242 FEVER ON SOARD. CHAP. IX. 



size. Few people were seen, and those were of Arab 

 breed, and did not appear to be very well off. The current 

 of the Rovuma was now as strong as that of the Zambesi, 

 but the volume of water is very much less. Several of 

 the crossings had barely water enough for our ship, draw- 

 ing five feet, to pass. When we were thirty miles up 

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

 four hours. As the March flood is the last of the season, 

 and it apj^eared 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 ' k Pioneer," at the mouth of the Rovuma, 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 

 Expedition, and not long afterwards the leader had to 

 navigate the ocean as well as the river. The habit of find- 

 ing 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. 



