Chap. XLIII. HARD GROUND. — ELEPHANTS. 163 
In the evening I had the misfortune to be stung 
by a scorpion, which had got into my bernus. As I 
had not noticed the animal in the dark, and thinking 
that it was nothing but one of the formidable black 
ants, the bifce of which is very painful, I neglected the 
wound at first, so that the poison penetrated to the 
shoulder, and rendered my right arm useless for two 
days. 
Seeing that we were now entirely in the Thnrsday 
hands of the vizier, my companion and I December isth. 
used to present ourselves at his tent every morning, 
and to ride for some time near him. I, however, 
soon found it pleasanter to keep more in the rear of 
the army, a little in advance of his female slaves ; 
and in the narrow paths in the midst of the forest, 
where the crowding became very disagreeable, I used 
to keep behind his led-horses. Of female slaves 
on horseback and led-horses the vizier had with 
him the moderate number of eight of each kind, 
while the sheikh had twelve ; but this appeared to 
me a small number when I afterwards saw the king 
of Bagirmi returning from the expedition with a string 
of forty-five mounted female partners. These black 
damsels were all clothed in white woollen bernuses, 
with their faces completely veiled, and were closely 
watched. 
To-day we had a more complete specimen of that 
peculiar kind of shallow water which I have mentioned 
above ; and the army, while they were winding around 
it, on the fresh green meadow-lands, closely hemmed in 
M 2 
