350 FEVER ON BOARD. Chap. XVIIT. 



the river, the water fell suddenly seven inches in twenty-four 

 hours. As the March flood is the last of the season, and it 

 appeared to be expended, it was thought prudent to avoid 

 the chance of a year's detention, by getting the ship back to 

 the sea without delay. Had the Expedition been alone, we 

 would have pushed up in boats, or afoot, and done what we 

 could towards the exploration of the river and upper end of the 

 lake ; but, though the Mission was a private one, and entirely 

 distinct from our own, a public one, the objects of both being 

 similar, we felt anxious to aid our countrymen in their noble 

 enterprise ; and, rather than follow our own inclination, 

 decided to return to the Shire, see the Mission party settled 

 safely, and afterwards explore Lake Nyassa and the 

 Eovuma, from the Lake downwards. Fever broke out on 

 board the Pioneer, at the mouth of the Rovnma, as we thought 

 from our having anchored close to a creek coming out of 

 the mangroves ; and it remained in her until we completely 

 isolated the engine-room from the rest of the ship. The coal- 

 dust rotting sent out strong effluvia, and kept up the disease 

 for more than a twelvemonth. 



Soon after we started, the fever put the Pioneer almost 

 entirely into the hands of the original Zambesi Expedi- 

 tion, and not long afterwards the leader had to navigate 

 the ocean as well as the river. The habit of finding the 

 geographical positions on land renders it an easy task to 

 steer a steamer with only three or four sails at sea ; where, 

 if one does not run ashore, no one follows to find out an 

 error and where a current affords a ready excuse for every 

 blunder. 



Touching at Mohilla, one of the Comoro Islands, on our 

 return, we found a mixed race of Arabs, Africans, and 

 their conquerors, the natives of Madagascar. Being Ma- 

 hometans, they have mosques and schools, in which we were 



