96 
Seven Years in Central Africa. [May, 1884, 
May ^th. — I arranged to-day with Senhor Porto about carriers, 
and shall ride upon an ox instead of being carried in a hammock, 
as he proposed, for that would be too comfortable a way of 
travelling, and might make me discontented and extravagant at 
other times. 
Note. — As from this point a great change takes place in Mr. Arnot's course 
some general remarks may be helpful. Though always ready to be guided as 
his way might be opened up, his original thought was to reach the Batoka, on 
the high land to the north of the Zambesi. The reader will have gathered 
that he was reluctantly obliged to give up this purpose, and was constrained to 
make a long sojourn at the capital of the Barotse kingdom. From the time of 
his setting foot in Africa till he reached the Zambesi a year was occupied, and 
in the Barotse valley or its neighbourhood nearly two years were spent, 
much of this period being necessarily taken up with travelling to and fro 
between Panda-ma-tenka and Lealui. With the means at his disposal these 
journeys, whether through the desert country or on the great river, were 
accompanied with toil and privation. But the enforced stay in the malarious 
Barotse Valley, without opportunity of change to the mountains, caused the 
chief injury to his health, and although Mr. Arnot does not enlarge upon his 
sufferings when ill for weeks together in a native hut, they were evidently very 
great. Medical care, companionship, nursing, proper diet, and comforts were 
all lacking, and it was no wonder that his health quite broke down. His stay 
in the Upper Zambesi was, however, not in vain. By his patience in suffering 
and his words he left a testimony that could not be forgotten, and he also 
occupied the ground until M. Coillard was close at hand. There would have 
been abundant scope for both, and M. Coillard looked forward to having Mr. 
Arnot as a fellow-labourer in the vicinity, as his letters in the Appendix show. 
Ultimately Mr. Arnot's steps were turned by a circuitous route, as we shall 
see, somewhat in the direction that he originally contemplated. The Garen- 
ganze country, which he reached, is however too far from the Barotse to afford 
direct communication with M. Coillard at present. The varied experience 
gained by Mr. Arnot during two or three years of intercourse with the natives 
was another good result of his visit to the Zambesi, and was very helpful to 
him in his further service. We now proceed with his diary of the journey from 
Lealui to Benguella, a Portuguese town on the west coast of Africa. — Ed. 
