406 
TRAVELS IN AFKICA. 
Chap. L. 
'Abdii, who, after having left me to my own fate in 
Bakada had gone to join the sultan in the expedition. 
However, the place where the sick man was lying 
was so dark that, convinced as I was of the seriousness 
of his illness, I found a pretext for not giving him 
any medicine ; and this was very lucky for me, as his 
death, which took place a few days afterwards, would 
certainly have been attributed by these savage people 
to my remedies. 
The same evening I was informed that an express 
messenger had come from Kukawa with despatches 
for me, the caravan from Fezzan having at length 
arrived. But having been repeatedly disappointed 
by similar reports, I did not give myself up to vain 
expectation, and passed a very tranquil night. 
Thus arrived the 6th of July, one of the most 
lucky days of my life ; for having been more than 
a year without any means whatever, and struggling 
with my fate, in the endeavour to do as much as 
possible before I returned home, I suddenly found 
myself authorized to carry out the objects of this 
expedition on a more extensive scale, and found 
sufficient means placed at my disposal for attaining 
that object. The messenger, however, managed his 
business very cleverly ; for having two large parcels of 
letters for me, one only containing despatches from 
the Foreign Office, and the other containing a large 
amount of private correspondence, he brought me first 
the former, which had been very carefully packed up 
in Kukawa, in a long strip of fine cotton (gabaga), and 
