. To build an 

 exploring ship of untried material was a mistake. Some 

 chemical action on this preparation of steel caused a 

 minute hole ; from this point, branches like lichens, or 

 the little ragged stars we sometimes see in thawing ice, 

 radiated in all directions. Small holes went through wherever 

 a bend occurred in these branches. The bottom very soon 



