2l8 



THROUGH JUNGLE AND DESERT 



CHAP. 



who had led them on that occasion. He said the medi- 

 cine-man had been suppHed with the best sort of magic 

 for everything but small-pox, and it was owing to this 

 oversight on his part that they met with such misfort- 

 unes. As a proof of this, he said that he later went 

 on a journey under the lead of the same medicine-man, 

 and on that journey they had no small-pox, and their 

 expedition was crowned with success. This stubborn 

 faith in the medicine-man renders it most difficult for 

 a European to manage these people, without resorting 

 to the expedient of giving them the impression that he 

 too is possessed of a thorough knowledge of witch- 

 craft. 



At first we had great difficulty in inducing the 

 natives of Daitcho to bring food to our camp ; so I 

 sent George to trade near the camp of the Zanzibar! 

 traders. The food we could procure at Daitcho con- 

 sisted of two kinds of beans (one large and black, 

 the other small and white), yams, cassava, and a few 

 bananas. The yams, cassava, and bananas come from 

 the Embe, as the country inhabited by the Daitcho 

 is not suited for the growth of these edibles. Trade 

 soon became brisk, and we were able to purchase four 

 days' rations each day. 



The rains, which began to fall on the i8th of March,, 

 were now of daily occurrence and fairly heavy, though 

 nothing in comparison with the rains of the wet season 

 I passed in Zanzibar. 



While at Daitcho, Lieutenant von Hohnel had a 

 sharp attack of fever, which lasted four days, and 

 throughout the rainy season I suffered from liver 

 complaint. 



