66 



LEAKY STATE OF THE STEAMER. 



Chap. III. 



river, to die in a few hours, and afterwards furnished a 

 feast for the natives. The poison on the spear-head does 

 not affect the meat, except the part around the wound, and 

 that is thrown away. In some places the descending 

 beam is weighted with heavy stones, hut here the hard 

 heavy wood is sufficient. 



View of Steamer, Traps, and dead Hippopotamus. 



" She is leaking worse than ever forward, sir, and 

 there is a foot of water in the hold," was our first saluta- 

 tion on the morning of the 20th. But we have become 

 accustomed to these things now ; the cabin-floor is always 

 wet, and one is obliged to mop up the water many times a 

 day, giving some countenance to the native idea that 

 Englishmen live in or on the water, and have no houses 

 but ships. The cabin is now a favourite breeding-place for 

 mosquitoes, and we have to support both the ship-bred 



